Chicken Every Sunday: My Life with Mother's Boarders

by Rosemary Taylor, Donald Mackay (Illustrator)

One of the boarders who ate Mother's chicken every Sunday summed it up when he said, "I was told that in your house I'd have good food and some fun." They all had fun, and they all became part of the family -- Jeffrey, who lost his front teeth and won his independence, Rita Vlasak, who loved anything in pants, including Father, Miss Sally, who loved Miss Sally and cold cream, the Lathams, who bought a mine, and even the hell-bent-for-heaven Woolleys, who were sure God had sent the skunk to hide under the house because the family didn't go to church on Sunday. If you have room for some fun and old-fashioned enjoyment, Mother's sure to have room for you.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Humor, Biography, History, Family, Classics

307 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book on NPR. Apparently, it was a particular favorite of WWII soldiers serving overseas because it had wonderful descriptions of home cooking when the soldiers had nothing but icky rations.

I found the stories to be about 95 percent charming anecdotes about the antics of an active family at the beginning of the 1900s, and living with boarders. Father seemed like a bit of a shyster: he never heard of a deal that he didn't want in on, and didn't scruple to invest every penny of the family money in the shadiest of schemes.

The real star, however, was Mother. She was incredibly resourceful and ingenious about supporting her family. I loved the stories of her particular way of doing things, like when she watched and took notes as her first house was being built and decided to become her own architect and contractor when the family moved to a different city. She was so smart and vigilant that the handymen who thought it would be easy to take advantage of a "little woman" had to work twice as hard, and the house ended up just the way she wanted it. And the parts about Mother's cooking were everything the radio promised, and more. Delectable-sounding entrees and desserts, plus (since they were in Arizona) some of the yummiest descriptions of Mexican cooking that I've ever read. And the woman could rework leftovers like nobodies business!

The final 5 percent that proved jarring and less than satisfying is just a victim of the book's age. As was also the case with another popular memoir I've read that was written in the 1940s, of course many of the ideas about gender roles and race that were considered "normal" then aren't going to be acceptable today. I know that things were different in white middle class America 70 years ago, but I couldn't help but be dismayed by the casual racism and sexism. However, the book is definitely worth a read and I hope that some publisher will do something to keep it from falling completely out of print.

[Trace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous memoir on life in the authors childhood home during the 1920's and '30's, where her mother took in boarders to supplement the family income.

Proponents of the cancel culture movement would totally cancel and burn this book if they actually took the opportunity to read it - as there was quite a bit of evidence of prejudices against indigenous people - which of course was very rampant in those days.
I have to admit that it was extremely disappointing to read this, given the current events unraveling in our country regarding indigenous people and the atrocities done to them in the residential schools in previous generations.

I know many will disagree with me (and that's perfectly okay!), but I don't believe in completely cancelling history over these mistakes but taking the opportunity to learn from it and improve upon our responses, choices, decisions. Our current generation also have our own modern day prejudices that future generations will also be mortified by... but we keep learning and as we know more, we do better.

Aside from the antiquated viewpoints against other peoples, this book WAS quite humorous and I loved the creativity and ingenuity of the mom! I rather enjoyed it!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book delightful. It reminded me of all that I loved about Cheaper by the Dozen...it's quick and witty character development and turn of the century narrative style had me from page 1. I can't say that I wish I had her life, but I will admit to wishing mine were as colorful! (And okay, I suppose I do wish I were a little more like Rosemary's mother...what a lady!)

[Dee Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is full of wonderful character sketches. I find it interesting that the characters of some of the boarders are better developed than those of the children. Mother of course is my favorite. She made me start thinking of all the ways to earn a little extra money. I think my favorite chapter was the one that talked about the secret to successful boarding. I think it is so true of anyone. I think we all know of homes we are welcome in and those we are not. I could have enjoyed a few more stories.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Books Went to War kept mentioning this as one of the top books the troops liked and read aloud to each other in gales of laughter. I can see why. It kind of feels like Cheaper by the Dozen but is funny in a different way. It also touches on more adult themes, albeit in completely acceptable, subtle ways because this being told through the author's childhood memories and understanding. It makes you feel as if you are in on the jokes from an adult's view.

There is a whole chapter on what Mother fed the boarders and another on the way the family made their boarders part of the family. That must have felt like a wonderful touch of home to men in very difficult conditions. Other chapters were equally fun but managed to make the boarding house a window into unusual situations with twists you only read about in O'Henry stories like buying shares in a goldmine tracking a possible German spy, dealing with a millionaire's eccentric mother-in-law, and more.

I really enjoyed this and am considering tracking down a copy for my own library.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book I thought it had some good humor in it. I enjoyed the meaning behind it and the service it taught of. I think that this will be a book that I may read again someday. I really liked some of the advise that it gave, I used some of it. The one about the onion works pretty well. If you can remember it. I don't want to give it away at all. I thought it funny how the mom would put her boarders before her children in that they would sleep on the porch. That is all I am going to say. Read to find out. Great book.

[Lbaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I have picked up and read more than once, first when I was a child and more than once as an adult. The boarders in this book are a great variety and are looked at from the child's point of view. It is interesting reading about the mother, she is a superhero. The straightforward manner in which the mother looks after her family, fighting against all adversity, especially her spouse is inspirational.

[John Mccullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1943, the action at “Mother’s” place took place almost 50 years prior in Tucson, Arizona. A raised westerner of humble origins marries a Virginia aristocrat of a family fallen from the Civil War and they raise three children, including the author, in a boarding house that begins at the far eastern edge of town and then board many dozens of people over the next almost 50 years. This memoir is anecdotal literature in the same vein as “The Egg and I,” “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay,” and “Cheaper by the Dozen.” It is humorous, charming, and just the right medicine for a country divided by rancor and disease. It was a favorite book for WW II GI’s and is a wonderful prescription for us as we try to heal our health and our nation. While dated in some respects, it stands as a credible record of life in early Tucson in a respectful family that had such a variety of experiences, courtesy of an ambitious father, an enterprising mother, and a parade of diverse boarding guests. Good reading in these dark days!

[Lenita · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother, born in 1912, grew up in Tucson. She gave a 1944 edition of "Chicken Every Sunday" to her father, my granddad, for his birthday that year. As I reread it today, 4/5/2019, I wondered if he laughed aloud at some of the same passages I did. While some parts of the book would now be considered politically incorrect, it was true to its time. I was reminded that this book was one of those sent to the U. S. troops during WWII, considered one which "helped us win the war." I found it thoroughly delightful--again.

[Mary Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, charming book that delighted me to the last page. This book was made into a movie. We happened to buy the DVD before I ever bought the book (but have yet to watch it). I look forward in anticipation to see how Hollywood transformed the written word to the "Silver Screen".

[Elizabeth R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little historical memoir, pleasant in an antiquated way. It's a fun and funny window into life in "old Tucson", in the days when the West was being settled and everyone from the rest of the country was running off to sunny Arizona for weather cures. Sweet and light.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read about this book published in 1943 from another book When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II as one of the most popular books among servicemen during World War II. And there was something about the descriptions that drew me in and I knew I needed to enlist my indie bookstore to find me a copy. There was not one in our public library system. I would be willing to buy it. And find it my bookstore did. It's a well-loved, certainly old 1943 book.

I finally had it in my hands and was panicked. I don't normally buy a book that I haven't already read and loved. I have high expectations. Did I waste my money? All this legwork and I might not like it.

But as my five-star rating attests, it will stay on my bookshelf as a nod to old literature and the warmth of a kitchen and loving family. Mrs. Coleman is a loving and warm mom who also happens to be an entrepreneur, boarding people at their home while raising her own children in Tucson, Arizona while keeping an eye on her husband that fancies himself an entrepreneur when he typically looses the family money. So they have his and hers account. But it's Mrs. Coleman's inviting home that makes everyone want to gather 'round and her daughter is in semi-awe but willing to do the work to be in this circle as well. The boarders that come and go are like vignettes with the backdrop of the home. And with few words and a book that seemed to go super-fast, Taylor weaves the Sunday table into the fabric of our lives. Amen. Preach, woman. I adored this one. And it's not heavy on recipes and the kitchen itself, it's more like the household. It's that the mood is uplifting and the characters so vivid as all the best memoirs should go.

Truly-- an oldie but a goodie.

"Mother was, and is, an utterly divine cook. It isn't that I'm her daughter. It isn't just a nostalgic backward look at my childhood. But, just as there are artists who paint, sing, sculpt, so there are also artists who cook. There are Carusos, Pavlovas, and Michaelangelos. There is also Mother over the cookstove. And like any artist she needed a public. She had it in the boarders. The curtain went up three times a day, and she took her applause in the chorus of appreciation and also in the visible poundage that went on the eaters."

Update: Rereading this year turning 40 as it was an impactful book from start to finish (how I discovered it, how I got a copy to read, and the reading of it). Still the same cozy feeling reading it now as four years ago. I can see why it was a comfort to soldiers during the war.

"As Mother once said to me, but really talking at Father, "Your Father gets a fire started under one pot, and as soon as that starts to boil, he takes his fire away and puts it under another pot; then when that begins simmering he's off with his fire for still another pot."

Of course this casualness of housekeeping made for easy living. Mother worked on the theory of the superiority of the animate over the inanimate. The house was to live in, furniture to use."

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book because it was identified as a favorite with the US troops during WWII, in "When books went to war". It's an affectionate memoir of a family living in Tucson in the early 20th century. Father is an inveterate dealmaker, always off on his next business venture/get rich quick scheme. Mother, always remembering her hardscrabble early years as the daughter of plantation owners ruined by the Civil War, makes her own money by taking in boarders and catering Mexican-style food for various charity dos. Their three children, including the author, contribute to the various family enterprises with varying degrees of enthusiasm and skill.

The tone of the book is lighthearted, affectionate. The contrast between the big-dreamer father and the penny-pinching mother is always funny, never bitter. The various boarders and their peculiarities are described with amused affection. Some of them were schoolmarms, some were connected with the mining business, and some were Easterners sent to Arizona for the healthy climate. The author's family took them in and made them part of the family for a couple of weeks or months, in a strange mixture of hospitality and commercial acumen. There are some really funny episodes, such as the time when Mother and the maid suspect that one of their boarders might be a German spy, or when a retired Easterner decides to go on a mine-prospecting trip with Father.

I found it amazing to realize that in the early 20th century, Tucson was still a brand-new city, and that many people had personal memories of the Civil War. People were still trying to get gold out of abandoned mines, and the days of Earp were not so far in the past. So although there is a lot of hustle and bustle in the book, there are moments where the sense of connection with the past is marked.

The main problem with the book, inevitably, is the language pertaining to Native Americans, African-Americans and Mexicans, which is offensive to modern readers. It's cringe-inducing to hear Mother speak of her childhood back in Virginia and her black Mammy. So in that sense the book is both dated and informative.

[Paula]

I wanted to read this story because the Armed Services Edition of the book was apparently wildly popular with GIs during World War II. I can understand why. Set in Tucson, AZ, in the early years of the 20th Century, it's a mostly gentle little slice of nostalgia. Author Rosemary Taylor lovingly describes her mother's cooking, the landscape of the Arizona desert, her father's many financial adventures, and she also relates some charming stories about the many boarders her ever-industrious mother took into their home to make some extra money. In a book of this vintage, however, it is not surprising to come across some racially insensitive remarks, and they are there, although not as plentiful as they could have been, I guess. The most egregious passage, though, is the one in which Taylor casually relates how her mother conspired with a local doctor to sterilize their maid, Angelita, without Angelita's knowledge or consent. The woman had six children, and Taylor's mom decided that she really shouldn't have any more, so when Angelita needed an appendectomy, Mrs. Drachman called up the doctor and arranged the additional "ministrations", as Taylor delicately calls the sterilization. It seems to me that even in 1915 this breach of medical ethics and basic morals should have been denounced for the despicable act that it was. Didn't seem to raise an eyebrow, though, when the book was published in 1943.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband and I lived in the Chicken Every Sunday house for three years while we were newlywed grad students at U of A in the early 1980s. The house was no longer in the author's family by then. It was owned by a business woman who had her office on one side of the building while the other half had been divided into two separate apartments. There were two other small outbuildings on the property which were rented out as well. It was fun reading the book all these years after having lived there and I could easily picture many of the scenes from the book in my mind.

This memoir is well written overall and entertaining to read. It is definitely a period-piece though, and as other reviewers have mentioned it contains a number of unfortunate and jarring racial and sexist stereotypes that were representative of the prevailing attitudes of the time in which it was written. Parts of the book were hard to stomach because of this while other parts were very enjoyable and lightly humorous. I recommend this book for its gentle humor and anecdotal tales of growing up in Tucson in the early 20th century, but do be forewarned about the racism and sexism. Some of the language and stories that were meant to be entertaining and funny were actually pretty cringe-worthy.

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

XX I looked for this book after reading a review by Pamela. Thank you, Pam! Published in 1943, I was very lucky to locate a copy, order and receive it, and find time to read it before my trip to see my son Mac and his family in Tucson. And it is a wonderful, special look at Tucson in the late '30's, early '40's. The things that made Tucson special then, still exist today. This is a very touching memoir, and one I am grateful to have absorbed. It is good to take a realistic look at yesterday occasionally, so you can better appreciate today. And I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. If you love Tucson, AZ you need to read this book. It has not been reprinted, but if you run across a copy, get it - it is a special trip into the tiny, insular village that became the 27th largest county in America. Metro Tucson is the 32nd largest city in the US. On the way in on Interstate 10 West, there were industrial parks 40 miles outside the city, where there was only high plains desert on my last trip in 2006. Fortunately the places I love are still the same - and very much appreciated after reading Chicken Every Sunday.

[Daphne Chennault · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a peach of a book, and is an excellent bit of Americana as well. It is one of my favorite nonfiction books.

The author's parents were settlers in Arizona in the early 1900s. Her father was a wheeler-dealer who was fond of speculating with his money. So, to provide for her family, the mother began takin in boarders. From that point on, the fun began. From Jeffrey the poet who had teeth like Bugs Bunny, to tramps who marked the house with a hobo marker which read, "Good cook lives here!"

This is not high literature, just a charming recounting of a colorful life by a girl who experienced a broad swath of individuals from all walks of life. This is a wonderful book which deserves much more than to be forgotten.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading "When Books Went to War" I decided to read/reread the four books that were most popular with the GIs. This is one I'd never read. It was fun, it was clean - yet not without double entendres and minor risque elements. The descriptions of food (including Mexican food!) and the mother's managing ways probably reminded the soldiers of their own mothers. The details about the early development of Tucson were interesting, too. I'd compare this to "Cheaper By the Dozen" or "Mama's Bank Account." It's too bad this isn't widely available - had to get it from an academic library.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was different from what I expected after reading the first few lines. I thought it would be funnier. I was enthralled that a book published in 1943 would start out talking so frankly about pre-marital sex.
It was the story of all the boarders Rosemary's mother took in over the years and all the business "mis"adventures her father had.

[Lydia Gleaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. I've read it a hundred times over, and I still love it. I don't know what the appeal is- it seems, at first glance, vaguely interesting at best, but it is definitely a favorite of mine.

[Skip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read but too much casual racism.

[My Book Strings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun comfort read, though a little dated.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming read!

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021. bk 60. This was one of the books from the list in the book on getting books in the hands of World War II soldiers. After A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - this was the most requested. It tells the story of an American mother, wife, and entrepreneur from the late 1890's up to just before WWII. My neighbor, who grew up in a boarding house / similar situation, said that she had had this book as a pre-teen and read it over and over again because it was so much like her own life. For reader's younger than I, the concept of a boarding house is most likely strange - renting rooms in your home to strangers, but it happened once upon a time in America. I'm not sure what brought about its demise whether it be the increased desire for privacy in the 1960's and 1970's or the increased availability of apartment complexes or more regulations. If you like 'human interest' stories, stories of America past, stories of growing up in the west, this book, may interest you. Sadly, this also a book that depicts how easily it was for whites to achieve, but also how the local Native Americans, Latinos, and African-Americans were treated as second class citizens, which is why I gave it 3 stars rather than 5.

[AnnaRichelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unexpected pleasant experience this book was. My eye is always drawn to the old books on the shelf and this time it was at the library. A cute little old black book. The title got me and I took it home for a look see. After reading some, I was so intrigued that I started to research it. Lo and behold, it is Rosemary Drauchman Taylor's memoir. She was born in 1899 and wrote this in 1943. It is the memoir of growing up in Tucson, Arizona while her mother ran a boarding house out of their home. Full of wonderful anecdotes, it was very entertaining and an insightful window into life out west at that time, which I've never given much though to outside of the western cowboy stories and films. The ending was beautiful to me.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s easy to see why this was the second-most popular book among our WWII troops. It’s a true, lighthearted account of a family that took boarders into its home. The antics and personalities kept me chuckling. Although the portrayal of negroes is demeaning at times, that attitude is a part of our country’s history that we dare not forget. Great read!

[Cheryl]

ILL (the PIma is in-library only) thrift books (on wishlist).

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sentimental journey taken through a Daughter's eyes of her Mother's, Father's, and siblings' hilarious adventures living with their boarders as they tried to survive in early 1900's Tucson, Arizona.

A favorite paperback among American World War II Troops carried with them to read to remind them of home whenever they had a chance while they are off fighting a war far from friends and family.

[Ron Popp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute period piece.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicken Every Sunday is a marvelous little book. I first heard of it in the pages of When Books Went to War; it was described as being one of the absolute favorite Armed Services Editions, one that simply could not be published fast enough to meet the demand of the troops wanting to read Rosemary Taylor's memoir. As Books author Molly Guptill Manning explained, the troops craved not only Taylor's descriptions of the home front, but also and especially her descriptions of mealtimes. And no wonder.

Taylor's family, the Drachmans, were a family unlike most others. Her mother was a Claiborne from Virginia (an FFV, or First Family of Virginia, as Taylor explains) who had been weaned on a former plantation in the immediate post-Civil War South. Taylor's father grew up in one of Arizona's original pioneer families. The pair of them, and their three children - of whom Rosemary is the oldest - are wonderfully entertaining. More than the Drachman's though, are the boarders: since before Rosemary's birth, Mr. and Mrs. Drachman had boarders, both as a service, if you will to early visitors to the territory (for there were no good hotels in those early days before statehood), as well as to earn additional income (primarily on the part of Mrs. Drachman, who saw her husband's get-rich-quick-schemes for what they were).

Yes, the boarders. As Taylor wrote, "One of the boarders who ate Mother's chicken every Sunday summed it up when he said, "I was told that in your house I'd have good food and some fun." They all had fun, and they all became part of the family -- Jeffrey, who lost his front teeth and won his independence, Rita Vlasak, who loved anything in pants, including Father, Miss Sally, who loved Miss Sally and cold cream, the Lathams, who bought a mine, and even the hell-bent-for-heaven Woolleys, who were sure God had sent the skunk to hide under the house because the family didn't go to church on Sunday." Taylor's gift is for bringing them all to life, making the reader today as much a part of the family as the boarder's were 100 years ago.

All of which is to say, they don't make books like this anymore. Cheaper By the Dozen, The Situation in Flushing, All Creatures Great and Small, they are memoirs in the same vein as this one. If you read and loved any of them, Chicken Every Sunday will be soup for your soul; if you read this one and want more of the same, any of the others will provide the same sustenance.