By Janalene Oakes (nee Perry)
Our family lived in South Boston, Massachusetts during WWII in an FHA housing project at 1262 Columbia Road, Apt. 775, on the 3rd floor—which was the top floor.
My paternal grandmother, Irene Perry, lived in Winthrop–a suburb of Boston—in a large 3 story house on Pleasant Street. The lower 2 floors were the grandparent’s residence with my Uncle Stewart and Aunt Alice living on the top floor. Grandfather, Newell Perry, was rarely home. He was an engineer on the Great Lakes.
Sundays we went to church at the Church of the New Jerusalem on Bowdoin Street in the city. Most Sundays it was my mother, brother, and I that took the bus to church. There was a large seat in the front of the bus beside the driver. Austin and I were happy when the seat was not occupied when we got on—and we got to sit there,
I vaguely remember the church not being freestanding and quite narrow. Double doors opened on a small foyer with stairs to the sanctuary on the left and stairs to the basement on the right. The sanctuary was fairly good sized with long cushioned pews.
Antony Regamy was the pastor back then. At a point not too far in to the service was an indication somewhere, somehow for the children to go downstairs for class.
I don’t recall how the classes were divided, but remember a woman, Mrs. Graves, that was there some Sundays with her marionettes. She worked the strings expertly. The children were entranced. The stories had a moral lesson to tell. The marionettes were a special treat.
One teacher, Betty Atwood (whom my cousin Jim, married some years later) had the children looking forward to her stories of the weasel and the “quillie—the “quillie” being a porcupine. Chapters of the story were told each Sunday-also with a moral content and made up as she went along. The children looked forward to the chapter of “The weasel and the “quillie” each week.
Occasionally, my father attended church, which thrilled his mother. Only when my father was with us could we spend some time in the city after church. The Boston Commons had the swan boats we could ride, and back then people could feed the pigeons. Once in a while we would go to a movie called the “Laff Movie” it featured many cartoons as well as some short children’s movies—like ‘The Little Rascals” or “Laurel and Hardy”. Grandma Perry strongly objected to movies on a Sunday.
Some Sundays we went to Grandma Perry’s for Sunday dinner. Her favorite meal was roast lamb with mint jelly along with peas and mashed potatoes.
Fond memories!
About the photograph: circa 1948-1952
All in the picture have the last name Perry.
Back row L-R: Uncle Stewart & Aunt Alice, My mother Violet, Aunt Shirley and Uncle Newell.
Front row L-R: Cousin Jim, Grandmother Irene, Janalene, Brother Austin, Cousin “Skip”
