The political environment showing the headlines for this period indicated one disturbing factor in our lives. Another factor was the depression still with us, since 1929. FDR,had introduced many business programs and also government services, to offer jobs to the unemployed. He initiated building projects, such as highways and also dams throughout the country. One such program was PWA, a program to employ artists to decorate public buildings and photographers to record the US.
I worked in the darkroom mostly, thus getting experience in photo processing and also composition. I got a knowledge that aided me with my later work in portraiture and other photographic work. My resume got better as I got an assortment of jobs. Due to the depression and the wartime action in Europe, our own economy was going though an upheaval. During these three years I worked in a variety of photo related jobs. In a Carnegie Hall portrait studio, I did retouching and darkroom work with the owner, a woman refugee from Europe. This job lasted two months, due to lack of business. Downtown, near City Hall, I worked for a man who was a violinist, but to make a living his father bought him a photostat machine that made reductions or enlargements of advertising layouts to fit the ad agency requirements. He was a really sad case. I moved to another job in a passport studio shop close to the City Court Buildings. It was a tiny street store front, with a camera set up to shoot the ID photo. Delivery ! hour. Above this little studio ,was a darkroom, where another employee developed the film and made the prints. I took the photo, put the film in a basket that hung from the darkroom. It would be lifted up, processed and printed and sent down within the hour. The shop was so tight, that both of us couldn’t wait until lunchtime arrived. We would both rush out to Chinatown, where we ate every day. We couldn’t resist the $2.50 lunch. I left this place after several weeks to work in a camera shop nearby. Business wasn’t too great and when the owner’s brother-in-law came in to work, I was dismissed. I then joined the Camera Vogue Studio, on 28th Street, where I worked for about six months. The owner would be out soliciting jobs. I would mind the store, which did not draw many customers. But we did go out on some interesting photo shoots. We did a sport clothes ad with the tennis champ , whose name I can’t recall. We worked on a book being produced to list three high society families living in the Kips Bay and Gramercy Park area. We took photos of ancestral portraits. We entered many of the brownstone, elegant houses and met the elderly descendants of famous families. To take photos, we required good even lighting. So we often had to remove the paintings from the room and bring them outside on the porch or in the rear garden. Daylight provided the best overall light. It also gave me the experience to visit these mansions and see how the rich lived. And then , we did a wedding job in a Lutheran Church. This was a new experience. Wedding pictures, in those days were merely Bride and Groom portraits. Taken with a view camera and with floodlights.
Archive for April, 2008
1939-42, job-hunting
1939-42 years,
I’m going to plagiarize a quote from Dickens. These years were “The best of times and the worst of times” To illustrate the worst of times, I will merely list the news headlines. ( Krystallnacht in 1948), The Nazis burned hundreds of Jewish synagogues and destroyed all Jewish shops and department stores by breaking windows and allowing the plundering of displayed goods by storm troopers ( In May of 1939), The ship “St. Louis” arrived in Cuba with 1,000 Jewish refugees, who wished to escape from Germany. They had no Visas, and Cuba would not allow them to disembark. The ship then sailed up to Florida and sought entrance. Pressure was applied by Jewish agencies and politicians, to no avail. The ship turned around, sailed back to Germany and most of the passengers were sent to concentration camps. ( On Sept. 1939), Germany invades Poland. England declares war and tries to stop the advance, but fails. FDR initiates the Lend-Lease program and send ships and equipment to England, but remains neutral. (Oct. 1940) ,The Selective Service Program is proclaimed and we register. ( Jan. 1941), I am classified 1B (non-combat) due to poor eye-sight. (Dec.1941), Japan executes a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The damage was extensive. FDR declares war on Japan. Germany declares war on the U.S. Our country is now on a wartime basis. The entire population is being geared for the war effort. On August, 1942, I reported to the draft board for entry into the Army.
1939-1942 (continuation}
Another article in the Times stimulated my memory bank. The article relates to a man who was attracted to a lady on a passing train, and he had an immediate crush on her. He termed it a subway crush. He met her later and married her. Well, this may have happened to me. Except that I knew the young lady prior to seeing her on the subway train. I had arranged to meet Shirley each morning on the subway train, which we took each morning into the big city. Shirley got on at the end of the line and the train was empty, so she would get the seats, wirh a few friends, also going to work, on the 86th St. Station. I would get on at the 9th Avenue Station, several stops towards NYC. By the time I got on, the train was packed and dense with travelers. Occasionally, I would be able to greet SW, but not too often. Many mornings, I had trouble pushing my path into the area where SW was seated. This would cause me to have a bad day. I finally gave up on this frustrating experience. However, I also married the girl. His subway crush was love at first sight. My subway crush, a typical jam of bodies, was an impediment.
1939-42 (continuation)
I intend to deviate from the straight narrative of my past experience during these years prior to my entry into the armed forces by interjecting brief cameos of situations that are in my memory and have been triggered by recent news articles or other stimulants. I clipped out an article from the NY Times in 2004 and another one from the New Yorker relating the origin and a visitors experience on the Cyclone on Coney Island. Here is mine.
When I read these articles, I was transported back in time to 1940 about 68 years ago. When Shirl and I dated we usually ended up in Coney Island, especially during the summer season. It was a good place to walk on the boardwalk, enjoy the sunshine and eat a hot dog, Nathan’s of course. We went on cheap dates. I never had much money and in those days, there was no such a practice as Dutch treat.
Shirley loved excitement and when we approached the Cyclone roller coaster, she persuaded me to go on the ride with her. She said, ” It’s lots of fun and very exciting”. Well, when we finally got off the ride, I looked as white as a bedsheet and ready to throw up. And Shirley, she was jumping with joy, and turns to me and asks “Wan’t to go up again?. I thought this was the end of our relationship when I said, No. “““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““`
1939-1942
This period is probably the starting point of the my future years. I was freed from working in the family store. Kid brother, Nat, graduated from High School and took his turn in getting an education in the food business. I passed on the white store apron, which was the uniform we wore and he was installed into service. He was much smarter than me, because he also entered night school at City College. I received my diploma from dad’s school and was free to seek my fortune. It was during these years that my future was formed. These are the three influences that shaped my life’s experiences.
Shirley Weinbaum..In the previous blog, I mentioned how we met at the Menora Temple dance. That blossomed into a wonderful relationship. I was reviewing those years in my photo album. I realize now how fortunate that I recorded all the fun we had with friends and the trips we took to parks and beaches. Now, I realize how opportune my occupational choice was. I can look back 70+ years and be reminded of our friends, whose names I I may have forgotten , and see the places we visited, such as Bear Mt., Fahnestock State Pk., Belle Harbor, and of course Coney Island. We were lucky to have cars available from Sid Grossman and Bernie Wolff. We went on bicycle trips and for this I can thank S.W for teaching me how to ride a bike. She also tried to teach me how to roller skate, but this I failed and gave up on. Bike riding became a great week-end activity. We had the bike paths on Ocean Parkway and the belt parkway path along the Gravesend Bay.
Writing about the past and knowing the future results is pleasant. But the period in which we were involved, those three years was a time of depression and war. The economic depression and the wartime activities preyed heavily on the youth of that period. I had found an old paperback book in Kathy’ collection of books “The Dangling Man” by Saul Bellow, which is the proper description that personifies my feelings. I felt that I was dangling and that this period of my life is temporary. I was classified 1B, for non-combat and was searching for a job. Poor Irving, he was at loose ends. His future appeared very dim. He was seeking work in the photo field and he had a low draft number, eligible to be called in a few months. (to be continued)
