Late-Summer Basket

Near Penza, Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1933. My paternal Grandmother Tatjana's younger sister, Natasha, goes mushroom picking with her son.

Class Notes (Part 16)

Kaunas, Lithuania, October 1933. In this Class Notes entry, my Mom's friend recalls a conversation with a rabbit.

Cooling off the right way.

Palanga, Lithuania, about 1933. You've seen this group before in the "svimvear" post. Standing are: my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas; my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, and; Vytautas's sister, Victoria. In the water are: a boy I can't identify; my Dad, and; my Dad's twin sister, Jonė.

Three on a Tree

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1933. My Mom—on the left, with the braids—joins two friends on the banks of the Nemunas River.

Swimwear

The warm weather leads me to think about trips to the beach.  Remember "svimvear" fashions?

Palanga, Lithuania, about 1933. My Dad's side of the family stretches out on the dunes. At the top, on the far left, is my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas, cradling his head in his palm. His wife, my paternal Grandmother Tatjana, is below him, leaning on her elbow. My Dad is at the very bottom of the tier, on the far right, wearing the swim trunks with the stay-up-halter strap. Behind him, wearing the worn swimsuit, is Vytautas's sister, Victoria. In the front, my Dad's twin sister, Jonė, craddles a cousin, Victoria's youngest daughter.

The young woman and teen boy reclining between Tatjana and Victoria are Victoria's other two, older children.

Related by Marriage: The Cousins up Nort'

Mr Irene's maternal grandfather, Stanley, had a cousin who had emigrated with his wife to farming life in northern Wisconsin, near the town of Goodman. Cousin O was widowed when his only child was a little girl. Cousin O had a crop farm; the family does not recall that there were dairy cows on the property. Northern Wisconsin was also an active place during prohibition, and Mr. Irene's Mom recalls quite a bit of early-morning traffic around Cousin O's barn.

Near Goodman, Wisconsin, about 1938. Mr. Irene's Mom tests the plow on Cousin O's farm.

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Cousin O married a second time in the town of Goodman, in the company of other Lithuanian first-waver, immigrant farmers. Their stout good looks and well tailored clothes spoke to their success in their new country:

Goodman, Wisconsin, about 1933. The new "Mrs. Cousin O" sports a big ring.

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Mr. Irene's maternal Grandparents, Stanley and Anna, Mr Irene's young Mom, and Mom's sister, Aunt Martha, were frequent summer visitors to Cousin O's farm in the 1930s and early 1940s. The drive from Bridgeport, Chicago, to Goodman, Wisconsin, took over nine hours in the days before interstate highways. US Highway 41 was the key artery north out of Chicago, starting along Lake Michigan with Lake Shore Drive and Sheridan Road, before turning northwest towards Green Bay. There were other relatives nearby to visit as well. The godparents to Mr Irene's Mom, whom you've met here before, ran a tavern in Carter, Wisconsin. They, too, would join the visits to Goodman.

After Cousin O died in the late 1950s, Grandfather Stanley remembered something Cousin O had promised him. Money would be hidden in specific locations within Cousin O's farmhouse, and it was for Stanley to take after Cousin O's passing. Stanley dreamed one night very vividly that Cousin O came to tell him exactly where to find the cash.

Stanley convinced his older daughter, Mr. Irene's Aunt Martha, to drive up to Goodman with him. The dream was a sign, Stanley insisted, that the promise was real. Stanley and Martha found the old farmhouse, boarded and neglected. Somehow the two made their way into the abandoned house to hunt for the hidden treasure, but they returned empty handed that same day to Chicago.

Riverbank

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1933. My Mom, on the far left, and her Father, Jake, stand with two of my Mom's young friends on the bank of the Nemunas River.

An Honorary Relative

I don't know this man's first name, but I will call him "Paul." Paul was the best friend of my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas. Paul and Vytautas served together in the Lithuanian Army.

Paul and his wife had no children. His wife and my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, also became close friends. After both women were widowed, Paul's wife sometimes traveled from New York to visit Tatjana at our home in Suburban Chicago.

When Tatjana celebrated her seventy-fifth birthday, my Dad added snapshots of Paul and his wife into that photo album of cherished family that he created for Tatjana.

Tatjana wept when she saw this photo:

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1933. Here is Paul, as a young officer.

Undated

Kaunas, Lithuania. We're not sure of the date of this photo of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana. Based on the snapshot's similarity to this image, it likely dates from between 1933 and 1935. The original print of this photo is the size of a first-class postage stamp.

Remember your childhood friends.

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1933. My Mom and her friend enjoy a summer day.

Playing with Shadows

I first noticed how shadows factor into some family snapshots when I scanned this image of my paternal Grandfather, Vytautas.

Shadows arise noticeably in photos in which my Dad was the subject and in photos he took.

Here is an early example of what I mean:

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1933. I am guessing at the year here, based on my Dad's age.

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Here is a later example; Dad used the self-timer for this shot:

Suburban Chicago, October 1961. Dad sits on the green, "mid-century modern" sofa. One of the things I notice about photos from the 1950s and 1960s is the height at which people hung paintings.

Keep the stroller handy.

And make sure Raphael's adorable angels watch over you:

Kaunas, Lithuania, about 1932 or 1933. Mom sits on the edge of her bed with a favorite doll. The screen, featuring swans, seems to be a different one than the screen that appeared here.

Admirers

Faces light up when they absorb admiration.

Birštonas, Lithuania, 1933. The family walks across a bridge in the spa town. My Mom's maternal Aunt, Dora, stands to the far left, with two admirers behind her. My Mom, with bowed braids, balances a walking stick. My maternal Grandmother, Jadzė, is next to Mom, and my maternal Grandfather Jake, smokes on the right.

I have Dora's cheek dimple.

Soon it will be too cold for a family hike.

Birštonas, Lithuania, 1933. My Mom and her parents, Jadzė and Jake, take a hike with Jadzė's sister, Dora, and two of Dora's kneeling, flirtatious admirers.

Old Soldiers' Reunion

Birštonas, Lithuania, 1933. My maternal Grandfather, Jake, gathers with some friends and some ferns for a photo. Jake is in the second row, in the middle, fourth from the right.

History Class

Here's a snapshot of a history class in Lithuania. There's a map on one wall, and the other wall features images of medieval rulers—probably Mindaugas or Vytautas.

It's not a single-gender school. When you first look at the room, it seems as if they've segregated the children by gender on different sides of the room. But there's one row of boys in the girls' half of the room. Had they misbehaved?

The children are not wearing uniforms. It must be cold, though, because a few of the girls have scarves wrapped around their necks.

What's with the boy standing next to the teacher? Is there no desk space for him?

Jablonskio Pradžios Mokykla, Kaunas, Lithuania, 1932-1933. My Dad, the dark-haired boy in the second row, on the aisle, is looking at his desktop surface. He appears to be the only child who has no reading materials on his desk.

Tune in.

Kaunas, Lithuania, around 1933 or 1935. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, tunes the radio. The radio probably was a new acquisition, or at least a novelty, at this time. Were it not, why would Tatjana have posed for a photograph with it?

Posing on train tracks is nothing new.

It may seem cool now, but people have been doing it for years.

Kaunas, Lithuania, 1933. My Mom, on the left (with the braids), horses around with some friends.

Do you have a walking stick?

If not, then you may not be ready for an afternoon in the park.

Birštonas, Lithuania, 1933. My maternal Grandfather Jake—on the far right, smoking and wearing the white bucks—pauses with friends while visiting the spa resort of Birštonas. Birštonas was known for its curative mineral water. Water sprays into a pond behind the group.