The History of William Edward Abraham
1. What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname? William Edward Abraham I have a crippled uncle on my mother’s side and his name was William.
2. When and where were you born? Glendale, Ca Left at age 5. Mother left. Dad brought us Tacoma, WA. They hitched hike from LA to Tacoma. Took two weeks to get there. Dad would stop and ask to work for food and a place to sleep. Lived in a one room cabin. Sink, stove, table with 2 chairs. 2 small beds. Sister slept in one and dad and him slept in the other. Not finished inside just raw 2X4. One light in the center. Lived there for almost a year. Took baths in galvanized tub not inside. Heat water and take bath.
3. How did your family come to live there? My grandparents on my mother’s side lived there.
5. What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones? Large house. Grandparents on mom’s side. coal oil. No toilet. Built a house out back to put the toilet in.
6. Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
7. What is your earliest childhood memory? We lived with my mother’s sister and they raised rabbits for awhile. Mom used to collect newspaper and sell them and make a living off of it because it was so hard to get a job. Went to a lagoon with salt water and had picnics.
8. Describe the personalities of your family members.
9. What kind of games did you play growing up? Marbles and tops with milk bottle tops. Pocket knife to school and throw knife called Mumbly pig. Had high top shoes that had a pocket and put a jack knife in it.
10. What was your favorite toy and why? Little car. Mostly toys were made out of lead back then. Would get lead on your hands and wouldn’t wash them before they ate. When they became more wealthy they got skates. Rubber guns. Take innertube and cut it up and make guns out of it. Hide and seek and kick the can. Baseball.
11. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)? Go to a movie. Series Movies and would have to go back to see what would happen
12. Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite? Bring wood in for the wood stove.
13. Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it? No allowance. Mow lawns to get money
14. What was school like for you as a child? Horrible. I was a poor spelling. I could memorize the words. What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College? Graduated from 6th grade and walked a mile to school and then moved to Roy. Went to school at yelm and went to 8th grade. Quit school in 9th grade because I didn’t have clothes.
15. What school activities and sports did you participate in? I played basketball.
16. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes? Jr high frank Sinatra was popular and girls loved him. Saddle shoes were popular.
17. Who were your childhood heroes? My dad because he kept us together and tried hard.
18. What were your favorite songs and music? Western music. Classical and marches now.
19. Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names? Shephard Dog in roy and mckenna.
20. What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend? Once in awhile because no car. Started working and moved in with a lady and would take in boarders than I went to church. His dad would say I belong to the round church so the devil can’t catch me.
21. Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
22. Who were your friends when you were growing up?
23. What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family? World war two. A lot of the people we knew went to war.
24. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods? Meat and potatoes. Canned vegetables. Dad was a really good cook. I would cook his dinner while he worked swing shift. Dad let him take care of the rabbits all during the war. Meat was rationed. So we would cook rabbit and sell.
25. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions? We went over to my dads brothers for Christmas and they would get toys for us one way or another and would always have a good dinner. My uncle died because he was a chain smoker.
26. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
27. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
28. What do you know about your family surname?
29. Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather? Alcoholic sister and her husband would get drunk and get in fights. I would go get her and let her stay until she was sober. I would do this a lot.
2. When and where were you born? Glendale, Ca Left at age 5. Mother left. Dad brought us Tacoma, WA. They hitched hike from LA to Tacoma. Took two weeks to get there. Dad would stop and ask to work for food and a place to sleep. Lived in a one room cabin. Sink, stove, table with 2 chairs. 2 small beds. Sister slept in one and dad and him slept in the other. Not finished inside just raw 2X4. One light in the center. Lived there for almost a year. Took baths in galvanized tub not inside. Heat water and take bath.
3. How did your family come to live there? My grandparents on my mother’s side lived there.
5. What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones? Large house. Grandparents on mom’s side. coal oil. No toilet. Built a house out back to put the toilet in.
6. Were there any special items in the house that you remember?
7. What is your earliest childhood memory? We lived with my mother’s sister and they raised rabbits for awhile. Mom used to collect newspaper and sell them and make a living off of it because it was so hard to get a job. Went to a lagoon with salt water and had picnics.
8. Describe the personalities of your family members.
9. What kind of games did you play growing up? Marbles and tops with milk bottle tops. Pocket knife to school and throw knife called Mumbly pig. Had high top shoes that had a pocket and put a jack knife in it.
10. What was your favorite toy and why? Little car. Mostly toys were made out of lead back then. Would get lead on your hands and wouldn’t wash them before they ate. When they became more wealthy they got skates. Rubber guns. Take innertube and cut it up and make guns out of it. Hide and seek and kick the can. Baseball.
11. What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)? Go to a movie. Series Movies and would have to go back to see what would happen
12. Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite? Bring wood in for the wood stove.
13. Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it? No allowance. Mow lawns to get money
14. What was school like for you as a child? Horrible. I was a poor spelling. I could memorize the words. What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College? Graduated from 6th grade and walked a mile to school and then moved to Roy. Went to school at yelm and went to 8th grade. Quit school in 9th grade because I didn’t have clothes.
15. What school activities and sports did you participate in? I played basketball.
16. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes? Jr high frank Sinatra was popular and girls loved him. Saddle shoes were popular.
17. Who were your childhood heroes? My dad because he kept us together and tried hard.
18. What were your favorite songs and music? Western music. Classical and marches now.
19. Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names? Shephard Dog in roy and mckenna.
20. What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend? Once in awhile because no car. Started working and moved in with a lady and would take in boarders than I went to church. His dad would say I belong to the round church so the devil can’t catch me.
21. Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?
22. Who were your friends when you were growing up?
23. What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family? World war two. A lot of the people we knew went to war.
24. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods? Meat and potatoes. Canned vegetables. Dad was a really good cook. I would cook his dinner while he worked swing shift. Dad let him take care of the rabbits all during the war. Meat was rationed. So we would cook rabbit and sell.
25. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions? We went over to my dads brothers for Christmas and they would get toys for us one way or another and would always have a good dinner. My uncle died because he was a chain smoker.
26. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
27. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
28. What do you know about your family surname?
29. Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather? Alcoholic sister and her husband would get drunk and get in fights. I would go get her and let her stay until she was sober. I would do this a lot.