Esther Feldman Icikson - October 23 & 29, November 5 & 12, 2001
Recreation
Do you still knit?
No, I know how to. So she, she taught me how to knit. And everybody would sit and knit because the soldiers needed socks. So I knew that there is a great need. But you know, I was a kid...
Yeah.
I, all I wanted to do is, is find something to eat and play with somebody uh, you know uh.
Were there other children to play with?
Yes, there were children in that family. We would, there was a big yard and in the middle there was a--like a stove when you cooked outside with, with straw, you know uh, that, that grow. There was lots of prairies there. So you go out and you cut the, the straw, you use it as fuel too. It...
Belonged with the...
Yes.
...cow chips.
The cow chips, yes. And you also um, what you do is when, when the cows make their poop, you use the fresh one to polish the floor because the floor is a dirt floor and it's dusty. And you take--you pick this up and you mix...
So this keeps...
Yeah. You mix it with a little water and you polish the floor. It's, it's kind of pretty actually, it's smooth and it shines kind of and it--you open the window and airs out and the floor is nice.
I see. And the smell? Did it bother...
It, it, it uh, evaporates, yes. But this is how we kept the floor. My mom was very neat woman, so everything had to be very neat and clean. And that was one way of keeping the dust down. 'Cause uh, dirt floor is dusty and this was one way to keep the floor.
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