Treadle Sewing Machine
About the year 1915,
Mama donned her coat
And went down town to make a purchase.
There, she signed a note
And bought a Treadle Sewing Machine.
The brand name was “White”.
Five dollars she paid;
And the price seemed out of sight.
The two daughters, Katherine and Esther,
Were small babies.
They were fair and jolly
And easy to please.
With times being hard
It was the season to learn to sew.
As World War I was developing,
And there was not much dough.
Mama and Papa, being young,
Heard about good jobs
In Bunker Hill, Kansas;
And this created heart throbs.
Papa hitched a horse to a one-horse wagon;
And loaded up the furniture--
Which included the sewing machine;
And westward was his departure.
Mama took the two baby daughters
And boarded a train.
To Kansas they went
Through heavy, down-pouring rain.
Papa found a job
In a plant to butcher meat.
Soon, they planned a return to Kentucky
As they felt Kansas was not so neat.
So, Mama with the two daughters
And a son on the way
Returned to Louisville, Kentucky, by train
Before the son’s birth day.
Again Papa loaded the furniture
Including the Treadle Sewing Machine
On a wagon pulled by one horse
To return to Kentucky, though the weather was mean.
Upon Papa’s return
The poor old horse was well-worn.
He sold the horse to a soap factory
About the time son, Ivan, was born.
As time progressed on
Son, Ivan, went home
To be with God leaving the family
In a state of sadness and gloom.
The next several years
Other daughters were born.
They were Eloise, Ruth, Dorothy, and Alline.
The sewing machine was getting well-worn.
The family continued to grow!
There were others--
Paul, Berladean, George and Edith--
All eleven were full sisters and brothers.
Mama sewed and made
All the dresses, trousers, and shirts,
Linens, bed clothes, curtains,
Nightshirts and pettiskirts.
The Treadle Sewing Machine
Was well-used over time
And was of much value
In the days that are considered to be prime.
Yet, our memories remain!
Mama and Papa are now at rest;
And the sewing machine is now idle
And by me is possessed.
Author: Edith Bastin © Copyright: September 30, 1998. All Rights Reserved.
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