Polly Barth

Autobiography of Pauline Louise Swarts Barth, written July 11, 1992

I was born July 28, 1921 in Shreveport, Louisiana at Schumpert Sanitarium. Doctors Simmons and Billingsley were the doctors in the delivery room. I was named after my father's sister Pauline Louise. At the time, we lived at 1648 Maple Street. For many years, I was called Little Pauline. I have a brother, Jack Morris Swarts Jr., born five years earlier, August 23, 1916. Our parents, Jack Morris Swarts and Fannie Mae Reeves Swarts. Our father was killed when I was only one and a half years old. This must have been quite a tragedy for our mother, left with two young children.

One of the first places I remember living was 1433 Woodrow Street in Shreveport, Louisiana where my first friend, Ruth Ernest Harvey, lived next door. I remember having the measles while living there and having to stay in a darkened room with shades drawn, but as I recovered some, my friend Ruth and I talked, with me looking out the window.

I started to school at St. Vincent's Convent. My first teacher was Sister Fardaily. My brother took me to school on his bicycle since he attended the same school. Some days, I was picked up from school by my aunt and uncle's chauffeur (Willie). He would take me to their home at 912 Kings Highway for lunch and for a visit in the afternoon since I only went to school in the mornings. One day when he picked me up, he accidentally slammed the car door on my finger, which resulted in a crooked finger. Another accident I had while playing on our front steps jumping from the side pillows, I landed on the steel grate that was used for scraping mud from your shoes. I managed to get quite a cut over my right eye and had to have a few stitches taken. I remember one other interesting thing about Woodrow Street. We were close to a nice park and some summer evenings we would walk to the park to listen to music concerts.

The next place I remember living was 681 Olive Street. This was the home of my mother's cousin, Thelma D'Montville, a dancing teacher. This house was a huge two-story place with a basement. The bedrooms were all on the upper level and all had fireplaces and baths. The downstairs had a living room with fireplace on one side with Thelma's dance studio on the other. The dance studio had hardwood floors for teaching tap and ballet. On one wall, the studio had bars for some of the ballet exercise and mats to lay on the floor for other kinds of exercise. The back part of downstairs had the kitchen, dining room, and a powder room. My mother supervised the house and did all the cooking. I took dancing lessons: mainly tap with some ballet. Mother objected to me taking ballet as she thought it would lead to more muscular legs, so I just continued with tap lessons. We performed at some of the theaters on holidays and special occasions with dance costumes to fit the affair.

My mother was born in McComb, Mississippi (Pike County) April 12, 1880. She was one of twelve children born to John Thomas Reeves and Sarah Corinne Brewer Reeves. They lived on a forty-acre farm which was part of a large ranch, where my Grandpa was raised. The ranch was divided between his brothers and sisters. The Reeves family ancestors were from England. They came over to Virginia before settling in Pike County, Mississippi.

My father was born in Little Rock, Arkansas about 1884. His father, George Washington Swarts, born in Germany, immigrated to the United States, and married Margaret Emma Brown from Little Rock, Arkansas. My father was one of six children.

When I was eight years old, in 1929, we moved to Mississippi, where my Grandpa Reeves lived. He had been renting out his farm and living with some of his children, but was tired of living this way, so he asked Mother to come and bring my brother and me to live on the farm. We went by train from Shreveport, Louisiana to McComb, Mississippi. Grandpa's farm was five miles out in the country from the town of McComb. It turned out that the renters were not due to move out until the first of the year, so we rented a small house in town. My brother and I started school in McComb until we could move to the country.

We spent the Christmas holidays of 1929 with one of Mother's sisters, Aunt Clara, and her husband, Uncle Chris Allen, and their children, Louie (my brother's age), Doris (my age) and Alma (a few years younger). Their youngest son, Lawrence, was born some years later. One big thrill for me was on Christmas Eve when we had a snow storm. I had never seen snow. It was so beautiful. When we woke up the next morning, we noticed big boot prints in the snow leading from the house to barn. The grown-ups convinced us that Santa had fed his reindeer hay from the barn before continuing his journey. Santa had left toys for all of the children. I had a tea set, bake set, and a small rubber ball. My brother and I really enjoyed the holidays in our aunt and uncle's home and getting acquainted with our cousins. Grandpa was also there.

We moved to the country on Grandpa's farm after the first of the year, in 1930. I then started to school at Jones Consolidated which was close to Grandpa's farm. My first friend was Janet Catt. We remained friends through all our school years. We felt we had a common tie because each of us had lost our dad in accidents. We were the only ones that didn't have a dad around to do things with us. I wished many times my mother would remarry so I could have a daddy.

My grandpa was very close to me and took on a little of a father role. He would take me fishing down on Clear Creek which ran through the back of the old ranch. We just walked through the fields to get to the fishing spots. Sometimes we would walk to Bogue Chitta river and fish. Grandpa had a special place he called his white perch hole. After we fished for awhile, Grandpa would jump in for a swim. He did a great breast stroke. I was reluctant to go in as I didn't know how to swim.

I helped Grandpa with planting seed in the fields and in the garden. I had great fun when he let me help with cutting wood. After a tree had been felled, I helped with the cross cut saw to saw the tree into logs, then Grandpa would split the logs with his ax into fourths or more. He also cut smaller wood for the kitchen.

We enjoyed nice fires in the fireplace on winter nights. On very cold days, the fire would go much of the day. This was our only source of heat with the exception of the big wood burning range in the kitchen. I would heat a flat iron in front of the fire and wrap it in a towel when I was ready for bed I would place it at the foot of my bed. This made it cozy and warmed up the bed. Some nights, Grandpa and I were the last to go to bed. He would play his violin and I would sing along.

I was very fond of animals. My first pet was a little puppy given to me by some friends down the road from Grandpa's. He was a hound dog, black with brown on the inside of his ears. I named him Rip. I don't think my mother was too happy to have a dog around, but Grandpa said I could keep him. Rip was a good hunting dog. My brother would take him hunting. One day Rip was missing. We think he was taken by someone who lived far away because he never returned.

Uncle Andrew (Mother's brother) lived across a field from us. I enjoyed helping him pick cotton. When he harvested the peanuts and they dried, we picked them from the plants. He raised lots of vegetables and would take them into town to sell. He let me ride with him in his wagon pulled by two of his mules. We would also take the dried corn to the grist-mill to be ground into corn meal and some was ground on the course grind for chicken feed.

One day Uncle Andrew gave me a little black baby pig, the runt of the litter. I named him Sambo. I bottle-fed him for a while. He would follow me around and lay down at my feet and want his back scratched and tummy rubbed. When he started growing too big and rooting in my mother's flower garden, we had to keep him in a pen. One day he got out and ran away. We found him a few miles from home. When we brought him back, I was told he had to be fattened up and slaughtered for meat. I was so upset that I couldn't eat pork for a while.

I had other pets such as a calico-colored kitty and a baby squirrel that I raised. My grandpa built a nice wire cage with wooden frame. I let the squirrel out of the cage sometimes in the house to play, and I would crack nuts to feed it. One night when I was playing and feeding nuts to the squirrel, my cat made one pounce and broke my squirrel's neck. I think I cried and was very angry with my cat, but felt it was my fault for not keeping the cat out of the house.

Each year on the Sunday closest to February 7th, which was my grandpa's birthday, we would have a big celebration at the farm. Mother had six sisters and one brother living. They would all come and bring their children. Grandpa's brothers and sisters, and sometimes other distant relatives, would come from miles around. They all brought baskets of food which were displayed on long tables in the yard. Each lady had her specialty of food to bring. I can remember Aunt Myrtle's potato salad was a work of art on top. She made flowers of hard boiled egg slices and pimento strips with pickle strips for stems and leaves. I could not begin to list the assortments of meats, salads, and stews like chicken and dumplings, rolls and homemade breads. The desserts, pies and cakes of all kinds, were something else. Everyone had a great time visiting. For some people it was the only time they got together through the year.

Mother's sisters got together quite often. Those that lived in the country, closer to us, would get together in the summer at our place to can fruits and vegetables that they raised on their farms. While the ladies did the canning, the children had fun playing. We had a big hill back of our house with muscadine vines that were very heavy, strong vines. We would bring a vine up to the top of the hill and take turns swinging down.

As the cousins grew older, we cleared a place out in the pasture for a baseball diamond. My brother and the other older cousins and uncles helped. They also formed the teams. We had nine boy cousins and ten girl cousins living in and around McComb. Many Sundays, after church, we would all get together and spend the afternoons playing.

The farm was not only a gathering place for family. Many Sunday afternoons lots of friends and some cousins would get together just visiting and taking pictures. I spent a lot of time at home since Mother didn't like me going too far away, except with cousins. One cousin, Doris Allen, and her sister, Alma, lived just up a lane from our house so we were together quite often. The three of us played together most of the time. We used to go into the watermelon patch in back of their house and break open a ripe melon and just eat the heart. Uncle Chris had so many melons growing that he didn't seem to get mad. We didn't dare do this in Grandpa's patch as he saved prized melons for seed and to give to friends. We had to wait for him to choose one for us.

I am seventy years old at the writing of this in 1991, and my cousin Doris and I have kept in close touch all these years. She has remained in McComb, Mississippi and I in California. I have made several trips back to Mississippi to visit. Other than these visits, we keep in touch by letters.

The boy cousin I was closest to was Neville Conerly, one of Aunt Myrtle's boys. I spent a few days at different times during the summer at their home in town. We would walk to the theater to see movies, and I would vist them in town to see things we didn't have in the country, like carnivals and sometimes the circus.

On some summer vacations, my brother and I went by train to Shreveport, Louisiana to spend a few weeks with our Aunt Corinne and Uncle Robert Roy. They were known to everyone as Madam and Chief. Madam was one of our dad's sisters. Their home was a lovely two story home with basement and attic. It covered a whole block with the grounds and garage area. Anna Zoboskie, their housekeeper, lived in their home. She did all the cooking and cleaning. I would help Anna some with the dishes so we could go to the movies. She was so good to me. She taught me how to crochet and to embroidery. I became friends with other girls in Shreveport and would go places with them as I grew older.

In early fall when the sugar cane was harvested, Doris, Alma, and sometimes other friends, and I would go over to the cane mill after school and watch the cane being run through the mill to extract the juice. The power for operating the mill was provided by mules since they didn't have electricity. After the juice was extracted, it was put into large vats over a wood burning fire and cooked into syrup. After the syrup was cooked, it was put into gallon tins and sealed. We always had plenty of syrup throughout the year for cooking and eating. My brother made a delicious pull taffy, and also peanut brittle with the peanuts raised on the farm.

We always had plenty of meat to eat. Hogs were butchered, cut up, and hung to cure in the old smoke house. Grandpa kept a very low fire going with hickory wood. Some of the pork was ground into meat for sausage. Mother had a wonderful recipe, with lots of flavorful seasonings in it. After mixing the sausage, we stuffed the casings with the mixture and these were hung in the smoke house to cure. Mother raised chickens so we had plenty of chicken and eggs to eat.

In the summer, we had lots of vegetables from the garden to eat such as corn, tomatoes, green beans, butter beans, field peas, okra, onions, garlic, red potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Some root vegetables were stored in the dirt cold bank for keeping through the winter. Sometimes I was sent to get things from the cold bank. I didn't really like this job as it was dark and cold inside. Mother canned some of the vegetables for use through the winter. She made a very tasty mixture of corn, okra, and tomatoes seasoned with onions, garlic, and bell peppers. This was one of my favorite dishes.

We also had fruit trees: apple, peach, plum, fig, and persimmon. We had a few nut trees: pecan, black walnuts and hickory. The woods had plenty of wild huckleberries. In the bottom land, in the back of our house, we had a large blackberry patch which just grew wild. In the summer when they ripened, Aunt Clara and her girls would come down, and we picked many gallons of berries. Some were canned for making pies and cobblers. They also made jams and jelly. Mother also made blackberry wine, which my Grandpa really enjoyed. My brother and I were only allowed to have a taste once in awhile.

We didn't have electricity, and kerosene lamps were used for light. We did not have indoor plumbing. Our water was supplied from a well in the back yard, which we had to hand draw by lowering the long, metal bucket down the wooden shaft and let it fill. Then we would wind it back to the top using the winch. We had pails with dippers for use in the house. Grandpa had a wooden bucket, with a gourd for a dipper, that sat on the counter at one end of the front porch. Water was also stored in the large reservoir on the side of the kitchen range. This was our source of hot water for baths in large galvanized tubs.

Laundry was done outside in a covered area around the well that had a bench for the wash tubs. The wash was hung on the outside lines to dry. Ironing was done with flat irons that we heated on top of the kitchen range.

My father's religion was Catholic, so I was christened Catholic when I was a baby. When we moved to McComb from Shreveport, I was too far from the Catholic Church in town to attend. I started going to Sunday school and church with my cousins at Friendship Baptist Church, not very far from Grandpa's farm. I enjoyed going to this church very much, so with Mother's permission, I joined. The baptism ceremony was held on the bank of Clear Creek, where I was submerged in the water, by the Rev. J.B. Quin.

As a teenager, I started going to some social functions at school. Plays were the main events in which I performed from time to time. The other social events were held by our church B.Y.P.U. group. We had parties in the church hall and picnics at the river in the evenings. We cooked chicken in a large black iron pot, over a wood fire. Some brought the chicken to cook and others brought potato salad, pickles, rolls and dessert. We had sing-alongs by the campfire. Other times we had peanut boils. When peanuts are still fresh before drying they are washed and put into the big iron pot with water and salt to boil. We played games until time to feast on the boiled peanuts. We all had so much fun together. We weren't paired off for dating at this stage of our lives.

When I was allowed to date, it was with schoolmates, and mostly when my brother was along or with some of the cousins my age like Doris Allen, Louise and John Daniel Sudduth, or Neville Conerly. One time, Doris and I were introduced to some friends of Jimmy Robertson, a boy that Louise had been dating. We started going to movies with them and after the movie we would stop at one of the drive-ins for something to eat. Doris was paired off with Frank J. Matthews Jr. and I was with Dolph Harms Jr. They all lived in town, so they would drive out to the country to pick up Doris and me.

One Sunday afternoon, Louise, Jimmy, and Dolph came out to our house and asked if I could go for a drive and stay in town for dinner. I was allowed to go. After we left my house, I was told Louise and Jimmy were on their way to be married and Dolph and I were to be their witness. We got carried away and decided to make it a double wedding. I went home and tried to keep it a secret. I wanted to finish my school year. Mother found out and tried to have the marriage annulled. I don't remember why she couldn't. I was just too young to realize at the time what a serious thing I had done.

We found an apartment in town. We didn't have a car so we did a lot of walking. McComb is not a large town so places were easy to get to. I met Del who was married to Peyton Robertson, a brother of Jimmy. We became good friends and did many things together.

War had started in Europe and lots of boys were joining up into parts of the service where they would like to be, instead of being drafted into the army. Jimmy joined the Air Force. Peyton and Dolph Jr. joined the navy they were sent to San Diego, California for boot camp training. Del and I rented an apartment together that would be large enough for her and their two young children.

We were informed that Peyton had been sent to Norfolk, Va. and Dolph to Los Angles, California for more training. Dolph's parents felt I should go to California to be with him until he shipped out, and I agreed to go. This seemed like quite an adventure to see a part of the United States that I had not seen. I had only been in parts of Mississippi and Louisiana. Dolph's mom traveled with me part way by train since we had passes on the railroad.

The navy arranged for rooms for some of the wives to rent. These rooms were in a large, two-story home that had been made into a rooming house. The rooms had a bath and small cooking area. This home was owned and run by a very nice, elderly couple. They had a small eating stand, in the front yard, which they operated. When they found out that I didn't have friends around and was new to California, they asked if I would like to work with them and help out in the stand. I jumped at the chance to have something to keep me busy. I enjoyed making sandwiches, cooking hot dogs and serving cold drinks. I became friends with some of the other wives of the servicemen. Jeanie Mortimore, the wife of an Army bombardier, became a very close friend. She later became my first roommate in California.

When the boys finished their training at the navy school, they were sent to San Francisco to ship out. When they arrived, they found out that they would have another short waiting period. Jeanie's husband was still in training at Victorville, California. Jeanie and I started looking for an apartment to share. We found a small one on Kingsley Drive in Los Angeles. It had a living room, a large dressing room with a murphy bed to roll out for sleeping, a bath room, and a kitchen with a small dining table and chairs. We rented it without looking any more and felt very lucky to get it as places were so hard to come by with the war on.

I wanted to stay in California, but I knew I needed to find a job since I had never worked. I didn't know where to start. I heard that the aircraft plants needed workers so I applied at Douglas Aircraft in the Santa Monica plant. This turned out to be the most wonderful adventure in my life. (I will go into detail later). I was hired into the electrical laboratory, without any training, on the swing-shift. I didn't know what to expect. Before I had a chance to meet everyone in the department we had a bomb drill, and off I went with the crowd to a bomb shelter. In the darkened area, people were trying to find out about the new person with the funny southern accent. I was very shy and timid about everything. All the people were so nice to me and soon made me feel right at home.

I was given a job in the strain-gage department. Dick Flachier, my lead man, was a very kind person and helped me get started. We made strain-gages to be applied to parts of the airplane to measure the stress in the component when loaded.

I was invited to go to San Francisco over the weekend as the boys were shipping out on a carrier to the South Pacific. Dolph and I had not been getting along very well since he had left home to join the navy, but I felt I should go see him off. I went by bus to San Francisco. I enjoyed the bus ride and all the interesting countryside. Some of the couples that I had met through the navy school were there. Riding on the trolley and attending a party in Chinatown was fun. I returned to Los Angeles, and the boys shipped out for the South Pacific.

I continued working in my job at Douglas, but soon discovered I was expecting a baby. I was not very happy at first because I really liked my job and wanted to keep on working. I had met so many nice girls. Jerry Horton was one that I liked very much, and we became friends. She worked in the drafting department near my work area.

One day I talked with Jerry about my problem. She explained to me that I didn't have to quit my job, I could apply for a leave of absence when the time came. Douglas had a policy of girls not working past five months. Jerry had me go to her doctor, who was a female doctor. I liked her better than the one I had first gone to, so I continued with her for my regular check-ups. Jerry helped me keep all this from the other workers until she felt I was starting to show. After five and a half months, I put in for a leave of absence. It was sad to leave, but I knew I could come back after a few months.

I did not want to return to Mississippi to have the baby, but with much urging from all the family, I felt I should go. Fannye Robertson, a good friend of mine, came out from Mississippi for a visit. My roommate, Jeanie, was from the north and Fannye from the south. They were very opinionated over who won the war as if they had been there. I tried to keep them from getting into too many discussions. Fannye and I did quite a lot of sight-seeing and picture-taking during her visit. A month before the baby was due, Fannye and I left by train to return to McComb. We had a very nice compartment on the Southern Pacific Sunset Limited. I did not move all my things from the apartment as I planned to return, and Jeanie said she would take care of my things.

On December 14, 1943, I had a little girl, weighing eight pounds, in the McComb City Hospital with the help of Dr. B.J. Hewitt. I named her Sydney Pauline (Sydney from a favorite second cousin, a boy who had been so good to me in my younger years). Sydney had dark hair and blue eyes. She had trouble adjusting to a formula, but we soon got everything straightened out. Grandmother Swarts was very excited over her first granddaughter. My brother had only boys at this time. I was able to get pictures of Sydney with her Grandmother Swarts and with her Great Grandpa Reeves.

When Sydney was three months old, I returned to California with her by train. She made a big hit with so many people on the train. She had such a special smile and sparkling eyes. She looked so pretty in the pink outfit and bonnet I had made for her. Our train trip proved to be a very tiring couple of days since we traveled by coach. I guess I was trying to save money. Jeanie met us at Union Station. She was so glad to see me and to see Sydney for the first time.

I had to start looking for someone to care for Sydney while I worked. This proved harder than I had expected. Jeanie helped me search for sitters. We combed the papers for ads on baby sitting jobs. We could not find anyone close for daily work, but we did find a home where two ladies cared for children on weekly basis and would only take four children at a time. I decided to give it a try. I had to take all of Sydney's furniture out to their home. Without a car, this was quite a job. I had to hire a taxi to take everything. I only took her crib and high chair at first. I wanted to see how this would work out.

When I returned to my job at Douglas, I still had to work swing-shift in the electrical laboratory, but not making strain-gages. They needed someone to do office work, so I was assigned to Mr. Stallsmith as his secretary. I would get a lot of work from Donald Barth's secretary, Betty Freeley. She would have me do jobs that she didn't finish through the day. I did not take short hand, so Mr. Stallsmith would write out any letters or memos for me to type. I also checked time cards for all the laboratory personnel.

I had to ride the bus from Los Angeles to Santa Monica to work. I really didn't like this because I had to walk a block from the bus stop late at night to our apartment. I would walk in the middle of the street instead of the sidewalk. As I remember, I ran most of the way.

Jeanie's husband, Don, graduated from Bombardier training and was waiting to be sent out to the Pacific. He wanted to take Jeanie and me someplace special. He told us to get all dressed up. He said he was bringing a friend of his for my escort. Jeanie and I dressed in long formals. They took us for dinner and dancing at the Paladin in Hollywood. I think this was the last time I saw Don. He was killed in the first B-29 squadron that flew over Japan. This was quite a shock for both of us. Jeanie was so upset she decided not to stay in California. She made plans to move back east to their home town in Illinois.

I was left alone in our apartment. I got acquainted with the family across the hall, Nevada Murphy and her three girls. We began to do things together. The older girl, Skipper, worked. The other two girls were still in school. They were quite crowded in their apartment. One day, Skip asked if I would like to share my apartment with her so we became roommates. Skip's mother started referring to me as her other daughter. I called her Mama-Cita. They were all blonde and petite in stature. People couldn't figure how this taller redhead fit in to this family.

I started going to school for a typing class at the local trade school several blocks from the apartment. I really enjoyed going to the classes and since I worked on swing-shift this fit in very well with my schedule, but this was short lived as I was put on days to work. Douglas ended their swing-shift, and I could not continue my class. I could not find a night school close by.

The home where I had taken Sydney decided not to keep children past a year old, so I had to find another place for her. I was very lucky. A friend of Mama-Cita wanted to care for her until I could find another place. We moved Sydney to Tiny and Bud's home. This was so much closer, and I could see her more often. One day, Tiny's sister, Mildred, and her husband, Elmer Addison, were visiting. They both wanted to take Sydney to their home. I think Mildred always wanted a little girl. They only had an older son, and he was in the navy. I agreed for them to take her. They both seemed so fond of her. This move meant more traveling for me because their home was in Glendale, quite a few miles away.

When Dolph returned from the South Pacific, we both felt we were not getting along any better. I made plans to file for a divorce. He went back to Mississippi and I remained in California. I was granted a divorce and full custody of Sydney.

When I was taken off swing-shift, and started to work on days, I was put back in the strain-gage department. I met two other girls working there, Irene Eng and Loraine Running. The three of us worked together on most projects. We would travel by company car to the different Douglas Aircraft plants at Long Beach and El Segundo locations. Our job was to adhere the strain-gages to the aluminum structure and wire them to the instruments. When the structure was loaded, this equipment would measure the stress in the material. The three of us girls were small enough to crawl into very tight spaces, such as wing structures, gas tanks, etc. We enjoyed our work and had lots of fun on our outside assignments.

On August 29, 1945, a most wonderful thing happened to change my life. My boss, Donald Barth, invited me to go to dinner. He could see that I was very confused and he quickly added that it was to meet his younger brother, Jack. I accepted, but said I would have to go home to my apartment to change clothes. He agreed to drive me to Los Angeles and wait while I got ready. I put on a suit - a skirt with blouse and jacket. I thought this was a good choice.

Donald and I drove back to Santa Monica, where he and Jack lived in a small house on Euclid Street, close to Wilshire Blvd. I walked into their home and met Jack. I think my heart skipped a beat, it was like I had met my knight in shining armor. I was immediately attracted to him, but it turned out he felt I looked a little stuffy in a business suit. I found this out later. Denise Newhouse was Donald's guest. The delicious dinner was prepared by none other than Jack. The menu was tossed salad, lamb chops, broccoli and baked potatoes. We all visited while eating and getting acquainted.

Jack drove me home. He asked if he could see me the next night (so I must have made some sort of impression on him). I dressed in a more casual outfit that I think made a hit. This was the start of a two-year romance. We did a lot of dating and going places on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. We took long motorcycle drives on weekends out through the countryside. We didn't have freeways, so we were not in a lot of traffic. People didn't wear helmets in those days. Jack also had a Plymouth coupe, which he bought used from Donald's secretary, Betty Freely. She had left Douglas to join the service.

Donald was now going with his new secretary, Denise Newhouse. The four of us did many things together. One of the first trips we made together was on the Labor Day weekend after I met Jack. We went on a camping trip to Whitney Portal, above Lone Pine, California. We drove up in Donald's Cord, a very classic sports car. We left on Friday after work, so this would give us a three-day holiday.

We camped in one of the choice spots in Whitney Portal. The next morning I was very impressed with the large trees and clear streams and of course the Mighty Mt. Whitney. Coming from the flat lands of Louisiana and Mississippi, this was quite a thrill for me to see. We had a wonderful three days, but an unfortunate thing happened when a heavy rain storm came up and washed away a very valuable copper bucket that we had in the stream to hold cold drinks. We never recovered the bucket.

Jack and Donald left to go back to Whitney Portal, about the first part of October. They took off from work for a week to climb Mt. Whitney. They invited Dee and me to join them for the weekend, since they planned to be back from their climb by then. Dee and I left on Friday after work to drive up. Dee drove Jack's Plymouth coupe. We had to stop for dinner on the way up, so it was rather late when we arrived at the portal. We had the same nice camping area, where we had camped a month before. We enjoyed another wonderful weekend. The boys have pet names for each other. Donald called Jack "Willie," and Jack called Donald "Joe." I don't know the history behind the names. [Willie and Joe were cartoon Army buddies during WWII.]

I spent one evening every week riding the bus out to Glendale to see Sydney. Sometimes I would go on weekends. It was difficult to bring her to the apartment since I didn't have any furniture for her there. Jack started taking me out for the visits, which really made it nice. Every Thursday, he would pick me up after work and we would go to dinner. We discovered some very interesting Mexican restaurants. We would go back to the same ones many times. After dinner we would drive on to visit Sydney for a while.

Dee and I started looking for an apartment in Santa Monica that we could rent together to share expenses. She was not happy in the place she lived and I lived too far from Santa Monica, where I worked. I moved out from Los Angeles into a room I rented on Euclid, across the street from Jack and Don, while Dee and I searched for a place. Rents were frozen during the war, so people were staying put and not moving out to a higher price place. We were very lucky. A friend we knew at work heard we were looking for a place. He had a two-bedroom home with a bath, living room, dining room and kitchen. He was alone so offered to rent us one of the bedrooms and to share the rest of the house. We took him up on this offer. He didn't seem to be around very much, so this was like having our own place.

The time came to meet Jack's parents. They were coming down from Anderson Dam, Idaho where Jack and Don's dad worked. They would be staying with Jack and Don. Dee and I were invited to dinner one evening. This turned out to be a very delicate meeting. Jack did not wish to tell them at this time that I had been married and had a little girl. He wanted them to get to know me first, which I'm sure was the smart thing to do, since Jack was the youngest son and had never been married. Jack's older brother, Vincent, and his wife, Norma Jane, and their children lived in Colorado. I had not had the pleasure of meeting them yet.

On May 30, 1946, I was introduced to back packing. Jack took me on my first trip. We drove to Whitney Portal, which I could tell by now, was a favorite spot for the Barth boys. Jack had borrowed a pack for me to carry, but it was a very heavy pack, even before my clothes and food were loaded in. We started up the trail to Lone Pine Lake. I think I was ready to forget about back packing. I guess the love I had for this young man made me continue. Once we arrived, at this beautiful mountain lake, I soon forgot the hard climb and heavy pack. The scenery and cooking over the open fire made it all worth while. We made many other backpack trips, but before our second trip, Jack arranged for a much lighter pack for me to carry. This made a big difference in the weight.

Donald, Jack, Dee, and I made plans to back pack into the Sierras above Mammoth Lakes during the first week of October, 1946. We spent hours making up a list of food, clothing, cooking utensils and other gear to take along. We all drove up in Jack's Plymouth. When we arrived in the Mammoth Lakes area, we drove over to the pack station to hire one of their mules to carry our heavy load up the trail to Lake Ediza. We parked our car at Agnew Meadows, and loaded everything on the mule with the help of one of the packers. We each carried our own pack sack with our clothing and sleeping bag. We all headed out for the high country, six miles in from where we parked the car. When we arrived at Lake Ediza, the weather didn't look very good so we headed back down to Shadow Lake which was only three miles from our car.

When we arrived back at Shadow Lake, we unloaded the gear from the mule and sent him on his way back to the pack station. We all started setting up camp. The boys had the duty of setting up our tents while Dee and I prepared dinner, which we cooked over the open campfire. We enjoyed the nice fire until it started to rain. We got in our tents and the rain continued to come down. I think we slept some, but the boys tent got water coming underneath. By this time, the rain was turning to snow. The boys built another fire, with a shelter over them to try to keep warm.

At daybreak, the boys informed us that the snow was coming down heavy and felt it best that we hike back to the car. We packed up just our clothing and sleeping bags into our pack sacks and had to leave the rest of our equipment, including the tents, pots, and pans, along with the heavy food items. We started hiking down, trying to stay on the trail which was getting covered with snow. We finally made it back to the car to find a large tree had fallen and had just missed the Plymouth. We were all very thankful for this. We quickly loaded our bags in the car and started driving out. We had one car ahead of us on this one lane narrow dirt road which had many ruts and washed out areas. The gentleman driving the other car was reluctant to go through and we couldn't pass. We were very close to the ranger station, so Donald went over and asked the ranger to come over and help to get this man to move his car through.

It seemed we were doomed with more bad luck. A few yards on up the road another tree had fallen in our path. We had to wait for a work crew to come with saws to clear the tree away. We were all cold, wet and hungry. The ranger invited us back to the cabin and gave us hot coffee while we waited by the nice warm fire in their fireplace. He also told us interesting stories of how the bears broke into the cabin in the winter time for food and would even rip open canned meat.

I think it was noon when we arrived in Bishop to eat breakfast. We have labeled this trip The Fiasco, but it's a trip we can laugh about and definitely never forget. While eating breakfast, we decided we should do something else for fun, since we had taken the week off. We drove back to Santa Monica and on the trip back discussed going to Catalina Island.

The next morning we took the boat to the island. This was a very exciting trip for me since I had never been to Catalina, or out in the Pacific Ocean. We were able to get rooms with a view and the fall weather was lovely. We enjoyed a walk to the bird farm and had fun looking in all the shops. It was really a nice change from our experience in the mountains.

Jack was co-owner of a small airplane, a two-place Cessna 120, in which we took a few trips. One time, we went on a breakfast flight to Palm Springs which was a big thrill, but a little scary, when we got close enough for landing at the airport. So many planes were trying to land at the same time one right after another, that the controller had trouble directing the traffic. We only saw one accident, a plane skidded on landing but no one was hurt. We met a few movie stars who were owners of small planes. Some we talked to included Jon Hall, Francis Langfort, and Andy Devine. The line was so long for breakfast, Jack and I decided to go into Palm Springs and buy our breakfast.

In May of 1947, Jack asked if I would like to go on a trip over the Memorial Day weekend, camping with Donald and Dee. He also asked if I could take a few extra days off from work, which I was able to do. We took two cars since Donald and Dee were not taking any extra days off. Jack had planned for the two of us to go on over to Yosemite National Park. The four of us enjoyed a few days at Mineral King which is in the High Sierra region. We did a lot of hiking and cooking over the open camp fire and enjoying the evenings, with the skies ablaze with beautiful stars, such a sight to see away from all the city lights. Don and Dee had to leave to return to work.

Jack and I drove on to Yosemite National Park. Little did I know or suspect of the plans that he had. Our first evening, Jack proposed marriage to me. He sure choose the perfect setting with us looking up to Half Dome and watching the marvelous display of the fire fall they put on. Well, of course I said "yes!!!" I did ask what about Sydney. He replied "she's included." I do remember Jack was a little nervous, before he popped the question, as he was having trouble lighting the campfire. Our neighbor camper came over to assist. This was very unusual for Jack to have trouble, being an avid outdoors person, with his hiking and camping experience. I think in his mind he was working up to the big moment. He couldn't have chosen a more romantic spot.

The next day we drove over Tioga Pass, which at this time was a very narrow, dirt road with hardly enough room for two cars when passing. Not many cars traveled this road. Deer were roaming around and you had the feeling of being in complete wilderness. Little streams crossed the road in some areas. We stopped for lunch to eat sandwiches that we brought along. While we were stopped, Jack gave me a lesson in cleaning the spark plugs. I guess we were having trouble with the Plymouth not running right.

We arrived back in Santa Monica very late. Jack dropped me off at my place. Dee was asleep, but I was so excited I woke her up to tell her of my engagement. I asked her to be my matron of honor. I don't think we got very much sleep, talking and making plans. We had not set a date for the wedding. We had to find a place to live first, and apartments were still hard to find. Jack broke the news to his mom and dad the next day.

The next morning at work, I was filled with excitement as the news of our engagement was announced. My boss, Al Babtista, was very happy for me. I was working at this time up in flight test, with card files, keeping track of materials being used and also placing orders for any new materials.

The big task now was finding a place to live. Dee and I tracked down many leads. In fact, Don was very generous, letting us use his car, the Cord, on our noon hour to check out leads. Jack and I also did a lot of looking. We finally found a very small place on Wilshire Blvd. It was like a garage converted into living quarters with a bedroom, bath, and a kitchen and dining area, combined. It was unfurnished, except the kitchen did have a stove and an old ice box, which we would have to buy ice for. We bought a bed and two barrel-back chairs for the bedroom, a small unfinished table, and four chairs for the kitchen area.

We started making the final plans. We did not want a large wedding in the Westwood Methodist Church that we had been attending. The minister, Reverend Ray Ragsdale, agreed to perform the ceremony. We reserved the Little Chapel Of The Dawn, in Santa Monica for our wedding. I sent out handwritten invitations to our friends.

The girls from work started giving bridal showers for me. I received many beautiful personal gifts including two pieces of luggage with my new initials.

Dee and I spent a lot of time shopping for our clothes for the wedding. I choose an off-white gabardine suit and small hat to wear. Dee choose a soft blue gabardine suit with matching small hat. We ordered all the flowers from Franks Florist, on Wilshire Blvd., to be delivered to the Chapel.

The big day finally arrived. We both decided to work until noon. Jack picked me up at my place and dropped me off at the Santa Monica plant on his way to El Segundo where he worked. Everyone thought I was out of my mind to come into work on my wedding day. It was Friday, and we probably wanted to pick up our checks.

We arrived at the chapel early, before any of our guests. I recall when it was time to walk down the aisle, I became very nervous. I was walking alone, with Dee ahead of me. It turned out to be a beautiful ceremony. At 8:00 P. M. August 8, 1947, I became Mrs. Jack Edward Barth. We had embarked on a whole new adventure.

Mother Barth was the only family member attending the wedding, except for Donald, who was Jack's best man. Dad Barth was on his way down from Idaho, but had a slight accident with a horse hitting his car. Dad was not injured, but it damaged the car so he did not make the wedding. My mother was unable to come out from Mississippi at this time.

We had a lovely reception at the home where Dee and I lived. Our wedding cake was made by Dee's father who was a baker and cake decorator at Humpreys Bakery located in the famous Farmers Market. The cake was white layers with filling of whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Champagne was served, along with cake and coffee. We opened our gifts before leaving on our honeymoon.

Jack had reserved a place in Laguna Beach, high on a hill overlooking the Pacific. We had a busy, fun-filled week, lying on the beach in quaint coves, like Emerald Bay. Our first dinner as a married couple was at Victor Hugo's, and we enjoyed looking in all the interesting shops. One day included a trip to the races at Del Mar. We even bet on a horse, a sure thing we thought. With a name like Polly J, how could we lose? I can't believe that nag came in last! Lucky in Love-- not gambling, as the saying goes.

I continued to work at Douglas Santa Monica. Jack would drop me off each morning on his way to Douglas El Segundo where he worked in the engineering stress department, then picked me up after work.

We found out that friends of Jack's, Pete and Aletha Moser from Denver, Colorado, were hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in late September 1947 with another couple, Art and Polly Kidder. We thought it would be fun to surprise them. We would be there to greet them when they came out at the top. We checked with the Kidder's son in Denver, to see which day they would be hiking out. Jack and I made plans to leave on a Friday, after work. We headed out in our Plymouth coupe for Arizona. We drove until quite late in the evening. We were both so tired we got a motel room in Barstow, and left early the next morning, Saturday.

We arrived at the south rim of the Grand Canyon by early Saturday afternoon. We drove over to the start of the Bright Angel Trail and started inquiring of people hiking out of the canyon, if they had seen four people on their way up. We knew the Moser party would be easy to recognize as Art Kidder had only one leg and used crutches. The people we talked to had not seen anyone of this description. We decided to drive over to the start of the Kaibab trail. By this time, it was getting a little late, but we talked to a packer that had come up from the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon. He had talked with the Moser-Kidder party and found they were hiking up the other side to the North Rim and planned to be at the top the next afternoon. We needed gas in our car to make it around to the North Rim. The service station had closed, so we had to wait until morning.

We were waiting when the gas station opened and we were soon on our way to the North Rim. I had been thoroughly enjoying the magnificent views of the canyon. It was a first for me. We arrived at the North Rim around noon. We scouted around, locating their car, so we knew they had not reached the top. We then checked with other hikers at the trailhead and found they were indeed coming out, but would be a while. Jack and I went over to the lodge and had a soda while waiting. We ended up hiking down the trail for a short way to await their arrival. It was very funny when they reached us. They were passing us by, since they didn't expect to see anyone they knew and, of course, they had never met me. Mosers had such a joyous reunion with Jack because he had been like a son to them. They welcomed me with open arms.

They were all so tired from their climb from the bottom of the canyon, they told us of how they longed for ice cream on their way up. We were invited over to their cabin that they had rented to have something to eat with them. After they had a chance to get cleaned up, we went over for a light meal. Jack went over to the lodge and brought back a half-gallon of ice cream, which really hit the spot for them. We visited with them for awhile, then Jack and I went over to the campground where we spent the night.

The next morning, Pete came over to the campground to wake us. We went back to their cabin and had breakfast with all of them. We had to leave to drive back to California that day. We stopped to take a few pictures of the beautiful trees with all the fall coloring on our way from the North Rim.

I continued to work at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica. Jack dropped me off each morning on his way to work. Jack was an Engineer in the structural analysis department at Douglas Aircraft, El Segundo. During our spare time, we continued to look for a better place to live. We found some duplex apartments being built in the Westchester area. We liked them very much so we signed up to rent one upon completion. They had two bedrooms and bath upstairs and living room, kitchen and dining room downstairs. This looked like a mansion compared to our present living quarters. Our address became 7341 W. Manchester Blvd.

We were able to move in before Christmas, 1947. We didn't have much furniture to move. We bought a G.E. electric range and Mother and Dad Barth gave us a G.E. refrigerator for our wedding gift. These were both white. They looked so good in the kitchen because it was all white with blue trim. We only had the two barrel-back upholstered chairs for the living room and the unfinished table and chairs for the dining room. We had our bed for the bedroom and used orange crates beside the bed for our night stands.

I quit work, and we were able to bring Sydney home from Glendale. We brought her furniture and set up the second bedroom for her. Mother and Dad Barth came down from Anderson Dam, Idaho to spend the holidays with us. Jack and I slept in sleeping bags in the living room and gave his folks our bedroom. This was my first time to cook a complete holiday dinner.

After the holidays, we entered Sydney in Loyola Village School, which was only a block from our apartment. Soon, other families with children began moving into this area. Sydney began to get acquainted with others her age. They had lots of fun riding tricycles on the sidewalk in front of our apartments.

When school was out for summer vacation, we decided to take a trip to Mississippi to visit. My mother and the rest of my family had not met Jack. We began with the preparation of Jack's Plymouth business coupe. He converted the back into a solid plywood bench, which we padded, so Sydney could play and take naps while we traveled. This trip proved to be quite an experience with an old car in the summer time. We had trouble with overheating all the way thru the desert. We stopped at many filling stations to fill the radiator with water and carried containers of water in the car to use in between, when needed.

We stopped in Shreveport, Louisiana, where I was born, to visit my aunt and uncle, Madam and Chief. We had been invited to stay overnight with them on our way to Mississippi. I wanted them to meet Jack and Sydney. We drove on to McComb, Mississippi the next day to the farm of my Grandpa Reeves, where I grew up. My mother, brother and family also lived on the farm. Sydney had lots of fun, meeting and playing with all of her boy cousins for several days.

Our next place to visit was Denver, Colorado where Jack was born. On our way, we had more bad luck with the car. We were still having so much overheating problems with the radiator that Jack decided to prop up the hood to let the air come through. The hood was the kind that opened on each side. To our surprise, a huge truck passed and created such a gush of wind that flipped our hood and shattered our windshield; this made it difficult to see but we were getting close to Denver so we waited to replace our windshield. We were visiting with Peter and Aletha Moser; their home is across from Jack's home where he grew up. They introduced Sydney to some young girls in the neighborhood, which made it nice for her to have someone to play with.

After getting our new windshield and visiting for a few days, we headed back to California. We still had trouble with the radiator overheating all the way home. We decided that we better look for a new car. We found this not an easy task as most companies had long waiting lists. Since the war ended, cars were not being manufactured fast enough for the demand. It seemed most companies wanted a good trade-in before they would add your name to the waiting list. Our Plymouth was not considered a good trade-in. After weeks of searching, we did find a new car at the Studebaker agency, which they would sell us; it was a two-door Commander in a blue-grey color. I think it was the only one left on their lot. At least it was a new car and it worked out very well for us.

Jack's dad started having a lot of trouble with the feeling in his hands and was having a difficult time with walking. Dad had been to many Doctors, but no one had found the real problem until Donald spoke to our family doctor. He suggested Dad see a specialist, Dr. Brown, a neuro-surgeon. Dad and Mother Barth came down from Anderson Dam, Idaho for a visit with Dr. Brown. He seemed to know what was causing Dad's problem and suggested an operation to remove a growth that caused pressure on a vertebra, close to the spine. Dad agreed to have the operation, which proved to be very successful. They stayed with us until he was able to travel back to Idaho. He had to be in a neck brace for awhile, but the feeling had returned to his hands and no more stumbling around while walking. Dad was soon able to return to work and was transferred to Davis Dam, Nevada/Arizona, which made it closer for us to visit.

In May of 1949, we decided to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon with Pete and Letha Moser. We all met at Mother and Dad Barth's at Davis Dam and visited for a few days. They took care of Sydney while we were gone. Dad even built a swing for her to play on. We had a great time on our hike. We took the Kaibab trail down to the bottom where we had reservations at the Phantom Ranch. It was so much fun at the ranch. Our meals were served in the dining room along with the wrangler's. They kept us entertained with many trail stories. We slept in log cabins. While we were there, we saw a ringtail cat on our window sill. We decided to hike back on the Bright Angel Trail to the top. It's longer on this trail, but it has water stations along the way so we didn't have to carry water. The ranch prepared a nice lunch for us to take along. The hike back to the top was warm and we were very tired when we reached the top.

Mother Swarts came out to visit during August, 1949. She came by train from Mississippi and brought along one of my nephews, Jack Jr. Jack Jr. is my brother's oldest son. Sydney was delighted to see her cousin again and had so much fun introducing him to the ocean and beach, which was something new for Jackie. Mother enjoyed her visit so much, but it was just too short.

Our first son was born in Santa Monica, California at the Santa Monica Hospital on June 5, 1950. We named him John Edward. He was a very happy baby, such a joy to have around. Sydney was quite taken with her little brother and was like a little mother to him, wanting to feed him as he grew older. John developed an asthmatic bronchitis condition which caused him lots of problems in his younger years.

We soon felt the need for a larger place to live, and a desire to have a home. We started looking at areas where we would like to live. We had friends in Palos Verdes Estates, so we looked at lots on different parts of the Peninsula. We purchased one in January 1951 very close to our friends, The Wilsons. They had a daughter, Janet, a few weeks younger than our son, John. Our next step was to find a contractor and architect to draw up plans and build a home for us. We were so inexperienced and let the architect talk us into a plan that we were not completely happy with. The contractor wasn't the most honest person. While our house was under construction, we visited quite often with our friends Dick and Helen Wilson. Their home was on the block behind us, but we could walk through the vacant lot to visit them.

Bekins Moving Company moved us from Westchester, California to our new home at 3833 Palos Verdes Drive North, Palos Verdes Estates, California, for the sum of $29.34. Of course we didn't have much furniture: just two beds and two chest of drawers, baby furniture, living room sofa, three chairs, dining table with four chairs, kitchen stove, refrigerator, and deep freezer. The move took place December 14, 1951, which was Sydney's birthday. I'm sure it was not too exciting for this eight-year old, but soon she was thrilled with having her own bedroom and not having to share with her little brother.

We were very busy for the next two weeks trying to get ready for the holidays. Mother and Dad Barth were arriving from Davis Dam, Arizona and Pete and Letha Moser were coming in from Denver, Colorado to spend the holidays with us. Jack's brother, Donald, and his wife, Elaine, came for Christmas day. It was so much fun to have them all for our first Christmas in our new home.

Sydney started school after the holidays at Valmonte Elementary, which was in back of our home on the next block. She could walk across the vacant lot to the school grounds. We could see the children playing during recess from our back yard. Our block had very few homes built. In fact, one morning while we were eating breakfast, two coyotes ran across our yard. We also had a wonderful view to the San Gabriel Mountain Range. This luxury didn't last when more lots were built on, and people started planting tall shrubs and trees.

Sydney started making friends right away. She was invited to join a Brownie Troop, made up of girls living in the Valmonte area. The troop stayed together all through their scouting years. She won all the badges and was awarded the Curved Bar which is the highest award for a Girl Scout. I helped lead some of the patrols for badge work. Cooking and sewing were some of the badge patrols I worked with. Most of the girls remained friends through all of their school years.

We made another trip to the South in August, 1954, taking the children to visit their Grandmother Swarts and Great Grandpa Reeves on the farm in Mississippi, where my brother and family also lived. Sydney had so much fun playing with all of her boy cousins and helping pick vegetables in the garden with them. When we decided to drive to New Orleans for a visit, Sydney did not want to leave her cousins on the farm to go with us, so one morning Jack, John and I drove to New Orleans, Louisiana. It is about eighty miles from Grandpa's farm. We toured around the city, and I enjoyed showing Jack different sites that I remembered during visits when I was growing up on the farm. We walked around the French Quarter, taking pictures. We also had lunch at one of the restaurants at The Court of Three Sisters. They are famous for their mint julips, which we enjoyed before lunch. We were served in their beautiful courtyard. Later in the afternoon we visited some friends that I had known in earlier years, Fannye and Lloyd Price. They insited we stay and go to dinner out on Lake Ponceatrain.