Selling Cosmetics to Indians

Blue's post about musical saws made me think of Aunt Lena, who played the saw at St Peter's Village in Pennsylvania, which was a little, old village someone had decided to make into a Quaint Little Old Village. I lived not far away and went there umpteen times, hitchiking there one partuclar time, I recall, with a puppy named Mauser, and buying him a hamburger. The creek that ran behind the old inn or whatever it was, was fast-moving and full of boulders - picturesque.

I googled "aunt lena st peter's saw" and got this:
"Lena E. Kurtz Kauer, one of eight children born to a miller's family, was raised in the Morgantown, Pennsylvania area. During her youth, while homesteading in North Dakota with her sister, she rode horseback through the West selling cosmetics to Indians. Her musical talents were recognized at an early age. She played piano for silent movies and as a performer became an accomplished elocutionist. In her twilight years "Aunt Lena" entertained visitors regularly at St. Peter's Village with her musical saw and made several appearances on national television, playing her unique instrument. "Aunt Lena" married Guy Knauer, an attorney in West Chester and raised a family of one son and one daughter. She was, in fact, a very colorful citizen of Chester County where she lived most of her 90 years."


Don't ask me why I remember these things. Too, I remember tons about specific events that can't be put into words, like the quality of light and the way I felt. On the other hand my memory for other things is peculiar to say the least; I often couldn't give a description of a person I've seen many times, and there are people I always claim not to know because, somehow, they've never become an individual being to me, just part of a... WAD of people. My memory is very accurate for some things, and an underexposed frame for others.