2020: Quarantine COVID-19 Lockdown

I began writing this post a few months ago… but left it in my draft files as I hadn’t had the energy or desire to write after finishing my 2020: April A to Z blog posts. This is a compilation of the before and after (somewhat) of the Covid pandemic as how it’ affected me! Will it ever end?

2020: Quarantine COVID-19 Lockdown

On March 15th, I wrote daily for 15 days… writing daily counts of Covid 19 confirmed virus cases and deaths in the U.S. and the world. By the end of March we all hoped that April 1st would bring us out of Quarantine… but that didn’t happen. The April Fools joke, April 1, 2020, was on America… as we quickly learned what we really knew in our hearts… we were to continue being in quarantine! As I’m  retired, this social distancing hadn’t really bothered me as I had become accustomed to staying home over the past winter… especially after returning from a road trip to Georgia in February… I was tired of traveling!

Suddenly new names was constantly heard all over television in regarding this virus… Self-quarantine, social distancing, Covid-19, Corona-virus, Wuhan, China, wear a mask… don’t wear a mask, and stand 6 feet apart. Masks quickly became my newest sewing item… and as I had a stash of elastic, fabric and interfacing… I soon began sewing… luckily I had supplies to begin with, because soon places quickly listed needed items as… “out of stock.”

Being a crafter, I’ve always kept more supplies on hand than needed… mostly for girls as I had sewed all the granddaughters flannel burp cloths, swaddling blankets, comforters… and I even sewed crib sheets for the special baby crib I used when my children were babies. I save way too many items… but I was happy that I saved that small crib. Sewing masks soon became my “superpower.”

I quickly began sewing masks for my kids and granddaughters… the girls were easy as I had girl fabric… the guys were limited in what I had on hand, but I managed to find something not too girly for them! Packages of masks were soon headed to Florida!

March 13th was pretty much the last day of school for my granddaughters… but we had hoped they’d be back by Easter… but, Easter came and went… with most families eating Easter dinner alone… as we did; no Easter church service for most, no Easter egg hunts…. and social distancing from everyone not living in your home; they were making you very afraid.

Masks sent to granddaughters in Florida

I ordered takeout for our Easter dinner this year… that’s never happened before! We ate alone… and missed the girls Easter egg hunt. Last year we were in sunny Florida at my sons house… If we’d only known how our world and life would change in a year!!! Well, I guess I would have bought all the coveted items and stocked up instead of having to go on scavenger hunts to find everyday items that had always been on the shelf!

Non-essential work was closed… no bars, restaurants, beauty salons, barbershops, all stores except where groceries were sold. We were told to stay home to kill the virus… only allowed to go out for essential items… such as food or to the pharmacy. They stressed that seniors were the most vulnerable… and to stay home! Restaurants were closed except for takeout… but we were encouraged to support our restaurants to keep them in business. What happened to the waiters and waitresses… unless that restaurant is doing a lot of takeout, they quickly became unemployed! No more enjoying a coffee at Dunkin Donuts with friends….I quickly panicked and stocked up on my hazelnut coffee… and cream. I need my coffee everyday… that’s my fix and security blanket! The media was making everyone panic about food items…  some stores even imposed limits on what you could buy… when you could even find it.

In as I usually have always trimmed my own hair, I never panicked about not being able to go to the salon… I’ve never been one to enjoy spending time in a salon chair or have my nails done… I know, I’m an odd duck! My husband soon learned how to even cut his hair with the trimmer he already had and had never used… I sent our extra one to my son in Florida… as they were sold out everywhere. He’s now begun cutting his hair and has already said he’ll continue to do so… saves money and time!

The hoarding made everyone panic… toilet paper suddenly became the “new” hot commodity that everyone coveted. While we already had a supply… knowing that it couldn’t and might not be found… kept me looking for it… and excited when we finally found it at Costco. For the future, I’ll now keep a “pandemic” supply of things like Lysol spray, hand sanitizer, and most definitely toilet paper!

Who knew, there would ever be a time, in my lifetime, where you couldn’t find simple items like toilet paper, peroxide, alcohol, hand sanitizer, and my granddaughters favorite… “chicken nuggets”… they just weren’t found anywhere!

As of May 30th both our two casinos even closed in Connecticut… who would have ever imagined that a casino would close… even though our Governor had mandated the closing of recreational activities… Indian lands don’t usually fall under their orders. While it never bothered me, as we never go… many were having withdrawals from not being able to go gamble! We went once to the casino… I bought a purse with most of the money I took, as I was determined that I wasn’t going home empty handed! We didn’t even stay long… we just aren’t’ gamblers!

Shopping became a travesty… with several aisles being totally empty… and bare shelves scattered throughout the store; even today, I still don’t find completely filled shelves. Toilet paper became the most wanted item… and not a square was to be had! You shopped now with “NO” list in hand… you shopped and bought as to what you actually found on the shelf. My highly coveted item was always “light cream” for my coffee… and when I found it, I often emptied the shelf… as who wanted to go to the grocery store again! 

We soon turned our second refrigerator on… it became our holding center for my coveted light cream… and the freezer quickly became full… and I still didn’t know what I wanted to eat! (As of July, we’ve finally eaten our way out of using the second full-size fridge, especially after my last electric bill… it’s older and uses way more money then it’s worth!

So what bothered me the most in all this quarantine at home? In as I  had recently began sewing masks, I couldn’t just walk into a fabric store and pick up what I needed… now I had to scan websites, becoming frustrated… as to what I wanted was always out of stock! Luckily I had lots of fabric, but I quickly ran out of elastics and interfacing. Any craft project I wanted to start, suddenly became frustrating… as I had to order online and wait… never having to do that before. It was the same with my knitting… I did have quite a stash of yarn… but, a new project always calls for specific colors or sizes needed… that you don’t have in your stash. Now I had to order online, and again… Wait! We are such an “immediate” need society… no one likes to wait anymore… especially me!

McKinley excited to show off a gift sent from Aunt Kathy… my heart raced! I did ask if I could borrow it sometime! I may just have to try making one of these… I’m sure I can!

The granddaughter’s had to suddenly acclimate to “no school” for the rest of the school year… and even as they’ve adjusted pretty well… I see how it’s hard for them to concentrate at home. Home before, or at least my house, had previously been all about crafts and tv time… and I did find it hard in pushing them to concentrate now on computer work and lessons. I’m more the craft teacher! The most popular craft item recently had become the cardboard loom I made for the girls… although it was mostly McKinley (age 7) who became fascinated with it… Gracie would rather string beads or pull out the potholder loom. McKinley is just like me… she’s happy with paper, scissors and yarn! Now if only I can encourage her to begin reading Nancy Drew… although today she found a heart in my button box and wanted it to wear as her Nancy Drew heart necklace… hey, that’s a start! We had just watched the new Nancy Drew Hidden Staircase movie this week… and it seems she paid attention that Nancy wore a heart necklace… well at least she has the “sleuth” trait!

McKinley’s “Nancy Drew” heart necklace!

My “Nancy Drew” mask I made for me!

Two of my masked bandits!

We have survived into July (2020), but life has changed!

It’s now July 19th, as of this writing… and we’re still wearing a mask (mandated) in all stores. It drives me crazy though when I see people driving in their car, alone, and wearing a mask! I only wear one going inside a business, never in the car. I could go on and on about how I feel about this pandemic, and the masks… so many mixed feelings!

My grandchildren never returned to school after their last days in March… and as of this writing, the granddaughters in Florida will be remaining at home and attending classes online in the fall. My daughter in law did a great job in home schooling the three of them through the end of this past school year… but it was exhausting. I think it will be somewhat different when they return via online as their teachers will appear on-screen daily in teaching… and the girls will be sitting in front of their laptops. As I don’t recall many memories of being in early grades… what will they remember of the years of going to school… from home!

As we began opening in Phase 1 in CT… businesses were busy installing plexiglass between food booths and windows at bank counters. People are pretty much mandated to stand 6 feet apart… and grocery stores measured off 6-foot lines at the checkout for you to stand on. Then came the arrows in the grocery aisles… making aisles one-way. The few times I went inside… I mostly paid no attention as I was too busy looking up at the aisle signs for what I was searching for. No one ever said anything to me… good thing they didn’t, as I probably would have answered them! Everyone was on edge… no one wanted to be in the store… especially having to wear a mask!

Between my knee bothering me more and not liking to wear a mask… I soon began ordering the majority of my groceries online and picking them up. For the most part, I have continued to do so, as I really don’t like spending time wandering around a store. We go inside very seldom, and it’s only then for a quick pickup. I’m somewhat spoiled in my shopping now… it’s almost all online and delivered to my door. I’ve lost my patience of going in stores now… especially the part of “not” finding what I’m looking for… or having to wait in line. The one store I miss actually shopping in… is the craft stores… especially when I want to buy fabric. Buying fabric is a process… as I like to touch and crinkle it… to see how wrinkly it becomes. I had plenty of fabric on-hand for mask making but I did buy online a yard of an Air Force fabric to make hubby a mask. Even though I can pretty much buy any craft supplies online… sometimes you can’t find because you don’t know the specific name for a search. I’ve probably saved a few bucks staying out of the stores though… no impulse buying!

Even though I had three freezers full of food… we often picked up take-out several times as I didn’t want to cook… but I had food! Most of our favorite take-out places have remained open so we frequented them in support; many business will never return. Slowly almost all the restaurants have now opened back… first with outside seating and now with limited inside eating. The first restaurants we ate inside was when we went to Georgia in early June… all the booths were outfitted with plexiglass between the booths. I felt like I was dining in a bubble… isolated from everyone. I feel sorry for whomever has to clean those plexiglass dividers as they will be inundated with handprints once families return. You must wear a mask to your table and all the servers were masks… when will this madness end? All this mask wearing isn’t good for our children… heck it isn’t good for us either… I feel smothered!

What would our grandparents think about wearing masks? This was not the first pandemic in our country where masks were worn… in 1918/19, the Influenza Spanish Flu became an epidemic! My grandparents lived through that in their early twenties… but I never heard them talk about it. Maybe it wasn’t as prominent in certain parts of the country… and living on farms they pretty much kept to themselves for the most part. How I wish I could ask them now, but that window has closed. My mother has never mentioned her parents talking about anything other than people having Tuberculosis and having to live away from family. 

Up until recently, there has been no baseball, football, basketball or Nascar. Just recently Nascar began running races, first without fans, but now a limited amount of fans are being allowed in. Basketball or Football still haven’t began… too close contact. Baseball has slowly started just this week, but with no fans in the stadium seats… but I have seen cardboard cut-out people sitting in some of the seats… Really! Fans have said that they miss the cheering when bases are made or home-runs hit… guess they could use what’s called “canned applause”. As far as football, I could care less if it returns at all… especially after this “take a knee” controversy… and know there’s talk of eliminating our National Anthem… what’s wrong with people?

The ones who will remember 2020 the strongest… are the kids who missed their graduations… their proms… their weddings and funerals. So many of them had to be shelved permanently… never to have! No one goes on vacation… especially when so many states mandate you quarantine for 14 days upon entering their state! Even Disney closed their doors… whoever would have thought! They just reopened slowly this past month, with mandated mask wearing, not all rides are open and on open rides you are distanced from others… and no showing up at the gate… you must sign up on-line for a pass.

My granddaughters have missed out so much in their young life… their libraries closed and are still closed… no museums or zoos… no movies; all new movies are now bought and streamed on-line at home… recreation activities have changed… dancing classes ended, with no end of the year dance recitals… dance lessons went on-line via “zoom”… swimming lessons ended… and as of now, still haven’t returned… can’t swim with a mask on! The new meet-ups went by way of online and “zoom” app… where teachers interacted with their students… it was so strange to see the girls talk to their teacher and friends on-line only. The girls wanted to go the park, play soccer, visit with friends, go swimming, go to camp… just go to a store without having to wear a mask… just be normal again! I do worry… will life ever be normal!

My grandchildren need to get back to normalcy again… they need to go back to real school, have play dates, go to the park, the libraries, dance classes, swimming lessons, spend less time on a laptop… just back to life as they once knew it… I hope they haven’t forgotten that “Yes” they once had a real life!

The children today will be the ones to tell their children and grandchildren about the great American Pandemic of 2020! Will they remember?

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

Conversations with Mama: You never know what she will say and more… #50

Where Mama was the happiest… piddling in her gardens

March 17, 2019: While watching Hoarders and talking to mama…. “Your daddy used to tell me about some of the houses he went in when collecting weekly life insurance premium money. He didn’t like staying long… as you never know what’s really in some peoples houses. When I worked at the beauty shop, we turned people away who were dirty… many were local people. No one wanted to even touch them.” I told mama it’s Ella’s 9th birthday today… “I can’t believe she’s 9, I’m getting old way too fast!”

March 31, 2019: As I watched Meerkat Manor, mama said… “I wonder if you could tame one of them, they’re so cute. Willie Mae’s grandmother, Grandma Johnson, had a pet squirrel… he lived in the attic. He didn’t even run away from us when we went up to see him. I remember him coming down the stairs and she’d give him food… then he’d go back up stairs. I don’t remember if I ever petted him or not.”

I haven’t recorded many conversations this past year… mainly because my mother’s mind and health is not the greatest… although sometimes I think she’s more healthy than me… she just forgets from minute to minute and often my phone calls don’t go well, or even last long. She continues to live alone, and will be celebrating her 90th Birthday on April 6th… although when I tell her she’s going to be 90, she gets a little testy, quickly telling me… “No” I’m not! So maybe I’ll just start telling her she’s turning maybe 80 and see where that gets me. She doesn’t believe that she is old… yea sometimes I have to tell that to myself too… wondering where my years have gone. She still talks to me like I’m the child… and I keep telling her that I don’t listen well anymore… and she tells me I never listened!

March 21, 2020: As mama’s TV is on “All” the time… she constantly listens about the virus pandemic, so it makes her remember it… she will call me during the day just to ask “is everything ok up there?” After telling her we are all ok and safe… she’ll say, “I’m tough as a ladder knot, guess I got that expression from my daddy, as he was as tough as a “ladder knot”… I only wish I was as tough as him! Everyone was afraid of him, they’d say, “you better not mess with Mr. Ed.” (Mama has always talked more about her father than her mother… she was daddy’s girl and spent most of her day following him around the farm and watching him plow. She’d say she didn’t like to stay with mama as she’d put her to work filling the many water buckets on the back porch or sweep the house… mama didn’t like housework.)

Mama says… “All you see on TV today is people wearing masks… I’m tired of seeing them do things wearing a mask!”

After mama moved back to her father’s farm… she always said that his ghost was still there… she’d hear him walking around at night… thumping his cane. Sometimes she would find his favorite rocking chair, just rocking for no reason. It didn’t make her scared… she felt safer feeling he was still there. Even today she’ll mention that Mr. Ed is still walking around on the farm… he loved that farm and his spirit will never leave it. I don’t dare tell the new owners that… but if he’s there… he’d never harm, only protect them.

Mama never does housework anymore… and while it’s a problem for me… she could care less! Whenever I mention that I’d like to get someone to come in at least once a week to vacuum and pick up… that’s when the fight starts, and the conversation quickly goes down the tube… you can’t argue with someone who is dementia challenged… but I keep forgetting. She knows enough to tell me that it’s her house… and her rules! I give up quietly… although sometimes I don’t… but to get off the phone, I’ll say, I have to go make a cup of coffee. I think she knows that I use that excuse way too often! Maybe I should start saying, I’m going to have a glass of wine… she’ll probably tell me to have one for her!

I made another unexpected trip to check on mom in early June… didn’t really want to travel during this pandemic, but felt it was needed. And as usual, I didn’t accomplish much in dealing with her… she still insists on living alone… still saying, “I’m a tough old bird.” Yes she is… and a stubborn and difficult one at best! She has made it clear through her life that she wanted to remain in her home with Boo… her cat. Everyone knows Boo… and whenever she ends up in the ER, she talks about how she has to hurry back home to be with Boo!

The past few months haven’t been talkative phone calls and often what’s said… isn’t writable; she goes through mean stages with me and conversations don’t go well. By the time I hang up, I’m exhausted… and in no mood to even try to write my feelings about our phone conversations. I think she becomes mean spirited and brain fogged from lack of sleep… the woman just doesn’t sleep! On my last trip there I installed cameras throughout the house so I can check in on her… it certainly has helped. One minute I’ll see her roll over and think… oh boy, I have a few peaceful hours of no constant phone calls… and within five minutes, she’s up and the phone calls start. There are days when my phone rings almost two hundred times. Months ago I turned my phone to silent after the many daily phone calls began… even today its still on silent, but always by my side. I can’t really tolerate to even hear a phone ring… although I do laugh at hubby’s phone ringtone… it’s barking dogs… but his phone hardly ever rings!

July 19, 2020: After mama finally slept for much needed hours today, I was able to have a somewhat normal conversation… sleep desperately needed. When she began saying she was bored, I said… “want me to send you some knitting needles?”... “Hell NO… I could still knit, but I don’t know if I could follow a pattern, but I can knit.”

To keep the conversation going smooth, I asked, “was it this hot when you were a girl” “It wasn’t hot back then like it is today. Daddy wouldn’t have been able to plow in this heat. It was hot, but never like it is today. We had no air conditioning, no ceiling fans… and I don’t even remember having a fan of any sort, but we were comfortable. All I remember is a paper fan. We’d sit on the front porch in the evening to cool off. Boo’s laying on the floor now, at the foot of my bed dead asleep… he really looks dead. Guess the heat has gotten to him too.”

“Our yard dogs, Smoker and Bill, slept up under the house when it was hot… laying on the cool earth. They’d sleep mostly during the day unless daddy came out in the yard… then they’d come running out… thinking daddy was going fox hunting. They’d head to the truck and jump in the back… they wanted to go hunting!”

“There’s no life today like there was back when I was a girl. Mother spent her days cooking and cleaning, but family always got together on weekends… today there’s no family. I have no immediate family nearby now as you are so far away.”

“Daddy always had a yard full of animals with his fox hounds…  the cats there were only to keep the mice away. I just have an old black cat named Boo… but he loves me and I love him… he’s my company. Right now he’s on the floor curled up around his food bag.” (Mama gets lots of exercise every day in looking for Boo… as whenever he’s out of her eyesight she hunts the house over looking for him. If I look in on the camera and see her looking behind the chairs and under the bed, I know she’s on the hunt for Boo. That cat has more hiding places than imaginable… and he’s hard to find! I keep telling her that she needs to hunt with a flashlight, but she lays them down and then that’s the end of them… after she’s exhausted her hunt, she calls to tell me that her Boo is gone! It’s usually not much later before I see Boo trailing behind her as she’s hunting for him… then she turns around and picks him up and takes him to bed. Boo is happy when she pets him… that long black tail just thumps away on the bed.)

Like to read more… click on  Conversations with Mama and more

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

Family Stories: Visiting Manhattan – What a Town

Family Stories

Visiting Manhattan – What a Town!

Uncle Mikie DeTulio on the streets of Manhattan!

To a young girl growing up in Georgia… Manhattan seemed as far away as Mars to me, but after graduation my spaceship finally landed a little closer. I married a “yankee” and moved to CT. Years later, I finally arrived in Manhattan via Grand Central Station – which truly mesmerized me – making me dizzy in staring up at the ceiling – trying to not bump into anyone. As I walked out on 42nd St., I was immediately drawn into the sights and sounds which make up NYC! Does anyone in Manhattan “not” beep their horn?

My daughter was my guide and quickly gave me the spiel – don’t make eye contact… don’t take pamphlets from anyone. Did I listen – No! I quickly discovered I needed to find a trashcan to discard all the cards I had accepted when handed to me. I learned! As I followed her blindly, I thought… “I’ll never find my way around this town called Manhattan.” But I did, and soon felt comfortable coming into the city and knowing where I was… and where I wanted to go… and knowing how to get there; although the subway sometimes turned me around. It also boggled my mind how they even dug and built this underground maze of tunnels to take you all over the city. Quite Ingenious! It’s a little daunting late at night, and I’d rather take my chances  in the late hours above ground vs below ground. My husband soon began coming with me and was amazed at how well I had learned my way around.

The city that I had only seen on TV,  was now surrounding me. What’s better than walking around Rockefeller Center at Christmas time… watching the skaters… gazing up at the Christmas Tree that had been trucked in just for the holidays. Another must see site is St. Patrick’s Cathedral – no matter your religion – it’s awesome inside!  And who can go to Manhattan at Christmas and not go to Radio City Music Hall… where it’s hard to keep your eyes onstage as there is so much to look it. The Rockettes are spectacular and the Christmas Show with Santa – well I can’t say enough about how awesome the show is. The Living Nativity will amaze you and leave you wondering just how do they keep all those animals in getting along with each other… and perform flawlessly. It’s a show not to be missed. And if you never go see a Broadway show, then you’ve truly missed out on an awesome experience. My first show was Phantom of the Opera – and no sooner it was over, I wanted to turn right back around… to experience again. I still believe it has the best scenery productions of any show I’ve seen and I’ve seen a few from… Fosse (front row seats), Wicked, The Graduate (with nudity!), Phantom of the Opera (3 times), Chicago (2 times), Grease (front row seats – produced with the winners from the TV Reality show), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Slava Snow Show (off-Broadway), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (off-Broadway), Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and 42nd Street… and I’ve probably forgotten one or two. It’s been several years since we’ve been back into the city… and I miss it.

In walking up 42nd st. one day, I turned to find a lamb on a leash behind us. I had been hearing a “baw” sound and was shocked… when I finally turned to look. Darn… I didn’t even take a picture to prove that I had seen a little lamb walking in Manhattan… on a leash!

Before our first theater experience, I cringed at the thought of standing in those long lines in Times Square for “cheaper” tickets. I soon learned other ways to buy those same very tickets… and bought all our Broadway tickets there… getting great deals – and even able to choose where we wanted to sit. Everyone has their own preference of where they enjoy sitting, but sometimes you have to attend a few performances to learn where those seats are… as each theater is different. I personally don’t enjoy the balcony seats, I like to be on the main floor, preferably orchestra middle seats… and often as close as I can get to the stage. Once you’ve been in several of the theaters, you have a better idea of where you can see – some side-aisle seats are OK, and some have you often missing some of the performance as the performers are out of eyesight.

There’s something to be said for “Yes” to front row seats and then… “No” I’ll sit a few seats back. I remember being all excited the first time we had front row seats… only to soon feel a little awkward as the dancers are standing extremely close to you at the front of the stage. Were they watching me as I watched them… doing the reverse of critiquing their audience? It’s something no one thinks about or knows, unless you’ve sat in those front row of a dance show – They Sweat! And unfortunately… they sometimes gets a little too close for comfort, making you push back in your seat…. with no place to escape… and quickly wishing you were a few seats back!

What have we seen in Manhattan…. Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center (no ice skating for us though), St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, FAO Schwarz (sadly closed now – it was fun and very crowded toy store to browse through), Toys R Us featuring the huge Ferris Wheel enclosed inside the building (now closed), Little Italy and the famous Ferrara Bakery with display cases full of every Italian pastry and dessert imaginable, Chinatown browsing (just don’t get lost in alley-ways), Soho shopping, Martha Stewart show, Emeril Christmas Show (Elmo as guest), Food Network studio in the old Nabisco Factory, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor (love, love, love  the Christmas windows), Ellen’s Stardust Diner (50’s theme diner with singing wait-staff (great food and awesome entertainment), Jekyll and Hyde Club restaurant (haunted theme restaurant), Becco Restaurant on  355 W 46th St. with really awesome food and service (owned by  Lidia Bastianich), Eataly (largest Italian marketplace in the world, a variety of restaurants, foods and beverages, Italian bakeries, retail items, and a cooking school), Hard Rock Cafe (The decor is impressive), Tiffany & Co… who wouldn’t love shopping in Tiffany’s – impressed with the elevators as they still have actual “elevator operators“, Christmas shopping, Central Park Zoo, stayed at the Hotel Roosevelt on Madison Ave. (great hotel right in the main hub and near the train station), enjoyed perusing the shelves at the famous Strand Bookstore, the Museum of Natural History, and rode the Big Red Bus that circles around Manhattan. I never thought I’d enjoy seeing Manhattan like that, but we really enjoyed it… saw so much more… saving our feet and knees.

I planned a bus trip for the family to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in 2000. That was our first trip there… and definitely peeked our interest into coming back to Manhattan to see more. Melissa took me a few times, and I quickly learned my way around from her… although I never liked riding the subway. It’s just something about being underground and confined that I don’t like… or trust!

Family visits Ellis Island!

Things we haven’t done yet and probably won’t by now… Horse ride through Central Park, Top of the Empire State Building (lines were always too long when we went; my son proposed to his wife on the top of the Empire State Building), Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, New Years Eve ball drop, Stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge, Concert at Bryant Park, Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, Bronx Zoo, New York Public Library (I did walk by it every time we went into the city),  Staten Island Ferry, and the NBC studios.

       Oh, I bet there’s still lots more I’d like to see… but who can remember it all!

Continue reading 2020: April A to Z: Family Stories… click HERE
To read more Family Stories… click HERE

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

 

 

2020: Z – April A to Z… Family Stories: Zee Things the Grandchildren Say… and more

2020: Z – April A to Z… Family Stories

I’m back in 2020 for my fifth year of participating in the yearly April A to Z challenge… and as usual I racked my brain scribbling ideas on paper since the end of last April. It wasn’t until January, that the light bulb finally went off in scrolling through the 85+ of unfinished blog posts in my draft folder. Bingo… there was my A to Z topic…

Family Stories as told to me… mostly by my husband!

From the moment I married into this Italian family… I fell in love with their stories… their memories… and the family. My husband grew up in West Haven, Connecticut… where there was so much to enjoy as a young boy… especially a place known as Savin Rock… although long gone now. It somewhat resembled Coney Island… but was even larger when his parents, aunts and uncles grew up. They had stories… and I was always an eager listener whenever they told those stories…  remembering, and scribbling down to preserve, just as I did with the family recipes that had once only been in their heads. 2020 has became the year I’m telling many of those stories… along with my husband’s memories to preserve for the generations to come. Many of those who told me their stories, are no longer with us… and I hope to keep their memory alive in these stories… as they are now my family also… and I love them all!

My previous years of A to Z Challenges are:

• 2016: A to Z Southern Foods and Memories… they said write what you know… and being a girl born in the South… well this was what I knew.
• 2017: A to Z Conversations with Mama… it was a somewhat easy one for me to write as I’d journaled our conversations for years… I researched favorite topics to write.
• 2018: A to Z All About Nancy Drew… this one has been my favorite topic so far, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with another one to equal it
• 2019: A to Z Italian Famiglia Foods and Memories… I felt it was time to finally write the favorites of my husbands family foods.

Come sit a spell and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zee Things the Grandchildren say…

Zee Granddaughters

Ella’s words from her first day of kindergarten (2015) was the best… she came home and said,  “I don’t think I’m going to like this – not enough nap time…. it’s just not going to work for me.” And after two days… she asked her father for an I-Phone and a Facebook page… He laughed… she got neither!

The first time my son took Ella to church on Ash Wednesday… she was like… “I don’t want to go, they’re gonna pull my eyelashes out?” Sure…. ashes and eyelashes sound alike to me!

Ella spent the first three years at Pop’s daycare in our home… it was usually just Ella and Pop daily… where they formed a great bond. I spent time with her in the afternoon when they picked me up at work. One afternoon I wanted her to go in the kitchen, so I told her to march herself in there… she literally marched with her little legs going up and down as she stomped into the kitchen. I guess she learned about marching on the Mickey Mouse Fun house show she liked to watch… as who teaches them to march!

Grace and McKinley told me about their walk with daddy one day as they hiked up Sleeping Giant… “we get to pee in the woods when we walk with daddy… and sometimes daddy pees in the woods.” Kids remember everything… especially things they shouldn’t re-tell!

Sleeping Giant Park is one of McKinley and Grace’s favorite places to hike… especially, way up to the top, where the castle is. In 2018 a tornado whipped through the area… just down from the girls home, a few miles away. The park was devastated with trees toppled down everywhere… and it was so severe that the park had to be closed; it took over a year for it to be cleaned out and reopened. As the girls were driven by for the first time after the tornado, Gracie said, “Sleeping Giant is very sick.“

Both, McKinley and Grace are somewhat picky eaters and in taking them out for dinner one night, I ordered chicken “tenders.” Gracie immediately began saying, whining, that she didn’t want them. McKinley quickly piped in to tell her… “they are literally the same thing as chicken nuggets, you’ll like them.” Big sister trying to diffuse the situation!

Often it was never more than 10 minutes of being in the car before Gracie would say… “are we there yet?” That always reminds me of my mother, as when we take her in the car… she says the same thing!

On days that we pick them up from school, or keep them for the day, we’ve driven to various farms to visit. While they don’t remember the actual names of the farms, they have their own names that they associate with where they’ve visited… hence the “doggie farm” is actually B&B Farm in West Haven. They have two really friendly dogs there that they enjoy petting and bringing dog bones to. The “swing farm” is The Lavender Farm in Killingworth… where a swing is suspended from a huge branch… and they always fight over who’s going to swing first… and whine… that so and so is taking too long on the swing! The “tractor farm” is Rose’s Orchards… their name is from the big tractor that they enjoy climbing up on… I’m actually surprised that they didn’t call it the goat farm or the ice cream farm. The Book Barn in Niantic is called the “cat farm“… because they have several cats that wander among the books… and they enjoy searching out the unusual sleeping places among the bookshelves. The first time we took them there, they took the pamphlet with the cat pictures and walked around searching for them… they weren’t interested in the books… just looking for the cats.

McKinley (Sept. 2015)  said to her mother one day… “I smell something!” Mom… “what do you smell?” McKinley… “Grasshopper Pee!” Now where did that come from? And what does grasshopper pee smell like?

McKinley, at age 4 asked me one day to “pause” her TV program! These kids today are growing up way too smart… and too fast! They can handle the Firestick remote better than I can! They’re born knowing the finger movements to handle the I-Phone… swiping through photos and pinching the screen. My son was proficient at that age with the VCR… I remember him putting the tapes in that he wanted to watch. What will these young kids see in their lifetime when they have children… they’ll probably command everything through speech… we have so much already of that from Alexa, Sirri and the Fire Stick.

The girls were at our house for the day and McKinley discovered a couple of wooden cows that I painted years ago… she asked if she could have them… then asked why I didn’t paint where the “milk part” was. She’s obsessed with cows lately… is she going to be a dairy farmer? Then the joke came… “where do cows like to go?” Me… “I don’t know.” McKinley, “They like to go to the mooovies.” I should have recorded her, as she thought it was hilarious… which it kinda was!

Whenever we had any of the kids in the car when they were young, we always told them to pay attention to their surroundings… so they knew how to get to their house and always knew where they were. McKinley paid so much attention that she’d constantly tell you that you were going the wrong way… if you took a new route. I think she had a couple of meltdowns with her mother whenever she didn’t take the route that McKinley thought she should. I used to like to tell her that Pop was lost… and she’d immediately say… “well this is what we should do, let’s pull into a driveway and turn around.”

In picking up McKinley on New Year’s Eve at after-school daycare… she hold me her mother had sent party hats, but she couldn’t find them in her cubby. Her teacher told her they were way down in her backpack… McKinley says to me, “now this is what we should do, empty out my pack, we will find them and then put everything back.” I told her “no we should not.”

McKinley always knew her right from left… placing her right hand over her heart for the Pledge of Allegiance at daycare. The teachers said she always paid attention to the younger kids and helped to correct them if they used the wrong hand. At her graduation from Pre-K, she was chosen to say the Pledge of Allegiance using the microphone… and she said it like a pro! I was a very proud GiGi!

One afternoon while I went in the yarn store downtown, Pop rode the girls (McKinley and Grace) around the block.  When I got back in the car, McKinley said… “I like seeing reflections.” I then asked “do you know what a reflection is?”  “Yes, it is when you see yourself in the glass, or water or even a window.”

Sometimes I laid down with McKinley at nap time, especially when she didn’t want to sleep. One day I told her to count sheep jumping over a fence, after she kept saying that she couldn’t sleep. I looked over later to see her dragging her hand across her face, saying “one over the fence, two over the fence“… I closed my eyes or I would have laughed!

I can’t remember what I was talking about or had in my hand but Gracie said… “Is that from China?” I then asked her, “why, you don’t buy anything from china”… “no we don’t buy anything from China!”

Grace’s favorite last words whenever she thinks she doesn’t get the same as McKinley- “but what about me?“

Every try to tell a kid to be quiet in the movies… it usually doesn’t work as they like to talk and laugh out loud. While at Dora the Explorer movie, Gracie realized Dora was talking about going to the bathroom in the forest and said… quite loud… “I know, she’s pooping in the woods.” Gracie got a laugh from most everyone in the movie… as she was quite loud!

Giving kids a bath is always interesting… as they first liked to hunt all around the house for things to pile in the tub, but it was the hair washing which often had its quirks… Gracie had her own way of getting her hair wet… “I lay down in the tub unless we’re taking a shower” It was her way or no way! Then McKinley said, “my hair feels so soft” after washing and rinsing, I said, “why, doesn’t it feel that way at home?” “No, not unless we use conditioner.” I had used baby shampoo… not wanting any tears from soap in their eyes!

Coming home from the first day at kindergarten has always been interesting. McKinley came home and whispered in her mother’s ear… “I have a boyfriend… don’t tell daddy!”  Oh Boy, that sounds like trouble! Daddy has already told both his red-headed daughters that there will be “no” boyfriends!

McKinley started 1st grade on August 29, 2018… and riding the bus for the first time. In asking her what she liked best on her first day, she yelled out – “riding the bus“…  that’s because she’s such a social butterfly!

One afternoon while McKinley was playing, and not listening to little sister Grace… who was trying hard to tell her something… Grace finally said, “McKinley, I’m not going to tell you again!“

While at my son in law’s father’s birthday (2019) party…. Grace said to me, “where are the people with the goodies“… referring to the waiters passing around the appetizers. I then showed her the goodies in my purse… a chocolate candy bar. She was thrilled and forgot about hunting down the people with the other goodies!

I asked Grace and McKinley about the St. Patrick parade…  as they had rode in the “Roaming Train” car Stop and Shop sponsored in the parade. McKinley said, “it was fun.” Grace yelled, “it was cold.” I asked her, “well, did you wear socks.” McKinley said, “no she didn’t, but Mama put them on her.” (2019) For some odd reason… Miss Grace has an aversion to wearing socks! I recently told her I was going to knit her a pair and super-glue them on… she looked at me… and giggled!

Gracie was amazed at Pop hanging laundry outside one morning, and said… “Pop does laundry… my daddy doesn’t… he doesn’t know how much soap to use.”

In teasing Gracie about me popping her backside, she laughed and told me… “my mama says I’m cruising for a bruising!” I bet I said that to her mother when she was little too,  and I’m sure she probably got that bruising… that she had been cruising for!

I asked McKinley if she had a secret safe word between her and her parent’s… meaning so if they had to send someone to pick her up, she’’d know it was OK to leave with them. She said, “no“… then she began coming up with one word after another of what they could use. I could see she’d never pick just one! It’s like just picking out one toy, she can never make up her mind. I told her that the word for her mom and Uncle Steve was Nipper! Then I had to explain who Nipper was… the dog for the RCA Company.

McKinley and Grace were digging in the yard for buried treasure one Sunday afternoon while their parents worked outside… after much complaining that they hadn’t found anything… their dad walked by when they weren’t looking and dropped several coins where they’d been digging…  they soon began yelling that they found buried treasure… but not first before Gracie complained that McKinley found more than she had! It’s always a competition! (Summer 2018)

My son had twins in 2013… two little dark haired bundles of noise and energy. Twins are so much different… each demanding your attention at the same time. It has been fun watching them grow in different directions… forming their own personalities… and having conversations with them… but their energy often zaps mine! Love you bunches Ana & Nina!

And the robot says… “my butt cheeks are cold!”

We went to a Halloween parade at Ella’s school, where she dressed as a “punk rocker” with pink hair… her younger sisters came dressed as a “fairy princess” and a “robot.” Ana was transformed into a robot by the means of a big box for the body… but it was a very, very cold day and she just kept saying… “my butt cheeks are cold.” It was a short box! (I drew the picture in my journal… you can clearly see I’m no artist! LOL)

(2019) Our Nina is a little trickster! She fooled us last year into thinking she didn’t know how to put her shoes on the right feet. When I told her that her shoes were on the wrong feet… she criss-crossed her feet… gave me a sly smile, and said… “now I have them on the right feet.” Ella is the more quiet of the three sisters. She loves looking at 3-D pictures with Pop… seeing them pop out at you; Steve gave her his book of them on our last trip.

I took the girls a DVD of the new Nancy Drew movie and also the 2017 one and we all watched together. They loved them… wanting to watch over and over again… they are movie buffs at a young age. After they understood all the clues in the movies… they’d tell them outloud to you throughout the movie… then they wanted to play Nancy Drew. We downloaded the Haunted Carousel Nancy Drew game on Ella’s computer… she’s trying to figure it out. When cousin McKinley came down last summer, she showed her and the two of them were trying to figure out the clues. I loaded it on my computer also, but I’m not much help… even with cheat sheets. Nina enjoys drawing and is quite an artist… she drew me an elephant after seeing it on my shopping bag. Her teachers are very impressed with her art skills… she tells me she wants to be an artist!

June 25 2019: We picked the girls up at YMCA camp today… they were all excited from camp and I found Gracie flirting with one of the cute boy counselors. McKinley couldn’t wait to show off her singing and clapping song she learned… and Gracie showed me how to do Rock – Paper – Scissors… but she’s tricky… as she likes to wait for you to throw out first… so she can win.

On the ride to our house from another YMCA camp pickup, I asked if they swam today? McKinley said, “I love swimming and I want to be a swim instructor”… last time she wanted to be a vet… and recently she wants to be a yoga instructor”. I‘m going to continue taking swim lessons every year and ballet in the fall.” I asked if she had tried diving yet… “I can kneel down and lean over, and Mar Mar pushes me in.” Then she asked, “how do you stand and dive in?”

Oct 16 2019: At my daughter’s birthday dinner, Gracie blurts out in conversation “Mckinley got lost in Florida.” I looked at my daughter…. and then the story was told; I was surprised the girls hadn’t spilled the beans before. They had gone to a turtle rescue center in Jupiter to watch a turtle release. It was very crowded, and as Mckinley really wanted to see, and no one would let her through the crowds… I guess while Melissa held onto Gracie, she wandered off down to the beach to collect shells! As soon as  the turtle entered the ocean, everyone quickly dispersed… and there was no McKinley! Amidst tears… and the police searching for a red headed girl in a pink hat. Suddenly, Uncle Steve finally spotted her at the beach edge.., picking up shells… oblivious of where she was… and that people were looking for her! She was like… “I went to get shells.” Hopefully a teaching lesson came from this!

In stopping at my son’s house one afternoon, Ella told me about taking her Nancy Drew book to school for classroom reading. I then asked, “are you taking all your Nancy Drew books with you when you move to Florida?” “Oh Yes, I’m taking them all!” Made me feel good as I had given her 1-56 of the original Nancy Drew books.

In listening to Ella talk about school last year.. “it’s all about drama at school“, she said. “Girlfriend drama… Boyfriend drama“… I laughed at all the “drama” words of a fourth grader. Ella talked about how she wants to be an actress and a singer… Ana wants to be an artist… and Nina just wants to play Barbie and be a scootch! She’s the wise guy and trickster… and the LOL (doll) officiendo her mother tells me!

(Dec. 2019) We picked the girls up from school and they came out with gifts in plastic bags… they had shopped in the school store for presents for their parents. Coupons are earned in school and parents sent in a couple dollars for each of them. McKinley told me that one student didn’t have any coupons so she gave her one of hers. She’s so sweet and tender hearted like that… she even bought her sister a gift.

As Gracie played and talked to her dolls, she told me. “My baby’s birthday is tomorrow on Christmas day and she’s going to get lots of presents from her and Tikie, Grace’s husband…and he’s celebrating Hanukkah.” I guess there has been much talk about Hanukkah in school. (2019)

Grace and McKinley were here for the afternoon and as their dad arrived, we all sat down to enjoy “breakfast” for dinner. I took a photo of everyone to send to their mom… and she quickly came back to tell us we weren’t practicing “social distancing”… Really! Gracie said, “we should just all put duct tape over our mouth.” This was during our March 2020 Quarantine!

In waiting for the girls dad to pick them up, the word “moustache” came up because of the cartoon they were watching where the man had a large handlebar moustache. I asked Gracie if she wanted her daddy to have one like that… “well he had a beard once, but he shaved it off… it tickled and scratched me.” (2020)

While at Melissa’s for dinner, (Jan. 13, 2020) McKinley brought me a felt/flannel scarf and asked if I thought it was bought or made. After looking at it I said, “maybe bought“. McKinley said, “no, it was made by my teacher… she gave one to every student… she made them.” I thought it interesting how she asked my opinion… testing me! She thought it was very special that her teacher made everyone in class a handmade gift. She knows about crafts as I knit, her mother knits and her other grandmother knits… I had just brought her and Grace a scarf, mitten and hat…. from a recent knitting frenzy of mine!

Also while there, Melissa told us how Gracie announced the other day,  “I can read.” It must be so exciting when they first discover how  letters suddenly make sense to them as they turn into words. We had taken over Pop’s rocker from he was a kid, Gracie took it over immediately… sitting in it all evening.

While over for Gracie’s birthday (April 25, 2020), I mentioned the word “stupid” and Gracie told me it was a bad word, but I replied “It’s not really a bad word and depends on how you use it.” Melissa came in and said… “now I know where she gets that word, more often from Pop though.” She then asked Gracie, “what does Pop call bad drivers?” Gracie giggled and said, “I’m not saying anything!“

In asking my son for some funny moments… “I was taking the girls to school on my way to work… and yelling for them to hurry up, but someone had to go to the bathroom… naturally at the last moment. I’m yelling to come on and hurry up, and with Ana in the bathroom, her sister, Nina, yells out loud… “she’s pooping.” Hey when you gotta go… you gotta go… and you can always count on your twin sister to rat you out!

I’ve always been amazed at how fast my daughter in law, Rose, takes hand of their three girls… I always laugh at how her hand is quicker than you can blink an eye! One birthday as my son blew out his birthday candles… with three girls right beside him helping… but there was one candle that didn’t go out. Ana went to pinch it with her little hand… but mama was quicker than a speeding bullet in grabbing her hand… coming out of nowhere to swoop in!

As my son was taking Molly for a walk, he asked if I wanted an ice cream… “they’re out in the freezer in the garage… I eat one out there so the girls don’t see me and all want one!” I laughed… as I had this mental image of him sneaking out to the garage for a quiet moment… and an ice cream… and then remembered all the times I hid foods in the house from my kids… him included! I guess what goes around… comes around!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few of my own children’s funny things popped in my head, so I thought why not write them also on “Z”… before I forget!

One day I sent my son stephen to his room for saying bad words… he was about five years old. I told him that he could not come out until he could behave and stop saying them. So off he went to his room, shutting the door… and soon I began him hearing him saying several bad words, over and over. Then it was all quiet, he came out and said, “I’m all done.” 

Stephen, was probably around eight, when I made him push the upright vacuum in the living room one morning; his sister, age four, was sitting on the floor with her hands behind her. Most likely, after several times of yelling to move… he pushed the big red upright vacuum over her hands. She screams and I run… quickly turning it off… heart racing… as all I could think of was that her little hands were rolled around the beater bar. Melissa was crying, I was crying, and Stephen was crying! I slowly lifted the vacuum and both her hands were still flat on the floor… and fine! I don’t remember what I said, but I’m sure I had words for both of them after that!

As I made french toast the other morning, I suddenly remembered when Stephen and Melissa made french toast in their teens; I was working. Melissa told her brother that she would make breakfast that morning… but soon after she asked, “ok, so how do you make it?” I’m sure Stephen gave her several eye-rolls, before saying, “never mind, I’ll make it!” Stephen had always had more interest in cooking than she did… and cooks quite often even today. When both my children left home… they left with a homemade recipe book of most of their favorite recipes. Melissa is quite a good cook today though!

It just goes to show you that if you don’t write down the funny things said when it happens… it’s often long forgotten. I’m sure there were more things my own children said or did… but those memories are scattered to the winds now. My suggestion to anyone now with children… keep a journal for each child and write to them as time persists. I so wish I had thought to do that… as what a gift it would have made! Hmm… now what would be in my journal if my mother had written to me!

For all those who have followed me along in my 2020: A to Z of Family Stories… THANK YOU for your support, comments and sharing your family remembrances with me! I’m sad that today is my last day of writing hubby’s family stories…  It’s been FUN!

Continue reading 2020: April A to Z: Family Stories… click HERE
To read more Family Stories… click HERE

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

2020: Y – April A to Z… Family Stories: I was at Yankee Stadium when Roger Maris Hit his 61st Home Run

2020: Y – April A to Z… Family Stories

I’m back in 2020 for my fifth year of participating in the yearly April A to Z challenge… and as usual I’ve racked my brain scribbling ideas on paper since the end of last April. It wasn’t until January, that the light bulb finally went off in scrolling through the 85+ of unfinished blog posts in my draft folder. Bingo… there was my A to Z topic…

Family Stories as told to me… mostly by my husband!

From the moment I married into this Italian family… I fell in love with their stories… their memories… and the family. My husband grew up in West Haven, Connecticut… where there was so much to enjoy as a young boy… especially a place known as Savin Rock… although long gone now. It somewhat once resembled Coney Island… and even larger when his parents, aunts and uncles grew up. They had stories… and I was always an eager listener whenever they told those stories…  remembering, and scribbling down to preserve, just as I did with the family recipes that had once only been in their heads. 2020 has became the year I’m telling many of those stories… along with my husband’s memories to preserve for the generations to come. Many of those who told me their stories, are no longer with us… and I hope to keep their memory alive in these stories… as they are now my family also… and I love them all!

My previous years of A to Z Challenges are:

• 2016: A to Z Southern Foods and Memories… they said write what you know… and being a girl born in the South… well this was what I knew.
• 2017: A to Z Conversations with Mama… it was a somewhat easy one for me to write as I’d journaled our conversations for years… I researched favorite topics to write.
• 2018: A to Z All About Nancy Drew… this one has been my favorite topic so far, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with another one to equal it
• 2019: A to Z Italian Famiglia Foods and Memories… I felt it was time to finally write the favorites of my husbands family foods.

Come sit a spell and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was at Yankee Stadium when Roger Maris hit his 61st Home Run!

“The First baseball game I ever went to… was watching Yogi Berra (No 8). We had tickets right behind 1st base. In these photos, Yogi had just been up to bat, and was on first base… I took this photo with my Kodak Argus camera. No zoom features on those cameras… if you were far away… you were just far away!”

“I only went to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York twice – and only because Uncle Pete (Insalaco) was given free tickets from where he worked. The game I most remember was the one where Roger Maris (No. 9) hit his sixty-first home run and broke Babe Ruth’s record of sixty hits in 1927. I was there on October 1, 1961 (Sunday), sitting in box seats behind third base. It was the fourth inning of the last game of the season… between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Everyone stood up applauding as he walked into the dugout… and the fans kept applauding in wanting him to come back out; the players had to push him back out to take a bow… that’s how humble he was. I took a photo of him on the field that day and still have it today.”

“I don’t ever remember eating a hot dog at the games… things were too expensive to us back then… if you were lucky enough to go to the game, you enjoyed the game, not buying all the money making additions.”

I was at Yankee Stadium when Roger Maris hit his 61st Home Run on Oct 1, 1961 – it was a warm Sunday afternoon. We were behind 3rd base with box seats for this game.

“We had upper deck 3rd base box seats on the day of the game… Uncle Pete had gotten the tickets; he was a salesman and often was given tickets; I went with his sister Martha (my aunt). Martha drove her VW to cousin Horace’s house in New York, and he dropped us off right at the gate; the game was played at the Old Yankee Stadium… Horace only lived about 5 miles away.”  

“New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris capped one of the most spectacular seasons in baseball history… with one swing of the bat, he became the major-league single-season home-run leader. Roger Maris retired in 1984… and the Yankees retired his number “9.” The fans called Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris the M&M kids. Mickey Mantle could bat right or left handed and even catch a ball behind his back. I was there the day he hit the ball out of the park… it landing on a street nearby. I even had the actual baseball card showing the ball on the street below his picture. He was one of the fastest runners in baseball.” 

“For all its historic potential, the reported crowd was little more than a third of what the iconic Yankee Stadium could hold. But in its own way, that lackluster crowd saw history made when Maris broke Babe Ruth’s world record. It was the last game of the season… and his last time at bat. The Yankees went to the World Series playoffs the following Wednesday. The crowds were never in the stands back then like today, people weren’t that free with their money… there were never sold-out games.“

“I  never sat in the house watching baseball on TV, I was always out and busy. I played the game, but I found it boring to just sit and watch. Going to the game was a different story though, you could look around and watch people… I’m a people watcher. It’s like going to church, you look around at people… who’s wearing what, and being a guy, I’m looking at women, which is what I’ve done all my life.”

“I remember when I wanted to try out for the little league team at school, my father said, “if you can’t play good enough to be professional, then don’t abuse your body. He felt that if baseball was going to be your life, you lived everyday with that ball in your hand. I guess he already knew about aches and pains and was trying to save me grief. I didn’t believe his thoughts, but I sure do now… but as a kid, old age seemed far away.. sure came quicker than I ever thought.”

Maris’ status as an emerging star was soon swept aside when the NY Yankees traded for him on December 11, 1959… trading from Kansas City Athletics… he had only been a left-handed hitting kid from the Midwest.

“My father went to see a World Series game in 1960 when the New York Yankees were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates; it was the third game and played on Oct. 8th. They beat the Yankees that night, 10 to 0. My father saw Bobby Richardson, a second baseman, hit a grand slammer… don’t see that often; but in the end the Pirates won the pennant. There was still snow on the ground when they went as we had just had a blizzard earlier in the week. That was another game Uncle Pete had gotten tickets for, but being a school day, I was made to go to school.”

“I had that very baseball card of Bobby Richardson… I had them all! I won so many baseball cards one day… and only started playing with 47… while another kid had a huge pile of cards. We called the game “Leanzees”…. one card leaned up against the wall… you’d throw your card, and if you knocked over the leaner, you won the pot. I won 400 plus cards that day… winning all the cards that day!”

“I never liked bubble gum, so I never bought many cards; they were like 2 cents a pack… money wasn’t easy to come by when I was a kid, and I didn’t have money to throw away on cards. I still had all those cards when I left for the Air Force. I kept all my things… kept in my drawer in a little box. But they weren’t there when I came home… my brother ransacked pretty much everything I had while I was gone. What I got the maddest over was how he took all my 45’s and cut a hole in those nice jackets so he could see the names… always too lazy to just put the record back in the correct/original jacket.”

“My favorite baseball player was always Yogi Berra – and I loved the song “YOGI” by the Ivy Three that came out in 1960. I heard it on the radio just the other day, and it brought back memories of when I used to hear it new; all the radio stations  played it daily. I actually still have the 45 of it – Dolly gave it to me. The Ivy Three only made that one record… and then they never played together again.”

“Yogi Berra had quite a few sayings – one was “It ain’t over till it’s over”… and in the game of baseball that was very true. He also said “you learn a lot by watching people”… and that’s one thing I have always liked to do. You learn by watching, you don’t learn everything from books.”

“It was a Friday nite when I went to the game and the Yankee Clubhouse with my father and Uncle Pete… he always drove as he knew where to park. The Yankee Clubhouse was right across from the stadium and he took my picture in front of Babe Ruth’s retired No. 5.”

Uncle Pete took my photo at the Yankee Clubhouse…  he had taken my father and I to the game to see the New York Yankees play.

Continue reading 2020: April A to Z: Family Stories… click HERE
To read more Family Stories… click HERE

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

 

Nancy Drew: Happy 90th Birthday!

Nancy Drew celebrates her 90th Birthday today on April 28th, 2020!

The very first Nancy Drew mystery debuted in 1930… and I often call my mother Nancy Drew. My mother was also born in 1930 and celebrated her 90th this year on April 6th… although due to the virus pandemic… she sadly celebrated alone. When I tell her she turned 90… she’s quick to tell me, “no I’m not!” I’m not sure how old she thinks she is… but I’ll just let her be ever what age she wants to be!

While we all know that the iconic Nancy Drew is a fictional character… she seems very real to many of us who grew up following her from mystery to mystery! She calmed us to sleep at night… with flashlight in hand as we read under the covers… often keeping us out of trouble by allowing us to tag along in her sleuthing travels. Nancy Drew was one of the first female sleuths created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer in 1930… conjuring up a female counterpart to the Hardy Boys. Even though Stratemeyer had the vision for Nancy in creating the first story line… the book series were ghostwritten by many authors over the years… published under the pseudonym of “Carolyn Keene.” As a young girl of 9 first reading Nancy Drew, I never knew Carolyn Keene wasn’t a real author… only learning later that “Carolyn Keene” was only a pseudonym name. I never gave it much thought until later in life when I discovered Nancy again… but now in a different way.

Me as a young Nancy Drew reader!

I began reading Nancy Drew as a 9 year old girl who loved to read… and while many talk about checking out their books at the library… I never did. I did spend my Saturday mornings weekly at our town library, but I only have memories of checking out biographies on the presidents, scientists and the likes of Annie Oakley and Anne Frank; there are no memories of perusing the titles of Nancy Drew at the library… but I had many of those titles on my bookshelf.

All my Nancy Drew books were bought new! Whenever mama took a trip to the newly opened K-Mart… I was quick to tag along… I knew exactly where I wanted to head to… the book department. I don’t remember having any specific titles in mind to buy… as it was usually the books art cover which made that decision for me! Even today, I can easily just enjoy perusing all the art covers of Nancy Drew… as they truly are miniature pieces of art! What I wouldn’t give to actually own one! In 2018, my favorite “The Secret in the Old Attic” cover art went up for auction at Swann Auction Galleries in NYC on June 5, 2018… but, sadly I didn’t get the winning bid of $35,000… hubby would have strangled me! I surely did want it, but good to know that it went to a great home. The Old Attic was book no. 21 in the original classic Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series, and first published in 1944. The original cover art was by Russell H. Tandy… one of the most popular artists of Nancy Drew art covers. Swann Galleries also sold another Nancy Drew “Tandy” painting… The Secret at Shadow Ranch.

RUSSELL H. TANDY. “The Secret in the Old Attic.” Original cover illustration for the book of the same name by Carolyn Keene, published as “Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #21” (New York: Grosset & Dunlap 1944). Watercolor, pencil, ink, and gouache on Whatman drawing board. 578×457 mm; 22 3/4×16 inches. Signed in lower right image. Matte attached to perimeters of recto. Verso has release stamp of September 22, 1955 and with publisher’s labels reading “Blue print and Hold / 9am.” Provenance: Collection of the Tandy family. (Info from Swann Gallery Catalogue)

Additional Details from catalogue… This cover features all the visual hallmarks of a classic Nancy Drew mystery novel including a dusty attic, an old chest holding a number of curious artifacts, sheet music spilling out across the floor, and an ominous skeleton peering out at Nancy from behind a closet door as she sifts through the evidence by candlelight. Another “secret” hidden in this cover is the personal family anecdote that the three pieces of sheet music, titled “The Song of My Love,” “March,” and “In the Eve” were all musical compositions that Tandy created in his early career as both a cornet player and occasional composer for the great conductor John Philip Sousa and The Goldman Band. In a nod to that history, the plot of the novel centers around stolen music created by a deceased soldier named Philip March that Nancy must sleuth out. The image shows her at the moment she discovers hidden musical manuscripts that will help solve the mystery.

Russell’s classic and sophisticated portrayal of Nancy helped make the famous series so successful. He illustrated a total of 26 Nancy Drew books from 1930 to 1949. In addition to his literary illustrations, Tandy worked for department stores as a fashion illustrator. He also drew some of the illustrations for Butterick Patterns and designed the original logo for Jantzen swimwear. In his social life, he counted Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dalí, John L. Sullivan, and Norman Rockwell among his friends.

This cover is probably responsible for my love of rambling through old dusty attics… secretly looking for a mystery to solve… or maybe even a ghost!

When my interest in Nancy Drew was re-woken… I learned so much more about my beloved sleuth that I never knew before, such as:

• Nancy debuted in 1930… created by publicist Edward Stratemeyer.
• There are two editions for each book for the first 34 volumes. They are often referred to as OT (original text) and RT (revised text)
• In 1959 they began revising the OT books… changing much of the wording as some called it racist… also changing Nancy into a somewhat less unruly and violent character she often portrayed in the earlier books. While I didn’t necessarily see this in the later books I read, but in being only 16 years of age.. she seemed to have had no rules like I had.
• Nancy Drew has been translated into 45 languages around the world.
• There have been 5 Nancy Drew films, three TV series, several computer games, and many Facebook Fan groups… of which I’m a member of several.
• The many “warnings” Nancy received… and who doesn’t laugh at the many times that Nancy is knocked unconscious… and the dastardly and snooty villains she’s encountered… and the unusual clues and all the iconic clothing Nancy wore.
• Hypers…. all the funny quotes  from Nancy, Bess and George… and the superstitions … and all those who eavesdropped on them. Never leave a window up or stand near a bush… as there surely will be someone lurking in the shadows… eavesdropping!
• Much of the stolen goods that Nancy was usually hot on the trail of… was of jewelry.
• When I wrote my “2018: A to Z … All About Nancy Drew“… I was amazed at all I hadn’t  known. You can read my April AtoZ blog challenge over Here.

The classic Nancy Drew books are the original volumes of 1-56… which were only published in hardcover. While they have continued through the years, and still published today… they are usually released in paperback, but they often publish special editions and covers in hardcover. Even after the first 56, they did publish a few more in hardcover due to copyright issues… and are searched out by fans today.

While the original Nancy Drew Mystery Stories (in hardcover) continued past the first 56 (paperback), they finally ended them in 2003. But also during that time, they launched a new series to keep drawing the young readers in… and keeping the older reader still hanging on.

In the 1980’s, they slowly began to change Nancy into a slightly older Nancy, taking her in a different direction… slightly more professional. The Nancy Drew Files even allowed Nancy to become more romantic, which we never read about in our classic original books. The 2004 Girl Detective series soon featured Nancy now driving a hybrid electric and even having a cell phone… far cry from the original roadster and landline phone from the books. It always made me laugh when I’d read how Nancy had to leave the scene to go in search of a phone to call the police; she could never immediately call for help! I’m not sure how driving an electric car would help her… just picture her out of juice on the back roads… with nowhere to plug in… but at least she’d be able to call for help!

What’s your favorite Quote?

Through the years, there were several writers, writing under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene… but most of the Nancy Drew “die hard” fans consider Mildred Wirt Benson… as the true original Carolyn Keene! Mildred wrote the first seven volumes… as well as books 11 through 25… writing many of the early, and most-loved… such as, The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, The Mystery of Lilac Inn, The Secret of Shadow Ranch, the Secret of Red Gate Farm, and The Clue in the Diary. It’s often these that still remain as top favorites of the fans.

Stratemeyer’s daughter’s, Edna & Harriet, took over their father’s publishing company a short couple of weeks after Nandy Drew’s debut in 1930… helping to keep Nancy alive after his death. It was later Harriet (Adams) who began later to write many story outlines, as well as manuscripts for volumes 33 through 56. Harriet had a deep love for Nancy Drew… which truly kept her alive through the years. Did Harriet’s father share his writing of Nancy to her many years before she debuted in 1930… if so, it helped Harriet to bond with Nancy!

Everything Nancy!

Nine decades have passed since this beloved series was read by many of our grandmothers, mothers and daughters… and even today, in many of my Nancy Drew Facebook groups, I find all ages, reading and discussing Nancy Drew… and from all around the world; it makes me smile when I read posts of young girls posting about Nancy Drew. I have five granddaughters from the ages of 6-10… but no real Nancy Drew reader yet… although I keep trying to encourage. In today’s reading world, Nancy Drew has much opposition in reading series, television shows and games! It does make it hard to compete with what is all out there… but I keep trying to encourage! Just the other day I finally sat down to watch the latest (2019) Nancy Drew movie of The Hidden Staircase with McKinley (8) and Grace (6). It had been filmed in my mother’s hometown of Monroe, Ga… and I was there for much of the filming; that was quite interesting to them as I told them how close some scenes were to their great-grandmother’s house. They lasted for the entire movie… so I’m hoping they will ask to watch again. When I first watched last year with granddaughters, Ella (10), Ana (7) and Nina (7)… who are all movie buffs… they immediately wanted to restart the movie and watch again. I think we had three movie viewings that same afternoon, before I called quits!

Wanna Play Nancy Drew?

In reading Nancy Drew as as adult, I pay more attention to detail… and her ability to solve any mystery that comes her way… often coming from her father requesting her help. It does make you laugh though, as how many fathers today would be asking their 16 year old daughter to help them solve a mystery or crime… and who would be handing them a pistol to take on a weekend ghost hunting exhibition! Nancy’s father did that very thing when she went to spend the weekend at the mansion of the Turnbull sisters in “The Hidden Staircase” to search out a ghost!

While I never thought of coloring any of the illustrations in the books when I first read… I do enjoy coloring them today!

Today they often talk about the language and actions in the early Nancy Drew books… especially calling the portrayal of much of the character language as racist. People seem to have forgotten that when those books were written, they were written in the speech of the people of where they lived… people spoke differently in various parts of the South… it was not written with intent to hurt or slander. Being from the South myself, and growing up in the 50’s and 60’s… I often heard that type of dialect… but it’s not heard today. As times changed, they felt the need to rethink those early books… rewriting them to better suit the changing times… and those changed books were really the only ones I first read as a young 9 year old girl. As an adult today, I have now read most of the earlier “original text” books… those with the different words and often even different story lines… and I love them both… it’s often like reading two entirely different stories.

Even though the books are supposedly all about Nancy Drew… it really is the entire group of characters who make the story work. I would say Carson Drew, as her father, had the least of storylines. I love Hannah Gruen’s storyline… in keeping the household running and the household well fed with her delicious foods… and who didn’t enjoy reading about all the great comfort food she prepared. She made sure they ate! Nancy’s sometime sleuth pals, Bess Marvin, George Fayne, and Helen Archer occasionally, were always there for her… no matter what time of day, they’d drop plans in a heartbeat to go anywhere with her; Nancy’s, sometime boyfriend, Ned Nickerson could always be counted on to come to Nancy’s aid in a crisis. Being a romantic in reading… Nancy really kept him and love at a distance… and it seemed like he often wanted more than she offered… but he remained true to her and always very protective.

Did you have a truly favorite character above anyone else?

As events were cancelled this year, due to the 2020 Coronavirus Epidemic, events such as the many Nancy Drew Sleuth conventions didn’t happen… we were unable to gather to celebrate Nancy’s 90th birthday…. so Nancy will re-celebrate her 90th birthday next year! But I will celebrate via Zoom with many of the Nancy Drew fans around the country today… and even the world to chat and remember Nancy Drew!

I so love all the “mentions” of Nancy Drew discovered in watching TV… my ears are always open!

Nancy Drew came back to television last fall (2019) with a new show on The CW channel. Even though they kept Nancy at age 18, they changed it up a bit with Bess and George not really being her best friends… even changing Ned Nickerson into a character so unlike our old Ned… twisting his name to Nick Henderson; why the name change? I didn’t mind the nickname of Nick… as it seemed short for Nickerson.

Curious as I was… I tuned in and was immediately hooked… but not crazy on the relationship of Nancy and Nick… and how they interacted so closely right away. Our Nancy would never have jumped into bed so quickly! George, while still very tomboyish, was way cold to Nancy… and Bess, still a blonde, was new to the town… arriving with lots of secrets and baggage. Like the book, Nancy lost her mother quickly… only to live alone with her father… but not with a relationship like they shared in the books. Many don’t like how that part of their story line is portrayed. I wouldn’t have minded if they had changed it up slightly different… leaving the mother alive for a change, and having the father die… leaving Nancy’s mom to be the lawyer. I can already think of many ways, of how it could play out with Nancy only interacting with her mom.

Unfortunately… no one lives forever… as even characters in books, comics and movies are eventually killed off. Unfortunately, it seems this year that our Nancy Drew is being killed off in a comic book series by Dynamite Entertainment… and they are considering it a celebration of the iconic character turning 90! I’m not sure why they want Nancy Drew dead… but they are calling in the Hardy Boys to investigate. Really? Personally… maybe it should be the other way around… at least to me! I don’t have high hopes that the comic will sit well with the thousands of fans around the world!

What’s your favorite Nancy Drew mystery story?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To celebrate Nancy’s 90th’s Birthday… I plan to continue reading all those stories I still have never finished! Time and things often have gotten in the way of reading… but I’m joining in the Nancy Drew Facebook “Book Club” where we will read and discuss a book twice a month!

and always when in a dilemma… think WWNDD!

…And if you happen to not know what that stands for…  google away!

Click for more … Nancy Drew stories

or to read my A to Z: 2018 – All About Nancy Drew

I great up in a great era… reading Nancy Drew!

 

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

2020: X – April A to Z… Family Stories: Xmas Stories

2020: X – April A to Z… Family Stories

I’m back in 2020 for my fifth year of participating in the yearly April A to Z challenge… and as usual I’ve racked my brain scribbling ideas on paper since the end of last April. It wasn’t until January, that the light bulb finally went off in scrolling through the 85+ of unfinished blog posts in my draft folder. Bingo… there was my A to Z topic…

Family Stories as told to me… mostly by my husband!

From the moment I married into this Italian family… I fell in love with their stories… their memories… and the family. My husband grew up in West Haven, Connecticut… where there was so much to enjoy as a young boy… especially a place known as Savin Rock… although long gone now. It somewhat once resembled Coney Island… and even larger when his parents, aunts and uncles grew up. They had stories… and I was always an eager listener whenever they told those stories…  remembering, and scribbling down to preserve, just as I did with the family recipes that had once only been in their heads. 2020 has became the year I’m telling many of those stories… along with my husband’s memories to preserve for the generations to come. Many of those who told me their stories, are no longer with us… and I hope to keep their memory alive in these stories… as they are now my family also… and I love them all!

My previous years of A to Z Challenges are:

• 2016: A to Z Southern Foods and Memories… they said write what you know… and being a girl born in the South… well this was what I knew.
• 2017: A to Z Conversations with Mama… it was a somewhat easy one for me to write as I’d journaled our conversations for years… I researched favorite topics to write.
• 2018: A to Z All About Nancy Drew… this one has been my favorite topic so far, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with another one to equal it
• 2019: A to Z Italian Famiglia Foods and Memories… I felt it was time to finally write the favorites of my husbands family foods.

Come sit a spell and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve Insalaco with Aunt Dolly (Cambino-Alfonso)

Xmas Stories

My mother tells me that Christmas never seemed to appeal to me… no matter how hard she tried. Christmas morning would come… and being the strange child I was, and maybe still am…  walked by the living room where the tree was… looked in… and walked on. What was wrong with me? Supposedly, a few days later I’d go in to see what Santa left under the tree. I truly must have been a one of a kind child… if mama remembers correctly! All my grandchildren rise very early… begging to go see… and usually yelled at to go back to bed until they see daylight! This past Christmas I heard one was up at 1 a.m…. way before Santa even arrived!

Did I have a Santa phobia when I was young… in wanting nothing to do with that jolly ol’ man?  Daddy’s best friend came to the door once, dressed as Santa with a doll for me… I  took one look and ran… hiding under the bed until he left. Maybe he traumatized me… and mama remembers that I never played with that doll! Possibly I waited so long in checking out my new toys… thinking that Santa would suddenly jump out from behind a chair… who knows what thoughts ran through my child mind!

While watching a Xmas movie of a family buying a Xmas tree, I asked Steve about his Xmas years… “We always had a live tree, no one had artificial trees except for, maybe, rich people – they were still new at the time. We would go out about a week before Xmas to pick out our tree – and we all went as a family. There were a few lots around town – one was across from Armstrong Rubber, another one was across from where Clancy Brother’s was, which was across from the Armstrong Warehouse, and another was on Campbell Avenue… across from the VA Hospital. They all had colored lights strung up over the lot, Xmas music playing and fires blazing in the steel drums to warm your hands… just like you see in the movies today; it was exciting and fun to go with the family to pick out your tree. Today Xmas is ruined when they put up the tree and decorate it so early… I liked it better back when I was a kid. I even remember the Xmas trees my grandparents had on the farm, but they were only small trees there… we were poor. After moving to 1st Avenue, they had bigger trees as Johnny and Freddie bought them and they were generous with their money. Freddie even bought the bedroom suite my grandparents had… my mother later used it and my daughter uses it today… it’s very classic, and well-made.”

I blogged “25 Days of Christmas in 2015 year and these were Steve’s memories.

Dec. 1, 2015: Day 1: Trees… “Holidays weren’t as commercial as they are today… no one brought a tree home any early than a week before Xmas. There were Xmas tree lots set up all over West Haven… wherever there was free space, someone opened up a tree lot. A typical tree lot had lights strung over the tops of trees clustered together… trees sitting on those “x” stands… and it seems like Silent Night was always playing. Most times it was snowing when we went to pick out our tree… which always put you more in the holiday spirit. Snow on the ground always seemed to make it feel more like Christmas was coming. It was usually the four of us, me, my brother and parents that went to look for the tree. All the lots were the same, so my father probably stopped at the first one we found… my parents weren’t picky, as I don’t remember us looking for a long time. We went there, found a tree, tied it on roof of the car, and home we went. Most times, we even put it up that very same night.”

“At Christmas Freddie and Johnny always brought home the biggest tree they could find. One tree was so tall that it couldn’t even stand upright in the living room… and what did Johnny do – he just cut off the top of the tree – making it fit!”

An early Xmas tree at hubby’s house… even blurred, it’s a treasure!

Another classic Xmas tree photo… same curtains as photos above. Smaller TV here with what looks like a car trophy on TV… could that have been one from Uncle Johnny’s many wins at Savin Rock? Everyone used tinsel and beads on their trees.

Dec. 2, 2015: Day 2: Christmas Cards… “Mama sometimes hung the cards received on the living room stairs ~ I would tape them along the handrail and they’d cover all the way up… or I’d hang a ribbon from one end of the wood cornices, over the curtains, to hang the cards. Mama sometimes sent out about 40 or more cards… my job was to seal the envelopes and add the stamps… and probably mail them also. As the years went by, less cards arrived … and fewer cards were mailed out. As postage stamps increased, everyone complained about sending out cards. (The wood cornices were made by Uncle Jimmy Donahue) He made them for everyone in the family and they often held the Christmas cards from a ribbon strung across.

Dec. 3, 2015: Day 3: Music… “Everything was not like it is today; the music didn’t really even start until about two weeks before Christmas; we only had a AM radio back then. Mama never had any Christmas albums but I remember she playing Italian music all the time – Mario Lanzo was her favorite… and playing them on her Zenith blonde finish Hi-Fi console. Everything in Christmas past was not like it is today.  She played many records but they were mostly her Italian music. I don’t remember my mother having any specific Christmas albums years ago when I was young. If we listened to Christmas music, it would have been on a radio – and there were only A.M. stations back then. Today, the Christmas music starts before Thanksgiving and you find the trees up in the stores, before Halloween even begins… often now even in July… it so ruins the holidays!” 

Dec. 4, 2015: Day 4: Lights… “No matter how many lights we had – we always ended up at the hardware store on Christmas Eve for a few replacement bulbs. I love the big colored lights we had on our tree… they were the best. The big pine trees on the side of our house were once much smaller than the 35 – 40 feet they are today! My father dug up those trees at his mother’s house in Shelton on Kneen St… and until they grew too tall for our ladders to reach, we hung lights on them every Christmas. My father had one of the electricians at Armstrong Rubber make him several light sets and we filled them with the biggest colored bulbs we could find. Daddy hung the lights himself until I was big enough to handle the ladder and reach the top. I then hung them every Christmas until the ladder didn’t reach any more… and then that was the end of lights on the pine trees. The pine tree on the left we were still able to hang lights on – but by 1971, when I married, it was way too high… now the “impossible” unless you had a bucket truck.”

“Uncle Johnny bought the first bubble lights in the family, and hung them on the tree at First Avenue. My father wouldn’t buy them – it wasn’t something he was going to spend his money on… to only use for a week and a half. Uncle Johnny was single… living at home… so most times he was the first one to buy something new… and always had the biggest tree in the family. One year it was so tall that they had to cut the top off to even bring it inside. I remember the huge lighted Santa face he bought and hung on the front of the house. My grandparents house on Christmas Eve, on First Avenue, was always alive with lights, family, fun and food.”

Dec. 5, 2015: Day 5: Christmas Recipes… “As a young boy, I paid no attention to recipes, I just wanted food… and I could eat you out of house and home! Holiday dinners were the best, as the house was usually filled with all your cousins. Xmas Eve was even better though, as everyone gathered at my grandmother’s house on First Avenue in West Haven. The tables were loaded with food, desserts, liquor and cordial bottles – everyone had to toast the holiday! The Xmas foods at my two grandmothers varied so differently… in Shelton I remember only having home-made pizza on Christmas Eve. When we arrived at my grandmother’s house in West Haven, they were serving seafood sauce over pasta, several types of fried fish like shrimp, smelts, cod, scallops, and calamari. And after all the food, came the desserts… trays and trays of cookies, and then fruit and nut trays. How did we eat all that? My grandmother Minnie and her daughters usually made the Zeppoles (fried dough balls) early Xmas Eve morning… serving later with honey drizzled on top. They were my favorite, and the first thing I ate when arriving.”

“The 7 Fishes of Christmas Eve dinner’

“Today, I make the seafood sauce for Christmas Eve… and I’ve perfected it as the best! I take it another step by picking all the meat out of the blue crabs to put back in the sauce; it enhances the taste and as no one ate the crabs after the meal anyway – the meat was being wasted. I hate wasting food! I haven’t attempted the stuffed shrimp yet as Jeanne still makes it. I always felt Christmas Eve is the best of the holidays… waiting all year for the seafood sauce as it never seems to taste right any other time of the year!”

Dec. 6, 2015: Day 6: Santa Claus… “I always knew who Santa was – it was so easy for me to figure out which uncle was playing him that night. Our first stop on Christmas Eve was always to Nonni’s house in Shelton. Usually after dinner, one of the uncles disappeared and soon you’d hear bells jingling as he came up the cellar stairs; they changed in the basement. It was often Uncle John, Uncle Tony or Uncle Hubie who played Santa. All the kids gathered in the living room… anxiously waiting to hear their names called as he pulled presents out of his big red sack. I remember one year I received a gas powered small airplane, but it was mostly clothes in those wrapped presents. Santa always made an appearance in Shelton, but only once in awhile did he stop at Grandma Minnie’s in West Haven – and it would be Uncle Mikie, my grandmother’s brother. I have no memories of going to see Santa as a child, sitting on his lap, or even telling him what I wanted for Christmas. Believing in Santa Claus wasn’t anything that I ever believed in. Why – because I had two uncles, Johnny and Frankie… who told me all about how the real world was… never telling me any make-believe stories or sugar-coating any stories. They were my idols – I believed in everything they did – and wanted to be just like them!”

Dec. 7, 2015: Day 7: Christmas Television and Movies… “I don’t remember watching any specific Christmas movies, but all the regular TV series had their own Christmas episodes. A few of my favorites were The Donna Reed Show, Ozzie and Harriet, Jeff’s Collie, and Leave it to Beaver. I basically watched whatever my parents watched, as there was only one TV set, and no remote control… it was the  kids who they sent to change the channel. I liked the Ozzie and Harriet Christmas special the best – they made you feel like you were part of their family. Most of the programs I watched with my mother – she was the movie buff; we watched many Christmas classics together like Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol or White Christmas with Bing Crosby… I don’t there’s anyone who hasn’t seen that one. Where was my father – well he was usually in the basement – working on a project; he seldom sat down to watch TV, until he retired. ”

Dec. 8, 2015: Day 8: Christmas Shopping...  “I don’t remember any specific Christmas shopping – boys don’t care about shopping in the same way girls do. We only had one car, so if we wanted to go Christmas shopping in the city, we had to take the bus… and it wasn’t a short walk to catch it. My mother never took me downtown New Haven to shop, but I went a few times with my godmother Aunt Catherine, and one of those times was at Christmas.We went to S.S. Kresges, Grants and Woolworths – they were all on the same block. Woolworth’s always meant a seat at the counter for a sandwich; that’s where I had my first triple decker sandwich! One gift I remember she bought me on one of those trips was a new pair of shoes.”

Aunt Nancy remembers… “I have memories of going to Shartenburg’s in New Haven at Xmas, either with my mother or my sister Catherine. They had a wishing well in the middle of the store, and for a quarter you could fish and win a prize. I’m told now they also had a large train there at Xmas that kids could ride on… I kind of remember it, but not sure if I really do.”

Dec. 9, 2015: Day 9: Christmas Crafts… Unfortunately I have no Christmas craft memories… but I’ve contributed by helping over the years, as there was always something I needed to cut, glue or paint for my mother. I do remember one Christmas that I made her a white birch log candle holder in Boy Scouts. We had one of those fake cardboard fireplaces at Christmas in the living room… it seems everyone had one. She put it on top of that fake mantle… I cut pine branches off our pine tree to lay underneath it.”“

Dec. 10, 2015: Day 10: Christmas Traditions…“Christmas Eve was always the best day… besides the abundance of foods served at the evening meal, Santa came that night. I had two grandmothers nearby, and we went to each of their homes on Christmas Eve. Christmas at my other grandmother’s house in West Haven was the best place on Christmas Eve. We didn’t usually eat there as we arrived late, but if Grandma Minnie had stuffed eel left over… it was mine! We only had eel on that night if Uncle Freddie had caught them… they were never bought. She made the best, but unfortunately no one ever learned how to cook them. Some have tried, but she took that recipe with her… some dishes just can’t be duplicated! I never was around for the making of the Zeppoles, or ‘zapes, as we called them, but it was traditional to serve them Christmas Eve. Grandma, along with her daughters mixed up the dough early in the morning –  then the painful process of all the frying began. The dough balls were piled high on a plate and drizzled with honey before serving. They were the first thing I ate whenever I arrived… no matter my age! Grandma Minnie’s house was always bustling with family, foods, drinks, and  cookies… and by nights end, the presents under the tree were piled high! All the cousins gathered, anxiously waiting for their name to be called. Paper, ribbons and empty boxes soon took the place of where all those nicely wrapped presents had once sat. I remember my mother always saying that she often didn’t even know who gave us what… we never paid attention to the cards that came with the gifts – we just ripped into those presents – looking for a toy! Even at my house, Santa arrived on Christmas Eve – Christmas morning was just for playing with the new gifts and eating a holiday dinner. We didn’t have to wake early to see what had arrived, but we still woke early to play with our new toys.”

Dec. 11, 2015: Day 11: Christmas at Church … “Going to St. Paul’s church every Sunday was not something my family did weekly, but they did go several times a year. My best friend, Louie, went to church every Sunday with his parents and I often went with them. My family never went to midnight mass on Christmas Eve either – why I don’t know! I remember a couple of my aunts would leave near midnight to go to mass, but the majority of everyone there that night didn’t go.”

Dec. 12, 2015: Day 12: Fruitcake, Friend or Foe… Steve laughed when I asked him and  “you mean that cake that gets passed around that nobody wants?” So I guess that means no memories! I did learn from Aunt Nancy that not all fruitcake is bad… she makes a fruitcake every Xmas… buying the nuts and ingredients even before Thanksgiving. You can read about it and see the recipe over HERE.”

Dec. 13, 2015: Day 13: Christmas in School … “I remember Christmas pageants in grammar school, but as we grew up, all that stopped. In high school we didn’t do anything,  because we were all working and had no time.”

Dec. 14, 2015: Day 14: Christmas Cookies … “I never gave much thought to recipes in growing up – I just ate whatever my mother baked. Christmas cookies weren’t of much interest to me, as I’m strictly a Chocolate Chip Cookie man and my mother never made those at the holidays. If I was lucky, one of my aunts had my favorite on their cookie tray, along with Anginettes, another Italian favorite cookie of everyone. The original Anginette’s were made with orange juice in the batter – and while they were good, they don’t hold a candle to my mother’s Ricotta Anginettes. No one made them as well as my mother, except my wife, but now I’ve perfected them since I began making them… want the recipe, it’s over HERE. It was more my wife who paid attention to Christmas recipes and baking in years past… and she acquired all the family cookie recipes. She loved all their cookies – the very ones I never liked.” My favorite Christmas cookie my mother in law taught me is Cherry Winks. You can read the story and recipe over HERE.

Dec. 15, 2015: Day 15: Christmas Tree Decorations… “The one decoration that I haven’t parted with yet is the vintage snowman we had at my house when I grew up; I took it from my mom’s house a long time ago. She bought it at Barker’s Dept. Store in Orange – and it’s always been my favorite Christmas decoration.”

Dec. 16, 2015: Day 16: Christmas Travel… “Our travel on Christmas Eve was the same every year – first to  Nonni’s house in Shelton, and later to Grandma Minnie’s in West Haven… which was always the most fun. It usually snowed lightly, either before we left, or at some point during our traveling; seeing the snow fall always made it feel more like Christmas. Traveling on that night was basically the same with our children as when I made that trip with my parents. The only thing difference was that it was mostly married adults when we took our children… while it was my single aunts and uncles when I was small – and they all gave gifts… as I was the first grandchild on both sides.”

Dec. 17, 2015: Day 17: Christmas Stories… “Uncle Freddie and Johnny always brought home the biggest Christmas tree they could find. One time the tree was so tall that it couldn’t even stand upright in the living room… and what did Johnny do…  he just cut off the top of the tree… making it fit!”

Dec. 18, 2015: Day 18: Christmas Baking… “My mother made the best fudge, but she never made it at Christmas, that was for baking cookies. It was only made when the mood happened… or often when I started it.. then she would finish. It had to be stirred for an exact sixteen minutes – that I could handle, but I never could manage to make it come together at the end. Often she didn’t either, and she had to put it back on the heat to cook more. My wife is the one who perfected it and makes it the best. I’ll start it now, but I still can’t finish it… I always call her to pull it together… she knows the look and feel.” If you’d like to try Celia’s fudge… check it out HERE.

Remembering the Xmas cookie bakers over HERE…

Dec. 19, 2015: Day 19: Christmas Gifts… “I don’t remember receiving big or expensive gifts like my kids have gotten. I’d get one big gift… and then that was pretty much it; my parents got even less than I did. Xmas was fun back then though, not commercial like it is today. People looked forward to it… we didn’t decorate until about two weeks before, not like today when they begin several weeks earlier.”

“I still have a few Christmas presents that managed to survive through the years. One is my Brownie camera… and until I went in the Air Force, I still even had the original box… but it wasn’t anywhere to be found when I returned home. I took quite a few pictures with that camera at holidays; the most expensive part was paying for the film developing.

Young boy on sofa is hubby… maybe age 6 here. Sure wish the picture was clearer so I could check out the gifts under the tree. Note the leaf patterned rug and his mother’s “must have” sectional sofa he remembered. What I first noticed in this photograph was the “baseball” on the floor. It makes me remember the missing ball he lost in the attic, as a young boy… and still searched for everytime he was in the attic.

Dec. 21, 2015: Christmas Wishes…“I was in Okinawa from October 1968 through April 1969. Bob Hope came in Xmas of 1968 on a USA Tour… and I wanted tickets. Who got tickets for the show – the officers, not us poor working slobs. That was my first insight into how politics worked, and I quickly remembered my Uncle Johnny’s words of telling me how things really worked.”

Dec. 21, 2015: Day 21: Christmas Parties … My father worked at Armstrong Rubber,and they had Christmas Parties for the children; I remember my mother taking me. When my kids were small Armstrong union also had parties for the families at Xmas… they gave out really nice and expensive toys… it was held in the auditorium of Gianotti Junior High (which previously had been a high school). One year Stephen got a nice Tonka truck and I think Melissa received a wagon full of blocks.”

Dec. 22, 2015: Day 22: Christmas Homecoming… My best homecoming was the day I was picked up at the airport in September by my father and wife… I was returning home from Thailand… and spending my first Christmas with my wife.”

Dec. 23, 2015: Day 23: The Meaning of Christmas … Spending with Family!

Dec. 24, 2015: Day 24: Christmas Eve … “Every Xmas Eve Uncle Johnny went to Chancey Brothers to buy Xmas gifts; a large store at Savin Rock. I remember him coming in that night with a big box of toys. He was my brother’s godfather and he brought bring him a seperate big box of toys. Uncle Johnny never shopped any earlier than Xmas Eve! One Xmas he came with a huge Santa head that he put on the front of the house – it looked just like a Santa face… and it was huge! You never knew what he would come in with – always bringing in the biggest; this was before he married.”

Dec. 25, 2015: Day 25: Merry Christmas 🙂 “On Xmas day we usually ate dinner at home, as we had spent Christmas Eve with both grandparents… sometimes we ate with Aunt Catherine… it was a day I’d rather stay home to play with my toys.”

To see more Xmas photos that went with these stories, click over HERE!

Maybe this deer hunting trip also brought a Xmas tree! (L. Freddie, R. Johnny, kneeling George Froehlich)

“I remember my uncles often bringing home Xmas trees from their hunting trips. You’d see them pull in with this huge tree strapped on the roof of the car and a deer tied on the front… they never came home without a deer.”

Continue reading 2020: April A to Z: Family Stories… click HERE
To read more Family Stories… click HERE

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

2020: W – April A to Z… Family Stories: The Traveling Wedding Dress

2020: W – April A to Z… Family Stories

I’m back in 2020 for my fifth year of participating in the yearly April A to Z challenge… and as usual I’ve racked my brain scribbling ideas on paper since the end of last April. It wasn’t until January, that the light bulb finally went off in scrolling through the 85+ of unfinished blog posts in my draft folder. Bingo… there was my A to Z topic…

Family Stories as told to me… mostly by my husband!

From the moment I married into this Italian family… I fell in love with their stories… their memories… and the family. My husband grew up in West Haven, Connecticut… where there was so much to enjoy as a young boy… especially a place known as Savin Rock… although long gone now. It somewhat once resembled Coney Island… and even larger when his parents, aunts and uncles grew up. They had stories… and I was always an eager listener whenever they told those stories…  remembering, and scribbling down to preserve, just as I did with the family recipes that had once only been in their heads. 2020 has became the year I’m telling many of those stories… along with my husband’s memories to preserve for the generations to come. Many of those who told me their stories, are no longer with us… and I hope to keep their memory alive in these stories… as they are now my family also… and I love them all!

My previous years of A to Z Challenges are:

• 2016: A to Z Southern Foods and Memories… they said write what you know… and being a girl born in the South… well this was what I knew.
• 2017: A to Z Conversations with Mama… it was a somewhat easy one for me to write as I’d journaled our conversations for years… I researched favorite topics to write.
• 2018: A to Z All About Nancy Drew… this one has been my favorite topic so far, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with another one to equal it
• 2019: A to Z Italian Famiglia Foods and Memories… I felt it was time to finally write the favorites of my husbands family foods.

Come sit a spell and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Traveling Wedding Dress

While June seems to be the most popular month for weddings… the travelling “wedding” dress only made one appearance in June… in Celia and Steve Insalaco’s wedding. And in as June was the popular month for weddings, it seemed that Sunday was the most popular day, being most people were free from work… especially in the South. Early United States history, per The Farmer’s Almanac, says that Wednesday was the luckiest for weddings, and Fridays were avoided at all cost… as they were known as the “hangman’s day”… today’s weddings mostly take place on Saturday.

Monday for health… Tuesday for wealth… Wednesday Best of All… Thursday for losses… Friday for crosses… and Saturday for “no luck at all.” We married on a Wednesday, so we’re good! How about you?

I remember hearing from my mother in law, Cecelia (Cambino-Insalaco) how she had borrowed Josie’s (Josephine Signore) wedding dress… Uncle Mikie’s wife. Later, I learned that the borrowing hadn’t stopped with her… the dress went on to be loaned to Uncle Mikie’s niece Catherine (Cambino-Donahue) and sisters, Josephine (DeTulio-Viscuso) and Lucy (DeTulio-Romano). Five women in this family wore the same wedding dress… you would never find that today!

Michael “Mikie” and Josephine “Josie” DeTulio

The traveling wedding dress first began with Josephine “Josie” Signore marrying Michael “Mikie” DeTulio… no one ever called him Michael or even Mike… it was always Mikie; he must have been called that from a young boy and it just stuck! If that wedding dress could talk… Oh what tales it would tell… where was it bought… how much did it cost… and how did four more brides possibly alter it for their wedding day!

Josie and Mikie’s wedding took place on April 21, 1945… a Saturday afternoon at St. Michael’s Church in Wooster Square… in New Haven, CT. The cherry blossom trees would have been in full bloom on this day… did they pick that day to coincide with the blooms… if only they had taken photos out in the square! Josie carried a beautiful array of Calla Lilies as her wedding bouquet. Being they were married during war time, it was common for the grooms to wear their Army uniform… as many men did who served in the armed forces.

Josie’s famous “wedding” dress was of white satin with bouffant sleeves which tapered down toward her hands. The front was topped with lace below the neckline… a gathered satin bodice to the cinched waist… with a lace peplum surrounded the waist, which flared out toward the hips… creating a silhouette of a cinched waist; the lace peplum can be seen in many of the photos.

I colorized the photograph and more details popped out to me… such as the large flower bouquets all the bridesmaids and matron of honor carried. All the women also wore white/light matching gowns… was that the norm back then? Even though I know of only two photography studios used, the same floor pattern seems to show in both their photos… could they have shared a studio, or maybe the photograph was taken at the wedding venue?

I contacted Uncle Mikie’s daughter, Judy, in hopes that this famous travelling wedding dress might still be tucked away in a chest… and hoping I might actually be able to see it in person…but, several years ago it was discovered in such a deteriorating condition that it sadly was decided that it was time to let it go. Granddaughter’s Lori and Lisa honored their grandmother by carrying white Calla Lily’s as their wedding flower bouquet.

In discovering this postcard with my mother-in-laws photos, I realized that Mikie and Josie sent a postcard, to Uncle Joe and Aunt Minnie Cambino, while on their honeymoon in New York City. They were married on April 21… and this was postmarked on the 23rd. In researching the Hotel Governor Clinton hotel… I learned that it was located directly across from Penn Station… Seventh Avenue at 31st St…. that pretty much clinched that they most likely traveled  by train  from New Haven. The postcard boasted of The Clinton being New York’s newest and finest and offering over 1200 rooms with air conditioning, 5 restaurants, a bar and cocktail lounge. Rates were listed as $3.50 a day.

What better place for a honeymoon stay!

Was Uncle Mikie on his honeymoon when this was taken on the street of Manhattan? If so, then Aunt Josie took the photograph. (I had always assumed this photo was a Christmas shopping visit, but after finding the postcard… and him in uniform… it must have been taken on their honeymoon trip to NYC.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucia “Lucy” and Frank Romano

Lucia “Lucy” DeTulio, sister of Mikie, was next to walk down the aisle in Josie’s dress. She married Frank Romano on April 25, 1946… a wedding that also took place at St. Michaels Church, amidst the cherry blossoms blooming in the square; it took place midweek on a Thursday. All the bridesmaids wore the same dress style, fabric, and almost same white color, as well as the maid of honor, although with a slight  variation of dress-style. What made this dress stand out was that train of satin… which the photographers had the fun job of arranging for the wedding photograph… framing the bride!

In taking a second look at the photo after colorizing it… I noticed that the bridesmaids gowns are almost the same color as her wedding dress… how strange! The men are dressed in tuxedos… wearing white carnations. I don’t see Lucy wearing the lace peplum that originally went with the dress… but maybe it’s hidden in the photo, or she had taken it off after the wedding.  It perplexes me how so many bridesmaids wore white in the wedding parties of years ago!

While today it would be unusual to marry during the week, except on a Friday evening, it seemed to be in-style… and possibly less expensive to marry on a weekday at that time… it seems many took advantage of a wedding during the week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CeCelia “Celia” and Stephen “Steve” Insalaco (photography by Jay Storm Studio Studio of New Haven)

Now I know why they printed their wedding photographs in the classic black and white… the colorized pictures just don’t call out “classic”! What I noticed first in this colorized picture was that the father of the bride didn’t wear a tuxedo… Grandpa Joe chose his pin-striped suit and tie. If you look closely at all the wedding pictures he’s in… you’ll often see him in this same suit. Unlike today, the men all went with a plain simple white carnation boutonniere for themselves… and the bridesmaids and maid of honor also wore white gowns… which I don’t understand, as I thought only the bride was suppose to wear white!

Mikie’s niece, my mother in law, CeCelia Cambino, next wore the dress on June 5, 1947… but the wedding venue was now changed to St. Paul’s church in West Haven, CT. All the bridesmaids and maid of honor dresses look pretty much the same in the classic photo and the one I colorized. Often, to save money, many bridesmaids used dresses from previous weddings, so they would haven been in various colors… but these were of almost the same color as the brides dress; many of them could even be from a previous wedding. A reception and dinner followed in New Haven, CT., followed by a honeymoon to Vermont. (It was always told that her reception was at Stephen Heights Club in West Haven… so it seems the newspaper clipping misprinted the event as New Haven)

You can read about their honeymoon to Vermont… over HERE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josephine “JoJo” and Joseph “Joe” Viscuso

One year later, on a Monday… Josephine (JoJo) married Joseph Viscuso on Oct. 11, 1948 at St. Michael’s Church in Wooster Square… sadly no cherry blossoms in bloom… but she also walked down the aisle wearing her sister in law, Josie’s, dress. What a compliment to the original bride… in wearing her dress; luckily all the girls had been about the same size. I’ve often wondered if there was a running joke… at each wedding… as to who would wear the dress next… like tossing a coin! If only I had asked these questions many years ago… I could have had every bride’s story, as I was fortunate to have known them all when I married into the family.

By colorizing this photograph it gave me the exact coloring of the maid of honor’s dress… and showed how the rest of the bridesmaids seemed to be in the normal same color of the brides dress. I don’t understand why they all seemed to dress in the same color as the bride! The men are dressed in tuxedos with a single white carnation. Josephine, “JoJo”, chose to wear the lace peplum here in the wedding photograph and the photographers did an exceptional job of displaying the long train… which is the awesome feature of this dress. The colored version shows the carpet design more… which made me question how two different studio’s had the same carpet?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wedding dress took a two year hiatus before taking its final walk down the aisle with Aunt Catherine and Uncle Jimmy!

Catherine & James “Jimmy” Donahue

Last, but not least, was Mikie’s niece, Catherine Cambino, to James “Jimmy” Donahue on April 20, 1950; another wedding which took place on a Thursday… and also at St. Paul’s Church in West Haven, CT. Aunt Catherine was the last of the women in the family to wear this dress before Josie packed it away in her cedar chest. Catherine’s sister, CeCelia, always boasted that the wedding dress had fit her better because she had a bigger bustline… Catherine told me that she had always felt bad that she couldn’t fill it out like her sister. Imagine that conversation as CeCelia helped her to dress… reminding her again about her bigger bustline!

The No. 1 song popular on Catherine and Jimmy’s wedding day was “If I knew you were coming, I’d baked a cake”… I’m sure that song wasn’t played at the wedding… but it would have been funny!

Catherines “head shot”  wedding photograph, taken by Barrie Photography… was displayed in their New Haven shop window for several years… Aunt Catherine would always say… “I don’t know why they would want to display my photograph!” She looked like a movie star! (This photo clearly shows all the lace on the bodice and the lace peplum around her waist… and still looking just as beautiful as it did when Josie wore it in 1945)

Aunt Catherine and Uncle Jimmy took a honeymoon trip to Houlton, Maine… to visit with his family who couldn’t attend the wedding… which was common in those days. Steve and I drove through the town of Houlton last August in visiting Maine… and I’m sure we rode down the very streets where Uncle Jimmy spent time as a young boy.

I truly enjoyed writing this post, and badgering everyone for information… that they probably didn’t have, but I keep asking anyway… and studying that one dress, over and over… well, really only “five” times! My one regret is… I didn’t think of writing this post before all these five beautiful women left our family. Just think of all the information that’s lost… and I bet there would have been many more funny remembrances of who wore it the best!

Continue reading 2020: April A to Z: Family Stories… click HERE
To read more Family Stories… click HERE

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

2020: V – April A to Z… Family Stories: Visiting Savin Rock

2020: V – April A to Z… Family Stories

I’m back in 2020 for my fifth year of participating in the yearly April A to Z challenge… and as usual I’ve racked my brain scribbling ideas on paper since the end of last April. It wasn’t until January, that the light bulb finally went off in scrolling through the 85+ of unfinished blog posts in my draft folder. Bingo… there was my A to Z topic…

Family Stories as told to me… mostly by my husband!

From the moment I married into this Italian family… I fell in love with their stories… their memories… and the family. My husband grew up in West Haven, Connecticut… where there was so much to enjoy as a young boy… especially a place known as Savin Rock… although long gone now. It somewhat once resembled Coney Island… and even larger when his parents, aunts and uncles grew up. They had stories… and I was always an eager listener whenever they told those stories…  remembering, and scribbling down to preserve, just as I did with the family recipes that had once only been in their heads. 2020 has became the year I’m telling many of those stories… along with my husband’s memories to preserve for the generations to come. Many of those who told me their stories, are no longer with us… and I hope to keep their memory alive in these stories… as they are now my family also… and I love them all!

My previous years of A to Z Challenges are:

• 2016: A to Z Southern Foods and Memories… they said write what you know… and being a girl born in the South… well this was what I knew.
• 2017: A to Z Conversations with Mama… it was a somewhat easy one for me to write as I’d journaled our conversations for years… I researched favorite topics to write.
• 2018: A to Z All About Nancy Drew… this one has been my favorite topic so far, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with another one to equal it
• 2019: A to Z Italian Famiglia Foods and Memories… I felt it was time to finally write the favorites of my husbands family foods.

Come sit a spell and enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From this map you can see the hundreds of attractions and rides that were at Savin Rock… a park beginning in the late 19th century… but sadly closed in 1966. It first began with the construction of the Sea View Hotel… a Victorian mansion built by George R. Kelsey for housing his anticipation of over 150 wealthy guests… as they were the only ones able to afford and enjoy. Kelsey later began building a park alongside his hotel to provide entertainment for his guest. He later encouraged local businessmen to come and build amusements on his property… for his guests to enjoy. It all began to grow… soon there were gardens, a fountain, a bandstand, food stands, and souvenir stands… and all becoming very prosperous… soon known as Connecticut’s Coney Island!

Visiting Savin Rock

“I was lucky enough in my generation to have grown up with some of the old Savin Rock sites and rides still standing. My father sometimes took me down to ride the bumper cars… as a friend of his from Armstrong operated the ride. The bumper cars were always my favorite… they were the one ride which didn’t make me sick. I couldn’t ride anything that went round and round or I’d get dizzy and sick. I also enjoyed going in the Fun House. I even still remember the food stand Uncle Mikey (DeTulio) and Uncle Frankie (Cambino) operated at the Rock… they sold clam puffs. It was Uncle Mikey’s recipe and they were the best I’ve ever eaten… too bad no one in the family seems to have the recipe today. The stand was not near where most of the older Savin Rock site was, it was further down near the pier where the bait store is… just past Stowe’s Seafood on Beach St., and across from where the small trailer park was… where Aunt Catherine first lived when she and Uncle Jimmy married.”

“One of the candy shops at Savin Rock pulled Taffy in their front window. I enjoyed standing to watch the big metal paddle pull and pull… then stretching it over and over. My favorite part was watching when it was pulled… funny, but I never liked to eat it… just to watch… I’ve always enjoyed watching things made. I did like to eat the custard ice-cream made at Savin Rock and so did my mother.”

 “Uncle Johnny (Cambino) always said to me when I was young… “you better enjoy Savin Rock every day, as you never know when it’s gonna end.” He said he’d heard they were getting rid of it even when he was young.”

“I learned many things from Uncle Johnny. He lived life to the fullest, living his dream and passion of racing for many years. He began racing at Savin Rock as a young man of 18, and even after giving it up when The Rock closed, he later made a come-back at the age of 62… driving just as fierce as he did in his youth. He was well-known at Savin Rock and well liked. When he did lose, which wasn’t often… he lost graciously with a smile. I always wanted to be there on Saturday nights when he raced. It was exciting as I stood at the fence rooting for him. He was known as “King Cams” driving the “Flying 5.” He was a Legend!”

Aunt Nancy (Cambino) Cavalaro: “The earliest car I remember of my father’s was a 1936 green Buick… it was that car in which he took us to Savin Rock. Mama loved going to Savin Rock, but not for any foods or rides… it was to hear the famous “laughing lady.” Daddy would park in front of the Death Valley building so she could see and hear her – and I can still remember Mama laughing  along as she listened to the laughing lady… who continuously laughed; Daddy would take us for an ice cream cone while she waited in the car… enjoying the laughing lady.”

Celia (Cambino) Insalaco): “My father had an older car with a rumble seat and I loved riding in it when he took us  to Savin Rock. He often took us on Sunday afternoons to get ice cream… and Mama would sit, listening to the laugh of the “laughing lady” at the Death Valley attraction. I remember how I’d cry whenever daddy tried to make me ride the “flying horses” on the carousel. Why I was afraid, I don’t know, but I’d cry when my brothers made me climb up on those painted horses that went up and down. I wonder where they all are today… probably worth a lot of money now wherever they are.”

“Uncle Johnny drove my father’s ‘56 red and white Rocket Oldsmobile in a demotion race at Savin Rock. That was the 1st new car my father bought. Although it only had about 65 or 70 thousand miles on it, it was becoming too expensive to keep repairing the engine anymore, so he let Johnny drive it in the race. He didn’t get too far as the motor died about halfway through. I never liked demolition derby racing… I found them boring.”

This morning Steve asked if I saw the FaceBook post of people asking about bulk pickup, and quickly said… “I wrote today on my Facebook page… just dump it off on Marginal Drive as a joke! I wrote that because of all the dumping there years ago… that’s why it’s closed now. I still remember the New Haven Register story where the mayor said, “If I find one more piece dumped there, I’m closing it!” The very next day the paper ran a story that it was closing.” A friend online answered my quirky answer with… “they even dumped some of the old Savin Rock rides in the swamp down there.” “Whenever I rode my bike through there, I remember seeing old rides sticking up out of the marsh like the ones with the high backs, such as the Tilt a Whirl. I never even gave it another thought then, that they might have come from Savin Rock… if I had, I probably would have tried to pull them out.”

When I first came to Connecticut in 1971, after marrying Steve, I was intrigued by all the stories I heard about Savin Rock… and often I feel like I experienced them myself from all the many times I’ve heard them. One of the first attractions, that peaked my interest, was the many stories of the “famous” Laughing Lady. Anytime that “lady” was mentioned at Grandma Minnie’s kitchen table, you’d hear her famous “ohhh”, and Grandma Minnie would tell you how she loved listening to her laugh. From all the stories I’ve heard from others… it seems Grandma Minnie was the only one who loved to listen to that voice!

The famous “Laughing Lady”

From asking, badgering my husband with constant questions of what was actually inside the Death Valley Fun House… “The laugh followed you into a darkened hallway of faces that lit up, laughing at you as you walked into a mirrored fun house room and maze. From there you walked into the “tilt room” where you could not walk straight across, no matter how hard you tried… the slanted floor made you struggle to even walk. Often jets of air blew up at you from various jets in the floor, and if the girls wore a dress, it was a constant struggle in keeping their dresses from flying up… with every step they took!“

It was actually a “man” who was the voice of the Laughing Lady!

While everyone always thought “Laffing Sal’s” voice was a woman, and the “one” original record may have been when she was first purchased in 1938…  the voice you remember was actually of Frank Cosenza. He and his partner, Joe Marcucci, were a comedy team around the New Haven area and often performed a skit about the laughing lady; and from that skit,  Frank was asked to record Sal’s famous laugh when the original record began wearing out. To read more on the Fun House, click HERE.

If Peter Franke’s Fun House was still there… this is where it would be sitting on the boardwalk in West Haven. (Photo used with permission from James Holt) Read the “now and then” story with lots of photos over HERE.

Another favorite of Steve’s at Savin Rock was Peter Franke’s Fun House. In 1966, Peter Franke’s was still standing… all closed and boarded up. If only I had arrived in West Haven a few years earlier, I could have seen it with my own eyes! I’m sure kids snuck in there and enjoyed a few “free” last slide before being discovered. I can’t blame them… I would have too! As the “statute of limitations” has run out now… feel free to comment below if you were one of those kids! Read the complete story on Peter Franke at Savin Rock HERE.

Bishop’s Colonnade was an attraction long gone before my husband was born, but was well known at Savin Rock… and you can read my extensive post on it over HERE.

One of my favorite postcards depicting the attractions of Savin Rock on Beach St. Skooter’s was my husbands favorite “bumper car” ride. (How lucky he was to have grown up enjoying even a small part of Savin Rock)

Savin Rock sadly closed its doors on what attractions were left in 1966. All the white-washed building were boarded up and closed… roller coaster sat silent… the merry go ride sat motionless… no more up and down for those beautiful carved horse… no more Peter Franke’s honeydew popcorn… no more smells and sounds you could hear through your windows in the still of the summer nights. It was all gone… sadly to never return,

You can only “visit” Savin Rock now in your mind…

The only remaining, standing structure of Savin Rock, was originally known as Joanne’s Hot Dog Stand! This structure has withstood many hurricanes through the years… and several businesses… and if it could talk… boy would we have stories!

Continue reading 2020: April A to Z: Family Stories… click HERE
To read more Family Stories… click HERE

To read and see more photos on Savin Rock… click HERE.

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved

Savin Rock… Now and Then: The Sea View Hotel

Savin Rock…Now and Then

The Sea View Hotel

Through the re-creation idea of James Holt, in placing these structures of where they once stood long ago in West Haven’s Savin Rock… to now… in today’s time and place. (credit also to Marc Friedland in the sharing of his vast photograph collection and knowledge)

I hope to breathe life in these photographs through story form… of where these structures once stood at Savin Rock, sometimes known as “Connecticut’s Coney Island.” Savin Rock is a place I heard stories of when I first came to West Haven… a place my husband was able to somewhat enjoy throughout his boyhood, but not in all its glory of what it once had been.

Savin Rock is a place that holds dear memories for many… of times once enjoyed and not forgotten!

The Sea View Hotel – Now & Then photo by James Holt

Savin Rock Park was built in the late 19th century in a town known as West Haven and Savin Rock is often referred to as “Connecticut’s Coney Island.” It is a well-remembered park with many citizens still holding onto their memories! Colonel George Kelsey, a Civil War Veteran, is credited primarily for this development… building it one piece at a time! In looking at the photo above… look to the left of the building and you’ll see stone pillars with an arch which says “Old Grove Park”.

The Sea View Hotel picture above was originally situated in the corner of the grove… just to the left of where the stone pillars are now. It sat facing the water, with Beach St. running between it and the waters edge; now the road stops at the corner and no longer continues along the beach edge. James’ visualization of placing the hotel where it once sat… really  puts it more in perspective into us knowing where it actually sat… over a hundred years ago.

George R. Kelsey

George Ranney Kelsey was born on April 25, 1817, to parents, Zebulon Stocking Kelsey and Sally Edwards, in upper Middletown… now Cromwell, Ct… one of nine children in this family. In 1855, Kelsey came to West Haven from Middletown and became affiliated with the West Haven Buckle Company.

Kelsey was a Colonel during the Civil War;  head of the sixth regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War… he represented Orange in the General Assembly in 1858; also was the Town Agent and First Selectman for years.

In 1885, he reorganized The American Buckle Company… and by 1867, being the entrepreneur he was, he spent the postwar years buying the controlling interest in the West Haven Horsecar Line which ran to Savin Rock… he knew this would help build the town of West Haven and his ideas. In 1870 he erected the Sea View Hotel, along with the famous bandstand, the fountain in “The Park” and the Observatory atop Savin Rock Proper… where he installed telescopes so his patrons could look out over the water. This was the beginning of Savin Rock Park as an amusement center… attracting thousands of fun-seekers; it had a profound effect on the economy of West Haven… but like all things… it slowly disappeared through the years. But just strike up a conversation with anyone old enough to remember Savin Rock… and the memories come flowing out… hopefully it will never be forgotten!

The Seaview Hotel, located at 392 Beach St., was located on Long Island Sound in the Savin Rock section of West Haven.

What workmanship… love the name on the top!

Kelsey built the Sea View Hotel in 1870 as a business, but also to boost the economy of his horsecar adventure. His vision was build a Victorian mansion by the sea, capable of housing over 150 wealthy guests… and that’s exactly what he did! The hotel was built in different sections… the first building consisted of only one wing, which faced Beach Street; years later he added the Grove Street wing… later adding a tower. Kelsey surrounded the hotel with extravagant lawns and gardens of roses for his guests to stroll through… with secret hide-a-ways for his younger patrons. He also built spacious verandas to surround the hotel for his guests to sit and enjoy the water and countryside… which was all that there was, at that time.

He later built a park alongside the hotel and encouraged local businessmen to use his property in building amusements for his guests. Soon there was a small zoo, museum, and even later, a dance hall on the property. As the amusements began to grow… many locals opened up numerous small food and souvenir stands.

Kelsey built the famous Kelsey pier at the foot of Summer Street in 1870, extending it 1,500 feet out into the harbor. Being the entrepreneur he was, he even added a Victorian ice cream parlor off to one side of the pier… how ingenious! When you stepped off the ferry on a hot summer day… who wouldn’t want to buy an ice cream! Kelsey was always thinking of how to make the next buck! This pier was capable of offering ferry service, regardless of tide schedules… meaning the patrons never had to wait for high tide to arrive at Savin Rock Park. Kelsey was bringing patrons to make money for the park, as well as money for West Haven.

It would be awesome today to have that long pier back… and most definitely serving up ice cream cones!

The Sea View proved to be prosperous for almost twenty years or more… quickly becoming the center attraction for the elite citizens of New Haven and surrounding towns. Even though it was built in West Haven, its patrons came from New Haven or elsewhere… no one living locally was going to pay for high-priced rooms to spend time by their own shore. Soon, it proved to be so popular with elites, that it was almost impossible to secure a reservation unless you made that reservation several days to weeks in advance. The wealthy quickly made this the most popular summer retreat… often reserving suites seasons in advance… to secure their summer stay. It was also considered somewhat of a prominence to be registered at the Sea View Hotel.

Through the years, the Sea View Hotel changed proprietors several times, but the land on which it stood, always remained in the hands of the Kelsey and Cameron families; George Cameron, the last proprietor, managed the hotel until his death. Trustees of his estate took charge in 1922 and persuaded the judge of the Probate Court to order the still “structurally” sound hotel to be razed… as they finalized the Cameron estate. It seems that they had other ideas, and not interested in running hotel any longer, even though it had been profitable; most likely, times were changing and the once affluent, no longer were making this their summer residence. It could have been because the park was growing into a different direction with attractions… and attracting a different clientele, which wasn’t the same as who once came to stroll the gardens at the Sea View.

Savin Rock still continued on for almost another forty years… before finally succumbing to the push in 1963 to begin removing Savin Rock amusements… which they called cleaning up the area. The city received $3 million dollars for this urban renewal project… and today, many wish it was all back.

Want to read more, click…. Savin Rock… Now and Then

© 2020, copyright Jeanne Bryan Insalaco; all rights reserved