Wanderers, Chapter Two by GJ

The peak of our wandering was probably 1949 (when I entered U of I) to 1961, when we moved to the Chicago suburb of Deerfield. We moved 15 times in those 12 years, or an average of every 9.6 months!

The first of four was from Elgin to Philo, a tiny burg just outside of Urbana, while attending the university. (Three years.) Each was because of a rarity in U. S. housing history. Returning GI’s were buying homes for the first time and builders were jumping on bandwagon. Places were vacant, but rented quickly. Thus, one often had to settle for extremely temporary quarters.

Moving to Champaign-Urbana meant taking something just until regular veteran’s housing opened up. With Jean and nine-month-old Donna, we were eligible for a two-bedroom apartment in an 8-unit “barracks-like” building. (Two-floors, four per floor.) BUT…there were no vacancies before registration, so we had to take a room (with bath and kitchen “privileges”) in Philo. We stayed upstairs in a farmhouse for about one month.

Next, we were notified that there was a vacancy in vet’s housing, so we moved into a very small, one-bedroom prefab unit with a coal stove. We lived there for about four months when a two-bedroom unit opened in the 8-unit building described above. It was now spring, and a lot of veterans had graduated (1950) and Nancy was on the way.

Finally, in 1951 a three-bedroom duplex became vacant, and we couldn’t believe how spacious it seemed. It was located right across the street from Memorial Stadium, the U. of I. football field. The huge grounds encircling the stadium gave us a view of manicured lawn, a wide boulevard, and space all around. We were to enjoy this luxury for almost two years.

We would then move to Clinton and Maroa, Illinois, about 30 miles west of Champaign, where I would enter my first year of teaching. In those next 11 or 12 months, we would move (1) to Clinton, (2) to a house in the country, (3) to a funny little prefab in Maroa, and (4) from there to an apartment in Rock Island, about 125 miles away.

These months were stressful for a number of reasons which I won’t go into. We were “talked into” the first move (from Clinton,) we couldn’t afford the heating bill in the second (because the registers were in the cement floor,) and I resigned from Maroa High School in June. Thus, we had to move north and for our fourth time. Starting from scratch in early 1948, we had now moved eleven times in five years!

Some of these moves were due to the times and beyond our control. Some were due to our limited finances, and some to our naivety. Looking back, we sure learned (1) to pack, (2) to unpack swiftly, (3) to take down and put up curtains, and (4) to store stuff in new, unfamiliar places.


PART II....................


That first move (to Clinton) took us to a large house that was, at one time, a funeral home! We didn’t know this until we had been there a while. Before that, it had been a small mansion! There were huge ceiling-beams in what had been the dining room, there was a study with wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, glass-door bookshelves, and the pantry was big enough for our daughters’ bedroom! (They were only four and two, and all their belongings fit in the built-in drawers, leaving room for one small bed and a crib.)

After three or four months, somebody at church persuaded us to move into their empty farmhouse. We didn’t know how to say no, but the rent was somewhat less. It wasn’t long before we got our first heating bill (electric) and discovered that it was prohibitive! The heating coils were buried in the cement floors and caused almost 24-hour heating to do any good. (We were still chilly!)

We were on month-by-month basis, so we gave notice and moved to a funny, octagonal pre-fab quite near the high school. It was very reasonable, and required no travel to work. By this time, I was also driving a school bus for almost the same salary as teaching!

You would not believe the reason why I resigned that summer, and I may or may not find the right words to explain it. Suffice it to say that I worked briefly as a radio station announcer that summer and got fired! A junior high school principal drove down (about 125 miles) to interview me and gave me a contract on the spot to move up to Moline, Illinois for the up-coming school year. I would be teaching 7th grade creative dramatics (elective) eighth grade public speaking (required) and 9th grade drama (elective.) Plus, I was to direct a play.

The only thing the principal neglected to tell me was the class schedule. I was to teach five classes of 7th that met twice a week, five classes of 8th that met five times a week, and five classes of 9th that met three times a week! Yes, that’s 15 classes of almost 30 per class which means almost 450 different students! I used to have to open my drawer and look at the schedule after every class in order to determine which class came next! The only students I ever got to know were those who rehearsed the play after school!

We started the year in a dingy apartment after a serious search and quickly moved into the upstairs of a private home in Moline. After a year there (and resigning from the junior high school) we moved across the Mississippi to Bettendorf, Iowa where I would teach for three years, 1954 to 1957. We rented a neat little cottage for two years and then bought the house across the street for about $9,000 as I recall.

From the beginning in 1948, it is now summer of 1958 and we have moved
15 times in 10 years. (Statistically, it is getting close to every six months!)

Wanderers, chapter three yet to come.