Mohawk History Center

I have more of the reminiscence article. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do.
Winter was all a part of living in “upstate New York” Only the sidewalks were plowed and there were no horseless carriages. Most everyone walked and if you had to leave the village you used a trolley that received its power from overhead wires.
Two horse-drawn V-plows cleared the snow from the sidewalks. Adney Shaul plowed half of the village sidewalks with one of his horses and Walt Brownrigg plowed the other half with his horse.
Winter had good and bad sides. Bobsledding had no restrictions, and you could slide down Shoemaker or Putts Hill to Columbia Street and into the cemetery. During the day we had to watch for freight trains on Columbia Street. You might see the occasional team and sleigh delivering coal.
The rural mail was delivered by a mailman who used a horse to pull a sulky or a light sleigh. While the average family did not have a telephone the mail was the main source of communication. Most of the mail was first class and it cost $.03 for the average letter. Postcards, as they were called, could be mailed for a penny. On one positive note, there was no advertising in our mail.
The horse population was phased out prior to World War II. Most farmers had tractors but some, such as Ray Shaver kept a team to help move the manure to the meadows when the snow was deep. Mr. Shaul also had a dump wagon that he used for picking up garbage, ashes, and junk. He would drive his team and wagon to the village dump at the bottom of New York Street where he would dump the load by winding the bottom of the wagon open. An old fellow had a shack at the dump and after Mr. Shaull left, he would check the load for anything of value.
One farmer, after having one too many at the hotel bar, started their team toward home, crawled under a blanket or several feed bags and woke up later in their own backyard.
Mr. Peplinski of Warren Road was one of the last farmers to drive a buggy. He and Mrs. Peplinski would come to town to do their shopping once a month driving the one-horse buggy with the fringe on top.
During the 1920s and early 40s most of the heavy work was done by horses. Millard Johnson and his brother John bought their farm from Marvin Kittle. This land had its beginning at Columbia St. and ran up behind what is now Hillview Dr. The farm also included the elementary property and everything between Marmet and Fulmer Streets.
I can remember some of the merchants who sold their goods from wagons on the street. We had a bread man, a milkman, a junk man and a fellow who sold vegetables. There were no women (except one).
Our ice man from “Wood and Little” delivered ice twice a week. He had a large white horse and a high wagon. The ice was covered with a heavy canvas. The customer had a four-cornered sign to hang in the window telling the ice man how much ice she needed. Once the ice man started for the house with the ice on his shoulder the kids would hop on the back of the wagon and grab handfuls of ice chips. The iceman generally collected on Fridays and was known to stop at the local saloon for a repast. So, on Friday the ice man’s wife would ride shotgun to keep the old fellow from giving into temptation. As I look back, I have to wonder how he ever got so much woman in that seat on that high wagon.
The food that was purchased in a grocery came in a can, paper bag cardboard box or tub-like container. Peanut butter, lard and hamburger were all sold out of such a container. Many families grew their own potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips and onions. These items were then stored in the dark area of the cellar. After the first of the year, we had to remove the sprouts from the potatoes that we were going to eat. Some smoked meats were buried in piles of sand. The women would can vegetables, fruits and meats in the summer and fall for use in the winter.
The only refrigeration was called an “ice box.” We had to keep a pan under our ice box to catch the water as the ice melted. It was usually my job to dump the pan at least once daily. You could purchase cakes of ice in 25, 50, or 100 pounds.
We lived near a farm owned by J. Millard Johnson and could go there daily for our milk. The milk was raw and cost $.09 a quart. If milk was delivered it cost $.11 a quart. This was before pasteurization. If the milk bottle was left on the porch in cold weather, the cream on too would push the cap out of the bottle.
In 1928 before the Depression, Dad was working at the Re*****on Arms in Ilion. Every Friday morning, I would leave Mom’s grocery list at the A&P on Main Street where the furniture store is now located. During the day the clerks at the A&P would make up the order and have it ready when Dad got off the trolley. I would meet him at the store with a cart and he would pay the clerk $5.00 for the week’s groceries. I would never forget the aroma of coffee in the A&P.

I recently received some color photos from a friend here in Mohawk. They are pictures of the Duofold Fire. This fire was fought in June of 2000. Duofold, underwear, ski, and sportswear manufacturers organized in 1906 in the old warehouse building on Canal Street. Many inhabitants of the valley worked there.