Uncle Carl

I come next to my uncle Carl, for whom I was named as I happened to share his birthday anniversary. Another intelligent person, sadly limited by the circumstances of his early childhood and early maturity. And I suspect with a personality of considerable diffidence and unease, particularly for persons of his own age, but the opposite sex. Sometime or other I shall have to look more carefully at the accumulation of written material I have regarding him (mostly letters to him from family members) which came into my possession by circumstances that I don’t recall. These relate to the years around 1900 when he was attending a business school in Des Moines, and will probably afford some insight as to the family life on the farm at that time as well as to clues as to uncle Carl’s situation.



Carl Peterson, at 79 and 19 years of age

From the cursory inspection I have made of this material so far I conclude he was unable to secure employment based on his training and probably discouraged and homesick he returned to the family farm and life which he never subsequently really left. That is, he lived in the family home though his activities led him into farming land other than the Peterson acres and of course his custom threshing and corn-shelling operations.

He liked small children and I think he would have liked to have been married and had a family of his own. His one attempt at courtship was indicative of his social ineptitude and probably ended any further activity along this line. He had observed one of the young women of the Swedish community and decided she would be what he wanted in a wife. He called on her, asked for the lady’s hand in marriage. She declined and that ended that. She was later on a Mrs. Theodore Swenson. I vaguely picture her husband but I have no recollection of her at all. This information came of course indirectly to me — probably from my sister Vivian who in turn would have had it either from my mother or from one of my aunts.

Generally he was either diffident or brusque when in contact with people, even with members of his immediate family. At meals he would always keep his eyes averted — I don’t ever recall him looking at anyone when he was eating and oftentimes in social conversations (as before or after Sunday meals at my grandmother’s house, with individuals such as “uncle” Albert). These conversations were characteristically stilted and limited to stylized remarks about the weather, how the crops were doing, etc. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever heard a really substantive discussion on any subject during visits to my grandmother’s. Nothing about politics.

Even religion was hardly discussed — perhaps all opinions that would have been expressed would have been so similar in nature that no give and take of real discussion would ensue. Even Bible or devotional readings and the subsequent ritual recitation of prayers were stylized, repetitive and stereotyped. I really wonder what those participating ever got out of it. Typically uncle Carl would be the reader and all the others present would join in the prayer. Uncle Carl’s reading was word for word and tended to be in a monotone voice — it was as if he had learned to read that way as a young child and never changed. When he would be sitting reading the newspaper or Wallace’s Farmer, his lips would silently form as he slowly progressed through what he was reading.

I suppose he had in earlier days held roles in the church — such as deacon or trustee. When I was old enough to be aware of this activities I don’t think he ever participated in such roles in the church — he attended the two Sunday services and the occasional funeral and that was that. No Lutheran Brotherhood, no Bible study group during the Sunday school hour. As I believe I wrote earlier he led the opening part of the Sunday school service on one occasion (taking the place of my father who normally performed this function). I recall feeling vaguely disquieted during his stern, forbidding performance. Even a bit ashamed at the way he conducted himself.

As a bachelor with simple material tastes he typically had discretionary income that was a relatively high percentage of his total income and he used a considerable part of this for contributions to church causes such as mission work. These were in addition and separate from his normal contribution to the local church which he kept at a reasonable level but not excessive. As I have mentioned I don’t recall him ever attending a Lutheran Brotherhood function, either a normal regular meeting or the annual father/son banquet. I think he would go to the annual Sunday School picnic but I’m not sure. He was not a man for social contact, jesting conversation, etc.

He liked to be physically comfortable as to his attire. Particularly he did not want his clothes to bind him at the neck or waist. He always bought shirts that were over-sized as to neck size so that they would provide plenty of looseness around his neck. As a consequence his shirts were too large in other respects. For example the sleeves were always too long so he had to turn up the cuffs. Similarly he bought suits that were over-sized around the waistband and he always wore suspenders — I doubt that he ever had a belt.

He liked to be cool — one time he made a shopping expedition of considerable extent to Fort Dodge trying to locate a pair of dress-up shoes that were perforated so that air circulation would keep his feet cool. He did find a pair but they were sort of inferior as to how they were made. When he was working he always wore Wolverine work shoes, a really comfortable shoe — he indicated he was never bothered by his feet being too warm when he was working. One time after we were living on the farm he came to the farmhouse as he had some work lined up for me to do and I was putting on some work shoes for the purpose which apparently didn’t fit or he didn’t think they were suitable. I guess they were shoes that my mother had provided and she had skimped on the quality because of all the other needs of the family. He ascertained what my shoe size was — perhaps I tried on the shoes he was wearing — and shortly thereafter he furnished me with a pair of Wolverines similar to his. They were indeed a big improvement and I suppose I used them for most of the time I worked for him on the farm.

What happened to them after I left the farm to attend the University I don’t know. Maybe I used them the summer between my two years at Iowa that I spent back on the farm. Maybe after that one of my brothers inherited them, they were probably not worn out.

About six years ago (maybe in the mid-nineties) I was along with Jean at the shoe store in Medford where she is able to order her everyday shoes in her unusual size. It crossed my mind to inquire of the clerk if Wolverine shoes were still being made. He either indicated that they were not or that they were not part of Red Wing shoes. He recommended the latter and I bought a pair of work oxfords. Since then I have only purchased Red Wings for either normal or “dress-up” use. Then again at Norris shoes I encountered SAS shoes and have used them.

When my Red Wings got a bit rundown I would simply get a new pair and relegate the old pair to gardening use. The first pair I had of Red Wing shoes had soles of some sort of composition with fibers intermingled with the material. The soles were the longest lasting o any that I have ever encountered. When after long use they were finally retired from gardening the upper parts of the shoes were cracked and disintegrating but the soles looked virtually unworn. When next I was in Norris I requested a similar pair but was informed that that type of sole had been discontinued. As so often happens when a really superior item is made, somehow or other it is discontinued. I really cannot understand why this happens.

Uncle Carl had also located a store in Fort Dodge that made overalls (the bib type) of a softer, more flexible material than the usual denim. He used these until I think the store went out of business.