Mr. and Mrs. George Darnstaedt of Nashville will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on Dec. 8.
George and the former Helen Rathjen were married in 1934 in Jacob, where they lived on their farm until they moved to Nashville in 1997.
George and Helen were neighbors from childhood, living in the Jacob area. During their courtship days, they often went to silent movies in Cora City or to the Hippodrome Theatre in Murphysboro. George had a 1930 Chevy Roadster with a rumble seat. When roads were too muddy, George came to see Helen on horseback. They were married during the Depression and had very little money.
During their first year of marriage, Helen scrubbed all the laundry on an old-fashioned washboard, then hung it outdoors to dry. Many times it froze before it could be hung up. On their first anniversary, a new Maytag washer was purchased with a gasoline engine. With no electricity, coal oil lamps were used and also an Alladin lamp. There was no running water. A pitcher pump was used in the kitchen with water drawn from a cistern underground. With no refrigeration, food items were either kept on the cellar floor to keep them cool or hung from a rope in the well.
Their weekly income from selling eight gallons of cream shipped by railroad netted them $13. Pecans were more plentiful then and were also a source of income. A 100-pound sack of pecans brought $3. During the Depression, a magazine subscription was bought in exchange for a few chickens. Homemade bread was baked, along with coffee cake. Many quarts of fruit, vegetables and beef were canned to stock the cellar for the winter months. Of course, there was always a large garden.
Helen made lots of homemade cheese called Koch-Kaasa. This was a "must" since they had lots of skim milk to use. A motorless pushmower was used to cut grass. George's first plow was a 10-inch walking plow pulled by a team of mules. A year later he had a 12-inch riding sulkey plow, then he purchased a John Deere AR utility tractor with steel wheels, which was used only for plowing. Mules were used to prepare the soil for planting the crops.
There was no television. Sunday was the Lord's Day and they went to church as a family and had morning devotions no matter how busy the day would be.
When asked what George and Helen attributed their 75 years of health and happy marriage, their reply was, "We know that all our days are entirely in God's loving hands, and we prey for guidance and strength as we take one day at a time."
George and Helen have three children: Carolyn Guetersloh and husband Roger, of Murphysboro, Merle Darnstaedt and wife Sue, of Nashville, IL and Cliff Darnstaedt and wife Joyce, of St. John, IN. They also have nine grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.