Up the rickety steps we went, with just enough room to squeeze by. A single dim lightbulb lit our way as we avoided the cobwebs. Once we got to the top of the stairs, light from the two end windows, one bare lightbulb, and a string of Christmas lights showed us what was ahead for us. Jim Promo and Lynn Sutton accompanied by a postal clerk, rolled up their sleeves and got to work. This was the attic of the Omena Post Office, this is what is behind that upstairs window we have been wondering about. We needed to clear it out so work could begin to tighten it up.
Previous post masters with a lot of Christmas spirt had left behind the twinkle lights, and also a huge collection of old Christmas Cards. I think it was Mark Frank as he decorated the lobby of the Post Office for the season during his time as Postmaster.
Over in a dark corner of the attic sat an old typewriter. The postal worker spotted it first and pulled off the cover…. then let out a screech! Inside the recessed top of the old Underwood typewriter where the keys were, was an elaborate, tightly packed nest of shredded cardboard. Lying peacefully atop it was a dead mouse. Disposing of the dead mouse, Jim and I tried to unpack the nesting material, but it was so highly packed the keys did not work…and for some reason the keys were all black so you could not see what the letters were before you pushed down the keys. We put it in the “to go” pile.
Empty Boxes
Many of the boxes were empty, saved for some future mailing I suppose. We threw them on the “to go” pile. But then…. a box of treasures. A yearbook from the Alma Class of 1913. The professors in their stiff high collars, the women with “birds Nest “hair dos. Piano music, “Fifty Studies for the Pianoforte,” and another for Pianoforte entitled “A Den Furling” which translates “To Spring” by Edward Grieg from 1902. And a book of music for a glee club: “Humorous Quartets and Encores Number 1” features a song entitled “The Story of a Tack” which reads, ” There was a boy, there was a tack, there was a teacher new…” You can see where this is going, right?
There is an old term paper by an unknown student, entitled “Forest Conservation.” This student surely grew up to be one of the founders of the Omena Woods Association, for he states with such sincerity, “The beauty of our country lies wholly within our forests. There is not one citizen of our beloved nation who would desire our country to become a vast and open plain. No!”
7 week John Powers Course
Then another find, this one for the ladies of 1943: a seven week-seven days a week course in the John Powers technique which claims to teach a young woman “the essentials of presenting herself to the best advantage, so that without affectation she can be poised, lovely, and give a good impression.”
It starts out with the essentials of good grooming.
Make sure you are:
- You are wearing a good girdle.
- You are wearing clean whole stockings, with straight seams, etc.
- and ends up promising the reader she will have a “General ‘out of the bandbox appearance.”
It goes on to instruct the reader on how to dress, diet, and exercise and by the 48th day, it has these words of encouragement:
“In a very real way, this Home Course should provide for you a plan for living as you approximate the ideals of your heart’s desire. You will gradually diminish such functions as your exercise and your special diet regime.” Thank goodness! For on this day alone you are expected to concentrate on “Your Style.” “Your wardrobe, suitable for your work, your living, your enjoyment” and study the next section which is entitled “Your Clothes Color Chart.”
But that is not all…next you are asked to do exercises 1-5-6-31-32-35 and of course your special exercises. Do all of these exercises for a full hour.” Whew!
And Section Two is working on how to improve the quality of your voice. And then there is a whole section of how to move your hands gracefully. It is exhausting just reading it!
My favorite is the exercise called “Bouncing on Buttocks…. One, Two, Three, four—fast” it says. Then it goes on to say, “This gets you a little out of breath, but keep bouncing. Do not bounce in the center of your spine, only on the upholstered part of each hip. Do 12 or more times.”
It was not easy being a young woman in 1943! No wonder this ended up in the attic of the Post office.
