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“He knows all the little innuendoes of kissing…”
Oh it was heavenly! He knows all the little innuendoes of kissing and I ain’t so bad m’self, if I do say so. We kissed for about an hour and a half. Tonight was like a page from a storybook, and he...
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Evicted
At age 17, my mother became the sole support of her parents The Depression had destroyed 50% of all manufacturing jobs in Chicago. Her father was a tool and die maker, a machinist–and sixty-years-old...
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The “Mankini” as cutting edge beach fashion
Chicago and family history buffs (no pun intended) –and anyone who enjoys a good laugh, should get a kick out of today’s blog post. Summer is waning, giving way to back-to-school ads (sigh), and later...
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Race and change in 1960’s West Side Chicago
Well, the mystery of who bought the Young-Parker house has been solved. As more or less expected, the colored moved in today 6-22-63 From the diary of Lillian Gartz June 22, 1963 This diary entry Mom...
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“Would you panic if a Negro moved next door?” Sat. Evening Post
In July 1962, a few months after I graduated from grade school and one year before the first black family moved onto our block, The Saturday Evening Post, a venerable magazine of the time, ran an...
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Discovery in attic: long-hidden letters & diaries
Standing under naked beams in the attic’s dim light, we discovered a large box labelled in my mother’s neat printing: “Lil and Fred’s Letters and Diaries.” I ripped off the packing tape and folded back...
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Rural Health Care-W. Eugene Smith “Country Doctor” Life Magazine
An “out-take” from the “cutting room floor” LIFE MAGAZINE Rural health care, far away from cities is hard to come by. But the dedication of a country doctor may have saved my grandmother’s life. My...
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Animal Tales in Chicago
We were a city family, but we always had the kinds of animals one would expect to find in a rural home. From rats to rabbits, cats to crows, lambs to Lucifer, the boa constrictor. We were never without...
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Veterans Day Tribute to World War I Dead
In honor of Veterans Day I posted yesterday an essay about my uncle Frank Ebner Gartz, a World War II navigator. Today I’d like to post about a tribute to a family member who lost his life in World...
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Thankful for 100 years of family words
Like so many Americans on Thanksgiving Day, I am grateful for a loving family and the ability to take for granted the basics of food, clothing and shelter; for having a warm bed to sleep in; for living...
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Animal Tales in Chicago
We were a city family, but we always had the kinds of animals one would expect to find in a rural home. From rats to rabbits, cats to crows, lambs to Lucifer, the boa constrictor. We were never without...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Veterans Day Tribute to World War I Dead
In honor of Veterans Day I posted yesterday an essay about my uncle Frank Ebner Gartz, a World War II navigator. Today I’d like to post about a tribute to a family member who lost his life in World...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thankful for 100 years of family words
Like so many Americans on Thanksgiving Day, I am grateful for a loving family and the ability to take for granted the basics of food, clothing and shelter; for having a warm bed to sleep in; for living...
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An Immigrant’s Gift: a New Year in America
In 1910, Eastern Europeans overall were inflamed with a passion to immigrate to America, where, some truly believed, the streets were literally paved with gold! (Seventy percent of immigrants to the...
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HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY—ACROSS THE DECADES
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL ACROSS THE DECADES! Here’s an adorable valentine, February 14, 1942, from Lillian Koroschetz to Fred Gartz – before they were married. Love is timeless. (Scroll down to see...
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Women’s History Month-Dressmaker Extraordinaire!
Aloisia (Louise) Woschkeruscha, wearing her masterpiece, 1912 Celebrating Women’s history month, I’d like to introduce you to an extraordinarily artistic and talented woman: my mother’s mother, Alöisia...
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Madness and Marriage – Sneak Preview
My grandmother’s madness seemed to come about suddenly, based on what I read in my mother’s diaries. It was clear to me, however, that Grandma K (for Koroschetz) always displayed what today we’d call...
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Martin Luther King-Chicago West Side Memories
When an assassin felled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th 1968, it was not just the murder of the greatest leader of the Civil Rights Movement, it was the murder of hope for so many of our...
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Love is dancing by ourselves
Lil and Fred, 8/27/1941—This is the first photo of the two of them together, and this diary entry confirms the date. North Ave. Beach, Chicago Charles Schultz wrote two memorable square-shaped little...
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1952 Love Poem celebrates Poetry Month
April is poetry month, and although there are many famous and fabulous poets to acknowledge and praise, I want share a poem my father wrote. Dad loved to write poetry. Dad was sensitive, and his poems...
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