HAPPY HALLOWEEN MEMORIES

Of course, it was great  trick or treating in the Village.  My mother Angi Souza and Aunt Eleanor Souza were great for planning parties, especially at Halloween, when we lived on Blinn's Court.  This wonderful Halloween party photo is from 1949. I was 9 years old.  The party was held in the basement of our 3 decker (we on the first floor, my Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Bunny and their children on the second floor, my Aunt Alveda and Uncle Ziggy and their little boy up on the third: my brother was very little and would go from one to the next telling one he was going to the other and then skip out...)

That is me in the Carmen Miranda outfit in the middle, the late Cecilia Mendes Rodier to my right, Gina Lopes McKenna to her right.  The late David Gallego over on the almost far left...recognize others?

Do you remember any Halloween treasures we can share?

We live now on a tiny island and this morning went downtown for coffee.  All the merchants were in costume in front of their shops while hordes of dressed up tots and their parents paraded from one to another. They had been bussed in from various preschools.  It made us thankful to be living in a small place again, and my thoughts went back to our Village.  My sister reminded me I had this photo and it fits perfectly.

In the next post I will be sharing some of the very welcome comments from readers of this blog.
Thank you each and all.  It is so exciting to see that others are willing to share the magic. Keep those comments coming, they enrich us all.

MORE ABOUT VILLAGE ECONOMICS

Thanks to Arlene Gouveia's comment  sharing a memory of how Hood milk bottles were configured to catch the cream at the top and the special spoon her mother had to get it out.  I found this photo on E-Bay (they are selling one for $44!) so here it is in all its glory.

If regular milk was not for you in those days, there was local Village milk.  Yes, there were cows in the Village.  What is a Village without cows?

Speaking of milk and Arlene Gouveia here is a great story she recounted in her Memories of the Village, a collection of stories from her parents and friends and her own memories.

    Each day in the late afternoon, up from Longmeadow Road and their pasture at Jerry's Farm would come tall and stately Mr. John Seimas leading his small herd of cows through Braga Square to the barn at 44 Floral Street.  The lead cow had a bell around her neck and I can still hear the soft ring as they made their dignified and slow way home.  For awhile in the Village there were two herds so an agreement had to be made not to incur a "cow jam".  Mr. William Rosa coming home to 204 School Street would come through the square at 5 p.m. following Mr. Seimas at 4:30.  Cars knew to settle down patiently and wait.  But, then there were fewer cars. 

These small dairy farmers, Mr. Rose being Arlene's grandfather, worked hard.  They milked their cows early in the morning, took them to pasture, delivered the milk,  then went off
 to "regular"jobs. Mr. Rosa had a horse that was blind but knew where to go and when to
stop on the delivery route.

                    (memories of Emma Andrade,Jeannette Nascimento and Joseph Rose).

I well remember Mr. Seimas coming home with his cows walking with a large staff to gently coax them into the right direction if needed.   But, I can still hear the sound of their bells and slow plodding hoof beats on the pavement.  If anyone has a photo of that event in the Village, please share it with us?

This is an old photo of my sister Kathy, my brother Frank and I with our Dad down at a creek pool where we used to wade around the area of Jerry's Farm on Longmeadow Road.  I could not find a photo of the cows evening walk home but did find a nostalgic video on You Tube which, if you close your eyes or think of pavement instead of a the dirt road, could be down at the Village. Of course, we had no lovely mountains either...or goats that I can remember.  But, you will still get the feeling, that is what counts.
                                       

                Click on the ad on the video to eliminate it quicker then enjoy these peaceful moments.

THE VILLAGE- A PLACE TO FIND NEARLY EVERYTHING

As we chatted about the little neighborhood markets and their delightful accessibility, my sister Kathy remembered her late husband, Leo Campanirio (a great Village storyteller if ever there was one). He said that when he was little his family lived in The Block, a one story apartment building mid-Village which was right next door to Santos Market.  At the age of 2 years, his Mom would send him to Santos to pick up some grocery item or another....  The Village was a safe place.

                                                                  circa 1950's Fall River, MA

                                                               my father-in-law delivering Hood milk

Everything was all around families in the Village.  Milk and cream were delivered to your door. This is a photo of my husband's Dad, George Pineault, who delivered milk to the Highlands in Fall River for years including the time we are discussing here.  I recall that the milk, in glass bottles, sometimes was placed right in your refrigerator by your milk man. The cream would sit high in the bottle atop the milk and we would love putting it on our hot Cream of Wheat cereal.

 Our milk man in the Village was Albert Poole, for years he delivered milk until one day he became our insurance man....for just as long.  When I became a hospital administrator I met another who was Albert's daughter...circles going out from the Village.

If you required other items, they could usually be found in either yours or a neighbor's yard. The idea of victory gardens was alive and well still in the Village. Many of the houses in the Village had large back
lots which houses chicken coops and large gardens like this one found on the Internet.