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| Thelma and Malcolm Merrill, 814 Cragmont, Berkeley, California in April 1957. |
Malcolm and Thelma Merrill bought a house at
814 Cragmont, Berkeley, California, in 1939. It cost $10,000. That was a little more than some other similar houses in the area, but it had an amazing view of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge that Malcolm called his "Ten thousand dollar view."
Here is a view out the window during the day.
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| The $10,000 view of the San Francisco Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. |
And some views at sunset.
They could also watch the weather roll in.
At some point, Malcolm apparently acquired a zoom lens.
Malcolm and Thelma moved to 814 Cragmont before "Jeanie" was born, and they appear there in the 1940 U.S. Census (you can see the
indexed record or the
original document). They lived there until they went to Washington, D.C. around 1965, at which point Bob & Jean (Wilson) moved in for a few years. (They lived there when I was born in 1967). Malcolm and Thelma returned to the home around 1970 when Malcolm retired (again), and lived there briefly before moving to Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, California.
Photos out Front
The front yard was a popular place for photos throughout the years.
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| Jeanie, age 9, 1949 |
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| Thelma, Don and Jean, 4/12/1953 |
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| Bruce, May 1953 |
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| Jean and her friend June Harmon, 1st day of school, 9/14/1953 |
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| Bruce, Malcolm and Don with Guatemala shirts, October 1955. |
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| Kay, Jean and Thelma with Guatemala "cortes", October 1955. |
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| Bruce and Beth, 1962 |
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| Thelma and Malcolm (1962) |
Kids out front
Here are a few pictures of kids out in front.
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| Leslie is pointing out to Robin the kids riding the Flexi Flyer down the sidewalk. |
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| Leslie begins maneuvering for a little more elbow room. |
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| There, that's better. (Leslie, Mark, Robin, David. February 1965) |
Mark says the Flexi Flyer was extremely dangerous with no brakes and very limited steering.
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| Robin takes a turn on the wagon, with Mark running behind her. |
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| "Well, that could have gone better." (Robin, Leslie, Mark. February 1965) |
Grandkids on the porch
And the porch filled up with grandkids as the years went by.
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| Robin, David, baby Bobby, Thelma, Leslie, Malcolm, baby Craig, Mark. (February 1965) |
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| Bob and Bruce "taking pictures of all things at all times." (February, 1965) |
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| Leslie and Bobby (Wilson), April 1967 |
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| Leslie and Randy (age 1), June 1968. |
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| Craig, Bruce, Devin, Karen and Beth, 6/16/1968. |
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| Craig, Devin and Karen (6/16/1968) |
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| Randy (escapee), Bob B., Bob E., Leslie, Jean (6/16/1968) |
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| David, Robin, Kay, Mark, Don (6/16/1968) |
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| Jean and shrouded towel kids, June 1968. |
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| Thelma and Jean (June 1968) |
Incidentally, did you ever wonder why so many of you were born and raised in California? Well, apparently when Malcolm was attending the Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University) in Logan, Utah, suffering through yet another miserably cold winter, he had the opportunity to take a train down to California to attend a conference. The weather was gorgeous, and he decided right then that he was going to end up in California. So after his education and research, he finally took a position in California so that he could enjoy the beautiful weather year-round.
As an example, here's a picture taken in
December 1968. And the big smiles.
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| Malcolm and Jean, December 1968. |
And here is the last "front porch picture" from this house that held so many memories.
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| Devin, Beth, Karen, Bruce and Craig, 5/12/1970. |
Join us next time for a trip to the back yard for the unparalleled Easter Egg Hunts!
Actually, the "wagon" you refer to was labeled, "Flexi Flyer". It was essentially a snow sled but with wheels. It was VERY DANGEROUS as Robin demonstrated. It had no breaks and you could only turn it about 1 degree left of right.
ReplyDeleteAt Grandma's funeral, we were sharing Grandma's famous sayings, and David shared, "It's our little secret." None of us had heard Grandma say that. He said our parents were on a trip and she was baby sitting us for a few days. David took the Flexi Flyer for a ride and wiped out on the sidewalk, skinning his entire chest. Grandma, fearing she would never get to baby sit us again if the accident were known, told David, "It's our little secret," which he kept a secret until the day of her funeral. Great story David!
Thanks! I updated the post. We had a Flexi Flyer sled (with rails instead of wheels) that we went on down our driveway in Eugene once when it was snowy. It could steer a little, but not enough to stay on something as narrow as a sidewalk. I remember sparks when it went over the man-hole. I wasn't sure if the wheeled version was called the same thing. It's awesome that we all survived!
DeleteThat is some view! Too bad we didn't keep it - it would be a $10 million view today!!
ReplyDeleteThat is probably true, Karen. In the picture of Malcolm and Jean (in the green print sweater), the flowers on the right are fuchsias, Dancing Ladies. We used to make dancing dolls out of the blossoms, with the main blossom for the skirt and body, a bud for the head, and a toothpick for arms with tiny buds for hand. Great memories!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the picture of Jean in the blue dress at Easter time was taken in front of Marye and Dante Traversaro's home. Marye was like my fairy godmother. I always took Easter or other special picture on that rock in her yard.
ReplyDelete814 Cragmont is a legendary and mystical place to me since it all happened before I was born. I may have seen it once or twice as we drove by but I don't have any memories of the house. It was a wonderful place with it’s Flexi Flyer rides, Easter egg hunts, and now to see that view – wow! I bet they were happy every single day that they paid a little bit more for the house they really wanted and would have for all those years to enjoy and share.
ReplyDeleteOh, that was me, Diana. I must not have a profile yet.
ReplyDeleteActually it was much worse than Mark indicated, although I can not say my memory of the event is clear. It is hard to remember things after unconsciousness and shock. I do remember I enjoyed the flexible flyer at grandma’s house (it is in my garage currently 04/18/2015). I would go to the edge of her property and lie down on my stomach on it, and it would gently roll down the sidewalk picking up speed as it approached the corner. There were some brakes, but you had to twist the handles down really hard to even partially engage them, and you had better luck spreading your legs and dragging your feet on the sidewalk. Well you could only go about 2 MPH in front of grandma’s house, so I ventured a little further and tried again. It was more exciting going 5 MPH, and I could sit up and really put my feet down to stop. So I went clear up past the second next door neighbor’s house. It was a little steeper up there, and with your face 5 inches off the ground it really looked like you were going very fast. There was also a little curve in the road, and as Mark mentioned it was pretty hard to turn more than a few degrees. As I approached the next door neighbors house I could not turn enough to stay on the sidewalk, and I and the flexible flyer went onto the grass and hit the decorative boulder with a glancing blow, that I really do not remember.
ReplyDeleteAll I remember from there was feeling bad about bleeding all over grandma, and her house as she picked me up and brought me inside, and put me in the bathtub, and washed me off. I don’t remember crying at all, as I think I must have been in shock, and as I mentioned I really do not remember much of the experience. I do remember feeling all nice and clean, and grandma telling me this is “Our little secret”, which I kept until her funeral.
I don’t know whether you have noticed my ears. MariLouise noticed them a few years ago, and pointed out how they are rather flat at the tops, as if the curl had been removed. I think a series of accidents (this being the first), may have caused me to lose the tips of my ears. I also had a few bicycle accidents, some on one side and some on the other, and I think my ears are pretty even now. I never really noticed until MariLouise pointed it out to me. She is a very observant cousin, and when she was younger she was quite open with her thoughts and observations, which I always admired in her.
So grandma was always one to encourage you to enjoy creative thoughts and activities. I believe today she would be considered a “Free Range” parent or grandparent, encouraging us to pursue our dreams and desires without too much interference. I will have to tell you about my graduation gift visit to Washington DC to visit them, on some future post.
I finally figured out how to sign on to these blog posts!
ReplyDeleteThe view from the living room window was spectacular! And I loved the "dancing lady" shrub out front (fuchsia). I remember sitting on the curb (where Mark and Robin and Dave and I are pictured) when I was a little older, maybe 5 or 6, and I felt something on my leg. I looked down and saw a bee stinging me! I let out a scream and Mom (Jean) came running, swiped the bee off, stepped on it, carefully got the stinger out, and took me inside to the kitchen to put a baking soda paste on the sting. Boy, was I ever traumatized, but I love my mom for coming to the rescue!
I also remember lots of family pictures taken during the "comings and goings" for different events (holidays, birthdays, etc, as Randy has represented). That was a natural focal point.
Something else I recall about those steps: They helped me lose my 2 front teeth. One day I was coming down the walk toward the house when I tripped and my face met one of the steps, banging my mouth quite soundly and loosening my upper front teeth. They might have survived, but not many days later my brother Bobby and I were having fun being chased around the house by Mom and Dad, all of us laughing and giggling, when things went wrong for me. In a wonderful piece of strategy, Dad and Mom decided to split up and come at us from different directions, causing Bobby to make a quick turn around and his forehead met my teeth as he came around a corner and I ran right into him. Well, that was it for my poor front teeth! I went at least 2 summers having to have Dad cut the corn off the cob for me until my permanent teeth came in.
All in all, I do have some very good memories of living there.
Do you remember the "walking bear" on the chimney support rod, 3 or 4 houses down on Cragmont? We kids would always look for it and we knew we were almost to 814.