Childhood memories of St. Louisans through the decades fill the pages of a newly released book, “Growing Up St. Louis.”
The book, by local author Jim Merkel, gathers recollections from more than 100 residents, from those who grew up at the turn of the 20th century and marveled at the 1904 World’s Fair exhibitions, to millennials and Gen Z-ers whose weekend exploits included trips to The Magic House and the Science Center. There are also anecdotes from the perspective of children of immigrants and refugees who now call St. Louis home.
Subjects old and old enough include Dorothy Hunter, who was born in 1907 and raised just south of Tower Grove Park. Hunter was 109 years old when she sat down with Merkel in 2017. She died shortly after the interview.
“She was old enough to remember watching her uncle leave on a train at Union Station for World War I,” Merkel said. “Just before he got on the train, he gave Dorothy and her siblings chewing gum. Her dad forbade it, but under the circumstances, there was nothing he could do.”
Another extraordinary story comes from a woman named Madelyn Gaasch.
“Here’s a tale out of Dickens: Madelyn Gaasch, born in 1917, lived a happy life until her dad took up with another woman, who wanted marriage or nothing,” Merkel said. “So, her dad demanded a divorce and walked out when [Madelyn’s] mom refused. When Madelyn was 8, Mom died, leaving Madelyn a prime candidate for an orphanage, with its justified reputation as a maker of childhood misery.
“Her brother, who was 18 or 19, tried for a while to find a family to take her in. Then he left and she never saw him again. Her uncle kept trying, too. When things seemed hopeless, an Italian couple named Elsie and Charles Pedrotti adopted her and took her in. They had baptized and sent her to Catholic school. Her story had a happy ending, but the tales of many didn’t.”
While some of the stories tug at the heartstrings, there are also recollections that may seem mundane but reveal a lot more about how family life and social norms have changed over time.
“The recollection that surprised me came not from one vignette but a number of them – call it the ‘streetlight’ memory – I must have heard it from more than a dozen baby boomers,” Merkel said. “The often-told story is that moms and dads had their kids go out and play on Saturday mornings and wouldn’t see them for hours. The only guidance was that they had to be back before the streetlights came on. There are variations, but the consistent theme is that parents who considered themselves responsible saw nothing wrong with not knowing where their young children were for hours at a time.”
The “streetlight” stories mirror Merkel’s own childhood in the ‘50s.
“I lived in a then-rural part of Des Peres, west of the future path of Interstate 270,” he recalled. “I wandered the fields until my mom whistled for me to come home. It was a wonderful way to grow up, and it’s not possible today.”
Merkel says the stories told in “Growing Up St. Louis” take place at Busch Stadium, at the West County Mall and north of Delmar, but they could happen anywhere.
“This lesson is for everybody: Life can be harder for kids who are born the wrong color, who suddenly contract polio or who are victims of the negative side of happenstance. In turn, life can be a joy for those born to wealthy parents, but not necessarily,” he said. “What I’ve learned is that much of who we are is because of who we were as kids – and kids don’t choose their circumstances.”
But, Merkel adds, parents can do something to create the right kinds of memories.
“I’m no child psychologist, but my research for ‘Growing Up St. Louis’ convinced me that moms and dads full of love and warmth can strengthen their kids for their lives ahead,” he said. “Most of us grew up in households that were a little bit dysfunctional, and that’s alright. We may raise our voices sometimes, but we can hug our kids every chance we get and happily tell them the stick figure they drew is the best thing since Rembrandt. The words, ‘I love you,’ said five times a day can silence that voice that says, ‘You’re a lousy parent.’”
Merkel will appear at a presentation and book signing of “Growing Up St. Louis” on Monday, Aug. 23, from 7 to 8 p.m. at The Novel Neighbor bookstore in Webster Groves. The event is free and open to the public.
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