It was so cool. The attic with the low angled ceilings. The long narrow stairs leading up to the attic. The wood floors. Twin beds all in a row. The large window. Sharing a dresser. Lots of room for playing. Barbies! The 1960's were a great time to be a child. At least... in my home. We didn't sit in front of the t.v. There were no computers or other high tech gadgets to pre-occupy our young minds... just imagination!
Dad built our house. It was a work in progress and took several years to complete. It was a great day when the attic bedrooms were ready to move in to. I was around 8 or 9 years old. I remember thinking how big the new room was! The stairs leading up to the attic creaked. You could always tell when someone was coming up. A few throw rugs were scattered on the wood floors to cozy it up and give some warmth to our feet on cold winter mornings. If my memory serves me right, dad never vented any heat ducts to the attic. The rooms at the top were open with just a half wall (lining the stairs), separating the two rooms. The attic was just for us girls. My older sister got the small room to herself, and we three younger girls got the large one to share. We each had our own twin bed. They were lined up along the length of the south wall. Mine was in the middle. I think my bedspread was white; the feel of terry cloth and chenille. It hung to the ground on both sides. We had a large white dresser which we colored on, scribbled on, and marked on A. LOT. We made sure our name's were on our own drawer! The make-shift open closets were along the length of the north wall. Two side boards, that shot up to the height of the slanted attic ceiling, held a rod between them. We hung our dresses there. Our barbies were stored away in round dance cases, upright barbie cases, and a metal suit case (still used today). Other toys were strung along the closet walls.
Playing was what we did most! Chatter and laughter filled the attic bedroom as we three sisters played barbie dolls. Mom made couches and chairs out of oatmeal cans and covered them in elaborate floral upholstery. She made pillows, bedding, dresses, coats, hats, and other outfits for our barbies. We spent hours dressing and un-dressing them in the newest outfit. Mom was always sewing something and those scraps of fabric were used to create the fanciest outfits that a barbie could ever want. Mom was a kid at heart and would surprise us girls on occasion by coming up to the attic bedroom to play.
The Window in my attic bedroom seemed so large and provided countless hours of looking out, day dreaming, and being carried away on great imaginative adventures. The window served many purposes. I remember on many occasion looking out at the large expansive sky through the window at night and singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, or Star Light, Star Bright and wishing on the first star. In the summers you could feel a light breeze sweeping through the attic rooms from one end of the house to the other; the light scent of lilacs and flowers from the bed below making their way to the end of my nose. On winter nights, all six of us kids would look out the attic windows on Christmas Eve for a glimpse of the Star of Bethlehem to remind us of baby Jesus' birth. Then we would clamor to the window at the slightest sound of a jingle bell, listening intently for the hoofs of Santa's reindeer on the roof. The light from a full moon shinning on fresh fallen snow could be seen far into the field below. Magic!
Not all was peachy, rosy. One time dad backed the truck up underneath the window, got a shovel and scooped our toys up (apparently the room was a mess and mom and dad had had enough!), and threw them in the back of the truck and hauled them off to dump. All we could do was watch! We had been warned more than once. You can bet we kept our room a little cleaner after that!
Barbie wears a bright red polka-dot dress and sits on a floral couch; both made by mom. The case that housed our barbies and clothes for so many years is now at my house for my grandchildren to play with.
My childhood home. You can barely see the attic window on the right side of the house. This was mine and my sisters bedrooms. It spanned the entire length of the house.
A hand-sketched drawing of my bedroom. I couldn't find a picture so this will have to do.
The dresser. It has been repainted, top repaired, and knobs puts on since the days of my youth. I have it in my attic today. It houses my fabric and other handiwork items such as yarn, crochet and knitting needles, patterns, and notions. There is a bookshelf and kids corner devoted to the grand kids and we plan on putting three twin beds in a row for when they come to stay.
