Grandma B And Marlee Go To Flemington, Missouri

Everyone had enjoyed talking and laughing about some of the crazy things that happened to Grandma Lu in beauty schools and beauty shops during her life. Grandma B said, "You realize don't you that Marlee has had barbers and beauty operators in her family since the 1800's? Marlee had no clue how long ago that was, but Grandma Lu surely did. Just like Marlee, Grandma Lu started asking questions.
Grandma B said, "I have an idea. You guys have anything planned for today? Why not take a road trip to Flemington? My Great Aunt Ann used to own the hotel there. She had a barber shop there too. My Grandma Brown worked there as well."
So they all piled into Grandma B's car and away they went. It wouldn't take long to get there because it was just a few miles. But as usual, Grandma Lu had to tell a story. She said, "Marlee in the olden days you say I talk about a lot, ladies had really really long hair. They would brush their hair a hundred times a day. When they did that their brush would get full of their hair. On my grandma's dresser, she called it a bureau, she had what she called a hair receiver. She and other ladies put their hair from their brushes into these through a little hole in the top. They made pin cushions out of their hair when they had enough.

 Isn't that funny?" Marlee didn't know what a pin cushion was, so Grandma Lu started talking to Grandma B about the history of Flemington that she knew. She didn't know all that much. It also was a bustling little town when it was first settled by Mr. Robert Fleming. He was fairly wealthy and had lived in Humansville before he bought a lot of flat grass land (no trees) that he named after himself. He figured that since the railroad was going right through there he would make a fortune. He and his wife had a really fancy home there. It even had indoor plumbing. This is so fun to think about. It had a huge vat in the attic to catch rainwater which they used for bathing. Oh how I wish I had rainwater to use. It makes your hair look so shiny."
Grandma B said, "Wow, how do you know so  much about Flemington? It's almost gone now. So many of the buildings have fallen down or burned down. Not very many people live there any more."
Grandma Lu just chuckled and said,  "Well for one thing I used to go there with my friends for a drink once in awhile when I lived in Humansville. There was an AmVets Club there. We were quite involved with helping the folks that needed baskets of food at holiday time. Just like you and Marlee were in Humansville last year. I still have friends that live in Flemington."
 "I love to read and I also love history. So when I went to the library to do some research for the stories that I write Sharon helped me by giving me some books to look at. One of them was about Flemington. It was a boom town in the first days. He donated a lot of land to the people there. He gave enough for a cemetery, school, a park and a Methodist church. He and his wife are buried there in the old Flemington cemetery. My friends Carole and Ada spent many hours out at that cemetery volunteering their time to honor those that had lived there.
 He also started a skimming station. Do you know what that is? I didn't know. I had to get on my computer to find out. A skimming station was where the cream was skimmed off the top from the milk that farmers brought to town. That was common in those days. I had never heard of it. My father used a milk separator. My mama had that to do every morning and night. It was an awful lot of work. It had so many parts to keep very very clean."
Marlee heard the word "milk" and said, "My baby sister, Whitlee Jo drinks goat's milk. My mama buys it special for her. She blows bubbles after she drinks it. The grandmas laughed.
They visited with Marlee about her new baby sister and more things we will talk about in tomorrow's story.