Watching Movie Matinees, Making Wine, and Creating Memories

Mother’s Summer Trips

                My mother, Bernyce Smith Gates, spent a month for two of her childhood summers in 1932 and 1933, with her most-doting aunt and uncle, Emma and Bill Buckley. (To view a childhood photo of Emma see the posting, Alice Rainey – The Valentine Baby posted on February 9, 2014. To learn more about Bill, see the blog posting, The Theater Manager Who Married a Rainey Girl posted on March 22, 2015.) They had no children, and Mother had no siblings. My father has always described my mother  as “quiet.” She sounded like the perfect child to have for a month, especially if the couple was unaccustomed to having a child in the house.

My mother about eight
years of age.

                     Since her uncle managed the theater in Vinita, Oklahoma, Mother was treated to one or two of the latest “talkies” each summer.  With Mother’s musical talent, it is understandable that the most memorable ones  were “Follies-type” extravaganzas – lots of singing and dancing. The beautiful costuming and sets captured her attention even though they had been produced only in black and white.

                Uncle Bill set up a reward system for little Bernyce. She had certain chores to do during the week. She earned a brand, new pair of shoes each summer. What a big deal for a little girl living during the Great Depression!

                Her aunt and uncle lived in one of the more progressive areas of the town. Mother recalls playing with a little girl and her brother  whose parents were doctors at Eastern Oklahoma Mental Hospital.

                Mother’s eyes popped when she accompanied Mrs. Edith Lane and her daughter, Gertrude, on a shopping trip to Tulsa. Gertrude had graduated from high school and was selecting clothes for her first year of college. My mother, as a  little girl, had most of her clothes made by her mother, so was shocked that people paid that much for clothes. Mother admired Gertrude for her statuesque beauty and stylish clothes. The Lane family was friends with Bill and Emma Buckley. Walter Lane would serve Vinita as mayor in the late 1950s.

Portrait of  Gertrude Lane
 in the early 1930s.

Gertrude Lane, the willowy
neighbor of the Buckleys.

               Uncle Bill and Aunt Emma drank a glass of wine with their evening meal. This was unheard of for Mother. She didn’t know that alcohol was prohibited so was delighted to “stomp” the grapes for her aunt and uncle. Mother recalls Aunt Emma carefully washing her feet prior to Mother stepping into the large, wooden barrel to "process" the grapes that they had grown in their yard. I’m not sure when Grandma learned of Mother’s summer activity!

                Mother recalls her time being filled with fun and enjoyment. How amazing that a little girl who had not left the Bend without her parents could have such a pleasurable month with her aunt and uncle and never experience one moment of loneliness and homesickness! Special experiences like these made my mother's life rich and full and created unforgettable memories.