Edmund Bringer Memoir - Brookens Library

Edmund A. Bringer 18
Q: And that was--the first child ms . . .
A: Yes, Mary.
Q: ah.
A: And then w decided the house wasn ' t big enough so e mx~ed over on
North College Street in the 1900 block--great big house, brand new one.
And se lived there for quite a kile. . . . until the depression. And
during the depression w had to m e out of it because it ws pretty
expensive and the darn thing ate coal--the furnace ate coal like there
msn't any £urnace in there just--the house, w never could heat it
it. So w mved dOwn in the 2000 block, 2050 North College and from
there &y--w stayed there quite a while. Sally was born there and I had
a great big garden dm there, an old backyard garden and it ms a nice
garden. I& had everything; all the vegetables we'd want and I grew all
kinds of flowers and everythimg. And it was--it ms a nice neighborhood
to live in in those days. Gee whiz there was about--I think there was
twmty-eight kids in that one block. And every night they'd get aut and
play out in the yard or out in the street. They'd play handball and
things like that around out in the street everynight and some of the
fathers w ld get out with them, we 'd get out there and play with them
and everything. (chuckles) And then the house, they sold the home.
'Ihey wanted to knaw during the Depression if I wanted to buy it and I
couldn't raise enough mney to ?my the dam house and so this minister
out at Niantic [Illinois] h&t it and he omed it fox a little while
and Sally was born there. And then later on after she was born why your
granchmther ~s pregnant again and samething happened--I don't know it
was a--she had s-thing happn and that baby was. . . . died at birth
so. . . . It a s an Alison, w namd it Alison because there ws supposed
to be an Alison in every generation. And so w w ed frw there out on
Bwna Vista during the mrld k x 11. That guy wanted--that minister--
wanted his house and he wmted it right naw and I'd just got through
painting it for him and everything, fixed it up nice for him and he told
zne I'd have to be out of there in a mnth.
So I wt to--lawyer and the lawyer said, ''Yes you have to m e ckause
he ' s a minister and he had ministorial rights and you don't have any.
You have to get out whether you want to or not." So w finally talked to
a fellow that w hew--Mr. Fritz--and he said, 'kll, you can't get the
house Eut: your wife can." The houses during the war you had to--if you
wanted a new house or by a house like that, a new one in a new district
you had to be with sonae war industry. And I wrked for the telephone
carpany and KP handled a11 their cdcations and everything kt yet I
msn't--w wxen't important to the war. She wxked for the Leader '1rm
Fbrks so she got tk hause in her nane and re bowt the house out there
(chuckles) on Buena Vista and we lived there t mty years.
Q: You said this friend ms Mr. Fritz?
A: Yes.
Q: ks that his first ME or his last mane?
Edmund Bringer Memoir - Archives/Special Collections - Norris L Brookens Library - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS