As Ester road the trolley down Chicago Avenue towards the university she was lost in her thoughts. She was brought back to her brother’s letter. How could he do this to her? Did Mamma know? Why haven’t I heard from Mama
“Hej, Ester.” Anya greeted her friend as she sat down next to her.
Startled, Ester looks up “Oh Hej.”
“Where are you going?” Anya asked.
“I go now to my new job by the Petters on Colfax Street only a few blocks from my old job at the University House.” (*) Esther struggles to speak in her new language for practice with her friend but falls back to Swedish as she got tired of struggling with English.
“I cook now for them. I meet her Tuesday at University House. That was when Professor Petters asked me to talk with him after Mrs. Jansen said to stop working there. He was very nice. They only have a cook and a maid working their house. It is a new house and they are just married.”
“What good fortune for you.” Anya remarked. “Only you would have such a good time,” she teased Ester. Both women laughed as they came to the next trolley stop. This trolley stop was only a block off of Sherman Avenue, just down the street to the Petters’ house. Ester wished her friend good day promising to meet up with her soon.
The day was sunny and Esther was glad to walk a bit. She had so much to think about. The problem with baby Marie and her family in Sweden tore at her heart but she had to focus on her new job or she would not have the money to take care of her baby and herself. She had to be strong and practical as her Swedish nature held back her wish to fall into despair.
The first few weeks at the Petters’ were long hard days. Getting there before dawn to prepare breakfast and leaving after dusk when the dinner was finished. Esther was always happy to be home in bed at night even though it was a short time until she had to get up again to go back to work.
Her employer, Mrs. Petters, was a young bride with a new house and lofty ideas about how her house should be run. She explained to Ester, “Miss Nilsson, we will go over the menu on Mondays then you will give me the food items you need to have replaced each week.”
Ester looked at her with a wide eyed frown. She was wondering how she could keep these items in her head since she could only write them in Swedish. Then surprising Ester, Mrs. Petters said Ester could write them in Swedish and she would add the English words. That way Esther would get more opportunity to learn the English words. Ester smiled her relief and was thrilled at how kind Mrs. Petters was to her. Mrs. Petters said Ester should wear her usual black skirt and white blouse with the aprons supplied by Mrs. Petters. She then showed Ester the linen drawers and the kitchen utensils and the food storage cabinets.
The new kitchen was very modern with an electric mixer and an ice box. The oven was a brand new gas Ammana with 4 burners and a large oven. There was a new porcelain sink with running water.
Mrs. Petters encouraged Ester to push the switch on the electric mixer and Ester jumped back, shaken at the loud noise it made. Mrs. Petters laughed and assured Ester that was normal. She showed Ester how to turn on the gas burners on the stove and the oven after lighting the pilot light. The sink faucet amazed Ester seeing the water flow so fast without pumping. Gradually, Ester learned how to use all the new machines. She was afraid but excited at the same time with her accomplishments.
Each morning after breakfast was cleared away Esther started the bread for the next day. The limpa rye her mother taught her to make as a child turned out to be a favorite of the Professor. He said it was as good as his own mother’s. The smell of the baking bread filled the air as their mid-day dinner time approached. The Professor commented on how nice it was for him to return from class mid-day with the sweet aroma of baking bread in the house. He taught mathematics at the University. Since there was limited office space at the University House, he was often home in the afternoons preparing his class lectures.
Mrs. Petters would work alongside Ester to make sure the meals were prepared as she and the Professor desired. She was a patient teacher as she walked Ester through the new recipes she had chosen for special meals. Ester was glad that Mrs. Petters was not like the employers of her maid friends in the big houses on Sheridan Road.
After Ester was there a few weeks, Mrs. Petters and the Professor decided to have a dinner party with some of their friends from the University. One morning after breakfast, Mrs. Petters came into the kitchen with much excitement in her voice.
“Ester we are going to have our friends over on the weekend after next for dinner. I want you to practice this week with a crown roast of pork. Have you ever made crown roast?” She asked.
“No Mrs. I do not know this roast. Ester replied. Can you show me a picture? Will the butcher cut it a special way?” Esther asked nervously.
“Look!” Mrs. Petters answered. “The meat stands up on its side and it has little paper crowns on the leg bone.”
Esther looked at Mrs. Petters and they both laughed at the ‘little crowns’.
“Where do I get the ‘little crowns’?” Esther replied in exasperation.
Mrs. Petters patted Esther on her hand and smiled as she said she would get the ‘little crowns’ herself. She went on to tell Esther about the rest of the meal and they made plans for other dinners during the week as well. Finally, just as Mrs. Petters and Ester finished the menus for the week she said the reason they were waiting until the weekend after next to have the dinner party was because they had carpenters coming over to finish the back porch.
Mrs. Petters said, “They will be here in the morning tomorrow, probably about the time you arrive before breakfast.”
The next day Ester was in the kitchen cooking eggs and bacon for the Petters breakfast when she heard voices outside the kitchen window. When she peaked out the window over the sink she saw two men unloading tools and wood from a wagon parked next to the house in the alley. One man was tall and thin with his shirt sleeves rolled up under his westcott. The other was broader and wore work overalls, like the farmers in her homeland. Ester went to the back door and called out to the men.
“Hej!” she called. “Guten dagen” forgetting she should speak English. But she heard back familiar sounds. “Hej Guten dagen” from the men as she walked out to the back porch. Both men came toward the porch smiling in a hardy way, “Hej, Svenska flicka!” Teasing her in Swedish. “We are so lucky to see a Swedish girl.”
Ester laughed with them as they introduced themselves. The broad man said he was from the Carlson Company, “I am William Carlson. My worker is Olof Johansson.”
The tall thin fair man took off his cap and nodded to Ester with a smile. “We are here to finish the back porch steps for the Petters. Is Mrs. Petters here?”
Ester replied, “I will get her.” and she stepped back into the kitchen to find Mrs. Petters.
The men nodded to each other with a sly look as they watched her go back into the house. William said to Olof, “Now there is a sweet looking lady” and he winked. Olof did not reply but went back to the wagon to start unloading the wood for the job.
Mrs. Petters came out the back door to speak to the men about their carpentry job while Ester continued her breakfast clean-up. She peaked out the window at the workmen while she was washing the dishes. The younger carpenter with the light hair and blue eyes caught her attention. He was very slim and tall. He had a long face and long nose with a high forehead. He had droopy eye lids that wrinkled when he smiled. Ester had seen him smile at her just before she went into the house to get Mrs. Petters. Ester smiled to herself and thought this was the first time she felt an attraction to any man in America.