Daily Life in Florham Park

The children were old enough to work in the garden by now. We had lovely tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, string beans, beets, carrots, onions, cabbage, and endives. We grew more than we could use. We had a large red wagon which we filled up with the fresh vegetables. Our son Tony and his sister Ann would go around the neighborhood and sell the vegetables about three times a week. The neighbors were happy to buy such fresh vegetables. Tony was a good salesman. We gave Tony half of the money. Ann got about 50 cents and I got the rest of the money. Tony saved his money until he had $18.75 and he would buy a bond. He did buy himself some goodies also. With my share I bought all new blankets. The children liked the idea of new blankets.

We also shared our garden with relatives and friends. We ate from the garden all summer and did our own canning. To save our cabbage and endives we used to dig a big hole in the ground in the early part of October. We put the cabbage and endives and carrots in the hole. Then we covered everything with leaves; lastly, we mounded earth on top. In the winter everything froze. We would go with a pick axe and make a hole through the mound of earth and pull out whatever we wanted and close the hole again. We had to pull some of the outer leaves off but the rest was all good eating.

We had our own chickens, for soup and fresh eggs, and rabbits and pigeons. My husband would kill the squabs and clean them for me. I would then stuff the birds and bake them. They were tender and good. We all had our own chores to do to take care of the animals. The children did their chores and learned to love animals. We used to call the place a miniature zoo.

The first graders and Brownies came to see the animals walk around. I would give them soda and cookies. They laughed and enjoyed looking at the animals. Their teacher came with them also. The next day they would talk about Lupardi's miniature zoo.

Through all our efforts of hard work with the garden and animals, we had a chance to save a little money. We used the money to go on picnics or for a day at the shore. The children each got a certain amount of money to spend on the boardwalk. They would play turning the wheel. Sometimes they won and sometimes they didn't, but they always saved enough for a piece of pizza or an ice cream cone. By the time we went home they were all very tired but happy. My husband loved his family and did whatever he could for us. We all loved him in return.

Ann, the youngest, was very attached to her father. Phyl was quite a good girl; we both loved her. Carmela was in high school; her father would talk to her about many things. He would still take her to dancing school. He was very proud of her when she danced in the school programs. His friends teased him about having an actress in the family.

I never knew when my pains would come. They were in my chest and shoulders. When I got them I would call the doctor. He would give me an injection and I couldn't do much for a few days. The children helped me in many ways. Our son John would volunteer to clean the kitchen for me. He would carry out all the kitchen chairs and table and put them on the front lawn. Then he would take a brush, soap and water and scrub them clean. The sun would dry them. They smelled fresh. Then John would go back into the kitchen and scrub the kitchen floor until it looked like new. When he got finished we really had a clean kitchen.