Mama Trudy, a horse and a bi-plane..

It is my goal to record some of Mama's memories while I am here with her.  I asked her what her first memory was and this is what she said:

"I can't remember how old I was, but we lived in Caddo County or Grady County, Oklahoma.  Probably Grady County, because my younger brother, Grady, was born during the time we lived in Oklahoma and I think Grady County was where they got his name.  I don't have a memory of Grady until I was about four or five years old.  I'm just trying to figure out how old I was when my first recollection occurred.  I was probably close to 3 years old when I remember Mama and me riding our grey horse to the neighbors, maybe two miles away... the Isenbergers, a German older couple, to buy some milk (probably buttermilk).  I was riding behind Mama, bareback (no saddle) when a double wing airplane flew over pretty low... low enough that I could see the pilot sitting in the plane. I was born in 1918, so the year was probably 1920 or 1921, late spring or early summer because it was warm.  Airplane occurrences were very rare and it spooked the horse and Mama and I fell off... "scared me to death" and I begin to cry.  Mama convinced me that we had to get back on the horse, so we did and proceeded to the Isenberger's house.  Now, the Isenbergers were crazy about me (.... they didn't have any children) and the next memory I have was that of me sitting on Mr. Isenberger's lap stroking his long, soft, silver beard.  Mama told me they gave me a small white milk glass cup about 4" tall, for my first birthday.    Mama saved this cup for me and I evidently used it some because there is a very small chip on the top outside edge and one on the base at the bottom. I don't know if the Isenbergers bought it brand new for me or if it was a keepsake they already had."

Here I will interject about the milk glass cup research I have done... 

"The earliest pieces of milk glass came from around the 1840s during the Victorian era. Many desirable pieces, valuable for a collector, were patterns that came from this time. Some original patterns were the Block and Fan pattern and the Button and Arches pattern. Even more rare patterns from the same period were the Holly, Stars and Stripes and the Ribbed Grape patterns. The "white milky color" of the glass came from adding ash or oxides to the clear glass while it was hot. The deeper the white color of the glass depicted, the better quality."

I believe Mama's cup is one of the original patterns, the Block and Fan pattern indicating that it came from the 1840's Victorian era. The color is also a very deep, dense white color. This cup could easily be 100 to 150 years old.

This concludes the first entry of Gertrude (Trudy) Francis Pillow DeRusha Rhodes' memoirs.