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).
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.
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| Douglas Fairbanks |
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| 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
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“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)
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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!
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| 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 (coupé)
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.
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| 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.”
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| 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.
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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/
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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!
