Locomotive to the Past by George Schultz (iphone ebook reader .TXT) 📕

large! And, at the very foot, of the stairway—descending from the second floor—was located a small landing! “You could turn left,” he practically shouted, to Susan, “and go right into the kitchen! Or,” he continued—equally as enthused—“you could turn right… and go right into the living room!” It certainly didn’t get any better than that!

Upstairs, the home boasted a huge master bedroom. The other two, were larger—than either of those, on Ohio Street! By far! Mary Rose—who would be three, in close to three months—was thrilled to (at last) have her own room! Cynthia didn’t seem quite that impressed—to be in her “new and improved” single billet.

Needless to say, Christmas—of 1945—wound up being a most happy period, for the Rutkowskis! Christmas Eve was spent, with their two initial houseguests—Susan and Eric! The proverbial “good time was had by all” get-together turned out to be blessedly embellished—when an unexpected guest showed up! A really unexpected guest: Father Benjamin!

These days, the population, generally, has been (for years) disenchanted, with the various “organized” religious denominations. And the, now-pervasive, disenchantment seems to be growing. Not so—in the mid-forties!

The fact that the good pastor, immediately, strode upstairs—and blessed each of the sleeping daughters—brought actual, physically-recognizable, tears (in copious amounts) to the eyes of both Jason and Valerie.

It was also “A Three-Handkerchief Job” for Susan. (And for Eric—although he’d made an spectacularly-unsuccessful attempt, to cover up, how he’d also been moved!)

That particular holiday season seemed to “get to” the head of the new house—with particular zeal! The first three Christmas Days—spent in his new/old era—had been special! The most enjoyable—both of them—in his entire life! But, even they had paled—compared to the 1945 edition!

It had not been that long ago, he’d reflected, when he’d been a “beaten down” young man—who’d possessed “absolutely zero”, self esteem! Who’d been some kind of “schlepper”—working for peanuts, at a “stupid coffee shop”! Turning virtually all his earnings over to his overbearing mother! Working—8 and 9 and 10 hours, each day—for an out and out sub-human!

Reviled by that tyrannical mother! No longer able to enjoy the company—nor the learned counsel—of his grandparents! A man who’d been, flat-out, rejected by his abandoning father!

He’d spent his entire, highly-troubled, youth—as a young man, who’d never had any money! As in any! Ever! And who’d been convinced that he’d possessed absolutely no prospect—of ever being financially solvent! Nothing even close!

He’d been led to believe, that—for his entire life—he would’ve been lead-pipe-certain, that he was so undesirable to women, that he’d never be able to enter in, to any form of relationship! Not with any woman! Well, none above the rank, of certified “fleabag”!

And now? There he was! Here he was! Christmas! Of 1945!

In this beautiful “new” house! With the dearest of friends—who’d (by any measure) had the most influential role, in turning him around! Turning him around—completely!

Here he was! Loving—and being loved by—the “most wonderful woman… in the history of the world”! Being the “most fortunate man… in the entire universe . . . to have sired those three, beautiful, just-blest, little girls, upstairs”!

It—most assuredly—doesn’t GET any better than this!

THIRTY FIVE

THE “MONTAGE” CHAPTER

June 8, 1946: Cynthia’s second birthday. Jason has made an exhaustive search for a recording of one of Grandpa Piepczyk’s all-time favorite songs—Cynthia’s In Love. Another scratchy old record, that the old man had played from time to time. One reason that the Victor disc didn’t get played more often, in the late 20th century—was that the record was a 78rpm. And, through the years, the “quality” had gotten worse and worse. The second reason was—that the Piepczyk 78rpm phonograph was (to put it charitably) not working very well, from the early-eighties on.

Grandpa’s recording had been performed by the Tex Beneke band—with Garry Stevens, Lillian Lane, and a vocal group, doing the vocals. Jason, in 1946, had blundered upon a “nifty” Columbia rendition, by Frankie Carle’s orchestra. He’d thought that the Carle arrangement was more “enchanted”—by dint of the fact that the vocal was beautifully done, by Marjorie Hughes. She was Mr. Carle’s daughter! How apropos—when Our Hero had gotten the record for his daughter!

Valerie had been afraid that her spouse would be greatly disappointed—should a two-year-old infant not show “proper appreciation” for that particular one, of her many presents. But, Jason put her mind at ease—by assuring her that his hope was—that, “someday… when she’s older… she’ll come to treasure it”. As the girl reached her early-teens, the sincere hope came to pass. One could be certain that her love for her father factored into her “treasuring” process! (Factored in—substantially!)

May 31, 1947: Detroit’s first television station—WWJ-TV, Channel 4—signed on! The (obviously) black-and-white facility was a true pioneer. This was before the “heaven-sent” coaxial cable would be brought to life. That “blessed event” had connected the mid-west markets, to the formidable East Coast programming. The denizens of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, Indianapolis, et.al would be able to watch Howdy Doody and Texaco Star Theater—which starred Milton Berle. East Coast people, on the other hand, would be able to view such as Kukla, Fran, and Ollie.

Prior to that, Detroiters were able to chew their television cuds on local programming (mostly, it seemed, on wrestling)—with a few additional shows, from Chicago (mostly wrestling—and KF&A). In addition, there was the occasional wrestling match from Cleveland.

Jason was forever relating—to his WXXD listeners—that, on the previous night, he would have watched a panel discussion, on The Sex Life Of A Ping-Pong Ball, or a roundtable discussion, pertaining to The Mating Cry . . . Of A Wounded Zipper.

Three days, after Channel 4 appeared, the Rutkowski family went on a “TV Set” shopping expedition. There were very few outlets—for such “outlandish” appliances—in those days. After an exhausting tour, Jason and Valerie had located two stores, which handled any of those “revolutionary” sets.

It “wore down” to a choice—between an RCA Victor set (with a 7-inch screen) or a Philco (with a screen—“That was the size of a newspaper page”). The only problem—with the latter—was that the screen was located, on the