Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Needed For Afternoon Dress
NEEDED FOR AN AFTERNOON DRESS IN 1888
4 dozen fancy buttons
15 yards of wide silk
1 card oflarge hook and eyes
5 yards of skirt lining
2 cards of medium hook and eyes
3 yards of horsehair cloth to stiffen the skirt
5 spools ofsilk thread
4 yards of silk for dust rufile
3 spools ofcotton thread
5 yards of velveteen skirt binding
4 spools of buttonhole twist
24 inches of skirt belting (this allowed 2 inches to 21/2 yards of feather bowing for the collar
turn under)
11/2 yards of sleeve lining
I yard ofcrinoline to stiffen the skirt
12 inches of buckram for the collar stiffening
For a time during World War II. Ernest "Curley"
McKinstry was forced to go back to the horse-drawn
vehicles of the past. but he kept the business going as
he had done since 1918.
“Curley" purchased the dray business of long-time
owner T.F. Rhatigan in 1926. and saw many changes
over the years. During the war years of the 1940s. the
company did a yeoman job in providing trucking for
local concerns. what with the rationing of tires.
gasoline. and lack of help. among other things.
With the aid of “Curley's" wife. Irene. daughter
Dorothy. and son. Curt. the problem of lack of available
help was diminished.
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I bolt of seam binding
McKinstry Transfer
compiled by Bertha Finn
For an afternoon dress in I927
4 yards of silk and 2 spools of thread.
The McKinstry line service had a wide variety of daily
jobs to look after. These included: servicing the
dispatching of mail to and from the trains; handling all
of the express shipments: delivering all of the
Milwaukee and Northwestern railroad freight; handling
all shipments locally of the H 8r W Transfer. Kenwood
Transfer. Waite Transfer: the Reliance Mfg. Co.: as well
as shipments to state institutions from the Men's
Reformatory. In addition. they handled commercial
transfer and furniture movements.
In 1940. the business expanded into the whole
building. which had housed the former old Spade
Factory quarters on Huber Street.
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E. J. McKinstry Transfer building had been the old
foundry before it was a tile spade factory. More
recently. it was the former Bieber ITCO Implement
building on North Huber Street. (Submitted by Curt
McKinstry)
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E. J. McKinstry Transfer drivers and crew.
(Submitted by Curt McKinstry)
John Miller: A Childhood Remembered
For most of my childhood years. I had the privilege of
living with my grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. J.N.
Baumel. on a small farm just north of Anamosa. As a
result. I have many fond memories of people and places
in and around Anamosa.
My grandmother was a stickler for cleanliness.
Grandfather and I were to take off all of our clothes and
submitted by John A. Miller
307
clean up in the basement of the house before eating.
She was a good woman and my second mother from the
time I was six months old until I went off to service in
WW II. She had a way about her that commanded
attention. Saying dirty words meant a trip to the sink to
get my mouth washed out with soap.
My grandfather used to stand by the barn fence