Letters from back east
2018 Intro
“Ours was a vaudevillian family – but in the end our grandfathers and their siblings were engineers, chiropractors, teachers, handymen, family people, doing whatever needed doing to make a good life for themselves and their loved ones.�
1920/29
Al’s Ambition
Nov. 24, 1923 PIECES I’ve played on my VIOLIN
“Board of Examiners, N.Y. Gentlemen: Will you kindly inform me whether Pratt Institute’s Normal Art Course (I believe it is a three yrs. course) makes one eligible for a high-scool drawing teacher?”
“Al, how is the Violin Playing and the Water Color coming along (same old Stuff) as I expect to see some great stuff when we meet. I suppose you were right in your glory up there among the wide open spaces. I have been swinging the brush quite a lot this last while and managed to get one in at the Pennsylvania Academy show in Philadelphia so I feel a little easier. Are you going to stay up there all winter.”
“I hope that it is only the leaves that are distracting your attention and not something else. I know your weakness.”
Al’s drawings at Pratt, 1928
1926 Barney writing to gus edwards, star maker
“In reply to your letter, you will be notified the next time auditions are held.”
“I am writing you for the purpose of arranging for an audition with a view towards your placing me in some vaudeville engagement that may prove mutually profitable. “My specialty is Scotch comedy singing with impersonations of Harry Lauder and the rendition of Scotch songs in the Scotch manner, which has proven quite entertaining.”
Barnet
1929 Dora wriitng to al
“Pearl was here Sat. and when I told her you were up on a farm she felt neglected at your not having informed or written her.�
dora
“This past Sunday Barney Broadcasted over station W.M.C.A. – Sam called him up Sat. eve. + asked him to come down to the station. He didn’t want to because he had a bad cough but he did anyway + gee you ought to hear him.”
“Barney sang ‘When I Was 21’ + ‘Wee House Mong the Heather’. He is engaged to sing again this Sat. eve. from 7:30 to 8.”
Lawrence and Harold
Al’s drawing, perhaps of Lawrence
“I want to go to the island at Lake George as Molly and George are going there. Mom would like us all to go near Saratoga so she could have the benefit of the baths and waters. So we can not reach a decision. “Mom suggested that instead I might do better to spend my vacation at Held’s. What do you think of the proposition? What facilities are there for recreation? Is there a decent lawn where we could play tennis? And how about bathing and swimming? You mentioned a brook. How far is it from Held’s? Any rowing? What kind of food do they serve? Is it the regular meat diet that Bogdanfy had?”
1929 Al on the farm
Henry + Sadie
Alfred
Dot writing to Al: “We would like to know more about the place + people, and how you like it out there. Did you inquire about work for Hatch? If Mr. Held or some farmer near you needs a farm hand to do light work, Mom would like Hatch to go to the country + work for his board.�
1930 or ‘31, Cyrus Moore’s farm in upstate New York
1929 Al’s women
“Pearl was supposed to come too but she didn’t show up. I spoke to her on Friday. It was her 19th birthday. She said she was hoping to hear from you all the time you’d been away and she said she won’t speak to you ‘cause you didn’t write. I told her that you very seldom write to us and that you are not very fond of writing, etc. I guess she knows that. But however, she[‘ll] still forgive you, if you drop her a card. You ought to, Al.”
“A moment with love With unanswered love Oh love, if you’re loving and kind Why do you haunt me so Why do you taunt me so Why do you ____ me I tramp thru the woods In search of peace For solace in stones and trees They lull me to sleep Then waking, I find”
1930 One quarter of a century old this day
Today is your birthday the 29th of Jan. One fourth of a century old. Don’t brood over the fact. We wish you well and hope you’ll be with us on your next birthday. Lovingly, Dora
Too bad you can’t get back Thursday for my graduation. – Harold Best wishes from the Brooklyn Speak-O-Phone Studios. Personal Phonograph Records.
– Barnet Friedland (Prop.)
Ed With the stage name ‘Edward England’, Ed starred in Hamlet
1932 A “Porch cooling”
1933 The Macy’s Christmas menagerie and ArchIE or Y?
“I think December ninth would be better than December second, because the Macy carpenters are as yet hard at work constructing that infernal MM shaped maze that you had to slither thru last year, so that Santa could give you the bulbs – and I want to give them plenty of time for it, because I imagine Miss Doris would certainly not wish to miss that.”
On back: “8 mos. old, 16th attempt”
Eve
“Yes thanks, I should like to read “archie” or y? – but vee vett kumen dee katz ibern vasser [a Yiddish expression meaning ‘How is the cat going to cross the water?’ – a seemingly unknowable thing]? I have quite a personal interest in archy, because Don Marquis worked at the – I believe – Evening Sun – at the time Eddie was there – Don Marquis was at the time a big fat sloppy drunken good-for-nothing – (if anyone sees this I may be sued for libel) – with a very, very exceptionally keen mind.”
1933 homecomings
“Master Lawrence came strolling in at 1:00 am Friday morning, took a nap, and astonished us by saying Hello in the form of a nice hearty breakfast, which he had ready when we got up, and the first I knew of his homecoming, was when I poked my nose in to say goodbye, and there was Lawrence, with a beaming smile, and fruit all washed and even cocoa poured. “The Friedland family is so big that no matter how many leave, there are still plenty left.”
“Riddle
Question – What sleep is sounder than the sleep of the dead? Answer – Eve’s, because Al’s motorcycle is enough to awaken the dead, but – etc, etc.”
1936/38
Money Problems
“Gentlemen: Will you kindly advise this department what information you have relative to the above named corporation?”
“Gentlemen: In answer to your letter of December 7, 1936, I wish to state that I resigned from the Samro Building Contractors,Inc. some time ago, and as far as I know,the said Corporation has been inactive since my resignation.”
“Considering the technical work I do, and the photographic division I take care of – which includes the taking and making of photographs, down to the processed point, and the completed lantern slide – and the many other duties I perform, I think you will agree that $100.00 per month would be a more just remuneration for as conscientious and capable a technician as you have found me to be.”
1939/41
Al and Fanny’s decline
“Hello Al, Here we’re sending just a line To tell you, we’re all feeling fine And now another word or two To say we hope you’re O.K. too! Drink sunshine, milk, and eat good food, And other things that do you good! Oh – don’t forget the little pills To help you overcome your ills. Take it easy, do not strain And you’ll be your dear ‘ole self’ again! When you get home we’ll all have fun, So long and love from everyone. D.”
“Tuesday evening she started feeling badly, Wednesday she was a little worse, with the same spasms she’d had in Florida, and there was no response at all to manipulation.”
“She said to me: – ‘You’re a good nurse Dotsy, but you needn’t worry, I have good nurses here too’.”
“Now don’t decide you must come up north -- it would frighten Mom, as your coming would make her think that it’s more serious than it is; she would worry about Lawrence’s losing his job, now more than ever, when every dollar is so much needed; - (other than that there is no assistance you can offer); and your presence would only add to confusion.”
Lawrence and Barney
1940 the winds of war
“The things that we used to discuss not many years ago at which most people scoffed have now loomed up with smashing swiftness. It was all expected and the element of surprise exists only in the beastly rapidity of events. “What will happen is hard to predict. The next few weeks will probably clarify some of the present and future uncertainties. What will be the outcome I dare not presume to surmise. “I somewhat relish seeing the ‘Allied Empires’ being smashed but it hurts me to see it done by the Nazi machine. I share with you the desire to see each despotic mile smashed by its own people but strongly doubt such a possibility unless the war drags out.”
Written on the back: “Please show this to all the Friedlands.”
“What are you doing to yourself, to your loved ones, to all the people of the United States! Casting a vote for anyone but Roosevelt means an onslaught of terror, chaos, destruction. It is a step nearer to barbarism, tyrany, suicide of the human race.”
1942 wartime
“E. + E. have been quite taken up with air warden duty in the past couple of days since Tokio was bombed the other day. The night before the bombing there was a little commotion too. Two of Ed’s warden’s (he’s Senior Warden of his post) spotted a couple crooks stealing tires from a car parked in the lot across the street from us, but the crooks got away.”
“Near the end of the blackout time about a half-dozen high-powered searchlights converged and revealed a plane in flight. That was such a beautiful sight it showed the plane so clearly it looked just like a beautiful silver bird, and you could discern every line of this streamlined wonder. The way these lights lit up the heavens no enemy plane could escape it.”
“How’s the new-comer coming? Any distress yet, Bert. I think you’d better watch what you eat, rather than have to top off your meal with Bicarb [for heartburn], or didn’t you have to take the nasty stuff. It’s a good thing yontiff [Passover, with its restrictive diet, was April 2-9, 1942] doesn’t come too often eh?”
1941/42 tests
“Monday our class started on the night shift, and will be on it for a month. This is the toughest shift of all, and it’s no fun marching back and forth in the dark, on cold miserable nights.”
“The requirements for graduation are; must receive code at 20 words per minute; send at 16 words per minute, and copy from the blinker at 10 words per minute; the latter was just added, and is not so easy, in fact it’s quite hard, and hurts your eyes!”
“4 P.M. Thurs. – just finished the last test. Have about 85 or so average. The only thing its over.”
1942 The Next Generation
“Grandma Friedland expresses regrets at not being able to see her 5lb,8oz, 18” long bit of a grand-daughter in all her infantine glory. We hope it won’t be long before you’ll all be coming out East so as Momsy can deliver personally the kisses and love she has instructed me to convy on this piece of paper. So here’s to all three of you, the new Friedland Family, may the best you can hope for follow you, and maybe the next time you’ll bring a little brother for Bonnie Jean to have as a companion.”
“We are delighted no end, and tickled all the colors of the rainbow.”
“It’s a shame that Bonnie won’t get to know her cousins right away. She adores children her own age and when given the opportunity has a wonderful time playing with them. What she needs is a little brother, but that will have to wait until after the war. Meanwhile we are glad to see you two carrying on the old Friedland tradition of boys.”
“We received Bert’s pleasing letter with Hatch’s few scribbled lines yesterday. I can’t express Mom’s joy at seeing the pictures despite poor photography. She kissed Hatch and Bonnie with tears in her eyes several times.”
Bonnie
Frederic
Eve, Alfred, Bob Stella
Ed, Alfred, Felicia, Bob
Felicia, E. 54th garden in background
Bruce
Eve’s birthday, 1945
Felicia thinks this was drawn by Bruce
Felicia, 1953
1944 Pass the Torch “When I came home with Bobby, Alfred would have nothing to do with me – it was hours before he became friendly, but when he finally forgave my having left him in the lurch, he decided he’d see to it that it didn’t happen again, and has since then not let me go out of his sight. He still doesn’t seem to have forgotten, + if Ed goes over to him when he awakes, he has to bring him in to me, and you can see the relief on his face. In fact, since then, he’s begun to object if anyone leaves, and once when Ed, Barney + Lawrence went away at short intervals, he was heartbroken. No one must walk out of our house, even to go down to the cellar, without saying goodbye.”
“... at frequent intervals in his busy tramping thru the house, Alfred stops and looks interestedly into the carriage, reaching in to try and stroke whatever part of him he can reach, and we feel foolish sterilizing Bobby’s clothes, when we can’t sterilize the little pieces of hand-shaped mud that Alfred reaches out for the baby.”
“We forget [our sleepless nights] when we see the two together + Alfred’s delight when he can stroke him + lift his blanket or pull off his hat, so as to see more of him, and looking forward a bit, we feel there is every probability that they’ll be real friends.”
“Sidis completely washed his hands of the entire thing, despite Ed’s pleading, and did it very skilfully, to avoid our being able to say he refused care. He said the Bklyn Cancer Institute was the best place he could suggest... we’ve been doing our best to avoid having her there – it’s one thing for her to feel that that is the ailment, and another to have it definitely stamped as such, and she’d certainly be told the name of the hospital.”
“I think, without having discussed it, that we’re all a little glad that we’re not religious, as no one could watch a human being take so much, and still believe in a God; so that we have been spared the loss of that belief.”
1948 BArney’s Red Scare
“Question: Please note hereon any comments you desire to make regarding your loyalty to the United States which you feel would aid the Commission in determining your suitability for Federal employment.”
“I have never taken an active part in any political following or gathering. I have always been preoccupied with family problems and our two family home at 330 East 54th St. Brooklyn, which we bought in 1921 and struggled these many years to maintain.”
“If you have another opportunity to clarify this point, I would stress that if in fact you did sign the petition, that you did this unwittingly and without realizing its political significance and that at the time in 1939 it had no real political significance, as we were at peace with Russia and the Communist Party did not have the onus and reputation that it has since acquired and that a good many people thought that this candidate was just a liberal in local politics.”
“As a result of investigation under the provisions of Executive Order 9535, the person named below has been rated eligible on loyalty for Federal employment.”
1948 Family Finances
“Your call put us all + especially me on the spot, as I was the one to answer the phone. We spent several hours that same night, drafting a night letter to give you a sketchy outline of the situation; but felt that you should have detailed information which could only be given in a letter...”
“Our kind of family doesn’t think in terms of security or guarantees, but rather believes in cooperative mutual help in whatever way or manner possible. Perhaps unrightly, money as such has never been of outstanding importance, aside from the general necessities of life [probably that’s why none of us has gotten very far financially speaking]. I may say in passing, that that’s one of the intangible things people have always envied in this family, so I can’t feel it’s been altogether wrong.”
“If I had the means, I want to assure you that I’d have been very glad to assist in a practical proposition, but as regards your buying this house, it doesn’t stack up so well.” “Even so far back as Al’s illness + Mom’s, you know we tried not to spare anything + debts ran up, + even in the last few years, when the office has been giving us, for our standards a decent living, past + present obligations leave us financially about the same as when we were starting practice, which was practically nil.” “I have spoken to builders + men in the real estate + allied lines (men who know the score) + they all agree with the patient who told me, that ‘unless you have black market money, a man is crazy to buy a house now’.”
“I hope you will never feel that the family has fallen down on you, because even with the missing ones we’re still a family unit.”
1948 Dot writing to Hatch and bert
“[Lawrence has] been aching to go to Texas for years and probably won’t be satisfied till he does find out what wonders the ‘Lone Star’ state has to offer... He has decided to go to Dallas which he believes to be a progressive and large enough city for him to find employment. Incidentally the O.M. has a brother in Dallas – they haven’t seen each other in 50 years.”
“When I said to the children, ‘Guess who phoned to-day,’ Freddie quickly said, ‘Uncle Hatch!’ You should have seen his eyes light up. Then Bobbie and Sister helped out by adding, ‘and Cousin Bonnie’ and ‘Aunt Bort’ (that’s Sister’s pronunciation) and ‘Cousin Fwedewick.’ They’ve got it down pat, the whole family.”
undated Dora’s animal stories
Lawrence, Caroline and Iris
Grandpa Morris, aka ‘O.M’
Bruce, above and below
Alfred and Pepper
Felicia
Henry
Henry, Lawrence, Barney and Hatch Lawrence and Iris
Eve, Alfred, Bonnie, Felicia, Ed, Bob