My Mother's Pratt

Both my parents grew up in Pratt, Kansas, a small town west of Wichita, and while I'd like to say not much has changed since 1969 when my parents left Pratt, it has.  My parents and grandparents lived in this town in its heyday, and while you can still see remnants from the good ol' days, life in Pratt just isn't the same.  Most of the once bustling downtown is closed down and empty, and the people here don't seem too keen on fixing it up.  Nonetheless, my mother ushered me around her childhood town and told me lots of fun and interesting things not just about Pratt but about her personal life.

Perfect Patty Platts from Pratt lived in a two bedroom house on the wrong side of the tracks with her parents and four sisters.  There was a lot of music and laughter and love behind those walls. 

910 S. Pine

The house sat next to the railroad tracks, which Patty would cross every day to get to Lemon Park, her own private play land, or Sixth Street Park, where her father, Dale Robert, would attempt to teach his daughter how to play softball while she sang "I Feel Pretty" and where the cicada aliens would be silent as she walked beneath the trees.

My mother and her friends would often drag Main Street and hit Russell's Drug Store and Fountain for a "400" before Patty would pick up her mom from a long day of work at J C Penney, where little Winnie, dressed in a belted dress and heeled shoes, worked for years standing on her feet.

J C Penney is gone but the tile in front of the store is still there.

While we were in town, we visited the local history museum.  My kids and I loved hearing Monga talk about the things we saw.  To her it was all so familiar, and it seemed she knew just about everyone and everything we looked at.

This mannequin of a carpenter was fashioned after a real Pratt citizen named Quenten Hannawald, and my mother knew him.  The barbed wire collection and fan collection were local collections.

Like the fella pictured below, my grandfather Dale was an electric lineman for most of his life.  After a few heart attacks, he became a dispatcher, and Patty remembers going to work with him in the evenings, where he would sit with maps and a radio to direct all the linemen during power outages.

Pratt County attorney and judge Clarence Renner is pictured in the bottom right photo.  He was also an artist, and  I happen to have one of his paintings in my living room, thanks to my Grandpa Wolff.

My favorite room in the museum was the toaster and waffle iron room.  I mean, really?  Awesome.  This is exactly why I love small museums.

Yes, it's true.

My mother's personal history is present in the museum.  Her cheerleader uniform is hanging in a small Pratt High School display.

Go Greenbacks!

There were small tidbits of my family throughout the building.  I saw my Grandpa Wolff's name at least three times on various things referring to Pratt's medical facilities.  

My favorite piece involving my grandpa was his naval uniform.

Dr F P Wolff's uniform is the one in white.

The museum taught me that on March 1, 1948 in Pratt, Kansas it cost $35 to amputate one finger or one toe, with each additional one 50% off.  And while it only cost $35 for a normal delivery of a baby, it cost $100 to see the doctor, my grandfather, for a simple femur fracture.

My grandpa Wolff practiced medicine in these two buildings in Pratt, KS.

The house where my grandpa and grandma Wolff lived still remains alive in my memory.  This is the house where one year I heard Santa Claus filling our stockings and my dad snoring at the same time.  I remember the big living room with the little refrigerator, where I could get root beer when I was thirsty.  I remember the little rolling stool my grandmother would use to get around the kitchen as her body was failing her.  I remember the organ and big windows in the front room.  I remember the soft couches, the rose blanket, the Siamese cat, and the loud classical music.  I remember the toy I always wanted to play with; a cardboard box with a mirror inside that allowed you to see around corners.  I remember the electric hospital bed I used to play in.  I remember shopping sprees downtown and fashion shows in the living room.  I remember the tire swing in the neighbor's yard that gave me hours of unending fun.  And I remember my grandpa, always quiet, trying to make me smile by pretending to steal food off my plate at dinner with a long expandable fork.

While I have plenty of memories at my Grandma and Grandpa Wolff's house, I don't have a lot of my mother's parents until they landed in Haysville and then Derby, KS.  That's when I really got to know my mother's family.  But that's another story...

We spent the whole day driving and walking around Pratt, and my mother showed me her schools and churches, where she would play and swim, and even where she received her first kiss.  I felt so privileged to learn more about my mother and her family.

Around town...

Erected in 1888, the People's Bank is one of the oldest buildings in town.

Barron theater was built in 1930 and had a balcony for necking with your sweetheart.  But not my mother!  She would never!

The Wolffs attended the Methodist Church (pictured left), and the Platts attended the Christian Church (pictured right).  My parents were married in the Methodist Church.