Old Things R New

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I am a carpet person, that is, I prefer carpet on my house floors rather than wood or tile.  I like to walk barefoot on the carpet.  In the house where I grew up, we had carpet on all the floors, except in the kitchen and bathroom.  The kitchen floor was a patterned linoleum. 

My Granny holding Trixie, My Mother, Boots our cat and the patterned linoleum flooring in the kitchen – 1959

I don’t exactly remember the bathroom floor, but I suspect it was linoleum, as well.  Other than that, there were wood floors throughout the house.  Mom and Dad had some gray carpet installed (dining room and hallway), but the rug in the living room was “loose-laid.” 

Mom, Dad and me – Christmas 1964 with the blue carpet in the living room

I’m not sure whether or not anyone knew about carpet padding in those days, so I don’t know whether or not there was any under that rug.  In the short space between the living room and dining room, then between the living room and hallway, the bare wood was exposed.  Mother had some throw rugs in those spaces.

Boots and Trixie on the throw rug between living room and hall – 1959

I had a loose-laid aqua rug in my bedroom.

Trixie “fighting” with my fiesta skirts – 1958

Here is a picture of my brother Bill, in his bedroom.  The floor is hardwood.  There may have been a loose-laid rug, but I don’t see one and don’t remember whether or not Mother had one in there.

Because of all that, Fred and I have had carpet or rugs in our apartments/houses wherever we could whenever we could.  We have lived in 12 different apartments/houses in our married life, and not all of them were carpeted.  And so we purchased either carpet or throw rugs for those that were not carpeted.

Our first apartment – in Fort Worth, Texas – had vinyl tile flooring throughout – it was a very small apartment.  So we had a fairly large throw rug for the “living room” there. 

Our rescue cat, Tommy, sleeping on our throw rug – 1962

The next apartment we lived in, was mostly my apartment, in San Antonio, Texas.  Fred was going through OTS, and was only home one night a week.  It was a small apartment with only wood floors.  We only lived there three months, so I don’t remember even putting down throw rugs.

The next apartment we lived in was in San Jose, California.  The owners had a commercial-grade carpet installed throughout the apartment, except the kitchen and bathroom.  Not too soft on the feet there, but at least it was carpet.

Our next apartment was in Wiesbaden, West Germany.  We lived “on the economy” for the first year we were there, which means we were not in government quarters. 

We had the entire top floor – with balcony – 1967

This house had wood floors throughout, except – again – for the kitchen and bathroom, which were like a ceramic tile.  It was a furnished apartment, which was good, as we didn’t have any furniture of our own to bring with us.  Fred purchased a rocking chair for me after our Karen was born.  We still have that rocking chair.

1969 – Wiesbaden, Germany Fred and Karen playing/rocking chair in background

We lived in that apartment for one year, then moved to government quarters.  It was a fully-furnished apartment.  Here, the floors were all wood, except for the kitchen and bathroom, which were like a terrazzo tile – very hard.  The government had loose-laid rugs in all the rooms that were quite heavy.  We lived there for two years, before heading back Stateside.

1969 – Karen in our apartment-he floors are polished wood

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: Military, Military housing, Military Life, To carpet or not