Irene
Achterberg was born on April 24th, 1913, and lived on a farm in Wausau.
She enjoyed singing, playing the piano, and dancing with friends. Irene
worked as a secretary after she graduated from High School.
Can
you tell me about your life in the twenties?
'29,
that was a time when you had to be careful with your money, because the
depression came along about then, and boy, you had to be tight with your money.
It was hard to get money, some people got laid off. You couldn't all depend on a
salary. Your shop might be going broke, or going without business so they
couldn't make money, so they laid you off. They said "I'm sorry, you have
to stay home, because we can't pay you anymore."
What
was your reaction to Prohibition?
People
would make dandelion wine, so they'd have some wine to drink We were surprised at
the Prohibition, but it didn't really keep you from having some wine if you made
it yourself
What
did you know about Al Capone, gangsters, and bootlegging?
Yes,
Al Capone, he was a visitor up north. They say that there was a spot up north
that he came to visit, a resort, and he had both of the gangs with him; but we
didn't know much about him until later on. He was a gangster and he was doing
all this stuff.
Did
you ever go to a speakeasy?
I
went to a tavern- that's a place where you could go dancing and there would be
liquor there. I was a naughty girl, I went to one before I graduated; I do
remember one place, where they had the door locked and they'd have you look out
of a little glass and see who you were before they let you in, that was called a
speakeasy. It was just a place to go dancing and we'd have a little lunch, but
they sold liquor there, so that's why it was called a speakeasy, and it was
locked, cause they had to watch who they let in, or we could get arrested
Do
you remember your first automobile?
I
drove my dad's car, he let me drive it. You had to just go and take a test and
they're not as tough as they are now.
Do
you have any memories of the Great War (World War I)?
Yes,
very funny memories, maybe. I was a little girl when the war ended and the bells
started ringing, church bells, every kind of bell you can imagine in Wausau!
Boy, we had a fun when it was over, and when I was a little girl, and we had
chickens in the yard in a pen. When the bells started ringing, she laid a egg
right in the yard, she got so scared! So, my Brownie laid her first egg.
What
about women who were called Flappers?
They
had high heels, lots of dangly jewelry, and earrings. I really never saw one,
but that's what they were like- I don't think I ever saw one in Wausau.
What
was the education system like in the 1920's? What was your schooling like?
I
was in high school and I took shorthand, book keeping- a lot of stuff to be a
secretary, and that's what I ended up being. I went to work, I graduated on June
first and went to work on June third in Wausau, just as a stenographer. As for
grade school, my mother and dad moved quite often, so I bet I hit every school
in the town. I hit Marshall, I remember grant school, and we had basketball there and we used to go to basketball games.
How
did you interact with other races? Was society segregated?
I
never remember that. I've remembered since, but I don't remember segregation in
Wausau, because I don't remember any colored people at that time. Afterwards, we
had it, but they were not segregated after the twenties. We might've had Germans
around, like my grandpa was German, and my grandma was German. Segregation was
unknown in Wausau. There weren't that many people over here, they didn't want to
come up where it was cold.
What
were some of the things you did for fun during the twenties?
In
the 20's? We used to go ice-skating, and we'd go and hook a couple horses up to a
wagon and sleigh ride; they'd take us onto a trail out in the country. Boy, that
was cold some nights. We'd bundled up and all huddled together. We had a lot of
fun. In summer-time, we'd go swimming. You'd hope you could find a lake, a place
to go swimming. I had an aunt up in the north, and we'd go up their swimming.
And that was fun. And I used to go dancing. That's about all.
Tell
us about some of the fads of the 20's?
My momma had her hair up, it was braided and put up. I had a Dutch bob, that's
bangs here, and straight down here, and that was my hair style. Some of them
just had the long hair, like you do now, no braids, though. I remember my
girlfriend had hair that was loose, bobbed. That was quite the thing to bob your
hair, to cut it. I don't remember exactly what I wore. I think it must've been
some kind of skirt. More skirts than slacks. We had skirts and blouses.
What
did it look like?
I
remember it was a shape like a big loofa. And the speaker was in the back of a
screen, and it would run and we had programs that you listened to. And music,
especially music.
When
was the first time that you saw a movie with sound?
I
remember there weren't as much movies as there are now. We couldn't afford that.
We would have to pay a quarter to go to a movie, that was a lot.
What did you
think about the presidential elections during the 1920's? Did you have any
opinion of them?
I
don't remember much about it. That wasn't something I learned about. See, I
couldn't vote, so I didn't think much about it.
What types of
literature did you like back in the 1920's?
Oh,
The Bobbsey Twins. I liked stories, I wasn't much for history.
Where
you aware of the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in the 20's?
Never
even heard of them. I lived up here, I didn't think about it at all.
Did
you put money in the Stock Market during the 20's?
No,
I was lucky to have enough to eat. No, we didn't invest in anything. Back then,
it was hard to make ends meet
Do
you remember about the stock market crash?
Well,
I do. It was in the news. They told us about it, you know. As a person who used
to do bookwork, you knew about stocks, but you weren't interested in doing
something that affected you.
Oral
History Project 
