Memories of LaPorte span Depression, war years

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Barbara Tuttle, 83, enjoys a grand view of Fort Collins from her seventh-floor Park Lane apartment. However, her heart remains in LaPorte, where she grew up and graduated from Cache La Poudre School.

Most of her classmates are now gone, but she always attends the annual CLP reunion held at the American Legion. Tuttle graduated in 1944.

As with most people of her generation, Tuttle's life was greatly influenced by the Great Depression and World War II. Her high school lost several young men--including her future husband--to the draft when the United States entered the war.

This spunky lady exemplifies the traits of the "greatest generation," with its strong work ethic and stoic attitude. In fact, Tuttle worked until she was 80 and regrets quitting then.

"I fell apart when I retired," she said with exasperation. After she retired, she suffered a heart attack and developed neuropathy in her feet.

Great Depression

In 1935, when Barbara was in fourth grade, her parents purchased 10 acres of sugar beet ground at Overland Trail and Vine Drive. Her father, who worked at the local sugar beet factory, built a log home there, using logs purchased from Clarence Yeager of Rist Canyon. He dug a full basement using just a shovel.

Times were tough, and people regularly stole building materials from the new home site, so Barbara's dad started camping out there with a shotgun. And, she insists, "He would have shot them" if he had caught any of the thieves.

The family bought their groceries from Andy Charvet's store on Park Street. They paid their bill once a month, when Barbara's father got paid, and Charvet rewarded them with candy.

"He always gave my dad two sacks of candy," Tuttle remembers, "one for my parents and one for the kids." Since it was the only time they got candy, the children would run to their father when he got home and frisk him for the goodies.

During the Depression, most families had to stretch food a long way, and Tuttle remembers her mother making two meals out of one can of corned beef. The family had a garden, storing canned goods in the cellar, and at night they could often hear people entering the cellar to steal food. Once, thieves took all the Christmas gifts that were stored in the cellar.

Her mother's response to this thievery? "They needed it worse than we did."

To shore up the family income, Barbara's father planted five acres in strawberries. The family hired pickers for 2 cents per box. The children were also expected to pick berries, but Barbara usually got out of that chore by fixing lunch for the workers and cleaning the entire house.

They sold the strawberries to local soda fountains, and people also came out to the small farm to buy berries. At that time, there was no electricity along Overland Trail. The family's telephone service was a party line with eight families.

The war years

When the United States entered World War II, Barbara was in high school. Her future husband, Art Tuttle, was in her class but was drafted into the Army in March 1943, a year before he was due to graduate. Out of their class of 15, about six young men were drafted before they could graduate.

"The only boys left in town had health problems," Tuttle noted, which kept them from serving in the military.

Being drafted out of high school was a common dilemma, so the government developed the General Educational Development tests, sometimes called the General Equivalency Diploma, in 1942. This new program - used by millions since then - enabled service veterans to finish their high school education without going back to the classroom.

Art earned his GED in 1947. The couple were already married, having tied the knot in November 1944 when Art was home on furlough.

Barbara Tuttle attended Colorado State University for a year, then left to enter the job market. She worked for Pacific Gas & Electric in California, close to Hamilton Field where Art was stationed, until 1946. Home to work was a 10-block walk, and since she came home for lunch, that made a healthy 40 blocks per day.

Tuttle has some pretty humorous memories of those days. The Tuttles' apartment house had a shared kitchen - for seven couples. There was no door on the oven, so they propped a sheet of asbestos against the oven for baking.

California had produce that Tuttle had never seen before - like artichokes, which she ate raw before learning better. Fresh parsley was also new to her, and she tried cooking that - to gales of laughter from the other tenants. One man still writes to her and teases her about the Colorado-style parsley.

Tuttle also remembers cutting down the couple's first Christmas tree, with a pocketknife. When she and Art went to the movies - cheap entertainment back then - they walked down the street pretending they were driving a car. The two would hitchhike into San Francisco to stay with a relative. Hitching a ride was considered patriotic in those days, because it saved on gas.

When Art was discharged, the couple moved back to Fort Collins. She worked for CSU's student health services for a time and then was hired by Larimer County Social Services. She spent the rest of her working years in the social services field.

"I loved my work," she said.

Now, Tuttle looks at her life and feels fortunate. Despite the current recession that's creating hardships for many, she knows that things could be worse--a lot worse. She also knows that especially in hard times, laughter, love and imagination are necessary ingredients for a happy life.