Carnival of African American Genealogy, 2nd Edition: Grandma’s Hand ~ Ruth Baylor ~ Great Day

Great Day it is to honor my maternal grandmother Ruth Baylor. This was also one of her favorite terms. She is the only one of my grandparents that I knew, one of seven siblings, who migrated from Virginia to New Jersey during the early 1900s.

Grandma Ruth was a kind, nurturing, hard-working, and loving grandmother. She traveled for several years with her youngest daughter the wife of an Army soldier. So, she got around and saw the States.

After settling down to civilian life, my grandmother lived with us for a while – this is when I really got to know her. What a time we had. She called me Jo, and always lived right next door to my family. She was tall and a classy dresser. Grandma had this fur wrap/stole with faces at each end that I was so afraid of. Among other things that she had was this gold/mustard color trunk she used in her travels. I would love to go through the trunk with her and look at the things she had. One of the many treasures she had in the trunk was this small circular figurine with a turtle in it. It would turn around like a compass, and I loved to play with it.

Grandma and I would catch the bus to go downtown shopping all the time. Her head was adorned with kerchiefs as they called them. We would have lunch at Woolworth’s. The two of us sitting at the lunch counter – me turning around on the stool – looking at the big menu, deciding what I wanted to get. Grandma Ruth would let me have a “Strawberry Ice Cream Soda” (this became my favorite for many years). The two of us would walk around from store to store (that’s probably where I get my shopping habits from). She would get a few things, and we would head back home. One of the things I remember getting was a dark green suede coat. She managed to get the coat for me from the small salary she made.
Boy, was I lucky to have a grandmother like her.

My grandmother did what was known as day’s work/housekeeper. I went with her one time to be interviewed for an assignment. At this house, a little boy said; “She Has Brown Ears.” He was referring to me. She was a live in-housekeeper for two families that I recall: the Singer’s and Krueger’s of South Orange, NJ. I was glad to see her come home on the weekends. I had my grandmother back.

As a little girl, I would sit on the bed and count the money she would receive in tips from working as an attendant handing out towels in the woman’s restroom at Thomm’s Restaurant/Catering in NJ. The money was wrapped in a handkerchief. She was a hard worker – Grandma’s Hands. She would say “Thirty-five cents will break you out the habit.” (whatever the amount was she would add it to her phrase) In other words, if you want it, you need to earn it. Nothing is given to you – you have to work for it.

Grandma Ruth liked to make “French Fryers” as she called them. She loved baseball; her favorite team was the Mets. My brother was Grandma’s heart. I could here her calling him: “Son” short for Sonny the only boy in the family. She would talk about Ms. Chandler from the soap operas. Around Christmas holidays, she would play Nat King Cole and even some Elvis Presley music.

Grandma Ruth would tell you in a minute “Don’t step on my feet.”
She had problems with her feet; it was probably from standing all the time. She would say, “I’m going to the foot doctor,” and I would go with her.

During the latter years of Grandma Ruth’s life, we would help her around the house from food shopping to cleaning. She would make sure that we brought her Dial soap, the gold bars. This is the only one she liked to use. I too buy Dial soap from time to time now and think of Grandma. I combed her hair sometimes, part down the middle and two cornbraids. She was able to do for herself, but I always liked combing her hair.

My grandmother lived to the age of seventy-nine, a fruitful life filled with love of family. Over the years one can collect a lot of things. She had these old coins; I don’t know where she got them from or the significance of them. Because, they date back to early 1800, maybe it was her way of knowing where she came from and what the family went through.

I think back on the life of my Grandmother especially while researching my family lineage. She was ageless and timeless – a classic. She is saying, “Lord have mercy Jo – you have done some work - Great Day!”

Sept. 1907 - Nov. 1986

I know that you are smiling down on me.
~Jo~