Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Mathilda Marie Kempe (1895-1981) oral history

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Track 11, Transcript p. 38-42: Track 11, Transcript p. 38-42
Transcription: TRACK 11 MMK: Never. Never. And, of course, we were poor - not very poor, but poor - but most of the, uh, uh, she waited until Christmas morning and called us, you know, and we'd get up at maybe 6:00 o'clock that morning, you know, al]. excited. So there was four plates and we had a - each one of us had an apple, an orange.... BM: Oh. MNK: ....and some, uh, candy, nuts. BM: Um hum. So that was your special treat then? MMK: Yes, that was a special treat because we seldom, uh, had an orange. BM: Uh hum. MMK: You know, to buy them. Too expensive.... BM: Oh. Um hum MNK: ....but on Christmas we had, uh, had an orange. Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 39 BM: Did you hang up your stockings? MMK: Well, not all of them. BM: No. MMK: No because all that would be in it would be, urn, maybe an extra apple, you know, but no toys. BM: No toys. MMK: We had no toys. BM: You had no toys? MMK: None. You got clothes. BM: You got clothes. Did you have dolls? Did you play with dolls? MMK: Yes, we had dolls, but I don't - I always wanted a baby buggy and a cradle BM: Um hum. MMK: . .. .but I never got it. BM: You never got it? Oh, dear. MMK: And I never would dress the dolls, make all the clothes. BM: Oh. So the dolls had a new Christmas outfit, too, then? MMK: Yes. BM: They'd get new clothes. MMK: Yes. Um hum. BM: Um hum. And what did you have for Christmas dinner? MMK: Uh, it would be a goose perhaps.... BM: Um hum. MMK; .. . . or a chicken. BM: Um hum. Did you raise your geese yourselves? Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 40 MMK: What? BM: Did you raise the geese yourselves? MMK: Yes. Geese and ducks and chickens. BM: Oh. MMK: Um hum. BM: Where did you keep the geese. Were they all on your, uh.. MMK: Well, we have a yard, you know, fenced in. BM: Oh. Um hum. About how large was the yard? MMK: Oh, I'd say my father had about, urn, 100 feet frontage.... BM: Um hum. MMK: ... .and that building and the rest of it would be, uh, cone shaped in the rear, you know, and a chicken coop. BM: Um hum. So you had room for geese and ducks.... MMK: Yes. BM: . . . . and chickens? And then you had the Christmas coffeecake? MMK: Yes, we had a Christmas coffeecake. It was special. BM: Um hum. What was it? MMK: Raisins, currants, citron and orange peel.... BM: Um hum. MMK: . .. . and there was a certain, uh, seed, uh, oh, what was the name of that seed? To flavor it, you know. BM: Oh. Anise, maybe? MMK: Oh, yes. Something like that. BM: Oh. Um hum. MMK: Then, of course, it would be frosted. Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 41 BM: Um hum. MMK: Um hum and then she would braid it. BM: Oh. MMK: It would be a big one - a big coffee cake. BM: Oh. So it was a yeast dough? Was it yeast dough? MMK: Yes. Um hum. And she'd, uh, bake it in the roasting pan,... BM: Oh. MMK: ... .where she roasted her chicken. BM: Um hum. MMK: . . . . or goose. So it was a pretty big size, you know. BM: Yes. I'm sure if it was baked in a roasting pan. MMK: Um hum. BM: Well, if there were four healthy children around, uh, I'm sure that the cake went very quickly. (Laughter) You had good appetites then, I think. MMK: 'Cause we were always eating. BM: Um hum. MMK: Kids are always eating, you know, and when company would come -- my aunts and uncles from Chicago, you know - they'd always bring us candy. BM: Um hum. Did you visit your aunts and uncles in Chicago? MMK: Oh, not often.,... BM: No? MMK: . . . . because that took money. BM: Oh. Mathilda Marie Kempe, cont. 42 MMK: to go to Chicago - and time. BM: And time. MMK: And time and my father would be too tired. BM: Um hum. MMK: He'd be glad when Sunday came.... BM: Yes. MMK: . . .because, like I say, he'd work till 2:00 o'clock in the morning. BM: Yes. Um hum. MMK: "From the bench to the bed" - BM: Yes. That's a tough life. MMK: . . . .you know. Long, long hours. BM: Yes. MMK: But he was strong and he was healthy.... BM: Yes. MMK: .. . .and to do the new work, he didn't want to be disturbed when he was making shoes to go over the boots. BM: Oh. Boots, too? MMK: You see we had mud in the spring of the year.... BM: Um hum. MMK: . . .and deep snow in the winter really got - had boots.... BM: Oh. NMK: ... .up to the knees. BM: Oh.
Creators: Kempe, Mathilda Marie, 1895-1981, Interviewee; Maselli, Briggs
, Interviewer
Media Type: Audio; Image; Text
Item Type: Audiocassettes
Description: Interview with Mathilda Marie Kempe by Briggs Maselli on November 4, 1979 at 418 Ridge Road, Wilmette, Illinois.

Abstract: Born on Ridge Road across the street

Father Otto L. Kempe came via New York, Niles to Wilmette — was a shoemaker from Saxony - came as a young man in 1881 with a group of young men - Mother was from Chicago

Started a shoe repair business on west side of Ridge Road — put in a stock of shoes for sale
Built a new building at 418 Ridge (on east side) and moved and incorporated the first building within it
Mathilda one of four children 2 boys and 2 girls - Mother died in 1923 - Father lost interest in store — sister and brothers not interested in operating it so Mathilda tried and continued operation (43 years) until 1933

Moving day from west to east side of Ridge Rd. - Lived upstairs - all children worked in store until old enough to go from there and take jobs with other people — boys became plumbers - schooling - dressmaking in Evanston with a Frenchwoman
Contents of store — shoes — all rubber footware — men’s and boys’ clothing and headware — grocery goods. Father gardened and had fruit trees and sold fruits and vegetables — he had made shoes as well as repaired them

Gross Point School - eight grades - 1 through 4 on first floor in one room — 5 through 8 on second floor - east side of Ridge Rd. within Wilmette School District so Miss Kempe finished at Central School.
Home life while growing up - Mother canned fruits - made jams and jellies — knit woolen stockings - made sheets and pillowcases - girls’ clothing - quilts made with neighbors’ help - hot bricks and feather beds in winter

Elaborates on holiday celebration and father’s shoemaking.
Date of Original: 4 November 1979
Subject(s): Shoemakers
Oral histories
Gross Point (Ill.) — History
Wilmette (Ill.) -- Residents
Personal Name(s): Kempe, Mathilda Marie ; Kempe, Otto L.
Local identifier: R977.31 KE
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 1979
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Public Library
Copyright Holder Contact Information: 1242 Wilmette Ave.
Wilmette, IL 60091
U.S.A.
Recommended Citation: Kempe, Mathilda Marie, and Briggs Maselli. Mathilda Marie Kempe. Wilmette, Ill: Wilmette Public Library District, 1979.
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