“Aunt Louisa (my father’s sister) once owned the Orchard Theatre on North Ave. & Orchard street. I was about 9 or 10 then and got in free on Saturday afternoons, sometimes taking a friend with me. Grandpa Mayer, my father, was a musician and played the piano in that show house. Saturday afternoon showed all the wild west pictures. (I still love westerns.) After selling the show house, Aunt Louisa & her husband (my Uncle Al) & Burt their son moved north of Chicago to Arlington Heights (a suburb in those days). [They lived in] a small town with lots of farming area and lots of woods. Theirs was the only brick house (a beautiful bungalow) in that area just outside of town, surrounded by farms and woods. They had a small farm too. I was 9 when I was taken there by train to visit for the summer & learn about the chores on a farm but got so homesick after one week [I] had to go home. (That was my experience on the farm.) Aunt Louisa took care of the business and children; she helped on the farm too.”

-- Ethel Mayer Vogt, 1979 letter to her grandson Glenn.


“Aunt Louisa married Uncle Al and moved to Arlington Hts. One son died, the other 2 were Bert and Ollie (to whom Jenny was married and they had Ralph and Robert.)

-- Ethel Mayer Vogt, May 1979 letter to her daughter Marcia.

“Grandma Meyer spelled her name that way until she died, that was the German way. Later her daughter Louisa had it legally changed to Mayer (and did I have a hassle in school about it).

-- Ethel Mayer Vogt, May 1979 letter to her daughter Marcia.