Our family spent the rest of 1928 and the first six months of 1929 planning our trip all through the great Southwest. Mother bought two large steamer trunks and they were packed with new clothes, all that a family of six would need for two months in Vancouver, B.C. The trunks were shipped ahead by rail. Martha and I would go out to the garage and just sit in the Cadillac, sometimes to just read in the big comfy back seat. It was designed to hold seven people comfortably. We loved the little silk shades at the windows and the little vases of flowers on each side of the interior. There were two velvet seats that pulled down, seating two more. We could hardly wait to begin our trip in our big-cozy chariot!
In the spring of 1929, the foundation was dug for our new Tudor house, and Irv and I had a great time running behind the team of horses and driver hired for that BIG job! Mother had decided on the plans for it, and Ed Gregor was to supervise the construction while we were away. It was to be a classic 5 bedroom Tudor with a sunken living room with oak beamed ceiling, large stone fireplace, large family size dining room, L-shaped kitchen with a sun room and second dining area, a downstairs bath, and another huge bath upstairs. The basic house was to be up by the time we returned in September of 1929, and all the inside finishing to be done the rest of the year. All the Stewart kids had a great time watching the big cement mixers mix the tons of cement and pour the foot thick cement walls for the basement. No cement blocks in those days!
In the spring of 1929, Campbell put our Colonial house up for sale with occupancy to take place at the end of October. He sold it, almost immediately, to a Mr. and Mrs. Byrne. They loved the house and planned to have a family there. Mrs. Byrne gave birth to a baby daughter in May of 1934. They named her Jane, and in 1979, she became the FIRST woman Mayor of the City of Chicago!
Link to Jane Byrne HERE...
Father had one more problem - he had to find a driver to take us on our trip as we planned to leave on July 5th. Mother came up with the solution almost immediately. Why not Eric Hopf? After all, they knew his family - she had kept up her friendship with his mother all the years since they lived in Hopf's flat. It was the "perfect" solution - he was an experienced driver, having a "flivver" of his own! He had recently lost his young wife in a tragic accident and was at loose ends. Campbell told her to have him come and see him.
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