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Nellie’s
Memories
Helen “Nellie”
Matejcik Nacincik (1912-1998) was born in the town of Hermon, of
an immigrant family from Austria-Hungary who came to the area
because of the work in the mines.
The family later moved to Talcville, Town of Edwards, for
the work in the talc mine in that community.
She was the second
oldest child of the seven children of John and Mary Krsak Matejcik.
Although she did not have the opportunity for a high school
education, apparently,
the desire for it was always in the back of her mind, and when in
her seventies, she took classes for a GED diploma near her home in
Michigan.
While attending
these classes, her natural talent for story telling, using events
from her life, came to the surface, and the following stories are
her thoughts as she relates growing up in a small mining town in
Northern New York, beginning with the difficulties encountered
because of the inability to speak English.
Permission was received from her daughter, Peggy Nacincik
Pierpont, to allow the adding of these marvelous memories to the
Edwards History Center Internet site for all to enjoy and be
enlightened of an age gone by.
Early
School Years
I started school in a two room building in a small mining
town in upstate New York. One
room had first to fourth grade and the other fifth to eighth
grade. The building
had two sets of steps, or stairs, on either end and entered a
hall, which had hooks on one side to hang up our coats. At the end of the hall was a table with a pail of water for
drinking purposes. The
privy was outside, with two separate entrances.
Since my sister nor I could speak English at the time, we
had to put up with a lot of ridicule and tormenting jeers from the
other children. However,
we had an understanding teacher and she pantomimed programs that
enabled us to learn English and before too long we were accepted
by the other pupils. There
must have been about fifty little desks and the teachers really
put themselves out to teach us.
Of the early games, I remember tag and relay races.
We also played “Annie, Annie, Over”, throwing the ball
over a roof and someone catching it on the other side.
We had three high swings and seesaws for the younger ones.
Being such a small village, we didn’t have any clubs.
We didn’t even have a movie house and only a small
country store, and if the owner of the store didn’t have the
merchandise wanted, he would order it for you from Sears or the
Montgomery Ward catalog.
The only contests we’d have in school were to see who had
the best written paper or report card.
With the best report, the winner would have every Friday
afternoon off until the next monthly test.
I think we all tried for that.
We weren’t into fashion in the 1920’s.
As long as we had clean clothes and bodies and made a neat
appearance and were well behaved, our teachers were satisfied.
A
Day From the Past – Berry Picking
Between the ages of ten to eighteen, my brothers and I and
my younger sister, Anna, spent the berry picking season doing just
that, picking blueberries and blackberries.
My older sister, Mary, generally stayed home with our baby
sister and to make lunch for Dad and the boarders.
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My three younger brothers, and they were all younger than I,
and a younger sister, Anna, and Mom and a neighbor and her
two older children would start in the morning.
Dad would drive us as far as the meadow that was
about half a mile away from the trail that would take us to
the ridges where we picked the berries.
The meadow usually had high grass and my little sister had
to be carried sometimes because the grass would be wet with
dew and we’d all be wet up and over our knees before
we’d get to the ridges, shivering and cold, the younger
ones crying often. However, the sun would soon warm us up.
Mom would prepare hard-boiled eggs and bread and cheese,
pickles and sometimes fruit for our lunches.
We drank the lake water with our meal.
Mom would wrap the eggs, bread, and cheese in a cloth
square and tie it around me, as we had a lot of walking to
do – sometimes seven or eight ridges to find the berries. |
The Matejcik Family around
1928 or 1929. Front, left to right: Anna &
Pauline. Second row: Paul, John & Peter.
Back row: Mother Mary, Father John & Nellie.
Oldest daughter Mary took this picture. She was
married and living in Edwards at this point. |
My brother, Paul, and I carried bushel baskets on our
shoulders and Mom carried the pails and small pots ‘til we got
to the berrying spots and then we’d pick the berries into the
small pails and pots and empty them into the bushel baskets.
Each basket held thirty-two quarts and we had a twelve
quart pail that Mom carried and smaller pails that my brother,
Peter, carried. John
and Anna were too small to carry anything on the trail going home. When the berries were plentiful, we would get the baskets and
pails filled early and get started for home early, nevertheless,
we were happy to see Dad either coming to the ridges to meet us or
waiting for us at the meadow.
At seven o’clock every night the train would stop by our
house and the engineer and fireman would drop off two milk cans,
which would hold fifty quarts each and on the return trip pick up
whatever berries we had picked.
Most days we had picked about eighty quarts, which was very
good for the children and Mom.
At the end of the day we had a treat – an ice cream cone.
All in all, a pleasant day, as I recall. I guess at that young age we didn’t mind the cold and wet
and later the hot sun, but it is nice to think so far back and
remember how it was. Thanks
for the memories of yesteryear.
A
Box Social
A Box Social gets its name from what it implies.
A social get-together and a box – a place to put the eats
or goodies in, an ordinary paper box, or container, decorated for
that purpose. Generally
a country house, or a farmhouse, and a fiddler in the community
were the necessities.
The lady would prepare the box of food, generally
sandwiches, cake, or fruit dessert and make a pretty package with
ribbons and bows and sometimes a cigar on it and then hope that
her boyfriend would bid on it.
The box would be placed on the table as the ladies came in. After most of the guests were in, the dancing would begin as
soon as the fiddlers came in.
Most of the dances were square dances, tho there were
waltzes and foxtrots, too.
During intermission the auctioneer would announce the time
to auction the food boxes and the fun would begin.
The bids began at $1.00 and some went as high as $20.00.
Once my brother bought my box for $6.00. That was a laugh because his girlfriend had given me the
paper and ribbon to decorate my box.
He thought it was hers.
Whoever bought the box had to eat with whose box it was.
His girlfriend’s box was bought by my other brother, so
he had her with him anyway. We
all had fun together.
We had the Socials for quite a while once a month at
different residences and I don’t know when or why they were
discontinued. They
were fun while they lasted.
The Box Socials were an entertainment not only for
teenagers, but also for older people and grandmas and grandpas,
who really whooped it up when a group of the oldies got together.
The oldies knew the old songs and most of the barn dances.
It was more fun watching them than participating in the
dances. Everyone knew
each other and it was their way to show their appreciation at
being one of the crowd. It
was fun that was really enjoyed.
The Matejcik family at
Pauline's wedding in 1948. Left to right: Mary Brown,
Paul, Anna Hurley, Peter, Mother Mary, John, Pauline
Jasinski & Nellie Nacincik. Father John had passed
away by this time. |
Mrs. Nacincik wrote a number of other
memories of growing up in Edwards, New York in a time when
life was much different.
Her happy marriage was arranged between the two
fathers when she was born, -
and where but in Talcville, would the train frequently stop
and shoo her pet cat off the track rather than hurt the
animal. Read
more of her stories at the Edwards History Center when
visiting our community.
October 1999 |
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