Margo Delp

Margo Delp

CENTER FOR ORAL AND PUBLIC HISTORY

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON

NARRATOR: MARGO DELP

INTERVIEWER: Jennifer Keil

DATE: April 11, 2013

LOCATION: Yorba Linda, California

PROJECT: Hitler’s Europe to the Golden State

JK: This is Jennifer Keil.  I’m conducting an interview with Margo Delp in Yorba Linda, California. It’s April 11, 2013 at 1:00pm.This is Cal State Fullerton University Oral History Project entitled, “From Hitler’s Europe to the Golden State.” My first question is when and where were you born? 

MD: I was born in Mainz, Germany June 14th 1933.

JK: Wow.

MD: Little while back. (laughter)

JK: Can you share with me what your upbringing was like? What was it like to be a child in Germany?

MD: A child in Germany, it’s not so nice you know. It was unfortunately wartime until I was about thirteen years (old). When the war was about over I was about thirteen years old. We spent a lot of time in the basement. We kids always played a game and sometimes we were there for hours and sometimes at night. We put our chairs down and chained them together so they couldn’t move. As a kid you take that fairly easy. It must have been hard for my mother, naturally. My dad was in war. He was in Russia. As a kid I had my friends. The living conditions were very horrible at that time because we happened to be bombed out twice. We didn’t know where to go to and there was an old barrack where people started to move into. That’s where we stayed for quite a while.

JK: Do you know what year that might have been when you moved?

MD: That was about ’45. The war was over. It was the late forties. It was very interesting there.

JK: Can you recall some of your favorite hobbies as a child?

MD: What?

JK: Your favorite hobbies? Things that you did.

MD: My favorite hobby, I liked to knit and crochet. I remember putting things together because it was Christmas. I had a friend, my close friend who lived there too, [and] we got together for Christmas. I never forgot that because I feel I did a good thing there because it was very memorable. We collected and made [things] out of little match boxes. We took the tops off and used the bottoms to make little beds out of them. [We put] little dolls in there. We made some unusual things. That was our evenings we got together. On Christmas, out of a bed sheet went (became shaped) like Kris Kane, Christ child, and angel. This was very nice of us to do. When I saw my friend in Germany, I just saw her back in July, because my mother is still alive in Germany. She’s ninety-nine. When I got together with her (friend) last year then, we talked about that (Christmas). It was really nice.

JK: Who taught you to crochet and knit?

MD: My grandma crocheted. We learned in school. Every week for an hour or two you’d do it at home if it’s cooking, sewing, crocheting, or knitting. You have to do something you would do in the home life as a mother.

JK: For the boys, was it similar to prepare for [gender] roles?

MD: Yeah, but I didn’t go to a boys school. 

JK: Right.

MD: It was separate from the girls. We never had boys in our school.

JK: How did you react to the instruction? Did you like being taught how to make a home and the art of homemaking?

MD: Yeah, I was always kinda interested because of course I always had to help my mom. I enjoyed it.

JK: What school did you attend growing up?

MD: A regular school in fact I probably missed a couple of years because [it was] during the war. We went to Poland to my dad, he was stationed in Poland, and he came to see us for a week in Germany and it was during the wartime. He said, “You know something, you have more war here that we do in Poland.” So he packed my mom, me, and my brother at the time and we went to Poland. We stayed there for a while.

JK: Was that the early 40s?

MD: Oh yeah. I have pictures there and I put the year on the back. I still remember that was Poland. That was ’42 and ’44. That was their wedding picture, my mom there. That was in Poland, my mom there. That’s me and my brother. We were in Kowal, Poland for about a year I would imagine. I didn’t go to school there.

JK: Did you like the transition?

MD: I didn’t mind it. Still I was at an age where you adapt easy to whatever. We played with the Polish kids. We came up with bad names and then got slapped. When we went back to Germany, that was within a few days because the Russians came to Kowal, Poland. They were more or less on the border and it was overnight that cattle cars and everything was there. They packed them with the German people from (by) the soldiers and the wives. The soldiers still stayed. My dad still stayed, but we had to go back to Germany. When we got back, there was nothing. We had no home. My grandma had a small place outside of Mainz. Mainz was pretty good sized town where I was born.

JK: Do you recall women clearing the rubble in the aftermath of the war?

MD: Oh yes. We found a lot.

JK: Did children help with that process?

MD: Oh yeah. When there was an alarm for an attack that night, the next day we went right away looking for what we could find too because we had nothing anymore. Beds were hanging up in the air and ovens, it was awful. As a kid, you take it pretty well.

JK: Can you share some of your role models growing up?

MD: Oh my. Who was my role model? Well, that was later when I saw American movies. Then I had role models like Alan Land. Before that, actually, I had no role models that I can think of.

[00:10:20]

JK: So American actors and actresses were your role models later?

MD: Yes, that was later when the movies came in Germany. We got some of the movies. They were fabulous.

JK: Can you share with me about your parents?

MD: Yeah.

JK: Maybe about their background, what they studied in school, and their occupations perhaps?

MD: My dad was an instrument maker. You know when you get out of school, you get only eight years in school at that time. I don’t know how it is now. Eight years only and then you go get out and you take over whatever you want to be. Like I was a hairdresser, so I went three years in school for hairdressing. But you really learn well, not like here, nine months to be finished. You learn about the hair, about the skin, about the nails, about everything. You can do massages. That’s real nice.

JK: It’s a full license.

MD: Yeah. But my dad was an instrument maker. That’s what he learned. Later he gave that up somehow, probably didn’t get enough money. Later he worked as a mechanic in the factory.

JK: What he musical? Did he have a background?

MD: Very musical. He did play violin, accordion, and harmonic naturally. The violin, piano, that’s it.

JK: Oh neat. Did he teach you those instruments as well?

MD: He always wanted to get me to play the accordion. I didn’t want to. (laughter) I didn’t like it. My brother, he plays a good accordion. He really does a good mouth organ, you know with the different sounds. He’s real good, my brother.

JK: What’s your brother’s name?

MD: My brother?

JK: Uh-huh.

MD: Horst. H-O-R-S-T. Horst.

JK: What’s he like?

MD: He learned, what do you call that in English, is he on the telephone?

JK: I think so. 

MD: I forgot. What do you call it? What Horst did. He’s on the telephone. Can you shut it off?

JK: Oh sure.

[Track 2]

JK: We were discussing your brother’s trade.

MD: Yeah, my brother was a machinist.

JK: Did he serve during the wartime? Was he older or younger than you?

MD: He’s four years younger. 

JK: Younger, ok. I see.

MD: He did good in Germany and had a good job. After I left, two years later, he wanted to come too so he did. He kept his trade on here.

JK: What about your mom’s background?

MD: She had her eight years of schooling. (Dog begins barking) She was a shoe sales girl. It’s not really a trade to speak about. She always wanted to do that and liked it.

JK: Did she do that for many years?

MD: As long as I remember, for quite a few years.

JK: During your upbringing too she did that?

MD: Yeah.

JK: What was Mainz, Germany like after the war? What was your hometown like after the war.

MD: Terrible. Mainz is a big town on the Rhine River. We had four bridges and they were damaged completely. Number one, they (soldiers) went for bridges. We had a lot of industrial (sic) down the Rhine. They bombed us pretty heavy  there. The town was nothing anymore.

JK: What was the feeling like at that point?

MD: Pretty bad. You don’t have any clothes to speak of. As a young girl, my mother did what she could to sew out of whatever. One day (laughter), I shouldn’t tell you that. My grandmother worked for the German soldiers. I think she did some cleaning and stuff like that, simple work. One day she came home with a big red banner. My grandmother’s sister was a seamstress for the soldiers. She did soldiers uniforms, very first class. She made me a beautiful dirndl out of that by night.

JK: It was a military banner?

MD: Yeah, with a great big German banner with a swastika. (She) took the swastika off and we closed all the doors. Everybody took that swastika off; burn them as fast as you can. Then I had a beautiful dirndl dress in red and white.

JK: Did you ever think about how that was formerly a banner?

MD: No I didn’t, but a lot of people said, ‘red. Wow! Where did you get that dress?’ I thought that was memorable. It made a beautiful dirndl dress with white ribbons here and beautiful buttons. She did a beautiful job.

JK: Did you learn how to sew as well?

MD: A little bit. She gave me scraps a lot of times and I did my doll. I didn’t really. I watched her a lot of times.

JK: How do you feel about Germany during your childhood and reflecting on it now?

MD: I like Germany. I like the people, customs, and the way of living. It’s nice to look back on that.

JK: What other household war memories do you have?

MD: We had to wash everything by hand. I don’t think they had the washing machine. I never saw a washing machine in Germany. I know they only had those big kettles there and the washboards.

JK: Was it handmade soap or did you purchase it during the war?) “We didn’t get any soap and fine soap not at all. It was big clumps of soap that you wash with [and] we took (used) that for our faces.

JK: What other roles did women have during the war?

MD: I think it was very hard for the women especially if they had kids. First of all the living conditions were so bad and they lived wherever they could live. There was no place. It was very, very hard for the women I am sure. Food, then secondary, we didn’t have any food. We were cut off from everything and all the other nations. [We] just [ate] what we had in Germany and in our fields. That was hard. That was really hard.

JK: Do you recall rationing and bartering at that time?

MD: Oh yes. Again, I didn’t go to school, but I went at six or seven o’clock in the morning we went with the streetcar out were the farmers lived and we went in the fields. I had a knapsack and went in the fields. We picked whatever we could until he came with a pitchfork and chased us off. That’s what I did.

JK: Did you collect food with your brother?

MD: No, he was four years younger so I didn’t go with my brother. I had a couple of boys that went there. I put the boy’s hats on and [styled] like a boy with a knapsack and put all the food in there you could. We scrounged that up.

JK: I’ve read about Germany creating a mothering service in 1934 and they would train women how to be ideal women and mothers. Did you hear about these schools either before or after the war?

MD: I think I heard about something like that. I can’t remember because I was a teenager. Once you were twelve years old you had to go in the Hitler Youth. I had to go.

JK: What was that experience like?

MD: It wasn’t bad really. You had to wear a black skirt and a white blouse and had a choker around your neck. You had to go once a week to meetings for the girls and the boys extra. They always made boys and girls extra, which was kinda good in a way. For the young people, there wasn’t much trouble there. (laughter) Like this now, right? That’s the way I remember it. We went to the streets singing songs. I remember that. Like I said, once a week we got together and then we went to outing. But that wasn’t long. I was already twelve years old.

[00:10:42]

JK: Do you recall Gertrud Scholtz-Klink and the Frauenwerk, the Women’s Bureau of Nazi German party? They had a woman represent the bureau and she was the leader of this women’s movement within it. She would teach woman how to manage their home, but had a very public role. So Gertrud Scholtz-Klink was her name. I don’t know if you recall her name being mentioned. 

MD: That’s just for the women?

JK: Yeah, she was in charge of the Women’s Bureau of the Frauenwerk. 

MD: I don’t remember. Do you know a name or something?

JK: Yes, Gertrud Scholtz-Klink is her name.

MD: Scholtz, yeah, Gertrud Scholtz-Klink and Frauenwerk of the Women’s Bureau.

JK: Is that something familiar?

MD: I think that was for women and to help them to do with what you can with this and that to help yourself and your children. This type of thing. Again, I was too young for that part. I can’t remember my mother going to one of those. My dad always said when he was in uniform and he came back once in a while to visit, “Don’t go in anything (join an organization) that you shouldn’t. Stay home.” In other words with anything with the Hitler Youth and this and that, stay away from all of that. We did. We stayed away from that. Except with the Jewish, that was awful. I don’t know much about that either, but I know my mom had a good friend who was a Jewish lady. They cut those people off and they got no food. They had yellow stars on with the black writing, Jew. That was awfully bad. I remember my mom had a good friend there. Evidently I was old enough to have a push buggy for dolls and my mother put food under there. We put the doll on top and went for a walk to Mrs. so and so. I went over there and we gave her food to [to the] Jewish people. We had a few people who were good friends when that happened. That was awful. That was the worst thing.

JK: Did you assist your mom in other ways in your own home with managing the house?

MD: Oh yeah, I had to help. When she had wash day, I had to help. I had to rinse it two times in the morning. It was quite a bit of work. I had to help there and I had to help iron. The German people I have to say one thing for them, they were very clean. It was rare when you see someone with a dirty household. That was really rare. So I had to help quite a bit with the household.

JK: How did you move to the United States?

MD: One area was for women and the other area was for men’s haircutting. We had a few Americans come in. One of them, I liked him and he liked me. I was only nineteen years old. We got together and that’s the one I married.

JK: What year was that?

MD: It must have been 1953.

JK: Once you married your husband, you moved immediately?

MD: Not immediately. He still had to stay at camp for a while. We got married not long after that. He went to the States and I came after.

JK: Did you board a ship solo as a war bride?

MD: At that time I came with a plane.

JK: You moved to California or elsewhere?

MD: Northern California, not quite Santa Barbara but right before. What is it called? Oxnard.

JK: What were your perceptions of California before moving here and then after arriving?

MD: Oh my God. I thought this is dreamland. I thought this is Disneyland like. When I see (sic) the ocean and these beautiful homes out there. We went right on the ocean. I was the most wonderful. I just loved it. The people I loved. I loved the people right away. In Germany, they don’t take to each other so quickly. 

JK: There’s a distance there.

MD: Yeah. It’s a little bit in between. There was people that were just wonderful. I mean here I am, that’s me, that’s that. I love that. I wrote to Germany [to share how] the people leave their doors open at night. They don’t even have to lock the doors. If you have a toothache even, the neighbor comes and brings you some cake and whatever else. That was very charming. That was just wonderful. I liked that.

JK: What were your perceptions of the United States before coming and after arriving? What did you think of the whole country?

MD: I had a good feeling about the United States. I just thought it must be the super country in the world. The first thing I liked very much even if I only had ten minutes time in the day, we lived in a little army camp right I told you, and way down was the shop. The beauty shop that opened up there. It was only ten minutes I can go up and listen to American music real quick for a little while. I loved the music right away. It was wonderful to me, that music. Then I thought, it must be a beautiful country. I got married to an American.

[00:21:01]

JK: What was that experience like marrying an American?

MD: That was quite something too. That was very nice. I had a nice wedding. Everybody said hello and goodbye to me, it was kinda touching. For the family it was very hard. I have some pictures where the whole family has dark dresses on and look like it’s a funeral, not like a wedding. It was sad and hard to go.

JK: How did you make your home here in California? How did you create that atmosphere of a home from the house that you moved into?

MD: Cozy, simple but clean.

JK: Was that a hard process to create that peaceful environment?

MD: No.

JK What was it like creating a family in the 50s in California? Was it an easy process for you to transition from a German culture of family life to American family life? 

MD: Oh yeah, it was quite a bit of transition in a lot of things a little bit. Start off from the way you eat (laughter). There was so much food I had never seen in my life. That was nice.

JK: Did you prepare traditional German meals or did you start adopting American cuisine?

MD: What I knew. What mom cooked like. Then my husband told me he liked this or that. Then I said, “I don’t know how to make it.” He said, “Here it’s written down.” I didn’t read it, I don’t read English. So he told me how. He talked a pretty good German, my husband.

 JK: He felt comfortable in the home cooking as well? He would instruct you how to do that?

MD: Oh yeah.

JK: Did he ever assist you with those roles with cooking and cleaning?”) “Not really. Actually I didn’t want him to. It was so small where we lived. I just wanted to keep it clean and nice, cozy.

JK: Did you have children?

MD: Yeah, I had two girls.

JK: What was that like rearing them in California?

MD: Wonderful, very nice because whatever appetite you have you can eat.

JK: What kind of holidays and meals from the German culture do you still preserve today?

MD: I still do quite a bit. My husband, he likes sauerkraut. He is easy. That’s my second husband. He saved my life. He’s a wonderful man. Unfortunately I wasn’t very happy in the first marriage. It turned out pretty sad. This man, he’s wonderful.

JK: You met him in California?

MD: Yeah.

JK: What year did you get married?

MD: We got married in ’71. We moved here in ’77.

JK: What was home like here, when you established your home with John?

MD: That was wonderful.

JK: Did you have ease with your household with appliances here and new technology like microwaves and toaster ovens?

MD: No, I did not grow up with fanciness but being used to simple and do with whatever you have. I still like that. Even now I can go out and buy what I want, but why buy more if you have enough and you’re happy with it? That’s all that matters.

JK: Do you notice a difference between European consumerism and American consumerism with your purchasing habits? Maybe Europeans purchased things differently than Americans.

MD: No.

JK: Maybe in different quantities? Is there a different idea behind that?

MD: You mean the quality of things?

JK: Quality or the way people will purchase things, maybe based of needs and wants. A difference in whole ideas of how to buy? Is there a difference between American and European style?

MD: Yeah, first of all I think most of the Germans were used to if we don’t have the money you don’t buy it. If you can’t pay for it, you don’t have it. You just don’t. Therefore you’re never in a bind that you owe somebody something. That’s absolutely out. Lot of American people buy more than what they need and some fancy stuff. Because the neighbors have it, they have to have it too. I don’t look at it that way. I just like limited things and I’m happy with it. Well like the modern, I cannot take one of those things. I cannot work those. My husband has one. 

JK: A computer.

MD: Yeah, right. I don’t care. It’s for a man to do, let him do it. Otherwise he has nothing to do. (laughter)

JK: Do you remember post-war consumerism in American or German in the 50s? There was just a surge of people purchasing home and furnishing them, buying washers and dryers, refrigerators, furnishing the whole unit.

MD: Yeah.

JK: Do you recall that happening at that time in the 50s?

MD: Do I remember that?

JK: Yes the post-war consumerism and the rise in credit?

MD: Oh yeah, I think a lot of Germans went for that. German people are a little bit more, I don’t know how to say that one and maybe I shouldn’t say it at all (laught), “when my neighbor has that, I gotta have it too.” A little bit that way, a lot of Germans. 

JK: That competitive spirit.

MD: Competitive, yes. I dislike that. I don’t need what my neighbor [has]. That’s what they want. That’s what I want. Like a big house, I don’t want a big house. I have to work it. I have to clean it. This is plenty.

JK: Do you remember purchasing your first oven and washer/dryer?

MD: Yeah, well I didn’t purchase it. He did (John). With my first husband I had nothing. He hardly had work. He was kinda a nice man, but not a family man. Let’s put it this way, nothing for the family. This man, he’s really good. In fact, [if] I have something that’s worn out, “Well why don’t you throw that out,” he says. “We’ll get a new one.” I don’t want it. I still have the old one. We’re more that way. Now I’ll get a new washing machine, absolutely because it’s making music. (laugh) I want a new washing machine, plus I want one with top loading not on the bottom because I’m getting too old to bend down. I like it from the top.

[00:30:52]

JK: Do you remember all the advertisements from the 50s, 60s, and 70s? I have some here. Some advertisements like the Hoover vacuum machine promised happiness. “You’ll be happier with a Hoover.”

MD: Oh yes.

JK: You had GE’s electric range speed cooking. So this unit promised to increase your efficiency and reduce the time to cook. 

MD: That’s neat. That’s very nice.

JK: This product here, Crosley, was showing “better products for happier living.” They promoted that your happiness was attached to purchasing these products at times.

MD: Yeah, it’s wonderful. This is all in Germany now too, very advanced in everything. 

JK: I see.

MD: Oh yeah. Incredible, but I like old appliances and things. I’m happy with it.

JK: Did this ever motivate you to purchase these things when you saw advertisements like these?

MD: No really. When I have it and it’s still working fine and I’m used to it, just leave it alone.

JK: Do you remember the microwave coming to the market in the 70s?

MD: Oh yeah. It took quite a while before I had a microwave. 

JK: Kinda hesitant about it?

MD: Yeah, I was worried of the unknown. Food like that. (dog interrupts “Shh, you be nice girl. We don’t want to hear you.”) It took a little while. I think it was a few years ‘til I had a microwave oven. This is only the second one I think I’ve had. Maybe it’s the third one. I don’t know. I’m not one of the first ones to buy anything.

JK: Do you wait for the reviews?

MD: I want to know how well it works. I don’t buy anything first. No, not right away, it’s not worth it. Some of the electronic things are so expensive and it doesn’t work right anyway. Then a good name, when it has a good name [I buy it].

[00:33:28]

JK: Is it product loyalty to a brand that you’ve always used? How did you determine it’s a good name? 

MD: My husband gets that newspaper. What is it called? Tell you all about whatever you buy something. (asks husband name of publication), Consumer reports, that’s what he reads. 

JK: Make you an informed buyer.

MD: When we need something new like the washing machine, we looked around a little bit. They have them for thousands of dollars and again he can afford it, but it’s not the money. I want one that loads on the top, not fancy because it’s out in the garage. Why should I have fancy?

JK: Ease of access is important.

MD: Yeah, yeah. It is a Whirlpool, good name.

JK: OK. Did these American products ever mean becoming more American to you? If you purchased an American Whirlpool or an American Hoover vacuum, did that signify you assimilating into U.S. culture at all? Was that a thought considered?

MD: Did I what?

JK: That buying an American product like a Whirlpool washer or Hoover vaccum would signify you becoming more American?

MD: Yeah, Oh yeah. That’s fine. 

JK: What about other food products too like Coca-Cola products or American apple pie and barbeques? Did those things and participating in those activities like celebrations of American culture like the 4th of July is that something that made you feel more connected to the culture here? 

MD: Oh yeah, I stay with that.

JK: Do you maintain German traditions like holidays?

MD: You do always miss back a little bit, but no this is America and love the country. I love the people here. I appreciate whatever I have. I like to celebrate Christmas and what you don’t celebrate in Germany, when the first people came over.

JK: Thanksgiving Day.

MD: Thanksgiving.

JK: Your neighbor mentioned that you make sauerkraut on New Year’s. It’s a tradition you’ve maintained

MD: Yes it is. I think different areas are a little bit different with their traditions, cooking too. I’m from the Rhineland. They have their sauerkraut every New Year’s Eve. You’ve got to have sauerkraut on New Year’s Eve. That means your pocket is not going to be empty this time next year. My husband, he loves sauerkraut. I fix it the German way, not just warm it up. No way. It’s got to cook for a while.

JK: What were your reactions to television sets out here and programming?

MD: I love it. I love television.

JK: Did you purchase that pretty quickly?

MD: Oh yes. Darn right. When I have a little bit of time and I can relax, I watch television. I still do.

JK: Do you remember some of the early programs you watched?

MD: Father Knows Best and all these real, nice families. The kids go to school and come home. Leave it to Beaver, I liked those. You learn from them too. You look at them and you can learn quite a bit from them.

JK: Did you see the ideal women in them, in the television shows?

MD: Oh yeah. Pretty much [a] very nice American typical [woman].

JK: Would you mimic some of the ways they ran the home and greeted their husbands at the door? Took care of their children, perhaps.

MD: Yeah. I think that is very nice to be more respectful towards each other, to the children and the children to the adults. They learn from the way you speak to them.

JK: Did you teach your children German traditions and cuisine?

MD: Only if they want to know. I never pushed anything. No need to. Not in German, no. I lost one daughter. I have only one daughter left. One was twelve years old when she passed away. She’s like I am with that respect. She doesn’t buy anything unless she can afford it. She keeps her household pretty good. Sometimes she want to cook some different thing that I used to cook in Germany and she doesn’t know the recipes so I give it to her.

[00:40:12]

JK: You mentioned earlier in our interview Disneyland. I was wondering if you visited early when you moved to America?

MD: Yeah I think so.

JK: You recall that. There’s an area in Tomorrowland where they show the future. There was a house in 1957, Monsanto House of the Future. It showed women’s progression in the home from 1920s, 40s. 50 and it was kinda like show and you rotated around. I was wondering if you saw that or the Carousel of Progress? It showed appliances taking over roles and easing the women’s burden. I don’t know if you ever visited that when you were there.

MD: I don’t remember.

JK: It’s an old area. It’s not there anymore. They took it out and redid it. It’s a different house now that they had displayed

MD: I don’t remember that there. That was the first time I was in Disneyland. No I don’t really remember that.

JK: What are your thoughts about technology in the home?

MD: I think it’s pretty great, up to a point. Everything has to have a limit. Like that little scooter that goes around, that cleaner that cleans. I haven’t tried that yet. 

JK: The robot vacuum.

MD: It walks off by itself and around. I don’t know if it does a good job. My daughter had one and I don’t think she cared too much for it.

JK: You prefer to do that yourself then rather than a machine? Some things are better the old way.

MD: Oh yeah, I rather do it myself.

JK: What old styles that you say that you do like traditional ways of cleaning that you haven’t adopted modern convenience. Can you think of anything else like the vacuum example? 

MD: Some simple ones?

JK: Maybe some other things that you do like that?

MD: I have some simple ones here that I like very much (demonstrates the Oreck roller vacuum). It picks up well here, on the tile not so good. On the carpet in the bedrooms, I do it once in awhile with that. Mostly I do it around here. I have another one for the house. This is for outside. This is pretty nice. Anything that goes fast and works good.

JK: Do you think you managed you home differently than your mom did in Germany?

MD: Yeah, a little bit. In Germany, oh my God, first of all they ironed everything. They ironed the nightie, underwear, Jesus, everything. I got laughed at when I came from Germany because I ironed my husband’s undershirts. “What, you ironed those?” Everything I ironed. I’m glad that I don’t iron anything anymore.

JK: Was it an electric iron?

MD: Yeah electric iron and ironing board. 

JK: Was it a heavy unit? Was it very tedious work and labor some to do all that?

MD: Oh yeah, yes it was. It takes quite a bit of time. That is something out, ironing. No, I don’t want to buy anything (that requires ironing). Stop it (instructs dog and moves him inside). I’m sorry there’s a doggie and he doesn’t have very good manners. He’s spoiled rotten and he bounces on me. 

JK: Do you self-identify as a homemaker? What do you think determine that role? What does that consist of?

MD: Yeah. If you’re home a lot and do like to bake, cook, wipe the dust. That is a homemaker, isn’t it?

JK: What if you don’t like those things? What do you do?

MD: Well you better get a maid. You get one of the wipers that goes around on the floor [and cleans] by itself. Or you turn your dog upside down. Funny.

JK: Did you have pressure to do all those things when you were married in the 50s and 60s era, was there a strong pressure to do all those roles by yourself?

MD: Oh yeah, I did it by myself.

JK: What kind of clubs, cultural organizations, or political organizations were you involved with in California in your adult life?

MD: No, I didn’t take part in a lot of things. I was mostly at home. When I’m free, I like to have my couple of hours sometimes in the day where I can sit down and read a magazine, put my feet up, or watch a good program.

JK: What do you read these days or watch? What’s common for you?

MD: I watch Steve, at two o’clock and he’s on every day. I like to watch him. That’s channel five. Steve Wilcos. It brings out, you learn a lot from some of the people I guess. Bringing out all men or women. Some of them are married and have a mistress or have children with some other women. All kind of ways of life. All kinds of problem ways, addicts. It’s surprising. I’m sure it a true show. I think it’s pretty real. It shows you how many kids get molested, babies burned with cigarettes, and all kind of weird things. 

JK: All kinds of problems.

MD: It actually sounds depressing, doesn’t it to listen to that.

JK: Sure.

MD: Somehow I take an hour from two to three o’clock on channel five. I watch that.

JK: What kind of things are you reading as well?

MD: What?

JK: What kind of things do you enjoy reading?

MD: I like to read that little booklet (looks for publication), The Reader’s Digest. It has very good things in it.

JK: I see.

MD: It’s very nice read.

[00:50:06]

JK: In Europe, were you a part of any clubs, cultural groups, or political organizations?

MD: No I wasn’t.

JK: Do you think your experiences in Europe shaped your life here in California?”) “I don’t know. I have thought about it off and on. You think about it sometimes, what would have been. I would have been close to that except I have no family [here] and I would have been with my family [in Germany]. My mother, grandmother, I had nobody here. This is the biggest thing that is missing.

JK: How do you think Southern California has been influenced by European migrants like yourself?

MD: I think that there has been some influences. I think they have been pretty good, some of them more in a practical way and financial too.

JK: If you had settled in another part of the United States, how might your experience been different?

MD: They could have been. I can live there or there. I can change easily.

JK: Do you think that your adjustment came from your upbringing as a child being able to adjust quickly?

MD: Could be. I’m very adaptive.

JK: How would you define yourself?

MD: As a simple person. I like to be myself, totally. I’m not pretentious in any way.

JK: How would you like the war to be remembered?

MD: It took a lot away from my childhood. I was with my family. Once in awhile I still remember back certain things. I feel bad about it. Altogether, I can bend very easily. I’m very happy to be here.  Once again, it’s only the family that you miss very much.

JK: Do you visit frequently?

MD: I’ve been going quite often, every four or five years. I was there last year. My mom is ninety-nine years old and is in a home. That’s what I regret the most, that I didn’t let her come over here so I could take care of her.

JK: What is it like returning to your home country after all these years have passed?

MD: You almost feel a little bit strange.

JK: Does it feel foreign?

MD: It does. It feels good because you know your way around and the people, but it’s strange a little bit. It’s been so many years. Well I’m here now.

JK: Do you find yourself more German or American now?

MD: When I go back, I’m glad that I’m here again. When I’m here again, then I think about Germany.

JK: It’s hard with that dual identity.

MD: It is. There are certain things I like a lot in Germany. Come Sunday morning, the bells ring at the cathedrals and everything is peace and quiet in the whole town. You just hear the beautiful bells ringing. I miss that so much when it’s a Sunday. Here I get up, “what is it today Saturday, Sunday, Monday?” Little things. I even bought a little record of the bells that ring from the dome. My town is mostly Catholic. Bells ring and it sounds so beautiful.

JK: Do you play that on Sundays to commemorate that tradition?

MD: Sundays, yes it’s special. Here it’s just another day.

JK: Any closing thoughts?

MD: I love the country. I love California. I love the United States period, very much I do. I’m all American than German. I don’t miss much with the presidencies, I stay away from them. When I read the paper in the morning, certain ones (politicians) annoy me quite a bit where the Germans wouldn’t do that, but the Americans do that. This is such a wonderful country. I’m afraid to say what I want to say. It’s not like it used to be anymore, especially in California (censorship). The people were so good and nowadays when you open up the paper, I think it’s all due to the foreign people. Those darn foreign people.

JK: I wanted to ask a few more questions about your occupation. Your occupation as a stylist, did you come to America and do that as well?

MD: No I couldn’t because they wouldn’t let me. I would have had to make a new license and I wanted to go so bad that I could work as a beautician, but I had two little kids and I was alone. I was at home for eight years. Those eight years while I was alone, I lost a newborn you know and I had bills to pay, so I had to get a job. It pays money 

[01:00:11]

JK: Sure. What did you do then? Was it a different kind of occupation?

MD: I worked in an electronic laboratory.

JK: Was that transition easy from one occupation to another?

MD: Yeah, it was ok. I liked my job.

JK: What do you think of all the beauty advertisements from the 50s and 60s? Was there a pressure to be beautiful? There’s an idea of homemaker and 50s and 60s being pristine and perfect and hair being set just so.

MD: Yeah, from the way back. 

JK: What did you think of that?

MD: It’s very cute. Far away from what it is now, isn’t it.

JK: Was the style quite different in Germany than it was in America for a wife and a mother, the look of things? 

MD: The German people, I think in most countries maybe, they didn’t get up and make themselves beautiful right away and went (sic) shopping. In Germany they look simple. They wash their face, brush their teeth, pull their hair back, and go shopping. They’re quite different.

JK: Did you like that about this country? Was that adjustment something you appreciated?

 

MD: It wasn’t an adjustment for me. I don’t like to go out without [getting ready], but I don’t want to get dressed up just to go down the street and get my groceries.

JK: So you never related to that image of the perfect 50s housewife.

MD: No, no, no that’s exaggerated a little bit, I think.

JK: Do you think it created you or neighbors pressure to look like that even though it was exaggerated form? Do you think it was still in the back of your mind? Was there ever a sense of not measuring up to that?

MD: No.

JK: It’s quite an era, looking back at the imagery of it. I’m very interested in you perceptions of it. It’s neat to hear those first person experience.

MD: I don’t think there’s that much difference, like I say American women [looked a certain way], but now anymore, no. Look at how some of them look at the grocery store. My goodness. [Some women are] overdone some, but they look presentable and clean. That’s the most important thing.

JK: Any closing thoughts you’d like to share? This concludes my set of questions here. If you have any closing remarks, please share them with me.

MD: If I have any what?

JK: Any closing thoughts for this interview?

MD: I enjoyed you for instance very much.

JK: Thank you. 

MD: You’re a sweet person. 

JK: Thank you so much. It’s very kind of you.

MD: Yes, very sweet person. So I enjoyed the interview. It was a nice afternoon.

JK: I appreciate your time and this concludes our interview here.

MD: Yes and come [back anytime.]

END OF INTERVIEW

APPENDIX

IMAGES SHOWN TO INTERVIEWEES DURING THE INTERVIEW

1949 Hoover Vacuum Advertisement "You'll be happier with a Hoover"

GE 1940s Electric Range "Speed Cooking"

 

1949 Crosley Home Appliances "Better Products for Happier Living"

 

GE 1955 Wall Refrigerator