Ester
is 103 years old. When she was 16 years old she worked at a candy factory
and a knitting factory. When she got married she stopped working.
When were you born?
I was born on September 23rd, 1903.
What were some of
the jobs you had?
I worked at a candy factory, when I was working there; no
one was allowed to talk. I was 16 years old when I started working there and I
had to get a permit at the courthouse before I could start working. One night in
November when I was trying to catch the 6 p.m. bus I ran across the street to
try and get on the bus when a car drove out and drove over both of my legs and
broke both of them. I was laid up all winter because of that. The next job I had
was at a knitting factory, we could talk there, and the pay was $0.25 per hour.
Once I was married I only worked the first two weeks because I had given them my
two week notice and then I never worked outside the house after that.
What was your
wedding like?
We were married at 7p.m. and we didn’t tell anyone and
once we were married, he went back to work and I went back to the restaurant and
worked the rest of the night. That weekend we went down to Madison for a Badger
game together. One main thing I remember from my wedding was I had to bake the
bread for the party and I had to use substitute flour. There were many food
substitutes at the time and many rations; for instance, I had to go to the court
house for 2 pounds of sugar, and that was all we could get for so long of a time
period, that’s how it was for a lot of food.
What were some of
the things you did after you were married?
Well I remember being at home and listening to the radio a
lot, it was shaped like a table, or like a box. I loved to dance, my husband
would take me to Wausau so I could dance, but he would rarely dance with me.
Another place my husband would take me was to the roller rink is Wausau; I loved
to skate with him. I also loved to shop, so I would come to Wausau and go
shopping a lot, not always buy anything, but I loved to shop.\
What did your
husband do for a living?
He had his own Butcher shop in Merrill at the corner of
Grand Ave and Prospect.
How many children
did you have?
I have one son named David, he went into the Marines and
went over seas to the Korean War, and he never married. I also had many foster
children because my husband did not want me to have any more children of my own
because I almost lost David at birth, so that’s when I started taking in
foster children.
What are your most
memorable memories of the 1920’s?
The thing I remember the most is this one time I went to
Wausau looking for a new rug, all day I could not find any but I went to a fur
coat store. At the fur coat store I found this coat, it was on sale for $1,500
but I did not have that much money and I knew I did not need it. So when I went
home that night without a rug my husband asked me what I found, and so I told
him about the coat and how I did not find a rug, the next day my husband took me
to Wausau after he was done working and bought me the coat I wanted, even though
we could barely afford it at the time; I never did buy the rug I was truly
shopping for, but my husband treated me like a queen.
How long were you
and your husband married?
We were married together for 74 years, and we had no
arguments because I always got my way.
Oral
History Project 
