Crystal Roller Rink Sticker

Here's something totally random for you:


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I bought this a few months ago. Since then I've spoken to a couple of people who remember this place. They tell me it was on the southeast side of the intersection of Cleveland and 130; that it consisted of a big army tent hoisted up over a cement floor; and that it was once the site of the wedding of a couple who had first met there.

The back has been marked with five stamps.



I'd never heard of the "U.R.S.S.E." before and thought it sounded vaguely Communist — no, not really! Searching for it online, I found this article that explains the U.R.S.S.E. and roller-skating-sticker collecting. I have now been educated.

Sonny and Uncle Emil

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

Mildred identified these two bicyclists as "Sonny" and "Uncle Emil."

"Sonny" was Franklin Lindborg's nickname. The little boy on the back of the bicycle, harassing Sonny, is Raymond. I have reason to think both photographs date to 1923, which would make Franklin about 15 years old and Raymond about five. I don't know whose bicycle that was.

Uncle Emil was Gust Lindborg's brother, younger by two years. He had come over from Sweden in 1903, thus one year after Gust. Emil settled in Chicago, working as an electrician, and in 1915 — the same year he was naturalized — he married the 19-year-old Lydia Nelson. I can trace the couple only as far as 1930, at which time it appears they had no children.

The location of these scenes is probably near the Lindborg house in Ainsworth, perhaps on Ainsworth Road itself. I do not see any of the Lindborg buildings in the background — the photographer may have been facing south.

Moonshine

A tantalizing story, but short on details:


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From the Hobart News of Aug. 12, 1920.

"About four miles southwest of Hobart" would be roughly northeast of Merrillville, but that's too vague a description for me to start speculating about exactly where these "foreigners" were committing their evil deeds. And there was no follow-up to this story (that I've seen), so maybe it never actually happened.

Also, paving continues in Hobart.

Mickey and Edna

From Mildred Lindborg's photo album.


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Image courtesy of N.B.

I have just spent an awful lot of time trying to figure out the Kimball family, and I would not be able to justify it except that history records two occasions on which William and Elma Kimball set foot on the sacred soil of Ainsworth — in August 1911, "Mrs. Wm. Kimball of Hegewisch visited Mr. and Mrs. Gust Lindborg," and a couple weeks later, "Wm. Kimball of Hegewisch spent Sunday with Gust Lindborg." So there.

Here's what I've gathered so far: Gust Lindborg had a younger sister, Elma. She came over from Sweden in 1906. The following year she married William Kimball, a railroad man who lived in Chicago. In 1908, they had a daughter, Edna; another daughter, Helen, was born around 1915.

I suppose it's these two girls, cousins to our Ainsworth Lindborgs, who are pictured above. How Helen came to be called "Mickey" I have no clue, nor can I identify the girl sitting on the ground in the photo at left.

These photos were taken in Pocatello, Idaho, where the family had moved sometime between the First World War and the 1920 census. By 1930 Edna had left the household — I have not been able to find out what became of her. In 1940 we find Elma Kimball in San Bruno, California, in the household of Helen (aka Mickey), who is now the wife of John Ellis. In the marital-status column, the census-taker first wrote "M" for Elma, but that was crossed out and someone wrote in something that looks like "7." I can't find William in 1940; however, when the Second World War broke out, he showed up in Pocatello, listing his daughter, Helen Ellis, as his contact. That's all I've got, and I'm not entirely sure I have found the right people.

Further confusion comes from the fact that the owner of this photo album gave me the surname "Goyette" in connection with these people. I have yet to discover how that fits in.


Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ 1940 Census.
♦ "Ainsworth." Hobart News 24 Aug. 1911; 7 Sept. 1911.
♦ Cook County, Illinois, Marriage Index.
♦ WWI Draft Cards.
♦ WWII Army Enlistment Records.

The Musical Stylings of Herman and Minnie

From the steamer trunk.


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Image courtesy of E.H.

Herman Harms, Sr., belts out a tune with some help from a bottle of beer and his wife, Minnie. Circa July 1960. I wish I'd been there.

On Second Thought, Don't "Trade in Hobart"

Burt Thompson, Sr. and Jr., had been operating the ten-cent store on Third Street for nine years when they decided, in late July 1920, to close their Hobart location and concentrate on their Crown Point store. The Gazette, reporting on their departure, couldn't resist mentioning their past Hobart boosterism.


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… Also, tidbits of news about some acquaintances.

William Waldeck, the village blacksmith of Deep River, was selling a cow. The 1920 Census shows his wife, Augusta, at home with him, so apparently she had recovered from her health problems.

While the report of George Severance, Jr.'s accident doesn't say what kind of machinery was involved, I'd like to think it was aviation-related — if the poor guy had to have his fingers mangled, I mean — rather than some mundane factory equipment.


Sources:
♦ "10¢ Store Quits Hobart." Hobart Gazette 6 Aug. 1920.
♦ "All kinds of Wants." Hobart Gazette 6 Aug. 1920.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 5 Aug. 1920.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 6 Aug. 1920.

They're Back! (Random Pointless Photo)

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Barn swallows are building a new nest right where the old one was.

The old one, by the way, was completely destroyed by a combination of (a) me hosing the window area down in the autumn to clean off the barn-swallow droppings, and (b) sparrows, during the winter, poking through the nest in search of food, I suppose.

Since barn swallows tend to mate for life, this could be the same pair as last summer. I can't tell by looking. They all look the same to me.