I mentioned we were looking for the building where Grandpa had his photography studio; we found it! I love this art deco style, of course.
Bill quite admired a lot of the architecture and
the wide streets around that area and I had to agree.
I thought the capitol building was very handsome.
Bill mentioned that Madison was one of the first places to pedestrianise a downtown street, something that caught the attention of folks in Europe. I can't find any proof of that, so I'll just take his word for it. I did like the feel of this area of town, particularly as it was only a few blocks from the house overlooking James Madison park and Lake Mendota. I could handle living here, in the summer anyhow.
Did I ever mention that one of the first places Bill and I vacationed together was Sorrento, Italy? We went all around the Amalfi Coast, visited Naples, Pompei and the Isle of Capri. If I ever managed to find and scan those photos, I'll show them to you. Anyhow, when we got back, I happened to get out the box of Daddy's black and white glossy photos of his tour of duty in Italy and guess what? I discovered that he was stationed in Naples. It was frustrating not to be able to tell him about our holiday there.
Well, this time it was a box of Mom's old 35mm slides that had always been around and had ended up in Rita's garage. I took them away with me when I was last in OKC and just before we left for Michigan finally got around to taking them to be made into digital photos. They were ready by the time we returned.
Turns out Mom liked that capitol building as well.
I was delighted to find there was an arts festival going on in downtown Madison. The hardest part of going to one of these for me is to (a) keep track of Bill and (b) remember all the great ideas I want to try for myself (I should live so long). It used to be hard not to buy things, but I seem to have cured myself of that. Mind, I have a picture on my living room wall from an Oklahoma City arts festival that my friend, Joanne, and I attended many years ago. The image is composed of flower petals and I've never regretted that purchase. Anyhow, I'll show you some of the things I really liked there in Madison.
There was a woman who made stuffed animals, mainly mice, from old sweaters. I thought they were cute, but not cute enough to photograph. Then there was this lady who knitted with paper and that I found totally amazing. Not useful for anything (part of Oscar Wilde's definition of art), but amazing to look at.
Someone else took old garments and made them into wraps, scarves and bags. She used luxurious fabrics like cashmere and silk.
This woman had a couple of themes going. One was to do with children's clothing and sayings about children.
I really loved the pieces (look closely at the smaller orange pictures) where she painted? collaged? a dress onto old sewing patterns and outlined it with stitching. I was mildly tempted to buy one for my sewing (ha) room...
And I loved this guy's work with bits of old furniture and ceramics. He told me he got his materials at yardsales and thrift stores. Mind, one piece of this would go a long way, but I love that it's all so whimsical and he's rescued so much from the landfill. It would be fabulous to have that umbrella stand inside my front door. Just imagine the fun of watching peoples' faces when they first saw it. You can visit his website and see more.
In fact, that's mainly what I was drawn to, things made from 'nothing', 'trash', etc. I don't consider myself to be an environmentalist, but I do hate waste.
Grandma and Grandpa lived in Madison, Wisconsin in the 1940s. Though the 1940's Census is not public yet, I know this because they bought cemetery lots in Crystal Lake Minneapolis and the deed was posted to them at a Madison address; they had no idea at the time that a future daughter-in-law would pull them down south to end their days in Oklahoma City.
It is another address in Madison on my Dad's Army AirForce dog tags, from his service in WWII. Mom always talked about having gone to live in Madison and work at Baron's Department store when Daddy first returned from Italy. So I wanted to go see this place and get a feel for what it might have been like.
I never realised that the old part of Madison is squeezed between two lakes and I'm guessing it is because Madison is a college town that so many of the big older houses are still standing, rented out to students.
We found all the addresses I was looking for just walking around, well nearly. My favourite address was on Gorham Street and the house number fell between these two big houses, across from James Madison Park, overlooking Lake Mendota.
These were obviously several apartments rather than single family dwellings. That is likely how they will have been rented by my parents and grandparents, as neither owned a house until after the war.
Now, I have to say that Bill absolutely loves Oklahoma and wants to go there all the time. However, he kept saying he thought it was sad that Grandpa had to leave the north and go live on Pennsylvania Ave. Much as I loved their neat little house, I must admit I see what he means.
