A Familiar Face at Niagara Falls

A recent post, "A Familiar Face," we can now enjoy in connection with this photo:

Click to enlarge for lots of nice details, including coolest eyewear.

This photo is the bottom one in the post "Niagara Falls." Thanks to Tye for drawing attention to this image.

Christening Dress, 1951

Marty's Christening was in the early summer of 1951.  Look, there he is, the cutest Mr. Magoo ever, obviously, in the lap of his great-grandmother Victoria Zdrojewska.  To their left are his grandparents, John and Eleanor.  To their right are his great-grandfather Ludwig and Dad, our EJZ.  Directly behind them is his Mom, our CAMZ, with corsage.

Marty's Christening gown has ruffles in plenty, as well as blue ribbons; you can see blue ribbon on Great-grandmother Victoria's lap, right next to the gown.

                                     
What a fine day!  They photographed 4 generations of Zdrojewski gents.

Clara made that Christening gown.  After the big day, she packed it up in a box, labeled it, and put it away.  It stayed put away for more than 60 years.

Marty last summer brought it over here to the Historical Preservation Society HQ, where I've finally brought it into the photographic studio so we can take a look at it. You ready?

The overdress of gauzy material, ornamented, is worn over a plain, sleeveless undergown of white satin.

A piece of white satin gives shine and substance to the upper part of the overgown yoke; lace borders that part, as well as the collar and cuffs.  White satin bows attach the satin ribbon streamers, two blue and two white, on each side.

Now let's examine the gauzy overdress by itself, followed by a few details.

Clara handstitched lace to satin collar band.

The satin underdress is collarless and sleeveless, with plain yoke and a couple of buttons at the back.  Both pieces have a great big vertical slit in the back, for uninstalling and reinstalling Marty in greatest possible comfort to him as well as ease to the installer.  That is way better than having to draw both long garments over his head.  I hope you are grateful for that considerate detail, Marty.

The box has a top of heavy, textured paper; it is dirty and uncleanable from sitting in attics all those decades.  But not only did it keep the gown quite clean, it also is the original box, which is something, and to top that off, it is labeled in Mom's handwriting.  So we keep the gown in its box.

I've had it hanging around here for a few weeks, so now I am going to miss the sight of it.  Come visit me here at Hx HQ and we can get it out again to give it  more study and admiration.

A Familiar Face

Dave Brubeck's music has given me great enjoyment - so much so that quite a while ago I pulled his photo out of his CD album and put it up on the refrigerator.

It seemed like such a natural thing to do. The thought of taking down that smiling face is disturbing. That's not an option!

Marian McPartland interviewed many jazz pianists for her radio show. Her Piano Jazz episode with Dave Brubeck is a favorite. They talk about and play music; he discusses how his classical piano training made his jazz possible and meaningful; he recalled his trip to Kraków, to the Jagiellonian University museum, where he "saw Chopin's piano."  A fan of Chopin!  No wonder I'm a fan of Brubeck!

Well, well, the joke is on me.  The other day, while sifting through the Photo Trove, I found this print in my hands.

It's the early 1960s, and a cool day with green leaves on the big cherry tree in the front yard at the Marilla house.  Perhaps the occasion is one of Mom and Dad's Memorial Day picnics. Any road, the party seems to be going well.

Memory is a funny thing; apparently so are preferences and inclinations. Brubeck's face looked really lovable to me.  I did not consciously think of Dad when admiring it. But subconsciously - that's another story, wouldn't you say?

Well now I am spooked. It is time to pull out one of those bubble beer mugs of Marilla origin and pour some beer into it as in days of yore. It is time to "restore the tissues," as Bertie Wooster says, and consider memories, and memory.

Blue Rondo alla Turca is among the favorites.

                                     

Lubię piwo.  Na zdrowie!

Marilla Christmas

Dad (EJZ), Mom (CAMZ) and Rita Sonnelitter,
c1970.

John (JFZ) and Tye, age 3.

Richard Mazurowski

Richard Mazurowski (1925-2017) was son of Pearl Haremska Mazurowska, nephew of Clara Haremska Matynka, brother of Genevieve Mazurowska Stroinska, cousin of Clara Matynka Zdrojewska. He was Dad to Debbie, and he was Uncle Dick to Sharon and to Marty and me.

Below, we see him acting as groomsman in a wedding party sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Richard (Ryszard) is third from the right. Sorry, I have no idea who the couple are. But first from the left is Clara Adamina Matynka, aka Mom.  Clara and Richard and Genevieve are first cousins; their mothers were sisters.

We can zoom in a little here, to the curly locks, 3-piece morning dress, and proper cravat.

Below we see another wedding party. The print is on deckle-edge paper. I like the ordinary houses with the Italian Renaissance-style campanile in the background. It houses the belfry of the parish church.

Genevieve and Edward Stroinski are the couple this time. Richard appears as Best Man. Isn't that Florence with him? I think it is. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Cabinetry and the making of fine furniture was Uncle Dick's profession. Below is a bookcase he designed, built, and installed for Gene and Clara. This is in the G&C house in Bowmansville, the year being between 1950 and 1956. Here in the Trove are at least three prints just of this bookcase. They were happy to have it; mayhap it was their Christmas gift to themselves.  See the bits of Christmas tree at the right of the photo?

1957 was the year of G&C moving into the Marilla house. Below is a scene at one of the early parties there. Proper parties always included 40 people or thereabouts, and went on in several rooms, including the finished part of the basement. Below we see, left to right, Casimir Zdrojewski, Adam Matynka, and Richard. The item of furniture in the background is a cobbler's bench done up by him.

The house on Poplar Street was similarly a noted party venue. Below we have New Year celebrations featuring dancing, lots of dancing, here with Florence and Richard.

Fourth of July featured culinary special ops, such as BBQ at the tent site in Marilla. Dick and Gene do not mess around.  I'm guessing 1960s here.

Below we see a very patient, as well as very stylish, Uncle Dick, in the dining room at another Marilla party, c1969.

(No snake is climbing up that wall. That is the stem of a split-leaved Philodendron, the leaves of which had, um, split the scene, for some reason.)

Left to right, below,  we have Clara Matynka, Uncle Dick, some idiot blowing out candles and looking like Oscar Wilde, Aunt Florence aka Auntie 'Lossie, Clara Zdrojewska aka Mom, and Uncle Eddie Stroinski. We also appear to have a fruit-Jello mold. 

But look at the wall behind Mom and Uncle Eddie. See those red-and-black encyclopedias? They are the same Compton's Encyclopedia, shelved on the same Uncle Dick bookcase, as in the Bowmansville photo above. When G&C worked on the design of the Marilla house, they stipulated a recessed niche in that wall, to accomodate that bookcase.

Below are Mom and Uncle Dick at a family event in 1971.

Uncle Dick set up his own furniture refinishing business, using his business name of Richard Mast, and went in with Uncle Eddie Jr. and Uncle Eddie Sr. Below we see him showing the latest progress on the revitalizing of the Zdrojewski grandfather clock, in the 1980s.

Uncle Dick was always at the wheel of  the station wagon when it was loaded up with "The Poplar Street Gang" and driven to Marilla for partying. He also had a motorboat for some time. I remember seeing it in the garage. If you send me any boating photos, or any photos at all of Dick and Florence, I will be delighted to put them up. 

The Stroinski "Ringo"

The Coot Hill Family Historical Preservation Society offices house several paintings by Buffalo artist and favorite relation Edward Stroinski. We have featured one from our North Gallery and a second from our Administrative Office early in this blog. The Militello horse that made a photographic apearance last post has inspired the Curatress to show off this example of Stroinski equine portraiture.

Ringo was my Quarter Horse gelding, a gift from Mom and Dad.  He was Palomino-and-white, with white mane and tail, and he was mellow.  Physical exertion did not interest him overmuch; speed he did not wish to attain, but he was biddable enough to wander the countryside with me for hours.  At all seasons we would take off and disappear for a while, exploring. What a friend.

I remember Uncle Eddie at a family gathering one time, walking up to Ringo's fencerail and snapping some pictures.  Later he asked my Dad to rustle up some weathered barn boards so he could fashion the frame.  Then they gave me the portrait, just like that.  Whose idea was it? Uncle Eddie's?  Or Mom and Dad's?

Look how tall Dad's pine trees had grown, from 1957 to 1967.

See the shading on the ventral aspect of Ringo's neck, and the shadow of his head and halter on the fencerail.  I stared at these things often instead of studying.

Marilla Kitchen, c1957

What a nice surprise to pull this out of a box!  We look back at the scene of so much family life over the years since Gene and Clara built their home in 1957.

The brick is the back of the fireplace; no brass or iron hooks have yet been drilled into it for hanging things up.  The stove has two ovens;  I'm still envious.  She has a glass milk bottle in her right hand; what is she up to?  We see the back hall leading to the back door.

Great nightgown and bobby socks, Mom.  Dad's evidently been home a few minutes: long enough to take off "collar and hames," the shirt and tie.  The table is set for supper for two, not four; a serving bowl is being kept warm in that round glass chafing dish with a candle inside it; the little sliver of kitchen window we see is dark.  So are the kids in bed already?  Did Dad get home extra late from the office this Monday or Friday night?

To the right of the refrigerator are the binoculars that have been to China and back. He uses them now to watch birds.

Along to the right are the chafing dish and a bunch of stuff that must include that big green radio.

The kitchen table still has the glass top under that tablecloth; it will be years before I sit on it and break the glass.  It's my desk now, and those chairs are my office chairs.

Mom would wear actual clothes were there visitors.  So Dad must have set up a tripod and timer.  They stand at their kitchen hearth and look forward with confidence to their future life here.

PYC Monthly, April 6, 1947 - Lots Going On

This beautifully preserved eight-page glossy Parish Youth Council Monthly is the last of the collection of St. Luke's youth publications saved by Clara Zdrojewski and now in the Argyle Family Historical Society Collections.  A couple more posts, and it will go into a carton to be called "full" and also "dealth with."

Then you are going to have to come visit me if you want it opened up again.

This style of photomontage
was evidently quite popular.
Pages are 9" x 12".

Isn't that a Monsignor-hat that Father Tomiak is wearing?
He is acting as quiz-show interlocutor at top.
Moot court appears in session below; Gene's in the dock.

Click to enlarge.
Several in-jokes here surely originating in
Norman and  Zdrojewski.

Here we go again with combination electronics
in cabinetry - this time for a raffle.

Gene Norman, at top left, speaks into the microphone.
They're doing a dramatization of the Garden of Gethsemane scene.
Passion Play, upgraded from medieval town square or hillside
to a Sunday-School public-address system!
See the speaker set into the classroom wall?

Bottom Center:
Appreciation:  Many thanks to Father Tomiak for showing
the pictures of scouting, camping, St. Anne de Beaupre
and other scenes.  Also appreciation to Mr. Eugene
Zdrojewski for allowing the children to see the pictures
taken in India and China.  Naturally, we extend same to
Sister Tarsilia for running the films for us.

 These "pictures taken in India and China" may refer, in part,to the 16mm color film that Gene brought back, and certainly refer to the scrapbook full of prints:

U Chicago, OSS training school.

Into southwest China.

The pages measure 10" x 14".  I can without damaging the book undo the binding, take the pages out, scan top and bottom halves in my own scanner, and rebind the book. Such scanned images would be a little larger than the photos.  Then I would put up those scanned images plus the whole page photos, like the two above.

Now tell me, is that going to be good enough?

Or do I take the book to Ithaca sometime and use a University scanner with a bigger flatbed?  That would take longer. There are about 40 pages.

Julie