Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The Bea Blog -- Part III -- 1915



The Bea Blog consists of excerpts from the diaries my grandmother Bea Cohen (1899-1985) kept for 38 years, starting in 1913. For more background, see Part I -- Intro and 1913 (under Blog Archive).
 
The Bea Blog – Excerpts from My Grandmother’s Diaries




Part III




1915

(with apologies for imperfections in graphic design) 


In this year’s diary Bea, 15, writes of war and women’s suffrage. Her father Sollis seeks help for his anxiety and her mother Pauline continues to manage the household. Milton woos Bea while Bea flirts with Milton’s younger brother Harold.

What a star-struck teen pasted inside her diary’s covers in 1915: photos of Hollywood heartthrobs Douglas Fairbanks and Earle Williams.
Douglas Fairbanks




Earle Williams


































January

January 6


Subway accident at 53rd St -- many people injured.


One died and more than 200 were injured in this electrical fire which trapped 2,500 passengers underground for hours. See “Trouble under foot: Stunning black and white photographs capture the day exhausted firefighters battled New York subway blaze in 1915,” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107888/The-day-exhausted-firefighters-battled-New-York-subway-blaze-1915.html#ixzz2Xd0uMs49


Bea has a role in her school’s presentation of The Rivals and tries her hand at some dramatic writing


‘Tis late and I hath studied much (exit laughing rapidly)


January 31


There was an extra out and [. . .] Marion and Fraulein went out and bought it. Mr. Auerbach murdered his wife, two daughters, Beatrice and Daisy, and himself. His son Lester he left because his door was locked. It is awful and seems impossible.


“If a major story (such as the death of a President or a declaration of war) broke after the day's deadline, a newspaper might choose to print an ‘Extra’ edition on top of their regular edition. Sometimes they were short and carried only the story itself, but more often they were identical to the earlier main edition with just the first few pages replaced.” http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt











“Silent Gun Kills a Family of Four,” Feb. 1, 1915, http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C0DE4DF1E3FE633A25752C0A9649C946496D6CF (in the New York Times report, likely not the extra Bea read, the son’s door was unlocked but he was spared nonetheless)






February




February 12


Lincoln’s birthday but we had school anyway. In chapel, Major George Putnam a friend of Lincoln’s spoke to us about him. Nice long speech.


In Bea’s school (Horace Mann High School for Girls) chapel was the equivalent of assembly hall. While Major George Haven Putnam (1844-1930) was not Lincoln’s contemporary, as a young man he had heard Lincoln speak and he was the author of a well-known biography of him (1909). He also co-founded the publishing house G.P. Putnam’s Sons. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0C14FD3F5C15738DDDAD0894DA415B898CF1D3




March




War is on everyone’s mind and Bea writes that her school fair raised $860 for “war sufferers here and abroad”


Bea also attends lectures about the impact of war


Went with mother to Carnegie Hall and heard Jane Addams speak on “War and Social Service” and Dr Lovejoy on “War on Children”


For a number of years the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue held its services at Carnegie Hall and hosted lectures there. http://www.swfs.org/welcome/history.

Jane Addams was the famous settlement worker and founder of Hull House in Chicago. “Social Service Hurt By War’s Brutality, Jane Addams . . . Tells Free Synagogue Audience We Can Teach Nationalities to Dwell in Harmony,” March 8, 1915, New York Times http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20616FC395B17738DDDA10894DB405B858DF1D3

 Owen R. Lovejoy was the General Secretary of the National Child Labor Committee, the group that pioneered child labor reform starting in 1904.


Bea and her girlfriend experiment with kissing


Libbye and I are having great kissing times. I’m the husband and she the wife and I’m practicing making love. It’s nice to do it to Lib because her cheeks are like velvet. She’s so dear!


And Bea is back in love with Milton (at least for the time being)


I love Milton so, it’s a shame!


On the domestic front


We have no cook and no waitress. Found that Sevilla [the cook] was frightfully false and deceiving. Had a nice supper nevertheless – Mother’s still a good cook. Wish I could be as good a housekeeper as Mother but I’m a regular schlemiel.

 

Growing up in a family with parents who spoke Yiddish (though probably not often in front of their American-born children), Bea knew some Yiddish and occasionally uses Yiddish words and phrases in her diary (e.g. “schmoozed,’ “Gewalt,” etc.).  A “schlemiel” is an “unlucky bungler” (first known usage in English, 1892), Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.


 


April


 


Father doesn’t look well – looks all tired out and he’s so worried it’s a pity but what can I do? [. . .] Wish the d _____ war was over if that’s the cause.


Mother has tonsolitis [sic] and a trained nurse. Her throat is very sore and we aren’t supposed to go in her room but -- Everybody under the sun called up. Mrs. Goldstein, Friedel, Mrs. Wolff, Mrs. Asinof, Mrs. Goldfield, Mrs. Marqusee, etc. Walked to school and felt fine and devilish. Chewed gum und [sic] swallowed it in math.


April 15


Monument to the Strauses on 106 St. unveiled today.


Bea and her family lived at 324 West 100th Street (between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue), not far from Straus Park and the Straus monument commemorating Isidor and Ida Straus, who died aboard the Titanic on April 15, 1912. In 1912, the City named this small park after the Strauses, who had lived in a house on Broadway near 105th Street. In 1915, three years to the day after the Titanic sank, the Straus monument was dedicated. http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/strauspark/monuments/1510; also, http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/09/isidor-and-ida-straus-memorial-memory.html


April 18


Saw Charlie Chaplin in “The Tramp.” He’s a nut.


The Tramp opened on April 12, 1915. www.imdb.com


April 23


Daddy isn’t home. He’s at Mac Levy’s place in Babylon, Long Island. It’s a sort of gymnasium place and he expects it to deaden his nerves. Ha!





A 1915 advertisement for The Mac Levy Health Farm (from Medical Review of Reviews - Volume 21 - Page xiv -Google Books Result ) The text reads: Doctor! The Place You Want to Know About THE MAC LEVY HEALTH FARM Here male neurasthenics and those who have shot their mental and physical bolt are taken and by proper gymnasium exercise and outdoor work scientifically directed, combined with baths, massage and plenty of good, wholesome and nourishing food, brought back to vigorous manhood. Alcoholics and morphine habituates who have had the craving for the drug removed, require physical up-building to withstand the temptation to fall back and to prepare them for life's fight. Many physicians are sending their cases to me for physical rejuvenation. Professional references given and cases from the Medical Profession courteously solicited. Send for circular. MAC LEVY Health Farm Babylon, L. I. Tel.- Babylon 185, Gymnasium 352 4th Ave., N. Y. City



Bea is about to finish her junior year of high school and looks ahead to graduation and beyond.


Felt regretful today that I’m not going to college. Sometimes I have a feeling that I want to go, other times I’m glad I don’t have to. But goodness knows what I’m going to do when I graduate. I’ve got to go someplace by where? Teachers College and Columbia I’m not crazy about so where?



May




May 1


Bea makes a rare reference to her brother Milton, born 1905, who died in 1907 at the age of two. I do not know how Milton died and, aside from seeing his grave when I visit the Cohen family mausoleum, I don’t recall ever hearing much about him or how his death affected the family. When Bea died, my parents discovered among her belongings a large commemorative vase given to the Cohens in memory of Milton by his doctors.


Eight years ago to-day Milton was buried.


May 5


Saw Charlie Chaplin “In the Park” [. . .] and Blanche Sweet in “The Escape.” It was marvelous beyond a doubt and a little (?) shocking.


One review of the time described the movie “The Escape” as “a sensational drama dealing with eugenics . . . a sermon as well as a thrilling and romantic drama.” (The Spokane Chronicle, September 2, 1916)


May 8


Lots of warships here and lit up at present [. . .] Lusitania was torpedoed yesterday and sunk by German submarine. Many drowned.


On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, a British ocean liner, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. 1,195 of the 1,959 passengers died. http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html


Later that month, some more domestic drama


Fraulein was awfully sick and began to rave and do all sorts of crazy things. They found her on the floor and she really didn’t know what she was saying or doing .


And on May 30 Sollis returns home, after more than a month away


Father came back from Babylon today. Mother was so pleasant all day and this evening everyone was so agreeable and gentle. They all ought to wear sandpaper collars. Why? Because it’s good for roughnecks. Fraulein was better today and quiet.



June




More on the “help”


All the help gone. Fraulein went this morning and the couple left too (Thank God) [. . .] All new help came today. The couple is fine and maid is all right. Here’s hoping!


Despite his rest at Mac Levy’s, Sollis remains worried about business


Father may go out of business. He doesn’t know what to do [. . .] Father is almost a wreck. The Lang boys [his partners] are here now and they are having a cat and dog conference.


Bea keeps up with movies and shows


We went to 42nd St thinking of seeing The Birth of a Nation but there was such a line we didn’t try but went to see Twin Beds instead [. . .] To-day was the 357th performance of Twin Beds.


The movie “The Birth of a Nation,” directed by D.W. Griffith, opened on March 3, 1915. “Twin Beds,” also known as “Twin Beds: a Farce in Three Acts,” was a popular stage comedy (later made into a movie in 1920). www.imdb.com


And there are tensions at home as Bea’s family prepares to go to Long Branch for the summer


I’m so mad. Had pretty argument at the table about my clothes and father says I spend too much on shoes! Lord! If he could only get down to facts and see if I have anything I don’t need. They are so unreasonable and mother’s head can be turned like water.



Summer



In Long Branch, the family rents a house called The Homestead


We’re in the country hurray! [. . . ] Our home is a wonder! The rooms are so large and comfy and the billiard room and grounds!


And they hire a car and driver for the summer too


Believe me it’s some beaut! Landalet [sic] dark blue, 1915, seven passenger, 48 horse power what more can a feller want?


Our car is one peach and Raymond [the chauffeur] is a scream!


“A landaulet or landaulette is a car body style similar to a limousine, but with the passenger section covered by a convertible top. It was based on a carriage of similar style that was a cut-down (coupĂ©) version of a landau.”  http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Landaulet




July




[The Axelrods’] chauffeur is ideally handsome. I could go wild over his looks. God! If he is inside like outside, he is ideal.


Father came home very late on account of some meeting connected with the strike.


It was a time of many strikes in the textile and other industries.


During this summer, Bea starts driving “the machine” herself. She goes out with a number of boys, not only Milton, and hosts parties of her friends, including “Soph, Lib, Charlotte, Irving, Bert, Harold, Dutch, Henry, Jerry, Melville, Arthur, Alton and Teddy” (August 6)


Around this time Bea also develops a liking for Milton’s younger brother, Harold, and Bea’s sister Marion seems to be vying for Harold’s affections as well (and sometimes for Milton’s) so it is a romantically complicated summer for both Cohen girls.




August




August 14


In Asbury a large hotel was on fire and we watched it for quite a while.

 

“Asbury Park had many hotel fires. In this one, the Hotel Carleton burned in 1915. It was rebuilt the following year, only to burn once again in the great fire of 1917.”  Joseph G. Bilby and Harry F. Ziegler, Asbury Park: A Brief History (2008), p. 61 - Google Books Result



August 27


Train smashed a machine last night and we saw the remains. Several people killed at Deal.


August 31


On a trip back to the city, Bea and some girlfriends have lunch with their friend and classmate Jeannette at Lorber’s, a popular restaurant owned by Jeannette’s father.


I had olives, radishes, melon, salmon salad, chicken croquettes with green peas and potatoes, corn, ice cream and cake and lemonade. It took us 2 hours to finish.

A  postcard of Lorber’s. http://www.cardcow.com/179722/lorbers-restaurant-1418-1420-broadway-new-york/





September



The family is still in Long Branch


At times I think Harold likes Marion and at times I don’t. I wonder! I’d love to know what he thinks of me and in what regard he holds me. He was very funny tonight and it adds to his virtues that he can be funny. His teeth are so perfect and make his smile so – shall we say beautiful? His skin is as clear as a girl’s and never yet has he needed or had a shave. His height and build are just as I like and etc etc. (On Oct. 2, she goes back to this entry and writes: Bea, you’re nutty).


Milton is one fine fellow and I admire him greatly [. . .] I know I’ll miss Harold a lot. If I kiss him someday soon I won’t be surprised. He is so tantalizingly tempting, how can I resist?


Marion gets me mad. Wait til we get to the city, I’ll show her her place.


September 20


Marion, Kenneth and Jack went for a ride in Woolley’s racer and had a smash-up. The car skidded, the tire blew out and the racer turned completely over. Marion hurt her arm and went to see Dr. Woolley about it but Kenneth and Jack got away with it – not a scratch. I never heard of a narrower escape in my life. The Long Branch Record had an account of the accident on the 1st page. More excitement – yesterday Mother discovered that Agnes [the maid] stole a number of things, so she left.


Back in the city the school year begins


Since Marion’s accident, our telephone is busy constantly.

Father is in an awfully nervous condition and may go out of business.




October




Father I think is going to Babylon to Mac Levy’s for a week or two or more – until he is entirely himself again.


This morning the trainer from Mac Levy’s was here and he and Father exercised on the roof. I wrote checks for Mother.


Mother was worrying to-night and crying. Poor thing [. . .] Marion is sleeping with Mother and Kenneth with me.


But later that month Bea goes to visit Sollis at Mac Levy’s


I punched the bag a while and sawed wood while Father chopped trees and spent a very healthy day.


Keeping track of politics and gossip


President Wilson has announced his engagement to Mrs. Norman Galt and they are going to be married in December. Ain’t that romantic?


Bea is about to turn 16


Bert G. here [. . .] We were talking about Dame Rumor and he told me that this summer I was supposed to be engaged [ . . .] Milton was supposed to have proposed to me and I was supposed to say I’d wait[. . . ] Isn’t that the most amusing thing I ever heard? Is so silly.


Tomorrow I’ll be “sweet sixteen and never been kissed” [. . .] Harold is just as adorable as ever, and, if he were only older!


As the women’s suffrage amendment to the New York State constitution comes up for a vote, Bea reveals that she is against suffrage. (Though by 1917, when women win the right to vote, Bea’s mind has changed and in later life she becomes an active member of the Lexington Democratic Club in New York City.)


Mrs Laidlaw spoke to us in chapel. She is chairman of some suffrage committee [. . .] She’s a good-looking woman but her speech was not convincing (to me). I’m still an “anti.”



Harriet Burton Laidlaw (1873-1949) was a women’s suffrage leader in New York State.  Her life was devoted to women’s rights and public service. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00682





November




And on November 3, the day after the state constitutional amendment was defeated


Yesterday suffrage was defeated by a large majority. Yea! Hurrah!


Sollis remains troubled and Bea sees herself in him


Marion must be a wonder. She gets peachy marks in all subjects and rarely studies and she never worries! I worry, worry, worry. I am surely Father’s daughter.


Father simply has to change his nature but it’s easier said than done. And I take after him. Help me!


And Sollis, in further pursuit of a “cure,” tries a new religion


Father’s taking up Christian Science. Hope it does him good!


 “Like most non-Jews who joined Christian Science, Jews often found themselves initially attracted to it because of its promise of health, peace, and comfort.” Ellen Umansky, From Christian Science to Jewish Science: Spiritual Healing and American Jews (2004), quoted in http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2013/2013-19.pdf


But then decides to try another health farm


Father is going to Battle Creek tomorrow.



1915 ad for The Battle Creek Sanitarium, Battle Creek Michigan (http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Sanitarium-Sports-Health-Resort/dp/B005DGYOHQ).  The text reads: REST TWO WEEKS IN ONE A week or two of health building at Battle Creek is worth many weeks of formal amusement at the so-called Summer Resort. To the jaded business man, to the woman grown weary of social demands, to all who seek refreshing rest and diversion, Battle Creek is the ideal vacation retreat. Beautifully illustrated “VACATION BOOK” free on request. Write for it today.

The Kellogg brothers of cereal fame took over the Western Health Reform Institute in the 1870s and later named it The Battle Creek Sanitarium. John Kellogg took credit for inventing a new word to describe the resort – using “sanitarium” instead of “sanitorium.” “He came up with the word ‘sanitarium’ to reflect his idea of a sanitary retreat for health restoration and training . . . rather than ‘sanitorium,’ which meant a hospital for invalids or for treatment of tuberculosis.” http://michpics.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/phototherapy-department-at-the-battle-creek-sanitarium/



After Thanksgiving


School after a vacation seems like going to a funeral after a wedding.




December




As the holidays approach, Bea receives flowers from Milton (studying textile engineering in Philadelphia) and Sollis sends gifts from Battle Creek


Today Marion, Ken and I each got a check of $100 from Father which includes birthday money and Xmas money. I was astounded. It was too lovely of Father to do it absolutely.


December 22


Yesterday there was a great mass meeting in Carnegie Hall to raise funds for the war suffering Jews. A million dollars was raised -- about.


The New York Times described this event as “the great meeting in Carnegie Hall on December 21, 1915, when persons in the audience spontaneously contributed more than $700,000 in money, jewelry and pledges deposited in baskets and thrown upon the stage in one of the greatest responses to an appeal ever recorded.” The New York Times, December 17, 1916.


And on New Year’s Eve


Let’s hope for the best in 1916!