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For Kaplan, heirloom brings back memories of great Armistice Day blizzard

Steele County Times - Staff Photo - Create Article
Jackie Kaplan of Owatonna displays a dress her grandmother made for her during the great Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940. Kaplan was just 18 months old at the time. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
By
Rick Bussler, Publisher
“I like having it (Armistice Day Blizzard dress) as a remembrance of my grandmother.”
-Jackie Kaplan, History Lover

For 82 years, Jackie Kaplan has treasured a family heirloom that has its beginnings in what became known as the storm of the century.

Kaplan holds onto a dress that was made by her grandmother, Mildred Amberg, during the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940. Kaplan was just 18 months old at the time.

The blizzard took place throughout the Midwest on Nov. 11 and 12, 1940. It started out to be a mild fall day with temperatures flirting in the 50s. By the end of the day and into the next day, more than a foot of snow fell, killing 157 people, mostly duck hunters frozen in their tracks, and thousands of livestock.

Kaplan lived in Waseca at the time and had been visiting her grandparents’ farm in southern Waseca County just before the storm hit. Because they hadn’t planned for her to stay, she had no clothes for such an extended time period. 

That’s when Kaplan’s grandmother sprang into action and made her a dress out of feed sacks.

Amberg often made aprons, pillowcases, pajamas, curtains, and of course, what has become known as the infamous Armistice Day dress. For Amberg, it was never a big deal because she always had materials on hand and didn’t need any patterns, according to Kaplan.

“She whipped it up on an old sewing machine,” said Kaplan, who is now retired and lives in Owatonna with her husband Lloyd. She thinks she wore it for at least a week at the time.

Kaplan’s mother later stored the dress, and it has remained in the family ever since.

The dress has become well traveled over the years. A few years back it was on display during the sesquicentennial of the Steele County Free Fair.

Kaplan said she plans to hold on to the dress for as long as she lives. After that, she plans to leave specific instructions to her daughter to donate it to the Waseca County Historical Society.

“It just reminds me of my grandmother,” Kaplan said of the red dress with white patterns over it. “They were always very close to me. I was the first grandchild, and of course, they always think you’re kind of special.”

While it has a bit of nostalgia for Kaplan, it also plays into her life interests. She majored in history at Mankato State University. She added history had always been her favorite subject in high school.

“History and events have always fascinated me,” she said, adding she was especially fascinated by all the stories surrounding the Armistice Day blizzard.

The dress not only reminds Kaplan of her grandmother, but also the great blizzard that hit the area. It caught everyone by surprise as it came so quick and temperatures dropped rapidly.

“When it started storming, they had me sitting on a chair watching them catch the chickens in the tree,” Kaplan recalled. “I remember seeing the chickens flying in the trees. Otherwise, the chickens would have froze to death.”

Chickens, Kaplan said, became an important commodity for her grandmother, who used the money from selling the eggs to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for the family.

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