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procedure in Catholic Eckley homes. After the
meal the father would read the family in
the prayer procedures. The rosary beads were
recited, prayers were recited, & the family would also
sing a few religious songs. There was no other
special religious areas in the house. The dining
table was the place where the religous proceedings
occurred for the family as a unit. Girls would
get married in Eckley at an early age. A
girl of 14 was considered old enough to be
married, & a girl of this age getting married
was not uncommon. The average marrying age
seems to have been about 17 years old. Most
of the newlyweds would live with either the
man's or woman's parents. This was due to the
lack of houses for every married couple in Eckley.
It depended upon how many people were in the
family as to where the new couple would sleep.
Many times, the new couple would sleep in the
parlor. Thus, the parlor was not used at all
as a parlor or living area, but rather, was
used as the bedroom for the new couple. Even
if a family did not have a newly married couple
in the household, the parlor was often used as
a bedroom. This is due to the fact that most
of the families were large, having a large number
of children & thus since the economy of the
living space demanded, all possible sleeping areas
were made functional. The new couple would
pay a certain amount for the rent & food.
The girl would work around the home, helping
the mother with various chores; while the husband
worked in the mines. In Eva's case, when she
was married, she lived with her parents for a
year. She lived with her parents until
she & her husband got their own home. To get
a home the new couple would put their name
into the company records to apply for a house.
Their name would stay on the books until the