“We never know the love of our parents for us . . .

Frank and Gladys

 “We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents.”  Henry Ward Beecher  

Erik,
     Many years ago, Dad wrote down memories of his parents and grandparents.  Below are memories of his Mam and Dad, my grandparents, who I called Momma and Pop.
                                                                --Mom

 

      "My mam, born March 1, 1897 and died at age 80, was not a naturally happy woman.  There were flashes of fun that I saw in her, especially when she was at her Mother's with her 5 sisters, but she was, in general, rather serious and somber.
     She was one of 10 children, 6 girls and 4 boys and left school at age 14, which was the norm in those days.  A very good looking woman, she appeared taller than she was because of her erect posture.   She had auburn hair, dark eyes and was always quite thin.
     My mam, Emily, met my dad, Joseph, at a vaudeville show next to the Theater Royale in Nottingham.   They were married in August 1920.  Life was not easy, especially after World
War I.  There was unchecked poverty in England for years after the war.
     Mam was a good woman with high moral character.  Dad did not always comply with her regimen, and their marriage was bumpy.  She worked hard all her life and kept the family together.  After the war, Dad worked as a coal miner, but in the early 1920's there was a nationwide strike and miner's wages dropped 50%.  During my childhood, Mam ran a machine at Raleigh Cycle Company.
     Her pleasures were simple.  She loved nothing more than eating a thick crust of bread slathered with butter.  During World War II, she alone used up the family's butter ration.
                                                         

Emily Shelton

     She loved going to Goose Fair ("going down the fair"), held each Autumn in Nottingham, and looked forward to playing the mechanical horses.  If her horse won, she would come home with bits of china for the house.
     She and Dad enjoyed going to Skegness, a seaside resort, on a half day train trip sponsored by the local pub.  At Christmas, the family would go to the pantomime in Nottingham.
     In 1959, Mam and Dad came on the Queen Elizabeth to America to visit us.  Pop came again, alone, in 1963, and both came again by ship in 1965."
                                                --Frank Shelton


Erik,
     Even though Dad's childhood was difficult, he loved his mam and dad, and they loved him.  He talked about how Momma would smother his face with kisses.  He faithfully wrote an aerogram (a sheet of light blue paper, folded and sealed to form an envelope) to them every week after he left England.  That's 52 letters a year, year after year!
     I can only guess, but it must have seemed to Momma and Pop as though they'd never see Dad again once he left for America.  Dad's sister, Gladys, married an American serviceman after World War II and also left  England, years before Dad.  Thankfully they did see Frank and Gladys again, many more times.  They came to America, and throughout my childhood, we went back to England nearly every other summer.

Bit of history:  Goose Fair, was thought to have begun in 1284.  Originally it was a market fair and got its name from the thousands (20,000) of geese that were driven from the Lincolnshire Fens (a flat, low-lying area) to be sold in Nottingham, 100 miles away.  Until 1880, Goose Fair was held for 15 days in early October in the old Market Square in Nottingham City Center. It has since been moved and only lasts for 3 days now.  

Goose Fair in the early 1920's

The Helter-Skelter ride at Goose Fair

     "I remember going on a ride at Goose Fair with Dad called the Helter-Skelter.  It was a lighthouse shaped bulding with a staircase inside and a slide spiralling down the outside.  I would carry a mat up the stairs and then sit in front of Dad on the mat and fly down the slide."                              
                                        --Mom

Cock-on-a-stick

   


 There are many foods traditionally associated with Goose Fair--coconuts, brandy snaps, toffee apples, candy floss, mushy peas with mint sauce, and cock-on-a-stick (yes, it's really called that), a candy, rooster-shaped lollipop!   Momma also remembers winkles and welks (shellfish), served in newspaper cones.