PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES…Rock and Roll

Published 7:32 pm Sunday, November 8, 2026

By DeAnn Kruempel

Dinner warmed on the back burner of the cook stove. Potato soup left from last night’s supper. And there was fresh bread. Though her husband was late, she waited to eat with him. He would need a hot meal after standing in the cold at the auction sale. Another family selling out and moving away. The hardships of the thirties were still taking their toll even though the Depression was over.

She heard the old Ford pickup rumble into the driveway and hurried to the frigid porch to open the door. He lifted a large basket-like object over the step and maneuvered it into the porch and the kitchen. Gently, he set the four-wheels on the floor and pushed the metal handle forward.

The woman’s eyes lit with a smile as she ran her fingers over the sturdy willow strands of the wicker baby buggy. A hinged hood swiveled up or down over the head of the bed. The entire wicker unit hung suspended on inch-wide metal strips, allowing a rocking movement. Two eight-inch round windows on the hood allowed quick peeks from the side.

The next afternoon she sewed a new cushion and hemmed soft flannel sheets for the buggy which waited in the living room, just around the corner. In less than three months the couple tenderly tucked their first child into the soft warm buggy.

The new mother learned to work fast when the baby slept, running outside to water the chickens or gather the eggs or turn on the windmill, then racing back in the house to listen intently for the tiny girl’s cry. The mom scrambled to do the baking and put meals on the table. Sometimes she managed a few minutes in her chair next to the buggy.

Deloris grew and thrived and became Mommy’s little helper when a tiny new brother arrived and was lovingly tucked into his daytime bed, the wicker buggy. Two little ones to care for presented far more than twice the work, but Mom and Dad took it all in stride. Though barely nineteen months old, Deloris learned to nudge the baby bed back and forth to soothe Donald’s fussing. One afternoon, Mom scrubbed carrots and potatoes in the kitchen sink while Deloris played in the next room near the carriage. Suddenly, the house seemed too quiet and Mom peeked around the corner. Deloris had climbed into the buggy, and taking her mommy’s helper role very seriously, she was trying to pick Donald up and lift him out. Mom did not make a sound for fear of startling the girl but rushed to rescue her son, who happily grinned at both of them.

Time went on and the wicker buggy served its purpose well. Two more daughters, Darlene and Dorothy, took their turns napping, often with their older sister at the wheels. Then came a baby boy who had several older sisters to entertain him. Delmer quickly outgrew the wicker bed and began his farming operation in the sandbox.

At last, Mom and Dad brought a sixth baby home from the hospital. Within a month her crooked little grin and mischievous eyes worked in her favor as she passed Manipulation 101 with flying colors. Dorothy, barely eight, was often assigned the rock-and-roll-the-baby job. At first, she managed to get in plenty of play time when baby dozed off, but soon the task grew more difficult. One afternoon she cradled her doll in her right arm while she kept the woven basket in motion with her left. Mom had sewn three new doll dresses and Dorothy couldn’t wait to try them on. At last, after continuing for what seemed like hours, she stopped. Waited. Listened. Relieved at her apparent success, she started for the box of doll clothes. But wait! What was that noise? Dorothy groaned. Inside the buggy, DeAnn lifted her head, peeked through the round window—and giggled!

I do not recall my time spent in the old buggy. From my siblings’ stories I imagine them trying to rock me to sleep. Then I think of mischievously peeking out at them through the little porthole—and I can’t help but giggle!