Page 180 - Always Virginia

168 Virginia Day Fritscher

Jack: What was his name?

Mary Pearl: John Patrick....John Patrick Lawler. And both his
parents came direct from Ireland. And of my mother’s folks, my
Grandma McDonough—I don’t think she came from Ireland. I
know my grandfathers did. My mother said her mother was born
somewhere in north St. Louis. We’re all Irish all the way through.
Irish and Catholic, thank God. There was never anything but Irish
in us, so we’re really Irish—not the shanty Irish—the lace curtain
Irish. Daddy used to say we were descended from Irish kings, be-
cause he one time had that blood disease only royalty gets. What’s
it called, Virginia?

Virginia: Hemorraghica purpura.

Mary Pearl: Where the blood just comes out of your pores.
Daddy was in the hospital for six weeks and they cured him by
giving him horse serum and he was never sick again. [When she
put Bart in the hospital, the doctor said, “You’ll be a widow by
morning.”]

Jack: Tell me about the World’s Fair [The Louisiana Purchase
Exhibition, 1904, St. Louis]

Mary Pearl: I was 16 when we had that fair in St. Louis. I
was always small for my age, so whenever they had a kid’s day at
the Fair I would go and get in free. Nobody ever knew I was 16.
A whole bunch of us would get in. Only spend maybe a dollar or
two all the while we were there. They had the Pike that had shows
on each side with the hula-hula dances and just everything. It was
great. That was in 1904, I think.

Jack: That was when they invented ice cream cones.

Mary Pearl: And the ice cream machines, we would all stand
and watch them turning out the ice cream. We thought that was
wonderful.