Life in the Forties

 

This was my second home away from home back in the 40's.

In the bottom apartment lived an old grouch and her husband.
We called her Mrs. McGlothern, and  he was MAC. Only the roles were reversed. They did not make noise.  I called her Mrs. McGrouch when she wasn't within earshot. Mac always carried a bottle of wine around in his pocket. They were very quiet, and since they were the owners and proprietors, they set the rules. Mary and Andy lived on the second floor, and they loved music, the louder the better. The Angels, known as Yours truly and husband lived on the top floor. Angels always rise to the top.  Nine PM was bedtime for everyone in the building, bar none. We could also take two baths a week. That's right, two of um!
When nine o'clock came the music didn't die down, and the broom on the first floor came out and the ceiling took a beating. Mac was assigned the broom job, and he enjoyed it. It was the only noise he was allowed to make. The next morning Mrs McGrouch would go stomping up the stairs and bang on Mary and Andy's door, and threaten an eviction notice, but it never became an actuality. Two or three nights later the scene would play over again. Another couple, Herb and Lorraine, lived there. We became life long friends with both couples, and had many fun times together. We all shared the same bathroom, and the same community sink in the hall way, and the same icebox, and I do mean ice box. It was also in the hallway. The iceman came two or three times a week to put a new block of ice in it. We each had a turn of emptying the water pan that caught the water from the ice. We also had a milkman that delivered milk. It was left on the front porch, and each neighbor would pick out what he had ordered. I believe I am the only survivor of that group.