Gayla Jean Earl Jensen

I think it only fare that we start off with Grandma Jensen. Being that she is the most recent of our ancestors that have passed away.









The following stories and comments were taken from the Life Sketch that Aunt Sandy read at Grandma's Funeral.... It is not the whole life sketch. But if you want a copy just let me know.

A beautiful daughter was born on October 29, 1940 to William Thayne Earl and Lillian Sams Earl in Idaho Falls, Idaho. She was named Gayla Jean Earl. Three siblings joined the little family over the next 10 years: Dennis Earl, Susan Earl, and Debra Earl. Gayla learned to work hard when she was a child. Her parents owned Earls Texaco Service and Gas Station where she spend hours helping out. Her parents Allowed her to attend dances at O.E. Bell Junior High School. She loved going to these dances except for one thing… She could only go if she took Dennis, her brother who was almost 5 years younger than her. She would have to dance with him, and of course, he would go home and tell Grandma and Grandpa Earl everything that had gone on, and “tattle” on Gayla! He wonders now if this may have been to root of her “retaliation” throughout life on him! Gayla was blessed with a little of the “Earl Spunk”. When she was probably in her teens, Dennis remembers Gayla having a bad argument with her parents. She was quite upset and decided to run away from home. She went to her basement bedroom and started packing her suitcases. Now, most of you probably know about Mom’s love for shoes. It started very early on in her life. Dennis and Susan estimate that she probably had about 50 pairs of shoes at theis time. Well, she packed ALL of her shoes in her bags. She couldn’t leave home without every single one of them. Dennis was afraid that she really would run away so he tied a rope from the outside of her doorknob to the water heater that stood across the room so that she couldn’t get out of her bedroom. This really made her mad! She proceeded to try to stuff her suitcases full of shoes out the tiny window in her room. Of course, they did not fit. Finally Grandma and Grandpa Earl came down and let her “loose” from Dennis’s bonds. She left the house and went to her Aunt Monties with her suitcases. Grandma Earl was fretting, but Grandpa sad down to read the paper and a few magazines. About an hour later, she phoned and said she had decided to come home and would they come pick her up. Grandpa said he’d “think about it.” About an hour later she phoned again to see if they were coming to get her. Grandpa was still slowly reading the paper and, of course, Grandma was beside herself. Finally, though, they picked her up, and her shoes, and brought them home.

Mom always loved pretty clothes, and the shoes to go with them. When she was a teenager, the style was to sew stiff clothesline wire into the hem of your slip so that your dress would be really full. Dennis remembers Gayla’s dresses being so full that she couldn’t get through a doorway without bending her wires.

Grandpa Earl always kept pretty close tabs on Gayla. He would let her take the family car but only allowed her to put a certain number of miles on it. Often enough, she would exceed her limitations so she would drive in reverse on the way home so the odometer wouldn’t add any more!
This is the end of the life sketch comments.

Tuesday, October 29, 1940

Top News Headlines This Week:
Oct 29 - A Patry discovers asteroid #1539 Borrelly
Oct 29 - military draft in US history
Oct 30 - Cole Porters musical "Panama hattie," premieres in NYC
Oct 31 - Deadline for Warsaw Jews to move into the Warsaw Ghetto
Oct 31 - 63 U boats sunk this month (325,000 ton)
Oct 31 - Battle of Britain: Germany & Britair control of English Channel, ends

Top Songs for 1940
The Woodpecker Song by Glenn Miller
In the Mood by Glenn Miller
Only Forever by Bing Crosby
Careless by Glenn Miller
Frenesi by Artie Shaw
Trade Winds by Bing Crosby
I'll Never Smile Again by Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra
Tuxedo Junction by Glenn Miller
When You Wish Upon a Star by Glenn Miller
Sierra Sue by Bing Crosby

1940 Prices
Bread: $0.08/loaf
Milk: $0.51/gal
Eggs: $0.59/doz
Car: $810 Academy Award Winners
Gas: $0.18/gal
House: $6,558
Stamp: $0.03/ea
Avg Income: $1,906/yr
Min Wage: $0.30/hr
DOW Avg: 131

US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
US Vice President
John N. Garner

Best Picture: Rebecca
Produced By Selznick International
Best Actor: James Stewart
in The Philadelphia Story
Best Actress: Ginger Rogers
in Kitty Foyle

People born on October 29
1948 - Kate Jackson Birmingham Ala, actress (Rookies, Charlie's Angels)
1947 - Richard Dreyfuss Brooklyn NY, actor (Jaws, Nuts)
1945 - Melba Moore NYC, singer/actress (Ellis Island)

Hot New Toys in 1940
Foto-Electric Football

Top Books in 1940
A Mathematician's Apology by G. H. Hardy
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Native Son by Richard Wright
Daniel Boone by James Daugherty