Other than the heating and plumbing characteristics or out home mentioned above, our home at Crittenden was quite comfortable. My memories of it are tainted from a small child’s viewpoint. I remember the rooms of the house as being much larger than they appeared when my mother and I visited them a few years before she passed away in 1988. There were five bedrooms plus a hall on the second floor.
The first floor had two living rooms, a bed room, dining room, hall, kitchen and bath. A basement under the whole house provided for storage of fuel and food as well as holding the light plant and batteries for 32 volt electricity. In later years a water pump was installed to avoid pumping and carrying water by hand. None of the water was heated however. Furnishings were a rich mixture of antiques and appliances of the day. Many of the furnishings are still in our home, the homes of our children and the children’s home of my brother.
Appliances were crude by today’s standards. I recall crystal sets with earphones before we got a real radio. As I child I was a radio fan of Jack Armstrong, “All American Boy”. Amos and Andy was the evening entertainment along with Lowell Thomas for the news. I do not recall anyone having air conditioning. We did not have public utilities of any kind but quite different from our neighbors we had a 32 volt “light plant” which was used for lighting and a few alliances like an electric fan and a vacuum cleaner. I recall having an icebox that was used for refrigeration. Every few days a man delivered 50 pounds of ice on a truck and placed it in the icebox. Later in my time on the farm we had a kerosene refrigerator and finally, we obtained electricity from the REA, Rural Electrification Association.