Tag Archives: mom

That time Mom poured tomato juice on a man in a white suit

Memories, People, , ,

As I was placing a very full pitcher of iced tea into the fridge today I remembered the time my mom poured a half gallon of tomato juice all over Bob Mapes’ white suit. The reason I thought about it was because the lid is not securely on the pitcher and I was worried Dean might take it out quickly and spill iced tea all over the place.

So, the story… (I was in the kitchen at the time and observed everything)

This was the 1970s and my parents were having a party. It may have been a daytime party because people were drinking bloody marys. Mom must have been getting ready to make a bloody mary for someone because she was at the fridge and pulled out the large can of tomato juice (back then all juices that were not frozen were in huge cans) with her left hand and tipped it sideways, bending her elbow so the horizontal can was perpendicular to her shoulder, and closed the fridge with her right hand. She was unaware that someone had already used a can opener on the can, so it was open when she tipped it sideways. She was also unaware that Bob Mapes, wearing a stylish-at-the-time white suit was standing very close behind her. I think his intention was to surprise her since he had just arrived. Suddenly Bob jumped back as the contents of the can of tomato juice poured over his white suit.

He was upset. It really wasn’t Mom’s fault — she always tipped these large juice cans sideways — they were never open when she did it, but Bob was furious and as he grabbed his wife, Marge, and stormed out, told Mom he was sending her the dry-cleaning bill.

Bob and Marge were an interesting couple and I’ll write more about them later.

Mom’s Artwork::Exhibit 13: Rickshaw Driver

Family, Memories, Things, ,

This image of a man in (Vietnam?) hung in the living room of my childhood home. I think it was Vietnam because the war was in full swing at the time and the magazines were printing photos of people there. Like the Woman at Night, mom probably found a photo and painted it. Again, it was unusual that a small town white family in the midwest would have a painting of an Asian person on their wall, especially if he were Vietnamese. I cannot imagine my cousin, Harold, would have been happy. I liked it though.

I always through he looked like a family friend:

This painting, like the Woman at Night, will go into storage since there is nowhere to hang it here.

Mom’s Artwork::Exhibit 12: Portrait of a Woman at Night

Family, Things, ,

Sometime before Christmas 1969 my mom painted the portrait of an African American woman standing under a street lamp at night. I am pretty sure she found a photo in Life or Look Magazine and made a painting of it. She was always looking through magazines and cutting out interesting photos. She had at least one file cabinet full of clippings and magazines.

This painting hung on the wall near the front door for a few years. I was proud of mom for this painting. At the time I thought it was well done, plus it was of someone that didn’t look like us. I think she captured something in the woman’s expression. Is she sad? Angry? Tired?

I was proud that our home displayed a painting of an African American woman.

This was painted during the civil unrest of the late 1960s — possibly in 1968 even where there were riots even in our hometown after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

I wish I had available wall space to hang this painting, but the walls in the attic are too low. I’ll store it and let Andrew and Clare decide its fate.