Step Back in Time: When downtown Gaylord had barns, chickens
In this installment of Step Back in Time, Marge Pray recalls early days of Gaylord for an article submitted by Cynthia Cleary.
The next time you drive your car into the parking lot behind what is now Fifth Third Bank, imagine yourself going back in time and visualizing a large family home, two barns and a chicken coop are there. Marge Pray lived and grew up in that house many years ago and shares her memories of a Gaylord unknown to most of us.
Marge attended the only school in Gaylord, which held classes from first through the 12th grade. There were two graduation ceremonies a year; one from the 8th grade, followed by a high school commencement. Boys from the area farms attended school through 8th grade but were given the choice of leaving to work on the farm or continuing their education.
Activities for young people were varied. There was always a sense of freedom, safety and fun. On Saturdays a group would often walk to Merkel Springs near the site of the River Cabin at the Otsego Club. Marge recalled skiing on the same hills which are still used today. There were no tow ropes or lifts back then and after long climbs up the hills the children were content to ski down only two or three times.
In the winter farmers brought wood into Gaylord on sleighs. A favorite activity was hitching rides on these sleighs; a rather daring and exciting pastime in those days.
Christmas was a special time. In front of the courthouse was a huge decorated tree and the whole town would gather to view it, see Santa Claus and receive candy. At this time all of the automobiles were stored in the barns for the winter and everyone walked into town.
Marge recalled her father’s barns. He always kept one or two cows. There was hay in the top loft and she remembers a large hole in the siding where her brothers fashioned a slide which carried them down to the icy ground. The momentum carried them across the street.
The second barn housed the family automobile; a nine passenger Studebaker, with isinglass curtains. In the summer the family motored to Free Soil near Manistee for a family reunion. The trip took all day and they would stop near Kalkaska for a picnic lunch.
Gaylord had three doctors and they took care of everyone, giving out elixirs for most illnesses. Marge remembers having her tonsils removed and lying on the examination table until it was time to go home. If you were seriously ill you were taken to the hospital in Grayling.
Cook’s department store and Kremer’s sold dry goods, underwear and most necessities. Upstairs in Cook’s store there were huge glass cases filled with clothes and three-way mirrors where you could gaze at yourself. During the holidays, Cook’s set up their basement to resemble the dime stores. Everyone wore long underwear in the winter. Marge used to roll up the sleeves and legs so no one could tell that she had them on.
There was also a mysterious house on Main Street across the alley from the grocery store. Ladies in beautiful gowns of satin and silk lived behind the closed gate and many years passed before she realized it was a place gentlemen and loggers visited on weekends. There was also a hotel near the railroad tracks that sold liquor and did some bootlegging
The grocery store in town eventually became an A&P. Marge’s father owned the meat market. Most of his cattle were raised and butchered on the land where the county airport is today. During the depression he would give free feed to the farmers and ask them to raise turkeys. At Christmas time he would ship the turkeys downstate to help feed the poor. Marge and her brothers helped pluck the feathers and the girls were paid three cents per turkey and the boys received 10 cents for each one.
When Marge grew up and finished high school she entered the Emily Post Hospital in Battle Creek for nurses' training and became a registered nurse. Later, she met her husband Robert at the Alpine TB Sanitarium (now the J. Richard Yuill Alpine Center). They were married in 1941 and raised five children.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Step Back in Time: When downtown Gaylord had barns, chickens
