The Geers did not have a television set, and never got one as long as they lived there, until Adam Geer died in the 1970s. Adam and Esther Geer were my sister Joanne’s godparents. They were an older couple who had no children of their own. Adam had been disabled after being subjected to poisonous gas in France during World War I. He worked with science experiments and collected precious rocks and gems. When he passed away, Esther gave his collection to the New York State Museum in Albany. Esther worked first in one of the textile mills in Utica, and then when the mill closed and moved to the southern part of the United States, she worked at a bank. Adam drove her to and from work every day, and they went to the large, oldest Catholic Church in the city, St. John’s downtown. They had no electricity lines running to their house. They used a generator to bring electricity to the home. As I mentioned, they had no television but they did have radio. Their house was built like a stone French farmhouse which Adam had seen and fallen in love with in France during the war. It had a large, wrap-around porch, a certain front door and two large main rooms on the first floor. One was used as a living room. It was a huge room, with two sofas and several chairs. It was heated by a large fireplace decorated with fleur-de-lies. The other large room was a formal dining room with french doors that opened onto the wrap-around porch. It, too, had a large fireplace for heat.
Off the dining room was the Geers bedroom and a bathroom. The other rooms on the first floor were a kitchen with a wooden-burning stove (very old-fashioned) and a breakfast nook with benches. The second flood was devoted entirely for Adam’s rock collection and science experiments. We used to visit it often. It was light and airy, a very pleasant large room. When we young, Adam would pretend with us that we were soldiers in his army. He, of course, was the general, Patrick was the sargeant (because he was a boy--Adam was a bit of a chauvinist), I was a corporal, and Joanne was a private. We went to walks in the woods and learned a lot about the woods from Adam.
When we went to visit at their house, Esther always gave us a small glass of Pepsi-Cola and Ritz crackers or graham crackers. Her Christmas present to Adam each year was always some sort of wind up toy that clapped or turned flipped. Their Christmas tree fascinated me. The lights were electric but filled with oil and when the oil heated it bubbled in its container. They were beautiful. They also had beautiful glass ornament. They gave us our Christmas gifts on Christmas night, when we went to visit them with one of our toys while our parents chatted with them, and after we had watched Adam’s collection of toys and the newest one. We went to visit after our dinner at our grandparents’ house and after we had driven to look at the Christmas lights around the city.
We also went to visit the Heilmanns. Usually Herman worked at night at the Utica Club Brewery, the beer brewery in town. He had come to the United States with his borther Gusaf and his wife Afrieda after World War II and had a very strong accent. Levina was American but learned to cook delicious German food and was an exceptional baker. Whenever we went to visit, she had a large selection of amazing baked goods--cookies, cakes, torts. They also grew raspberries on several trellises in their side yard. Another thing I remember was that they collected rainwater in a huge barrel in their back yard; this water was used for their laundry and for hair-washing because it was soft water. Our natural water from our wells was quite hard, with many minerals, which made cleaning and washing clothes difficult. It was not quite as bad as San Antonio’s water, but it wasn’t good. The city water was better, but it didn’t run lines as far as our homes
The Heilmanns collected Hummel figurines from Germany and also Dresden lady figures with lace dresses. They had many collectibles from Germany and also brought back more when they went to visit Herman’s family. And they always brought us gifts from Germany, too. Herman was from the Black Forest area of Germany, Baden-Baden, the same area as my grandmother’s father and his parents. One year, I received a baby in a wicker baby carriage and one year Levina brought me a doll dressed in traditional Black Forest dress, which was a dirndl dress and a straw hat with two large red balls on top. I don’t remember my siblings gifts.
Their Christmas tree, too, was beautiful. It was decorated with exquisite German glass ornaments and twinkling lights. Their collection of Hummels was magnificent, and their furniture was absolutely beautiful. I’m not sure if they had a television set. They, too, were childless, so they and the Geers tended to spoil the three of us and their nieces and nephews.
We were not exactly “party animals” in my family when it came to New Year’s Eve. I always wanted to stay up and “see the New Year come in,” but it was oh, so hard to stay awake until Midnight to watch the crystal ball drop from the high tower in Times Square in New York City on the television. That was usually the only celebration that was shown on television at that time. Now there are all sorts of celebrations shown on television, Dave Clark has had a “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve,” and there are numerous other celebration shown on many other channels.
Back when I was growing up, there were only three televisions channels: NBC, CBS, and the newest was ABC. All three covered the crystal ball dropping from radio tower in Times Square in New York City. Since we lived in New York State, the ball drop was in “real time.” Here in Texas now, the New Year is celebrated at midnight East Coast time, but it is only 11 p.m. here in Texas, so we have to celebrate and then wait another hour to celebrate again.
My mother usually fixed special hamburgers and small hot dogs in barbecue sauce for their New Year’s Eve party. Levina always brought a cake, and Adam and Esther brought some sort of alcoholic beverage for “high balls.” They watched the crystal ball drop, shouted “Happy New Year,” and there were kisses all around. We often watched the festivities from the stairs leading to the second floor. This tradition continued into the 1970s. So that was the exciting New Year’s Eve in our home.
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