Sepia Saturday - Mystery Celebration - page 33

I recently purchased another of the series of Images of America books by Arcadia Publishing. Today's Sepia Saturday picture is taken from Detroit's Polonia, by Cecile Wendt Jensen, a pictorial look at the old Polish neighborhoods of Detroit, Michigan.

The picture is a bit of a of a mystery: The groom is named Edmund Grocholski. There is at least one Edmund Grocholski in my paternal family tree, and Detroit Grocholski's are pretty much all related to each other. Edmund is the son of my great uncle Ignatz, and he would have been about 21 - 23 years old when this picture was taken.

The groom may be standing just to the right of the bride. His pose is certainly that of a groom. If that is the case, he appears to be in his late 30's and would not be the distant cousin Edmond in my family tree.

I thought perhaps the man seated just to the left of the priest might be the groom and has seated himself next to his mother for the shot. He certainly (and several others) looks very much like a Grocholski.

And then there's the bride. Does she look to be in her early twenties? It appears she may be older - close to thirty, perhaps? What do you think? Her father is the fellow with the white beard seated among the women to her left.

There is one person in the picture who said to me "Yes this IS your family!" That is my great Grandmother, Rosalia Grocholski, seated third from the left of the priest! She is wearing the dark dress. What a wonderful surprise it was to see her smiling back at me when I turned to page 33.

I have written to the author to see if she can shed some light on who is who in this beautiful old photo. In the meantime I am hoping that the good looking - and "Grocholski" looking gentleman seated next to Rosalia is my great Grandfather, Stanley (Stanislaus). It would be nice to know what he looked like!

The pretty plant from whence we got our name, Grocholski

Click here for more Sepia Saturday surprises

Postcard Friendship Friday - Why Am I Here?

It's Postcard Friendship Friday! Today's postcard shows Ellis Island and was written January 21, 1908 to inform a friend of a safe arrival. There are as many stories of immigration as there are immigrants. I wondered what my owned family's stories were. They did not pass through Ellis Island. It was not yet built. Three generations ago, the parents of my grandparents came as young children. They came from Poland on the heels of the Civil War and settled in the Polish neighborhoods of Detroit.

When we think of Poland we think of...well Poland. However, since the abdication of the last Polish king in the 1700's, the land has been partitioned like a pie, invaded, swiped and governed by other countries. The story is told by what my grandparents wrote on the census documents, death certificates, WWI Draft documents and Naturalization papers: German Poland, Prussian Poland, Russian Poland, Polish Russia, Polish Germany, Prussia, Russia, and Germany. Some said they were from Poland. Good for them. That shows the Polish spirit that survived over 200 years of living in an ever changing section of what often looked like a pie chart.

We watched the movie Letters From Iwo Jima last night. The story, a rather common one, told by one of the characters is similar to what happened in Poland. The commanding officer of the small Japanese army, ordered to keep the island from the Americans, reminded a private that he was a soldier. The young man said: I am not a soldier. I am just a lowly baker. My wife and I owned a nice bakery where we worked hard and made sweet buns to sell. The elite army came and they just took the buns. When we ran out of sugar we made bread. They took the bread. Then we made sandwiches and they took those. When those were gone they took all of the metal utensils to make guns and planes and we had nothing to bake bread in. We just had each other, but now they have taken me and my wife is all alone.

This was the same story of the wave of Polish immigrants that came with my forebears. They came with education, trades, and pride in their country. Some perhaps planned to return one day. The Prussians, Germans and Russians took all but their hope, so they came to the land that others described as a place where they could find a job and where they were allowed to think for themselves, even to speak their own language among themselves and there would be enough sausages for everyone.

So that's why I am here.

Stop by and see Beth at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy for more Postcard Friendship Friday Links.

Sepia Saturday - Photoshop 1917

Are you really there?

Today's sepia shot is an interesting picture from the Conciatu family album! The Mister's great grandparents, Florean and Emelia are seated. Their son, Michael is standing directly behind Florean. Michael's wife, also named Emelia, is standing directly to the left of Florean. I have not yet dated the photo, nor have I identified anyone else in the picture. Not yet. I'm working on it. Based on the dress and the youthful look of Michael I think 1917 is a fair guess.

This picture was obviously photoshopped. Looking to the right of Michael you will see a man in Edwardian dress with a cut and paste line around him. My thought - he was no longer alive when the photo was made so it is appropriate, I guess, that the cut-out line is coincidentally shaped just like a coffin. Also, the background and the floor around the people to the far left does not fit the background of the rest of the picture. I have the picture of the couple in the same exact pose that was used for this family photo add-on.

I imagine that this type of collage picture was common at the time. Once Uncle Teddy and Aunt Lydia moved to America the only way to get families together for a photo op was by cut and paste. Not to mention Uncle poor Eddy who passed on a few years back.

Speaking of America, it is Patriot's Day - a day to celebrate life and to pause to remember 9/11/2001.

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Postcard Friendship Friday - And Sew it Began

Birthplace of Elias Howe, Spencer MA

Postmark March 9 1908, Athol MA

Birthplace Of Elias Howe, Spencer MA

Postmark November 27, 1908

Elias Howe 1819-1867

Today in History marks the invention of Elias Howe's lock stitch sewing machine. Elias, who came from an old and very inventive New England family, received his patent on September 10, 1846. His was not the first sewing machine, but it gave the users locked stitches and allowed the material to enter the stitching area vertically rather than horizontally.

The Elias Howe Sewing Machine 9/10/1846

Elias Howe entered Spencer, MA at birth in 1819

The first postcard of Howe's birthplace was mailed from Athol, MA in 1908. The postcard above shows a bird's eye view of Athol and was also dated 1908!

The card was mailed to Woodsville, NH. The postcard above shows a bird's eye view of Woodsville dated 1908 as well!

Manufactured Shirtwaists - 1906

The sewing machine gave rise to economically priced, mass produced clothing. The postcard writers and receivers most likely wore mass produced shirtwaists similar to those shown in this picture dated 1906. The working class wore shirtwaists because they were affordable, while the upper class and suffragettes wore them because because they were stylish and comfortable and were a sign of of freedom from confining dresses and suits.

Sweatshop circa 1906

Sweatshops were not unique to the invention of the sewing machine. They had already existed in some form for hundreds of years. Like all sweatshops the conditions were deplorable: long hours, poor pay, unsafe, dirty and dusty conditions, and grueling, repetitious work. Many girls started working on their 14th birthday - this, after laws were enacted to keep children as young as 5 and 6 in school and out of the workplace. The tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire signaled the end of this slave type labor. Unions formed and oversaw working conditions, pay increases and safety issues.

Is There a Pattern Here?

Simplicity Pattern 5343 - 1963

Tissue paper patterns started showing up on the market during the depression so women who could afford to buy cloth could sew stylish clothing at home. Large families and those who actually enjoyed sewing continued to do so until well into the 70's. Most homes had a sewing room or at least a sewing corner. Sewing was taught in schools. Women's lib brought an end to the popularity and the necessity of home sewing - but, thankfully, not for those artistic souls who still create aprons for their granddaughters and quilts like their great grandmothers made. There are those who just enjoy the feel of fabric, love the sound of the interlocking thread needle and appreciate the satisfaction of basting and hemming colorful homemade beauty.

Most of my growing up clothes were homemade: matching mother and daughter skirts, First Communion dress and my Senior Prom and Graduation gowns.

I sewed some of my own clothing for my first job - mostly using patterns of 2 pieces or less, no zippers, no pockets and if I could have gotten away with no hem I would have done that too. Facing and darts were my nemesis. I made two skirts with the zipper on the wrong side. Whatever. I made a dress in HomeEc and outgrew it before it was even finished.

And sew it began and sew it continues.

Visit Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy for more Postcard Friendship Friday fun!

Sepia Saturday - A Communion of Communions

Paternal Grandmother - Clara Lipke c. 1897

Mother -Delphine LaKoske c. 1929

Cynthia Grocholski 1953

There are occasions for formal portraits, and First Communion was one of them. Three mothers shopped for just the right summer white material and veiling, spent hours cutting, sewing, getting a 7 year old to stand still long enough to pin the hem. Prayers were practiced, hair curled. stiff dresses zipped and buttoned. After the service, a trip to the photographer and a stiff pose with few clues to a personality that makes succeeding generations study the details with great care. We try to pry the thoughts and wishes, optimism and concerns from the faces and the pose.

Clara lost her father about 3 years before her picture was taken. Delphine's family was about to step into the throes of the Great Depression. Cynthia was enjoying her childhood in a neighborhood filled with growing post war families , mom's who wore aprons in the kitchen, dad's who took the train to work, walked home from the station at 5:30 each day to be greeted by their children and escorted home.

It's Sepia Saturday! -Click HERE for more peeks into the past

Sepia Saturdays: Grandpa Was Right!

Grandpa always said "Grandma was the most beautiful woman in the world."

Turns out he was right.

John Ignatius Grocholski and Clara M Lipke c. 1910

I did not know these beautiful pictures of my grandparents, existed until their youngest daughter, Mary, a beauty in her own right, shared them with me in July of this year. I had only known Grandpa John and Grandma Clara from more contemporary pictures, and as I remembered them in life.

Clara's Edwardian gown, though high necked and long sleeved, looks comfortable, cool and crisp to the touch. I love the material, the textures, the brightness, the tucks and lace. The beautiful roses, probably picked from the garden, look fresh and scented as roses once were.

She looks serene and content with her choice while grandpa seems to barely contain his pride and happiness with his new bride. Grandpa once shared the story of his wedding day with me. A Polish band and his groomsmen met at his house. The lively procession picked up attendees and passers by along the way as they paraded to young Clara's home. From there, John escorted Clara, her family and bridesmaids to the church. Later, and after these photos were taken, they celebrated for three days in fine Polish tradition.

They raised seven children with love and laughter through two wars and the Great Depression. Their home was the gathering place for a multitude of friends and a large family.

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Joe, Margaret, Mary and John (November, 1942).

The picture above shows four of their seven children. (L-R) Joe, my father, will be married the following October to my mother, Delphine. He tried to join the service, but all four branches turned him down because of his eyesight. John is about to be married, will join Marines and come home safely after serving in the South Seas and then in Germany during the liberation of the concentration camps. Mary and Margaret have both taken war time jobs. Between the four of them they will have 14 children (seven of which include me and my siblings). The oldest son, George, is not in this picture - perhaps he is the one taking the picture. Two tiny daughters with blonde curly hair, Genevieve and Dorothy, died of encephalitis when they were toddlers. Aunt Margaret still cried when she spoke of them 50 years later.

Everyone is gone now, except Aunt Mary who at age 86 is still beautiful and still has her often used youthful laugh.

Stop by our host, Alan Burnett's Sepia Saturday Blog for more family photo fun.

The Affects of Peek-a-boo on Today's Society

Peek-a-boo! It is I, the absented blogger. Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

Posted October 10, 1911. Message: Dear Hazel, how is everything in Alpine? Wish the picture on the other side was W.S. and (?). Will write you a letter tomorrow. Answer soon. Zack

The somewhat cryptic message about W.S. and (?) leads me to believe that Miss Pendorf is not Zack's peek-a-boo paramour. I am sorely disappointed. However, I also understand that this racy innuendo of a card would not get past Mother Pendorf's hand. She will be mortified that Postman Pete has probably read the card. No-last-name-Zack will be banned from dinner table conversation and all house parties forthwith.

The Effects of Peek-a-boo on Society

It has long been known that playing peek-a-boo has an understated importance in the cognitive development of babies. Yes it does. This simple game teaches the concept of object permanence. Object permanence is the understanding that even if an object cannot be seen, heard, or touched, it still exists.



Piggy Peekaboo - Peekaboo in its sweetest form

Thanks to Fisher-Price, Disney and the trucking industry, the concept of object permanence is clouded by the false notion that everything is always there unless it has been recalled. Example: There are no seasonal fruits. No need to wistfully look forward to spring rhubarb, summer cantaloupe or winter pomegranates. The trucking industry brings us Chinese cherries in January, Batswanian tangerines in July and Norwegian sardines any time that, somehow, a can happens to be sold off the shelf. On the other hand, if there is no rhubarb, cantaloupe or sardines on the grocery shelf one tends to believe they do not exist.

Children who have not been instilled with the concept of object permanence grow to adulthood without a clue that although some things may not be right in front of their face, that does not mean it doesn't exist.

A simple example of this is April 15th. Every single year. Adults everywhere are caught completely off guard and unawares. Every single year. They end up in long lines at the Airport Post Office to postmark their taxes by midnight. Had these adults received ample peek-a-boo time as infants it might have occurred to them that..oh, I don't know....just because their month-at-a-time calendar view says it is March doesn't mean that April does not exist.

An Example of Object Permanence

Examples of Adults who suffer from lack of peek-a-boo and the permanent object of their downfall:

Person / Permanent Object Overlooked
Saddam Hussein / US Armed Forces
Lindsey Lohan / Common Sense
Texting Driver/ Mack Truck
Kim Jong-il / Effects of Toni Home Permanents
Watergate Participants / Martha "Mouth of the South" Mitchell
John Wilkes Booth / Bunting Safety Hazard
Alolph Hitler / The Rest of the World
Marie Antoinette/Cake Ingredients
Cain/God
Roger Chillingworth/ The Devil
Tiger Woods/Unlimited Texting Upgrade

People Who Play Peek-a-boo For a Living

The effects of the lack of peek-a-boo are seen daily in criminal activities. The average criminal has no concept of the following permanent objects: security cameras, concerned citizens, scorned women, GPS, CSI SWAT FBI, Mom.

After committing the crime the criminal falsely believes, that if hidden, he does not exist. He/she finds the mistruth in this paradigm when S.W.A.T stops by to play the adult form of peek-a-boo: POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEADS!

Apprehended Adult Playing Late Stage Peek-a-boo

The criminal, handcuffed and on his way to the hoosegow, finally understands the rules of the game (except in the case of the smirking Bernie Madoff)and invariably attempts to play peek-a-boo with the press and a mob of infuriated bystanders by hiding her eyes. Very effective.

Example of Object Permanence oft overlooked by society as a whole

Do your part. Play peek-a-boo with your babes! Play peek-a-boo with the cute baby in the grocery store and the one looking over Mom's shoulder in church.

Peekaboo to you!

Thank you to several of my dear bloggie friends who have inquired as to my apparent permanent lack of existence. Just the usual attention span deficit.

For more Postcard Friendship Friday Fun stop by and see Beth at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy