Who Is This Beautiful Girl, This Veritable Queen?

The heavy cardboard frame with folding cover is in mint condition.  The frame is glued down solidly over the photographic print;  we cannot take a squint at the back.  There are no labels.

Indications that she is a First Holy Communicant include the white gown, hose, and shoes; white veil; Missal and Rosary.  Absence of a candle, such as we have seen in FHC portraits of EJZ and JFZ and MPZ, is not a contraindication in my mind, as candle and veil are an unwise combination, so it is best to let the boys tote those big candles.

Suggestions that this might instead be a Confirmation portrait include her mature appearance:  typical age at FHC is 8 years, while typical age at Confirmation is 13 to 14 years.  Additionally, her shoes have enough of a heel for a teenager, too much for an 8-year-old.  And look at that gold wristwatch over her elbow-length gloves!  Again, it seems unlikely for an 8-year-old.

I've never heard of veils for Confirmation.  Has anyone else?

Is she my Matynka grandmother, Clara Haremska?  Our CHM was born in 1903 or 1909, depending on to which document we give our trust.  Eight years of age would then be 1911 or 1917.  Fourteen years of age would then be 1917 or 1923.  Those all seem plausible to me from the look of the portrait details.  Also, CHM and all the Haremska women have high brows like this mystery girl.

Clara Haremska married Adam Matynka in 1925.  My Mom, our CAMZ, labeled the back of this 16" by 20" photographic print with the names and the date.  Thanks, Mom!

The print is curled and tattered with age, but remains impressive.

Adam Matynka and Clara Haremska Matynka, 1925

So, again, the woman above and below is CHM, my Grandma Matynka.  Is she our Mystery Queen Girl?  What do you think?

Clara Haremska Matynka, 1925

Now let us consider the Mostkowska -Zdrojewska options.  Here is the wedding photo of our JPZ and Julia Mostkowska.  The date approximately 1920; Dad, our EJZ, was born in 1923.

John Peter Zdrojewski and Julia Mostkowska Zdrojewska, circa 1920

Julia Mostkowska Zdrojewska, circa 1920

Mayhap Mystery Queen Girl is my paternal grandmother, Julia Mostkowska Zdrojewska.  What do you think? Her face seems more square, though.  And here, alas, we have another covered forehead.

Julia Mostkowska Zdrojewska

Is Mystery Queen Girl my paternal aunt Melania Zdrojewska?  Melania was born in 1933 and died about 8 years later according to the story from Dad/EJZ.  I suppose the portrait could be from 1941, but it seems less likely.  If Melania actually lived to age 13 and this was her Confirmation photo, then the year would be 1946.  Again, just from the look of things 1946 seems too recent a date for the photo portrait.  Finally, we know that Melania died in the 1930s while Dad/EJZ was a high school student at Orchard Lake.  So, scratch the Melania/Confirmation possibility with confidence.  Melania/FHC remains a possibility, if we allow Dad/EJZ to have misremembered, and that Melania died in 1941 when he was a college student at Orchard Lake, not a high-school student.

I hope somebody actually recognizes this photo.  If so, please let me know!  If not, then I invite the spirits of my ancestors to visit me and set me straight on this.  Let's talk, OK?

CYO Sweater

Gene came home in 1946.  His assets: cultural inheritance, family, a good education, the support of civic and religious institutions, photography skills, warfighting experience.  Missing from that list: cash savings, an actual bed to sleep in (Casimir had the bed now, so he bedded on the floor,) employment, connections in "high places," a plan, and a wife and family of his own.

He pressed trousers at a dry cleaner's until his Uncle Stanley wangled him a job at Lackawanna Plant of Bethlehem Steel.  The GI Bill was in the future.

His family's parish was St. Luke's, where an excellent mentor and friend greeted his return.  Father Tomiak encouraged Gene to active participation in the youth group, the St. Luke's chapter of the Catholic Youth Organization.

John, our JPZ, of course was photographic consultant to the CYO and documented everything on film. No doubt the group shot below was used in the club's publications.  Left to right are Casimir, John, Eugene, and Eleanor Zdrojewski.

Boy, they're snappy dressers!  Check out Casey's sweater and the JPZ necktie!  What is that confusing white blob between Gene and Eleanor?

It is a paper he is holding under his left arm.  That paper mostly obscures, but allows us to be sure of, a big white Club Officer patch that had been sewn onto the left front of the sweater.  The patch is gone, without leaving a trace: maybe he passed it on to his successor in the CYO Presidency.  Yeah, CYO Prez!  Total chick magnet!

Meanwhile, here are Clara and Clara, Jr. Matynka peeling potatoes on a Girl Scout camping trip.

Girl Scouts was okay, but St. Luke's CYO looked interesting too.  Gene was wearing that CYO sweater when he met Clara, on a bus heading out for a CYO trip.

Mom and Dad gave me the sweater when I was in my late teens.  Most of the time I took pretty good care of it, even unto sewing in a metal chain for hanging it on a hook.  One time, though, the moths got to it.  In fact, on two separate occasions, one grandmother after the other picked it up, muttered sad imprecations in Polish, and took it away to take crochet hooks and knitting needles to it.  The results of their professional ministrations are all over the garment, including interior patches to repair exterior appearance, in two slightly different shades of blue yarn.  I would not have those changed for anything.

Psychoanalyze this, if you like:  I've not worn it much over the last 30 years.  Now that the CYO sweater is all photographed and blogged about, I'll wear it often, starting today.  No worries!  I have a cedar chest.

For related posts, you can browse the long list of "Labels," or keywords, that I have been attaching to posts all along.  If you click "St. Luke's," for example, you get a page with all the posts bearing the "St. Luke's" label.

Try also clicking on "Uncle Stanley" and "Tomiak."

For a Christmas-themed St. Luke's field trip story, go to the Search box and and type in "Story Arcs Intersect."

Stay warm, everybody!   Love, Julie

Marilla Tape - Matynka 40th Wedding Anniversary Party

The young man saw a guy get fresh with a pretty girl and distress her. So he clocked him.

This being early 1920s Buffalo, the young man spent the night in jail. But it was worth it because he soon married the pretty girl.

Adam Matynka and Clara Haremska Matynka celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at a family gathering recorded in part by Martin Zdrojewski, the Impresario grandson with the cutting edge, state-of-the-art, reel-to-reel audiotape recorder.  The party ran past midnight.

0:00 - 3:00.  Adam Matynka leads the crew in multiple verses of a Polish song well known to everybody except the grandchildren.  Now I have no idea what it is and am having a hard time figuring out any clues.

Marty announces midnight at the 40th Wedding Anniversary Party.

3:30 - 4:15.  Sonny Boy.  Mom, our CAMZ, told us that when she was little, her father would sit her on his knee and sing to her: Climb upon my knee, Sonny Girl.  (Joke!)  Well, I was very impressed with this sweet story, and remained so until discovering decades later that the maudlin 1928 song, as well as the maudlin Al Jolson movie, ends with little Sonny dying.  The angels took you because they were lonely . . . for crying out loud!

4:15 - 5:04.  I Will Always Call You Sweetheart.  Better: people get old and grey but you don't suddenly find out that they are dead.

5:17.  Roll Out the Barrel.  Good idea.

5:47.  Sto lat!

6:17.  The old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be . . . okay.

7:20.  Uncle Walter reminds everyone of the lyric in this different version of Sto lat.  This is the first clear recording of his voice, as far as I can tell.  He never did say much. But when he did, what he said was often just what was necessary.

8:50.  Gertrude asks her father to speak to [his] children. Somebody says Cicho!!  "Quiet!!"  Adam proceeds with T'anks for coming here and showing us all a good time . . .    The recording concludes with individual spoken testimonials, which are pretty nice and fairly formal, considering the hour and circumstances.

Marty and I have happy memories of times like this. But our elders did not teach us the songs, so we do not know them. Our elders did not sing with us, so we don't sing the songs ourselves or teach our own children.

Often we were told that Children should be seen and not heard. Our elders achieved success. We cannot be heard.

Clara and Adam Matynka at 554 Walden Avenue, a Buffalo long gone

The climactic scene from Jeeves and Wooster, Season 1, Episode 2:

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. 

Winter Crystal Ball, 2 of 2

The Youth Council Monthly had a full-page review of the event, which included these remarks:

        Tossing a decisive knockout blow at the time-honored phrase that "you can't please everybody,"  The Parish Youth Council set a new high in entertainment standards last February first with their sponsorship of the Second Annual Winter Crystal Ball.

          Not one of the persons quizzed by the social committee after this gala affair failed to remark enthusiastically that he or she enjoyed themselves at the Ball beyond any doubt.

          The first sight of the St. Luke Ballroom filled its patrons with pleasant amazement.  The brightly glittering "Winter Crystal Ball" sign at the head of the stage, the adorned fans and columns, and gardenias, clean-white cloths covering the tables, and the soft blending of the spotlights lending an atmosphere of splendor and comfort; as our beloved pastor put it - "exquisite" is definitely the word to describe it . . . 

Above:  Father Tomiak and the Mice;
Below: Rev. Walter Tomiak, Rev. Stephen Kucharski,
Mr. and Mrs. Al Mazikowski,
Mr. and Mrs. Al Mazgajewski.

The program is on heavy stock
with a sort of opalescent paper
for the cover,
for a bloom rising from crystal.

How beautiful is youth! how bright it gleams
With its illusions, aspirations, dreams!
(Longfellow: Morituri Salutamus)

I will  go unto the Altar of God,
To God, who giveth joy to my youth. . . .
(Prayer of the Mass)

Youth may stray afar yet return at last.
(French proverb)

On another page, thanks are given to "Mr. Raymond Norman for his sketching of the orchid appearing on the program and tickets."

And at the bottom appears another quotation:  To ride, shoot straight and speak the truth-
This was the ancient Law of Youth."  (C.T. Pavis)

The next:  In the lexicon of youth. . . there is no such word as 'fail.'  (Bulliver, Lytton)

The temper of our youth has become more restless,
more critical, more challenging.
(F. D. Roosevelt)

The subsequent page describes the purpose of the event:  "It is difficult to describe in a few words the friendship and love that exists among the young, their parents, their relatives, their sponsors and friends, all gay on an evening of a grand gala affair. . ."

As the Days of Thy Youth, So Also Shall The Old Age Be (Deut. 33-25)

The much-sought prize of eternal youth is just arrested growth.
(Edgar Lee Masters)

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined!
No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet,
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet!
(Byron: Ch. Harold)

"Youth is idealistic, not cynical. . .youth is also tough-minded." (Most Rev. J. H. Ryan)

"Keep true to the ideals of thy youth." (Schiller)

"Youth comes but once a lifetime."  (Longfellow)

"The education of youth makes on the soul the first, most powerful and lasting impression for life."  (Pope Pius XI)

"My salad days:  When I was green in judgment."  (Shakespeare: Ant. and Cleo.)

"We think our fathers fools, so wise we grow;
Our wiser sons, no doubt, will think us so."
(Pope: E. on Criticism)

"There is nothing can equal the tender hours
When life is first in bloom"
(Bohn: Ms.)

Winter Crystal Ball, 1 of 2

          The St. Luke's R. C. Church Youth Council Monthly, Vol. V, No. 1, was a 4-page, 12" x 9" glossy that came out some time after February 1st, 1947.

          On the evening of that date was held the Winter Crystal Ball, to which the Monthly devoted 2 pages.

          The top image in the photomontage below is placed like a banner headline.  Winter Crystal Ball in giant sparkly shiny letters was mounted all across the top of the stage curtains in the church hall.  Clara did those.

The second image shows the revelers at table.  Here is the front cover of the printed menu.  It is done on heavy, textured stock, with an orchid-and-crystal-white color scheme.  The skirts of the tablecloths sway elegantly, as though the were dancing just like the people on the dance floor.  Clara did the menus.  Her mother, Clara Haremska Matynka, did the napery and the other decorations.

          Click to enlarge.  "2nd annual Winter Crystal Ball (Cover design by Miss Clara Matynka, Jr."

          Whiskies are thirty-five or fifty cents.  Cocktails are fifty cents; chasers one dollar.  What is "Lime of Lithia?"  

          "To Avoid Mistakes Please Pay When Served."

          All is as it should be, with reasonable enjoyment, officially sanctioned and partaken on the basis of individual responsibility.  There is no falsely-free booze paid for by others, nor is alcohol banned and consequently drunk in excess in some back alley.

          The motto at the very bottom is from Shakespeare: "Great men should drink with harness on their throats."

The motto at the bottom of the second page of the menu is also from the Bard:  "A good digestion to you all: and, once more, We shower a welcome on you; Welcome all."

Champagne crystals shower like snow.

From the Monthly:  "Before half the night was over,
the Committee and their guests combined their two long tables."

Gene's looking serious.  What is he thinking?
Mom certainly made that dress.  I bet it is satin
and I bet it rustles when she walks.  MmmMmmm.

         
          There were serious camera buffs in this organization, including, at least, Father Tomiak, Mr. John Zdrojewski, and Mr. Eugene Zdrojewski.  The captions given for the action shots contain admiring detail.

"Four couples, in the featured attraction of the night
dance ballroom style to the strains of 'Jalousie.'
The 'Velos' and 'Yolanda' are shown twice
during the Tango."
Gene is the second gent from the left.

In the photo on the right, "Caught on the sidelines
by the rapid flash of the camera,
Mr. Alfred Kaczmarek and Miss Alice Gregory
step lively to the quick melody
of a Polish folk dance."

"Surveying the feature of the night
through the lens of his movie camera,
Father Tomiak is seen taking pictures of the Tango."