Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

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Group: and we'll never forget the glamour of Hila
Morgan's Chautauqua Group — especially Neil
Helveyi"
“How strange it seemed to us to have our dad
participate in a local. all-male stage production.
m
mm
Mr. and Mrs. Jesse L. Holden. owners and operators
of Hotel Gillen. (Photo submitted by thefamily of Mr.
and Mrs. Holden.)
“Fresh from the farm to the life of a waitress. my first
order for breakfast was from a Jewish gentleman from
Chicago. for fermented eggs. I had to retrace my steps
to find out that he really wanted fotu'-minute eggs.”
“We really felt Big City when we went with Dad to
meet the train to bring back the traveling salesmen.
who would lodge with us."
“We used to play ‘hide and seek‘ throughout the
whole hotel; the favorite hiding place was behind the
huge dirty laundry basket. Ughi"
“We had to strip the linens and ready our own
bedroom. for a ‘regular’ traveling salesman. with
routine monthly calls. if the hotel happened to be sold
out."
“The youngest of us remembers standing on a stool
to peel potatoes. simply for something to do; she was
the original ‘go-fer‘.
“We rebelled against the discipline of ‘walking down
the stairs like a lady’ by starting on the third floor.
sliding down the banisters to the main floor and yelling
like banshees. when both parents were away."
“We sat on the front porch on warm summer
evenings. watching the local world go by. and oh. the
smell of Charlie Lazio‘s popcom. waiting across Main
Streetl Once in awhile we could talk Dad out of a nickel
to buy a sack."
“How important we felt on our big events of the
seasons. such as: The Rotary Club entertaining the
year-end football team and. too. the annual Rotary
Anns. the bridge luncheons of the town's elite citizens.
Probably the largest group of all was following the
funeral of Father Eardly. We had. by then. acquired
what had to be the first and original electric
dishwasher. What a monstrosity it was. But did we love
itl
“Some of our favorite famous guests were: Borrah
Minnevitch and Harmonica Rascals: WLS Bani Dance
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Lg.
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Jesse Holden. dressed as Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.
(Photo submitted by thefamily ofJesse Holden)
dressed as Eleanor Roosevelt: how closely he
resembled her. "
"We can't leave out some of the pranks of a
grandchild or two. especially one time when they
entered a paying guest's room — nothing was locked in
those days — and proceeded to decorate the bedspread
with toothpaste. emptying the tube. Our dad's
discipline didn't extend to them. it seemed."
“Dad was outspoken an all and every issue. but
behind the scenes there was a quiet and stabilizing
force called. ‘Mom’
“Now. many years later. we can understand why
they were so strict. raising four daughters and
operating a hotel. But many of our memories are of
frustrating times. and with a few funny ones mixed in."
The Holden Hotel was sold to Bruce Wright in 1945
and it was thereafter known as the Iowan Hotel.
Wright reopened the Coffee Den which had been closed
for several years.
The Iowan Hotel building is now owned by the Milton
Hales. It has not been used for a hotel for many years.
After this digression we will revert to the 1860s and
the progression of the business center away from the
oldest part of Anamosa. which for many years was
called. ‘downtown’ and later. ‘Dublin’. due to the
number of citizens of Irish extraction who lived there.
or who conducted business there.
In March 1860. the first train arrived in Anamosa.
This also was a drawing card for the building of new
businesses further east on Main Street. The train.
primitive as it was in the beginning. was a long-