My Dad, Emil Kline, was born on the homestead in 1912. They'd been on the homestead for seven years but he often said he missed it. He wished he had been old enough to be a pioneer like his Dad or grandparents.
However my Dad always said he had a good childhood. He had two older brothers who worked on the farm so Dad had more time to play with younger siblings. He also helped his mother in the yard. He carried water by pail to her garden. He looked after chickens, weeded the garden and brought wood into the house.
The one room country school was on their farm and only about 400 m from their house. Dad liked school and considered himself a good speller. For some years he was paid 15 cents a day to light the fire and have the school warm by the time kids got there. His sister was paid 10 cents a day to sweep the floor.
The economy was good in the 1920's and many of the pioneer's children pursued higher education and left the farm. Dad was in gr.10 in 1928-29. He boarded with a farm family who lived right beside the town. He did farm chores in exchange for his board and room. Apparently most of his gr 10 consisted of playing pool. As a result he did not do well in Gr. 10. We all know that the depression began in 1929 so that was the end of his education.
He worked on a farm for the summer and fall of 1929. He didn't want to go home and stay on the farm with his parents so he took a train to Grand Prairie Alberta and lived with an uncle and his cousins. His uncle had a small sawmill so they sawed lumber and brought in more trees to saw up. In the spring of 1930 Dad knew he had to move on as his uncle had enough kids to look after. . He asked his uncle for money and the uncle pointed to a pile of lumber and said that's your pay. The uncle couldn't sell lumber so how would a 17 year old kid sell lumber so Dad moved on.
Sometime during this time he decided to change the spelling of his name. More on the spelling later.
His next move was to the Okanagan in British Columbia. He had two sisters in the area and an uncle. He picked up work where ever he could. He worked on a dairy farm, picked apples, cut timber, and worked in a saw mill. When He didn't have work he had to be creative to find a place to live. For a while he lived in a wooden granary on someone's farm yard.
Dad said he was happy through this period of his life as he said none of them had money so they were all the same.
It was kind of cruel of his uncle. After all - you can't put piles of timber in your wallet. Looking forward to learning why Klein changed to Kline. Perhaps it had something to do with the rise of Nazism in Germany.
ReplyDeletethe depression was cruel to everyone. There just wasn't any money.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your Dad's story. It is nice to have the history of your family written down. Take care, have a great day!
Dad told his stories over and over and I listened. He would be telling them to adults who visited .
DeleteI hope that these accounts are also being printed or at least stored together in a document or something like that.
ReplyDeleteAt this point thee is no plan to make a paper copy. They are backed up.
DeleteI envy all your knowledge of your family. My father was a silent type and did not share much.
ReplyDeleteI listened while Dad was talking to his friends.
DeleteYour dad was a hard worker who did what he had to do to survive. The years of the Depression had to be challenging years for him just like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteAs a young guy he liked physical labor. It's a good thing as physical labor was all there was.
DeleteSo interesting, we take a lot for granted these days.
ReplyDeleteThe quiz answer is 10 by the way. You have to multiply (1 x 7) first then add 2 + 1 + 7. Thanks for trying.
they had no option but to work when they could and be satisfied.
DeleteSuch an interesting history of your dad's younger days. Looking forward to how his life unfolded after the depression.
ReplyDeleteHave you made a prediction yet?
DeleteDid you ever consider having your blog post made into a book? It would be a shame to lose this information.
ReplyDeleteI haven't really considered making the blog into book. I am making my kids aware of it. They are also reading it.
DeleteInteresting to see a couple of comments have suggested printing up your story into a book. Actually, what you are doing here with the blog is a book stored in the cloud. Unless you delete the blog it should be here as long as Blogger exists and that is probably going to be a long time. Also, being here on the internet your descendents can access it easily. Of course printing a book would be cool and a neat item to pass down in the family. Either way, you're doing a nice job telling the Kline story.
DeleteYou know so many details of your father's life! Did he write a journal or just share his stories aloud? Someone wrote this all down for you to remember, right? Or do you just have a good memory for all of his stories?
ReplyDeleteIt's really wonderful to read! Thanks, Red.
He would tell about his life to any visitor. I would listen. I listened to his stories many time.
DeleteFascinating family history. I wish I knew more about my own family's early days, but everyone who might know it has passed.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many people repeated things as much as my Dad repeated stuff.
DeleteWhat an interesting life your Dad lived. Back in those days people did tend to start out on their own much earlier in life. Your Dad said something that is very familiar to me. My Mother used to say that when she was young she was happy although poor because everyone was poor and in the same boat. It was just life at that time period and all they knew.
ReplyDeleteYes, he said the same thing many times. They actually considered themselves somewhat fortunate.
DeleteI can't tell you how I enjoy reading the bits of history you are posting.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I find it interesting that people like this history.
DeleteSurvival without money was a real skill during those hard times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by.
ReplyDeleteYou've got that right. Dad always said if you were on the farm you always had something to eat but no money.
ReplyDeleteAmazing stories you tell. It's important to remember.
ReplyDeleteOne of my grandfathers was born in 1912 and the other in 1907. During the depression one of them made sweets to sell at the houses of rich people, he also worked in saw mills and lost seven toes in an accident.
ReplyDeleteMy mums family (or maybe it's just mum) have a much stronger tradition of oral history than Dad's side, I don't know so much about his
Fascinating and interesting too. So many families (mine included) were changed for ever one way or another by the slump.
ReplyDeleteI imagine there was a spirit of togetherness, with everyone facing the same struggles. It's a good thing he had a lot of family in different locations and could move around!
ReplyDeleteIt was a rough time.
ReplyDeleteOh it is so great that you share his story!!
ReplyDeleteYou are fortunate that you dad shared his memories with you over the years. I bet your children are enjoying these family history posts you are writing.
ReplyDelete