Martha and I had great fun selecting the wallpaper for the children's rooms in our new house. Irv's paper showed "The Little Engine That Could," Helen's showed "Bo-Peep and Her Sheep," and Martha and I chose ribbon tied bouquets of cosmos for our room. For Florence's little "maid's room" at the rear, clouds and flying swallows seemed appropriate. Mother chose an Art Deco "modern" design for her master bedroom to go with the ultra-modern twin bed bedroom set that she had just purchased. Their beautiful ivory double bed was put in the attic. Mother and father no longer slept together.
Moving day arrived and what a busy day it was! I noticed Eric carrying boxes up to the "maid's room" with a fish tank and a player accordian, and a large box of Modern Mechanics magazines! He was moving into Florence's room! I found Martha and together we confronted father.
"Dad, Eric is moving into Florence's room!"
He said, yes, he thought that mother had told us that Eric would be needed, not only as chauffeur, but as a maintenance man about the house. He would take care of the coal burning furnace, cut the grass and keep the grounds in shape and make any repairs around the house. So, the large workbench in the basement and the garage would be his domain. Since father's handicap prevented him from doing any of this, he explained that he HAD to have Eric on the grounds at all times. Florence stayed over only two or three nights a week since she lived on the south side of Chicago in a tenament flat with her mother and three children, and was the sole support of them all. So, on the nights that Florence stayed overnight, she slept in the big ivory double bed in the attic where she fixed a cozy corner for herself.
Mother had everything she wanted - a beautiful brand new house, someone to do all the housework, charge accounts in all the major stores downtown, and her own Cadillac complete with her own chauffeur / lover!
Ah yes, life was good....and so easy to maintain with a blind husband!
When the crash of October, 1929 occurred, we had been in our new house about a month. Campbell was alarmed, but wisely had not put all his eggs in one basket. He believed in diversification and had his money in more than one bank or project and so did not suffer the losses of many of his contemporaries. So, we did not experience any changes in lifestyle or income. He continued to build for three years after the crash and kept his "team". He did not anticipate the change that was to come in his personal life!
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