Peter Miller's homework assignement

On Nov 7, 2011, Peter Miller was given a homework assignment to interview grandpa. Here are the questions and answers for this assignment:

DID YOU HAVE A NICKNAME?  WHAT?

Yes, when I was about 14 years old my niece was about 2 years old. She couldn't say my name Sylvester so she started calling me Sy.  Sy has been my nick name ever since then.

WHERE/WHEN WERE YOU BORN?

I was born in the farm house that my parents lived in, in Hope, MN. I was born November 10, 1929.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO FOR FUN WHEN GROWING UP?

As a very young boy I loved playing in the dirt and making mud pies. An older brother and a younger sister also made mud pies with me and the we'd just throw them away. I played a snare drum and my dad played a violin in the dining room. We played polka's and waltz's together. Their was a river that ran through the pasture of my parents farm. I used a stick with a hook on the end of it for catching bullhead fish. I had lots of fun going to family picnics, birthday parties, and weddings.  I played a lot of tag with lots of my cousins. On some weekends my parents and siblings went to Barn Dances.  Us cousins had fun running around on the dance floor when our parents

weren't damcing. The neighbors had threshing bees, the farmers helping each other thresh the grain off of the fields.  Us siblings had fun playing in the wagons of grain. I liked going hunting pheasants, squirrels, skunks,

and rabbits.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?

I didn't have any favorite subjects in school other than during the Art Class I liked drawing pictures.  I liked playing softball during noon hour and recess.  I also played Tag, Marbles, Hopscotch, Pump, Pump, Pullaway, and Hide & Go Seek at school

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?

I wanted to be a Carpenter by trade when I grew up and also learn how to repair most anything that needed fixing.  I also liked to tinker around with cars as I got to be a teenager.

HOW MUCH DID YOU RECEIVE FOR AN ALLOWANCE, IF ANY?

I never got a standard allowance.  My dad gave me 1 cent for each mouse I caught, 2 cents for each striped gopher, 5 cents for each pocket gopher.  When I got older I would get $30.00 for catching a mink in a trap, killing it and skinning it and taking the fur to a fur company in Owatonna, MN.

DESCRIBE A TYPICAL FAMILY DINNER.  WHO WAS THERE?  WHAT WAS YOUR

FAVORITE MEAL?

A typical family dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, gravy, canned beef or canned pork, homemade bread, milk, sauerkraut, and homemade canned fruit.  Their was my parents, 6 boys, and 6 girls at a typical dinner.  My favorite meal was potatoes, gravy, blood sausage, sauerkraut, and homamade canned fruit, and milk. Meals were eaten at home or at the home of close relatives.  Their weren't restuarants or fast food eating places anywhere when I was very young. For travel, I was pulled in a wagon by two horses which was much slower than traveling by car like we do nowadays. When plowing the fields I used 4 horses and a gang plow. I started milking a yellow cow by hand when I was about 10 years old.  A yellow cow was easier to milk than other color cows. Kerosene lamps were used in the home and school as a source of lighting.  Their was no electricity at the time as I was a small child. I walked 1 1/4 mile to school and home everyday.  If the weather was bad weather (snowstorms) we didn't go to school.  The teacher couldn't make it to school either. I learned how to talk Czech language at home.  When I started First

Grade I learned how to speak the English language. Boys had to wear long pants and girls had to wear a dress or skirt and blouse to school. For Christmas I got a toy and some candy.  Nowadays many boys and girls get many many gifts for Christmas. It is overwhelming to see how fast electronics has improved and changed our life.

   

OF ALL THE THINGS YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR PARENTS, WHAT WAS THE

MOST IMPORTANT?

Show respect to everybody.  Always tell the truth.  Never ever smart talk back to my parents no matter how wrong I felt they were.

WHAT DO YOU MOST WANT PEOPLE TO REMEMBER ABOUT YOU OR LEARN

FROM YOU?

I want people to remember me as an honest person and be one of their best friends.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT US TO KNOW?

I went 1st grade through 8th grade in a country school.  I quit school after the 8th grade in high school  to help my parents with farm work.  Five brothers and 5 sisters of mine only went through 8th grade. My youngest sister graduated from high school.  None of us siblings went to college at all. BE THE BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE.