Today's Author:
KATHLEEN PRICE
more about CASTLEWOODWho says it's more dangerous to be a child today than in years past? And who says the Great Depression was depressing? As the "Baby," Kathleen Barrett had the kind glorious childhood that today's micromanaged kids can only fantasize about. [sbp]
Kathleen's Castlewood, or "Been There, Done That" (about 1935 through 1940s)
by Kathleen Barrett Price
It seems that most of our relatives and friends have second homes -- the lake, the woods, etc.
Well, that spurred me on to write about the most beloved second home of my childhood and young adulthood – the beloved ALL INN clubhouse -- CASTLEWOOD, where I grew up from about the age of seven and where my children took their first steps. They were clubhouses then, now they’re known as cabins.
This is picture of Mary, Les (known then as Lefty) and me on a Castlewood road, in front of the dance floor [Lone Wolf, see photo] where I learned to dance from my brother, Bob. Les gave me that picture a few years ago and is the first picture in my collection that was taken out at Castlewood. My dear mother, also known as Kitty Mom, bought this clubhouse when Mary and her friends spent time there and she didn’t want them doing so much traveling. So, to our delight, it was the beginning of many happy days there.
The club did not have inside facilities when purchased. The All Inn "Annex" was just up the hill, but since my Mother did like her luxuries, shortly afterwards Ewald was digging for a septic tank. We then had our inside toilet in the shower room. They used a coal oil stove for cooking (I didn’t like the smell of the oil) and an icebox for our perishables, which perished often when the ice was melting. It wasn’t like the luxuries of home but it wasn't long before my Mother turned all that around.
We were evidently short on cameras since there were no more pictures taken until I received a camera upon my eighth grade graduation and then Ewald, the other wonderful half of my Mother, gave me a fine Kodak that he purchased from someone.
2000 (7.11.07 photos added)
NOTES
Castlewood, Missouri
Mary & Les: Kathleen's sister and (future) brother-in-law
Photo (top): Mary Barrett, Lester Hohman, Kathleen Barrett
Photo (middle): The Grove, later renamed the Lone Wolf Ranch, on property owned by Eddy Pahl. The location was later filled in as a pond.
Photo (below): All Inn Club, Castlewood MO, about 1935.
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