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grandmother’s household after my grandfather died. The most comfortable piece of furniture was an old couch with plush, dark brown velvet cushions, big enough to seat three persons side by side or allow one adult to lie down and read or nap, which is how it was usually used. The cushions rested on small boards, which had been nailed to the frame to replace the original springs. Next to the couch was a bulky RCA Victrola that you could wind up and play old 78 rpm records on. In it was a large collection of old recordings from the 30’s and 40’s. My favorite was the Frankie Lane recording of Jezebel, which I played repeatedly, as well as an Al Jolson recording of Suwanee, and a number of Spike Jones’ recordings. There was also an old, cathedral-window- shaped radio on which, after the cottage got electrical service, one could listen to the BBC and other short-wave transmissions from around the world.
Sometime in the 1960’s we acquired a set of nice wicker furniture, a chaise lounge, armchair, rocking chair and loveseat, from friends of my parents when they sold their house. The furniture was from their sun porch and has held up well.
The interior walls had no wallboard, paneling, or insulation. What you saw on the inside were the 2x4 studs and the inside surfaces of the 1x6 or 1x8 inch shiplap siding that was nailed to them on the outside.
The inner walls of the cottage, which separated the living and dining rooms from the bedrooms, had the same boards, which were used as paneling. The smooth side faced the living and dining rooms, the rough side the bedrooms. These flat wooden surfaces were used to pin up maps, post-cards, and utensils. Fishing poles were hung on finishing nails on the wall behind the front door. The space between the living room and dining room was demarcated by an archway with wings on each side about 3 feet wide. The top of the arch extended about 6 inches below the ceiling. The cubbyholes between the short studs on the dining room side were used to store playing cards. On the living room side hung an old deer head of uncertain origin. (After it got moldy and was thrown out it was replaced by the mounted antlers of an embarrassingly modest-sized deer that my brother and his daughter picked up at a garage sale in Traverse City for $2.) There were also feathers tacked to the wall from birds that my uncle had shot with his single shot .22 rifle, which was stored in one of the closets. For many years there was also tacked to the wall on the dining room side a large, fold-out photo from Life magazine showing the dozens of famous movie stars on contract to MGM in the early 1950’s.
There were no inside doors. The entrances to the two bedrooms downstairs had cloth curtains for privacy. My
22 Washtenaw County Medical Society BULLETIN WINTER 2021