OUR DINING ROOM -THE HUB!

       I always had a problem in homes I owned later in life because the dining rooms never compared to the one where I grew up. Our home was a huge old turn of the century two story. nothing could compare to its size Nothing!

      At Christmas time this was the hub. The leafs in our dining room table could be extended to accommodate 10-12 people easily. Slidin you chair back from the table you could never hit a wall. Of, course the kids card table was close by. I am sure some might say the real action was the kitchen., but, not for me.
      The east side of the dining room was a large opening to the living room with pocket doors normally slid back. In the left-hand corner was a writing desk, and on the right of the doors or in the south east corner of the room was a chair with an old wall mounted crank telephone.

    On the south wall were a set of windows with a built in bench seat the entire length of the wall, except for a door that led out to the enclosed back porch that was built on around 1950. The west wall adjoined the kitchen with a built in China hutch for finer dishes and included a pass through counter and built-in drawers below. 

      The north wall always included a long buffet that held finer dishware and one door  on the northeast corner led into a bedroom and later a TV room and to right of the buffet was a door that led to the hallway and stairs that led to upstairs. 

        Especially in the winter months, this room carries my fondest memories, not only at Christmas time and all the activity around the dinner table, but many more warm memories. During the cold winters, Mom would close off the living room to conserve heat and basically shutting down the house to two rooms-the dining room and the kitchen and adjoining bathroom. With all the glass from the panel of windows facing south in that room it was obviously the coziest room in the house and from that vantage point you could see who all was coming and going in the driveway, but, for quite a distance south! 

       Many a day I remember playing Chinese Checkers to pass the time especially if we were snowed in. I t still remember watching early TV in the winter when the TV was moved into there and watching the likes of Davey Crocket (Walt Disney) with Fes Parker in the evening from that room.

       To get anywhere in our home you generally went through hat room. It was my favorite!