Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Bea Blog -- Part II -- 1914




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 

1914






In 1914, Bea, age 14, writes about taking drives in the family car (aka the “machine”), shopping for clothes, enjoying family parties, flirting with Milton (her future husband). She writes about “bumming around” and feeling “punk”. The family doctor makes house calls. One of Bea’s friends and classmates dies of blood poisoning. The family considers a trip abroad. There is little reference to the war which breaks out that year in Europe.



A note on Bea's father's business: Sollis Cohen was the co-founder and co-owner of the firm Cohen & Lang, located on Broadway between Washington Place and East 4th Street. Under the label Cortley Clothes, the firm manufactured clothing for young men and boys. The firm’s slogan was “Cortley Clothes by Cohen & Lang, Style Authors in the City of New York.” The Clothier and Furnisher, Vol. 96, 1920.









January


Got a lovely set of dark raccoon furs in a wholesale place.


Mother sent up a new dress and it’s a peach.


Marion, Kenneth and Fraulein [the family governess] went to movies [.  .  .] Am still feeling happy and splendid! May the feelings remain!











   Kenneth, Bea's baby brother, born 1908



                                             





We took the rug in the hall up and danced! It was wonderful!



Mendel and his girl here in evening.  Heavens! How homely!





March





We have decided to go to Europe for the summer. Father to take us and stay 4 weeks [.  .  .] Europe imagine!



In school Bea is scolded for passing a note to a classmate that reads:



I am going to Europe on Vaterland Imperator or Auguste Victoria. See me off?



[The Vaterland Imperator and Auguste Victoria were transatlantic ocean liners.]



But shortly afterwards plans have changed



We may not go to Europe ding dong darn!! Here’s hoping anyhow!



And later that month, tragedy strikes one of Bea's friends and classmates



Heard in school that Julia had blood poisoning and we collected money and sent her flowers [. . . Her mother] said Julia had high fever and was unconscious since Saturday [. . . Julia died.] Oh God. I can’t, I can’t believe it.



Julia was buried this morning. It hasn’t dawned on me yet. It seems so absolutely impossible to think of her as dead.





April





We went to Schraffts. Had cheese nut sandwich and sundae (30 cents)!



 Schrafft's was founded as a candy company by William F. Schrafft in Boston, in 1861. Frank Shattuck took over in 1898, expanding the company to include restaurants. By 1915, they had nine stores in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, and one in Syracuse, NY as well as the facility in Boston. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrafft's



Easter and Passover



Bea’s comments on these holidays (and others) reflect her assimilation into American society and her conflicted feelings about Jewish observance. Of course -- like many Jewish-owned businesses of the time -- her father’s clothing company depended on serving the American (i.e. Christian) customer. An ad for Cortley Clothes from 1920 purports to show “What is Correct in Easter Clothing”.  The Clothier and Furnisher, Vol. 96, 1920.



On Easter Sunday



Easter Sunday! Walked with Father and Kenneth on B’way. Met Mother later. Wore my spring suit and good hat.



And after Passover week



Can eat bread and candy now, Thank Moses!





May





Mother interviewed about twenty-five nurses and governesses today. She was awfully tired.



Bea’s family employed a staff during these years --a chauffeur, a governess or nurse for the children, a cook and a waiter or waitress. Bea and Marion became especially close to one of their first governesses, a German (non-Jewish) immigrant named Marie Katherine Coons.  In 1912 Miss Coons left the Cohens to move to Indiana where she married and had several children. She named her first child, born in 1914, Beatrice Louise. Bea then took Louise as her middle name and Marion took Katherine as hers. The sisters remained in touch with Miss Coons until her death in 1927 and they retained their adopted middle names for the rest of their lives.



Dr Wooley vaccinated Father, Mother, Marion and Kenneth. I’m too delicate!



The family doctor made house calls on a regular basis. These vaccinations were most likely for smallpox or pertussis (whooping cough). Bea was generally in good physical health, but the doctor may not have given her a vaccine on this occasion because she was recovering from bronchitis. http://www.chop.edu/service/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-schedule





June





Father home all day. Very worried and nervous on account of business.



Sollis suffered from anxiety attacks and various physical ailments -- such as kidney stones (aka “gravel”) -- throughout his adult life. Later diaries recount his stays at health spas on Long Island and in Battle Creek, Michigan. He died at age 56 in 1929.





Summer 1914





During this summer in Long Branch, New Jersey, Bea refers frequently to Milton, the eldest son of a Jewish family from Manhattan that also spent summers in Long Branch. She describes the ups and downs that come to define their courtship.





August





Had masquerade baby party in evening [.  . .] All dressed up as kids and had a lovely time (at least I did) . . . Milton wore a pink romper.



Long Branch Record was all about my party. Milton put it in.


The Long Branch Record was a local paper that began in 1902. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92059931/



The Masquerade Party
(Bea is seated in front row, second from left with braids; Milton is seated in second row, slightly to right of Bea)



And at the beach one day


I went out far (too far) and Milton came to my rescue by lifting me over a couple [of waves].





September





I’d love to say something here but it’s better remembered.



On the outs with Milton.



The summer ends and Bea's family returns to the city



I detest the City (at present). In the morning I straightened things and bummed around and what can you do? If you want to go out it means dress and look clean and a hat and gloves and in the country all you have to do is sit on the porch and you have it all.



Bea and her family observe the Jewish holidays



September 20-21



Happy New Year.

I went to temple on 5th Ave. and 76th St. It was perfectly beautiful and the music and choir were lovely.



Bea is referring to Temple Beth-El which merged with Temple Emanuel in 1927. http://www.emanuelnyc.org



September 30



Today was Yom Kippur so no school of course.



But Bea's family does not fast or go to temple 



In the morning (had breakfast at half past 9) Father, Marion and I walked to the Colonial [Theatre] for tickets for Saturday.





October





Bea turns 15



Douglas Fairbanks is my matinee idol I think.





December



Watched class basketball. It was punk -- nobody really there.



Felt punk in school.



First known usage of the adjective "punk," meaning inferior or very poor, was in 1896. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/punk



For the Christmas holidays Bea and her family go to Lakewood, New Jersey, a popular winter resort at the time. In these entries, Bea displays her condescension towards more religious Jews. The issue of “keeping kosher” becomes a primary source of contention in her relationship with Milton. Though Bea became a liberal and tolerant adult, she remained uncomfortable with certain aspects of strict Jewish observance.



December 24



Am in Lakewood now – Lakewood Hotel and so disgusted. If it weren’t for Lilian [Bea’s friend] I’d run away. Lakewood Hotel crowd real J ______ (kosher)



December 25



Merry Xmas! Some Xmas! It’s about the quietest I’ve ever spent.



December 31



Had midnight supper with the rest of the bums [.  .  .] Carried on so but had great sport and champagne. Happy New Year! Mother has a sore finger and Fraulein neuralgia.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Bea Blog -- Part I -- Intro and 1913



The Bea Blog – Excerpts from My Grandmother’s Diaries


Bea circa 1909



When my parents and I were cleaning out my grandmother Bea’s apartment after she died in 1985, we came upon an old suitcase filled with 38 volumes of her daily diaries beginning in 1913.

I started reading the diaries in 2004 and finished them in 2011.


Now, on the 100th anniversary of Bea’s first volume, I am starting The Bea Blog where I will excerpt and annotate some of the diary highlights.

My maternal grandmother Beatrice Cohen was born in 1899, the eldest child of upper middle class Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. She grew up on New York’s Upper West Side where she lived in an apartment with her mother, father, sister and brother. She attended the Horace Mann High School for Girls. She married my grandfather Milton Rubin in 1920 (she was 20, he was 21) and gave birth to my aunt in 1923 and my mother in 1926.  In 1952, Milton left Bea for a family friend, a widow who had been Bea’s classmate at Horace Mann. Bea and Milton never divorced but remained separated for the rest of their lives. Her diaries cover the years leading up to their marriage (1913-1920) and the years following their separation (1951-1980).  There is no evidence that she kept any diaries during their years together.


At the time of the first volume, Bea was 13. Her friends were named Helene, Jeannette, Cora, Lillian, Natalie, Libby, Maud and Eleanor. She took piano lessons, went horseback riding, played basketball, went ice skating, took long walks, rode the subway, went to parties and went swimming. Her family had an Overland car and a chauffeur named Gus. She looked forward to spending the summer in Long Branch on the Jersey Shore.


A family portrait circa 1907 -- in back, Sollis (father) and Bea; in front, Marion (sister) and Pauline (mother) 

 Bea (l) and Marion (r) circa 1913

The family car circa 1911


The 1913 volume contains the shortest entries as Bea used only a small date book (2 ½” x 4 ½”). By 1914 she was using a standard bound diary (5” x 6”) in which she filled a page or more a day.


Bea’s 1913 diary



1913



May

Played ragtime. Got my spring riding suit.


Had dandy ride. Got blue ribbon. Had Black Bird Jersey and the pony. Went to Suffragette Parade and then to Plaza in afternoon.


June

Had fine ride [by car] to Far Rockaway [. . .] only two flat tires.


October

On October 18, 1913, Bea turned 14

Had a wonderful day. Had 11 girls for lunch and 12 to Colonial in afternoon. Got over 20 gifts. I had a very happy day.


And later that month

Went to dentist and he put my brace in. Feels very uncomfortable at present.



November

On Election Day

Election Day! Mitchell elected.


[At thirty-five years old, John Purroy Mitchel was the second youngest person ever to be elected Mayor of New York City; he was nicknamed the"Boy Mayor." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/nyregion/unraveling-a-mystery-new-york-citys-youngest-mayor.html?_r=0 ]


December

On New Year’s Eve

Mother had New Year’s card party. Dressed up swell with my white dress.