Joseph "Joe" Manuel Uberuaga

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TAPE

MINUTE                                                         SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

Tape 1

Side 1

0-8:30             Joe was born 24 May 1921, at 211 South 6^th Street, where the used to be a boarding house.  Hermengilda (his aunt) worked there until she married José Uberuaga, who worked at Arrowrock Dam at the time.  Joe’s father worked at the stone quarry by the penitentiary for a while, then at a paint shop.  He describes some memories from his childhood: the boarding house where he lived had an outhouse, an extra building for boarders, and no bathroom.  Baths were drawn in big galvanized tubs in the kitchen.  Joe got embarrassed when visitors walked in while he was bathing.  He recalls playing, and breaking his arm on the fence to the Delamar Hotel.  He was also briefly paralyzed from the waste down after an accident when he was 6.  Joe mentions the Yribar boarding house, and his father working for the Kimball’s garage.  Movies at the Egyptian theater were 10 cents; he sold newspapers for this pocket money.  He was always home for dinner at 6pm; lunch was at noon.

8:30-12:30      The canal along Grove Street was open at this time, and there were little bridges to cross over.  Joe remembers Mr. Anduiza and his boarders sitting on a long, fancy bench, chatting away.  The Chinese enclave was on 7^th Street, and the Chinese woman called “Pantalones” was rumored to be a prostitute and an opium user.  Joe’s parents had a car, but he remembers getting their first motorcycle.  He suddenly remembers meeting a woman in Mexico who turned out to be his father’s cousin.

12:30-20:00    Joe doesn’t remember José and Hermengilda having a car, but his own father did have a second-hand car.  Many people made fun of the old vehicle, but since he was happy to have a car at all, he didn’t mind.  Joe thinks his family moved to 310 Grove Street when he was about 8 years old.  His father bought the house for $5000 dollars cash; they had rented 614 Grove.  Joe doesn’t recall who rented the 614 house when his family had left.  He explains a ditty one of his friends used to sing, and lists some of his friends and relatives at the time.  His cousin Julie was the closest in age to him, and they were could friends.  José Uberuaga and Joe’s father were never really close friends, mostly because José worked away from Boise most of the time.

20-25:00         Joe came to his aunt and uncle’s boarding house quite often.  He also went to the Lejardi place.  He explains the location of the outhouse at the Uberuaga boarding house, which flushed automatically.  There was a small bowling strip behind the house, even though Joe never played there.  He mentions a stone outside the house he used to play on (it was used to step onto horses.

25-30:00         Joe’s mother used to do the laundry, and describes his mother using an old washing machine.  His father always came home to help take down the clothes.  His mother made bread and cooked every single day.  Joe points out where things used to be in the Uberuaga house kitchen, and recalls that everyone got together to make chorizo during the winter from the half pig they always bought.

 

Side 2

0-6:00             Joe remembers that the family made hot chocolate from a big bar of Ghiradelli’s chocolate when special guests came over.  Hermengilda kept a scattered garden at the boarding house, complete with chickens and fruit trees.  Joe’s family bought vegetables from the Chinese gardeners who brought them in canvas-covered buggies, or else at the market downtown.  He lists a few food brands favored by the Basques.  His family had a telephone, and he still remembers the number!  It was a private line.

6-10:00           Joe describes the foods they ate.  Breakfast always included bread with jam, and coffee with milk.  Lunch usually included soup and beans.  Fish was usually served on Friday.  Joe also enjoyed flan and rice pudding.  Garbanzos were reserved for Sundays, with chorizos when they were lucky!  He remembers his mother heating water bottles to warm her children’s sheets.  Joe describes his family’s sleeping arrangements at home.  At the time, there was no daily socializing (women’s networks), because there was too much work to do, but they did get together whenever they had free time.

10-16:00         Joe’s father also spoke poorly of the priests in town.  He and his siblings were baptized and confirmed, but religion did not play a heavy role in home life.  Joe’s mother was happy to go to Mass on her own.  Growing up, Joe was never very close with his family’s boarders; they just weren’t around as much as at Hermengilda’s place.  He explains where some of his other friends and neighbors lived at the time, and what was on the Basque block.

16-19:00         Money was scarce when Joe was young, and he and his friends always worked a little.  He sold newspapers at first, then took care of a local photographer’s lawn.  He was then a cash boy at C.C. Anderson’s department store (where many Basques worked).  In high school, he worked at a print shop, then entered the service when he graduated.  Most of the houses on Grove Street did not have modern-style yards, but rather a small patch of grass next to the space for cars and people to get in and out.

19-24:00         Joe mentions the Uberuaga boarding house was purchased in 1922.  He remembers a Chinese apothecary located near where the city hall is today.  His mother took him there once, but he threw up blood after his treatment, and never returned.  Joe had few Chinese friends, but knew many Greeks as he was growing up.  He again lists where some neighbors lived.

24-30:00         Joe relates that the Bohemian Brewery was operational at this time, and his brother worked there for a while.  He remembers that one of his friends was a boxer, and Joe’s brother Domingo fought once, then had a kidney removed.  He discusses José Felipe Uberuaga.  Joe recalls that the first person he talked to when he visited New York—a complete stranger—had stayed in the Uberuaga boarding house.  He describes an incident in which he met another Basque person where he didn’t expect it.  When Joe was very young, a black man named Charlie lived in the building behind his aunt’s boarding house.

 

Tape 2

Side 1

0-6:30             The Lejardi family lived in the building behind the boarding house at one time as well, and he lists them.  When Joe’s mother passed away, his father boarded in the upstairs room.  He explains that the kitchen door was used as the main entrance, not the front door.  It was an unspoken rule among Basques that everyone ate lunch at their own houses.  Hermengilda had boarders to help her bring in wood and coal for the stoves.  She stored fruit and supplies in the basement.

6:30-8:30        Joe’s father always had a dog, but never inside the house.  He ate leftovers, and kept him company while he worked as a night watchman.  Joe’s father was a sheepherder when he first came to America.

8:30-14:00      Joe runs through a typical schedule at his house.  School was at 9am, so they got ready (only bathing in the tub once a week), and ate a quick breakfast.  He never remembers seeing his parents in bed; they were always up early.  Joe walked to school, and came home again for lunch at noon.  Classes resumed at 1pm, and ended at 3:30pm.  It wasn’t customary to eat at school, and Central School and Boise High didn’t even have cafeterias.  Studying was not an all-consuming activity, but Joe always got good grades.  He had a severe skin condition, and didn’t want to go to the same school as his brother, who was a good-looking quarterback.  But Joe was soon elected representative for the freshman class, and president the next year.  He was class representative again junior year, and president again senior year.  This gave him some much-needed self-confidence, and the courage to go to Mexico with no money, no job, and no Spanish skills.

14-20:00         Joe lists some of the other Basques who went to school with him at Boise High. He describes dancing as a young man.  He describes the Chico Club, which was owned by a Basque; there were boarders upstairs.  Joe relates driving to Mexico with some friends.

20-27:00         Jeff, Patty and Joe begin to walk around the house, where Joe describes how he remembers it looking.  They start in the kitchen, where they discuss where the dishes were kept.  They begin to talk about the bathtub.  Joe mentions where the refrigerators used to be.  His family used an icebox for many years before getting a real refrigerator.  The bathroom doesn’t prompt any memories, but Joe did go to the basement once.  There were cans and things down there, and it was very dark and gloomy.

27-30:00         The group enters the living room, where Joe describes the placement of the piano and the table.  There were two benches, a sofa, and chairs, but rarely tablecloths.  There was a big dresser for the bed linens as well.

 

Side 2

0-8:00             Joe continues his tour with the downstairs bedroom, where there was a twin bed. He mentions the toilet by the staircase, and the nearby telephone.  Joe hardly ever ventured upstairs.  He repeats the phone number at the boarding house.  There was never a door separating the dining room.  Joe reiterates that both he and the boarders tended to use the kitchen door, although all the doors were used from time to time.  Since he never ate at Hermengilda’s house, he would only pop in to say hello.  He and his friends and cousins did play outside the house, though.  Joe never went upstairs until his father was staying there.  He spoke some Basque when he was little, but is probably better at it today.

8-11:00           The boarders and Joe’s family played Mus and Briska at the same table where they ate; women played alongside men.  Hermengilda loved to play cards.  They most often played for a jigger of whiskey.  The tour concludes when Jeff, Patty and Joe leave for the porch.

 

NAMES AND PLACES

NAMES:

Anduiza family: owned a Boise boarding house

C.C. Anderson’s

Charlie: lived in the building behind Hermengilda’s boarding house

Kimball: owned a garage in Boise

Lejardi family: lived near Joe

Uberuaga, Hermengilda: Joe’s aunt

Uberuaga, José: Joe’s uncle

Uberuaga, Julie: Joe’s cousin

Yribar family: Joe’s family friends

 

PLACES:

Arrowrock Dam (ID)

Bohemian Brewery

Boise High School

Boise, ID

Central School (Boise)

Chico Club (Boise)

Delamar Hotel (Boise)

Egyptian Theater (Boise)

Grove Street  (Boise)

Idaho State Penitentiary (Boise)

Mexico

 

THEMES:

Boarding houses

Boxing

Chinese

Food

Prostitution

Religion

Schools