The Land of Nod

When I was quite young, there were streetcars, and I loved riding on them with Grandma

Hilda. One morning, after I had stayed overnight at her flat, we took a street car to do some

shopping downtown. While we were waiting for the street car, Grandma told me we would

be passing some beautiful houses in a very fancy neighborhood and see the house of the

man who wrote Winken, Blynken and Nod used to live. We did our shopping at Famous-Barr and Scruggs-Vandervort and Barney, which Grandma Hilda always called "The Grand Leader." We hadn't passed any fancy neighborhoods, so I figured we would pass them on the way home.

When we got off the street car on Cherokee Street, I asked why we didn't pass the beautiful

house where the Blynken man lived. She started to laugh the way she did when she was

particularly tickled. She said she had forgotten she told me that, and really the house was

in a very ugly part of town and a fairly dangerous neighborhood. I didn't quite get it, but

I was glad I made her laugh.

Today, the Eugene Field House has been restored and even though the neighborhood is

still somewhat questionable, people pay to take a tour.