Charlie Sweet - Where's Aunt Ethel?

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Where’s Aunt Ethel? By Charles Sweet The year is 1936. The month is August. I had just turned 13 in July. We often had Sunday dinner at the aunt’s and uncles’ houses. My favorite place was Aunt Anna’s and Uncle Herman’s. Aunt Maude came from the Big City (the county seat) but Aunt Ethel never came. The dining room table was about 5feet by 25 feet and the ends came out of the floor. The table could not be moved. Aunt Anna always made pies, and they were put on the table at the beginning of the meal, beside your plate. I always ate my pie first. My siblings and cousins were known to be pie thieves (and I was, too). Sunday dinner was served at 12:00 noon, not 12:05, so the men would have more time to sit under the large shade trees in the front yard and tell stories, while the women did the dishes and clean-up. On one such occasion during dinner, I said in a loud voice, "Where’s Aunt Ethel? I want Aunt Ethel." Everyone stopped eating and there was dead silence! I thought, I had broken the code. In our families, children did not speak at meals, unless spoken to by an adult. I had only met Aunt Ethel once, and that was at a family funeral in the big city the previous spring, but I had seen pictures of her, always with a big hat, two feet across. I asked mother, "Who was that lady sitting on the back row in the corner?" She said, "Why, that’s your Aunt Ethel." So I went over to her and said who I was. She said, "sit next to me" and we chatted. She was dressed in black, a wide black hat, a long black dress, and gloves (her fingers showed) up to her elbows, and she smelled so good. She told me she had a new Studebaker convertible with painted white-wall tires and could I ride with her to the cemetery? I said, "I would have to ask Mr. Sweet (that’s my dad) after the service." I asked Mr. Sweet. After about five cuss words, I knew the answer was "no". (In our household, the 3 most dreaded words in the English language was mother saying "ask your father". The next day after the dinner, which ended rather quickly, I asked mother what was a "lady of the night?" She said, "Shush, you say those words again, I’ll wash your mouth out with soap." Why do mothers say that? I never have seen it happen! Well, I heard Mr. Sweet tell Aunt Maude that Aunt Ethel was "one of those things." How will I ever get an answer? Then I remembered my last year at country school started the day after Labor Day, and Miss Mowatt always had question and answer periods between some recitations. In that first week of school, my opportunity came. I raised my hand to ask the question. "What is a ‘lady of the night’?" I saw the color of Miss Mowatt’s face. Then an eighth grader, Margaret, said "it’s a pussy-toot." Miss Mowatt called for next question pronto. At noon I asked Margaret to explain, what was a pussy-toot? She said look it up in the dictionary, which was on a large stand next to Miss Mowatt’s desk. I waited til Miss Mowatt went to the girl’s outhouse before looking it up. It stated, "Any female performing a sex act for money!" Seventy some years later Webster says, "Any person performing a sex act for a price!" In 1938 to 1941, going to high school in the big city, on occasion, I checked with the newspaper, the radio station, the library, City Hall (cemetery records), and my teachers. No record or knowledge of Aunt Ethel. In December 1944, I was in the army in Maryland. Mother called that Mr. Sweet had died that morning during breakfast. Later on my way home, I wondered if Aunt Ethel would be at her brother’s funeral. She was a no-show and I didn’t ask why! Return to Story Index
© Charles W. Sweet 2013

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Where’s Aunt Ethel?

By Charles Sweet

The year is 1936. The month is August. I had just turned 13 in July. We often had Sunday dinner at the aunt’s and uncles’ houses. My favorite place was Aunt Anna’s and Uncle Herman’s. Aunt Maude came from the Big City (the county seat) but Aunt Ethel never came. The dining room table was about 5feet by 25 feet and the ends came out of the floor. The table could not be moved.

Aunt Anna always made pies, and they were put on the table at the beginning of the meal, beside your plate. I always ate my pie first. My siblings and cousins were known to be pie thieves (and I was, too). Sunday dinner was served at 12:00 noon, not 12:05, so the men would have more time to sit under the large shade trees in the front yard and tell stories, while the women did the dishes and clean-up.

On one such occasion during dinner, I said in a loud voice, "Where’s Aunt Ethel? I want Aunt Ethel." Everyone stopped eating and there was dead silence!

I thought, I had broken the code. In our families, children did not speak at meals, unless spoken to by an adult. I had only met Aunt Ethel once, and that was at a family funeral in the big city the previous spring, but I had seen pictures of her, always with a big hat, two feet across.

I asked mother, "Who was that lady sitting on the back row in the corner?" She said, "Why, that’s your Aunt Ethel." So I went over to her and said who I was. She said, "sit next to me" and we chatted. She was dressed in black, a wide black hat, a long black dress, and gloves (her fingers showed) up to her elbows, and she smelled so good. She told me she had a new Studebaker convertible with painted white-wall tires and could I ride with her to the cemetery? I said, "I would have to ask Mr. Sweet (that’s my dad) after the service." I asked Mr. Sweet. After about five cuss words, I knew the answer was "no". (In our household, the 3 most dreaded words in the English language was mother saying "ask your father".

The next day after the dinner, which ended rather quickly, I asked mother what was a "lady of the night?" She said, "Shush, you say those words again, I’ll wash your mouth out with soap." Why do mothers say that? I never have seen it happen! Well, I heard Mr. Sweet tell Aunt Maude that Aunt Ethel was "one of those things."

How will I ever get an answer? Then I remembered my last year at country school started the day after Labor Day, and Miss Mowatt always had question and answer periods between some recitations.

In that first week of school, my opportunity came. I raised my hand to ask the question. "What is a ‘lady of the night’?" I saw the color of Miss Mowatt’s face. Then an eighth grader, Margaret, said "it’s a pussy-toot." Miss Mowatt called for next question pronto.

At noon I asked Margaret to explain, what was a pussy-toot? She said look it up in the dictionary, which was on a large stand next to Miss Mowatt’s desk. I waited til Miss Mowatt went to the girl’s outhouse before looking it up. It stated, "Any female performing a sex act for money!" Seventy some years later Webster says, "Any person performing a sex act for a price!"

In 1938 to 1941, going to high school in the big city, on occasion, I checked with the newspaper, the radio station, the library, City Hall (cemetery records), and my teachers. No record or knowledge of Aunt Ethel.

In December 1944, I was in the army in Maryland. Mother called that Mr. Sweet had died that morning during breakfast. Later on my way home, I wondered if Aunt Ethel would be at her brother’s funeral. She was a no-show and I didn’t ask why!

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