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Tuesday, May 3, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
DOROTHY
FLESHMAN
DORY’S DIARY
The bygone era
when galoshes
reigned
“D
on’t forget to wear your boots,” my moth-
er’s voice would remind me from another
room as I was about to leave for school.
Mothers are like that, you know.
The words would come loud and clear as I would
stand at the door ready to leave, hoping to forget
the boots even though it was wet and muddy out-
side. Surely the sun would come out and dry the
ground enough by the time school was out so I
wouldn’t have to carry the heavy things home
in my arms or slung over my shoulder hooked
together by snaps or buckles. How embarrassing
for a girl in her early teens.
But the voice wouldn’t let me forget and I took
extra time to be fully clothed for our unpredictable
spring weather. At least the ankle boots weren’t as big
and heavy as the galoshes of younger years.
Memories began crowding in but it was suddenly
April of 2022 and I had a column to write for May.
Our spring had not been unlike some of those of
my youth in which we wondered if summer would
ever come.
I longed to see the yellow buttercups, bird bills
(shooting stars), and curlicues (yellow fawn lilies) as
we had learned to call them as children and had run
the hills in search of the blooms that assured us of the
coming good weather. But, I now lived in town and
couldn’t check these early versions of spring.
How diff erent it had become — until this year —
with drier weather, fewer dirt roads, living closer to
town, and more cars on paved streets.
“It’s just an old-fashioned winter,” I had kept
saying until lately when I changed it to “It’s just an
old-fashioned spring.”
To prove my point and expecting to be in error,
I picked up one of my old calendars in which I kept
track of the day-by-day weather. The date at this point
was April 20, 2022, and I had dug out a 1963 cal-
endar, same date, and checked it for weather.
On April 20, 1963, the weather was SNOW and so
it was on April 20, 2022. I let my case rest.
It just gave me permission to think back to boot
days. ... no, clear back to galoshes days, that footwear
of heavy rubber that reached clear up to mid-calf of
one’s leg and buckled up to the top.
Galoshes, over one’s regular shoes and long brown
stockings rolled at the top by rubber bands, were
made of a heavy rubber but still limp enough to need
pulled into place with an inner fl ap tucked in to keep
the moisture out. Then the work began, once the foot
was secure, by locking the buckles into place They
were buckled from bottom to top as they were pulled
into place on one’s leg.
The metal buckles’ base adhered to the boot itself
in a spaced series of about six or eight per boot, I’ve
forgotten now, with the fastener lip attached to the
wraparound sleeve. It, then, was slid into the solid
buckle and folded over to lock the two pieces together.
It certainly worked well once all 12 to 16 buckles
had been fastened into place, but it did take a bit of
time in preparing ones self for outdoor play or work
in the out-of-doors for, you see, there weren’t as many
concreted sidewalks or even paved streets back then
and dirt mixed with water made muddy trespasses
for those afoot. There were board sidewalks in places
closer to town but the country walker needed to put
up with the inconvenience of the buckled boots or
heavy work shoes.
At school, once we had traveled the distance from
home to the educational building and hung our wet
outer clothing of coats, scarves and caps on hooks
in a row along the generous length of the coat closet,
the galoshes came off last with a period of unbuck-
ling and trying to step out of the lifeless but wet boots
to stand them on newspapers spread on the fl oor to
absorb the dripping wetness.
Then the lessons would begin, and by day’s end,
the outdoor wear would be mostly dry again for a
reverse order of replacing the boots fi rst, followed by
coat, scarf, cap, and sometimes mittens or gloves to
ready home-going.
I haven’t seen a pair of those buckle-boots for
many a year but I remember them even yet, followed
by the smaller light rubber boot with a snap on the
side or choice of a zipper up the front. When things
began to change, the girls wore boots with a fl at bot-
tomed surface while ladies could purchase those
designed with separate high-heel shoe moldings. Boys
mostly just wore heavy work shoes and men who
wore dress shoes chose light rubbers that fi t just over
their oxfords and, when dry, the rubbers could be
folded into themselves and carried in one’s pocket.
But that was a long time ago, too. Except for out-
door sports, we hardly need boots at all now going
from car to building door opening.
In a way, despite the time and eff ort the buckle
boots/galoshes required, I rather have a sense of fond-
ness for them yet. They weren’t beautiful or overly
warm in themselves but they kept your feet dry and
legs free from splatters. They certainly made an
impression on the viewer as well as the wearer as they
went clomping along.
I guess when nothing else is available but what
you have and it works — you learn to appreciate
what you have.
Hurray for galoshes in the good ole’ days!
█
Dorothy Swart Fleshman is the author of Dory’s Diary,
occasionally published in The Observer and Baker City Herald. She
is a resident of La Grande.
‘Running on
Veggies’
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
This spice-rubbed
salmon is chock-full of
omega-3 fatty acids,
which can help reduce
infl ammation after a
long run.
Cookbook offers 100-plus plant-powered recipes
By GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
L
ottie Bildirici learned the hard way that it’s
not enough to train and have goals to become
a better runner. What you eat before and after
workouts also has a dramatic impact on your
body’s health and endurance.
After taking up running in her senior year of high school, fol-
lowing a bout with cancer, the Brooklyn native entered a string of
races. She got serious about the sport almost immediately and, in
an eff ort to boost performance, became obsessed with eating only
“healthy” foods. Yet rather than propel her new heights, the restric-
tive diet ended up backfi ring.
The more pure her diet became, the more her young body broke
down with multiple stress fractures.
Realizing she was on the wrong path, Bildirici — a baker and
vegetarian since age 17 — decided to take a more mindful approach
to her “so-called health obsession” as she entered college. She
would view food not either as good or bad, but as fuel.
As she notes in her new cookbook “Running on Veggies”
(Rodale, $25.99), the turnabout took signifi cant eff ort, but restrictive
eating eventually became intuitive eating, focused on nutrient-dense
whole foods and lots of vegetables. “I was determined to make it to
the other side, emerge with a healthy body and mind,” she writes.
The book features more than 100 (mostly) vegetarian recipes
aimed at helping you leverage your diet as a training tool — every-
thing from fruit and vegetable smoothies and nourishing breakfasts
to portable snacks, tasty sides, and plates and bowls that incorpo-
rate whole grains along with spices, nuts and sauces. A pantry guide
for those new to plant-based eating, plus sample meal guides to get
your started, adds to its appeal.
See, Veggies/Page B2
Henry Building’s history spans
many decades and businesses
GINNY
MAMMEN
OUT AND ABOUT
T
he story of the Henry Building
is a story of a number of busi-
nesses, businessmen and build-
ings in La Grande during the late
1800s through the mid 1900s.
James Calvin Henry, age 26,
arrived in this area in 1876 and went
to work in the general merchandise
business with W.J. Snodgrass, one
of La Grande’s leading businessmen.
Around 1890 Henry left Snodgrass
and purchased the Murphy-Stuchell
furniture business located in the
Hawthorne-Coolidge Building at
1314 Adams Ave. In the next year or
so he formed a partnership with Wil-
liam Burke and the business became
Henry & Burke.
It was during this partnership
that J. C. Henry decided Henry &
Burke needed a building specifi cally
built to serve as a furniture store. In
1900 a building was constructed on
the empty lot at 1315 Adams, corner
of Adams and Fir. In 1902 Henry
took on the position of mayor of La
Grande. The next year when Wil-
liam Burke died Henry took in a new
young partner, 25-year-old Joseph
J. Carr.
In 1913 a young man, Clyde E. Zim-
merman, age 21, had just arrived in
La Grande and applied for work with
Henry & Carr. During the following
years the business fl ourished as it fur-
nished some of the largest buildings
in the La Grande area — Hot Lake in
1906 and the Foley Hotel in 1915.
In addition to selling quality furni-
ture, Henry & Carr was also known for
off ering embalming and funeral ser-
vices. Henry was an involved man. In
addition to the furniture/undertaking
business he was now serving as Union
County Judge and active in numerous
organizations and civic activities. By
1916 he decided to sell his interest in
the furniture store and continue only in
the undertaking business. Henry stated
in The Observer “It is my intention to
erect a modern chapel on Fourth Street
near my home and equip it with every
convenience that the present day fur-
nishes for that work.”
Partner Joseph Carr purchased Mr.
Henry’s interest in 1916 and the busi-
ness became know as the Carr Furni-
ture Company. When the partnership
had been dissolved between Carr and
Henry, young Clyde Zimmerman went
with Henry into the undertaking busi-
ness. Then in 1921, when Henry died at
the age of 71, Zimmerman purchased
the mortuary.
See, Henry’s/Page B3
Fred Hill Collection
The building at 1315 Adams Ave. in downtown
La Grande, when here around 1907 to 1909,
burned in 1922 and was replaced by the Henry
Building.