A Closer Look (Part 44)

Mariampolis, Lithuania, 1925. Mom focuses on the photographer.

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A Closer Look (Part 42)

Mariampolis, Lithuania, 1925. This is my maternal Grandmother,  Jadzė.

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A Friendly Baby

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1925. This is Birute, the mother of my friend Ron.

Thanks to my friend Ron for making this photo available to us.

A Closer Look (Part 31)

Šančiai (Kaunas), Lithuania, 1925. This "Closer Look" offers a better view of the art of the Eastern-European bow.

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A Closer Look (Part 6)

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1925. I linger on this photo because it's the only one we have in which my paternal Grandparents, Tatjana and Vytautas, appear together (I exclude this composite).

Vasario Šešiolikto

"Vasario Šešiolikto" means "February 16," and the date marks the anniversary of Lithuanian Independence. Both the United States and France acknowledged the occasion.

Here's footage of the seventh anniversary celebration of Lithuanian independence, in 1925:

The goateed man in civilian dress is Lithuania's President, Aleksandras Stulginskis. Here are some thoughts about Stulginskis from his Grandson.

Tornado season approaches.

I grew up in the Midwest, and I was accustomed to the dangers of the spring tornado season. Our grade school teachers taught the history of the 1920 tornado that devastated the parish and town. I feared tornadoes more than monsters. The siren sounds sent me bolting to the basement. As an adult, I've kept a list of items to grab when the warnings approach. Among those items are three leashes: I don't want the dogs loose if the outcome is grave.

My Parents expressed surprise about how common tornadoes are in this part of the country. They didn't recall hearing about tornadoes in Lithuania. Tornadoes, they explained, are rare in Europe—although there was a tornado last year in Venice.

Here is a photo of a funnel cloud in Lithuania. My Dad's cousin, Henry, likely captured the image:

Near Kaunas, Lithuania, 1925. Thanks to my Kaunas Cousin for making this image available to us.

A Lovely Discovery

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1925. These are my paternal Grandparents, Tatjana and Vytautas. This image arrived in the "new batch" of photos my Kaunas Cousin recently sent to me. The photo is remarkable to me because I had never seen it before; Tatjana must not have had a copy of it when she emigrated to the United States. It's also the only snapshot I've seen of Tatjana and Vytautas photographed together.

 
Thanks to my Kaunas Cousin for making this image available to us.

Related by Marriage: A (Really) New Cousin

Bridgeport, Chicago, Illinois, 1925. The engaged baby is a cousin of Mr. Irene's Mom. The baby's Mom, I think, looks a lot like Aunt Petra.

Camaraderie

Kaunas, Lithuania, mid- to late-1920s. Zigmas, a brother of my paternal Grandfather, Jake, shares a meal with his high-school classmates. Zigmas is the fellow standing in the back. The boys wear the matching caps that identify them as pupils of a particular school.

Thanks to my "Very New" Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Related by Marriage: Meet the Butcher

Mr. Irene and I visited an upscale grocery store today to pick up some additional items for our Kūčios table. We stopped at the meat counter to look at some of the unusual sausages for sale. While there, we asked the butcher whether he carried any potato sausages. A coworker asked the butcher what potato sausages were, and the butcher paused, explaining that they were a "Swedish" food. When Mr. Irene and I burst out that Lithuanians eat potato sausages too, the butcher laughed and told us that he, too, is Lithuanian.

It was nice to meet you today, butcher Paul. This post is for you.

Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather, Stanley, was a Lithuanian butcher. For a time, he ran a butcher shop and small grocery store in Brighton Park, near the intersection of 44th and Fairchild. He owned the place for about ten years, but it went under during the Great Depression. In the mid-1930s, Stanley began working for Benjamin Moore, which then had a plant on Chicago's South Side. When Benjamin Moore relocated its operation to suburban Melrose Park, Stanley continued to work for the company, commuting daily from his home in Marquette Park.

After Mr. Irene's Parents married, Stanley helped Mr. Irene's Dad get a job at Benjamin Moore. My Father-in-Law mixed paint at Benjamin Moore for over thirty-five years.

When Stanley retired from Benjamin Moore, he again worked as a butcher, this time on a part-time basis in a Marquette Park shop.

Brighton Park, Chicago, 1925. Mr. Irene's maternal Grandfather, Stanley, stands behind the counter of the butcher shop. The man on the counter's other side is a distributor, and the men posed for this photo to commemorate the distributor's visit.

The wooden horse was a favorite toy.

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1925. My Mom scoots along on the wooden horse likely carved by her maternal Grandfather, Silvestras.

An Adorable Child, with Bow

Šančiai (Kaunas), Lithuania, 1925. My Mom giggles as her favorite toys surround her. When my Mom was very little, she and her parents, Jadzė and Jake, lived in the officers' quarters of the Lithuanian Army. Her parents later built a house.

It's likely that my Mom's maternal Grandfather, the beloved Silvestras, carved the wooden horse for Mom.

A Mother's Love

Mariampolis, Lithuania, 1925. My maternal Grandmother, Jadzė, and her only child, my Mom.

Toddler

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1925. My Mom poses with a large fur stole. That stole probably belonged to her aunt, Dora.