I was born 7 Febraury 1929 and the CRASH occured in October 1929.
I was raised with the effects the CRASH brought. There were three of us kids. Dad had to move the family to find work that would keep us fed and clothed. I was born in Ohio so the first move was to Pennsylvania where Dad worked as a machinist. We lived in a two story three bedroom house in Greensburg. I barely remember that house, but I do recall some things that happened while we lived there. A Junk Man with a horse draw wagon drove up and down the town streets yelling his desire to take away any junk people might have. It was his way of making a living. We also had a horse drawn fish wagon that came on Friday. Whether you were Catholic or not, it was the day everyone ate fish. I don't remember a Friday at home when we didn't have fish. There was a Candy Store down the street from our house. We kids would get a nickel, which by the way was a lot of money in the 1930's and we would walk to the store to spend our money. It would take us a great deal of thought and planning to make the nickel get as much candy as we we wanted for the week. Some of the candy was priced at 2 pieces for 1 cent. Others were even 5 pieces for a penny. On very special days they would have 10 pieces for a penny. Each selection was made with careful thought and we would leave the store with a white and red striped bag filled with our treasure. Gum drops, Jelly cowboy hats, papers full of candy "dots", well those are just a few of what we brought home.
The elementary school was back of our house. We had to walk around the block to enter the front door. During the winter that was a long way when there was snow on the ground. The school was a two story brick building. Each room had a "cloak room" where we put our coats or sweaters and boots when the weather was wet or snowy. At the front of the room there was a big black board behind the teachers desk. There were rows of desks that had ink wells in the right hand top corner. The desk had a top that lifted up. That was where we kept our books and pencils with paper. We didn't have "book bags" back in those days. The janitors cleaned the wooden floors with oiled sawdust. It took up the dirt and left the floors oiled and smelling funny. There was a steam heater in the basement that kept the radiators warm when it turned off cold. I remember my first days in school we had a rest time. We put our heads down on our desks and had to be quiet. The blinds were lowered on the big windows so the room was darkened.
In 1933 Dad brought the family to California for a visit. Our Step-grandmother was in the Los Angeles County Hospital - which by the way is still there, in use today. While we were here the
1933 earthquake happened. All the kids were in the street playing when things began to shake.
The telephone poles did a dance, but fortunately didn't fall down. Trying to walk was a mistake.
Mother was cooking dinner when someone, I don't recall who, ran into the kitchen and tried to get her to go down the back steps. She was moved away from the cabinets just as a large can of tomatoes toppled. If she would have been standing where she was it would have hit on the head.
She struggled, not wanting to leave the kitchen. Fortunately things stopped shaking so she was spared a terrible experience on those rickety stairs. That night the family took a walk up into town (Huntington Park). What a site. Much of the false fronts on the buildings was laying in the street along with broken glass from all the store fronts. The street was full of people, no one was trying to loot the stores. Everyone was so shocked at what had happened. The shaking came and went most of the day and night. People were helping those who needed help. One funny, yet not so funny thing happened to a lady living in one of the Apartments where my Grand Parents lived. She was in the bathtub when the quake hit. Bath rooms weren't like they are today. Bathtubs were used, in many cases, as a laundry tub. Most every bathroom had a shelf over the tub where laundry items were kept. On this ladies shelf was a bottle of "bluing". I know we don't see it today, but back then it was put into the laundry to help white things stay white. It was terribly indelible. The bottle toppeled into the bathtub and the poor lady had a portion of her body turn blue. Wasn't funny to her, I'm sure.
Work was hard to find, especially jobs that paid a decent wage. After our visit, Dad decided to take a gamble and bring the family to California where he had learned there was work in the Aircraft Industry - just in its infancy at the time. Most of the household goods were sold off. We had an upright piano and living room furniture and a dining room set. Mom had a treddle sewing maching. I don't recall that being brought. Dad got a small trailor in which the things that could be taken were carefully packed. A trailor hitch was put on the back of the 1930 green Ford two door sedan Dad had. That car had brought us to California in 1933 and here we were heading back in 1935.
When we arrived we moved into a rented house on Malibar Street in Huntington Park. I believe that old place is still standing. Our Grand Parents lived in that house with Mrs. Harrison and her son Percy. When we added our 5, the house was really crowded. Mrs. Harrison had a bedroom, Grand dad and Grand ma had another leaving the third bedroom for Dad, Mother and I. The boys and Percy had beds on the sunporch at the back of the house. In those days it was not unusual for families to live together. Work was scarce and keeping things together took real planning and sacrafices.
Dad found work in Long Beach at the Donald Douglas Aircraft Plant. When things got better with steady work, Dad rented a two bedroom house on 55th Street for our family. A cousin Edmund Smith moved with us at that time. Mom and Dad had one bedroom, the boys and I took the other. The boys slept in a full size bed and I had a "junior bed". We all slept at night in that bedroom then when we got up Mom would "air" the bed then make it up so Edmund could sleep in it during the day. He was working the graveyard shift. The house was next to railroad tracks - we got use to the trains.
The elementary school was about a mile away. Ron and I had to attend there. Ralph was in High School so he had a longer walk every day. Back in those days everyone walked. We had a car, but it set in the driveway most of the time. Dad would tell us to "shake a leg", which ment we were off on a hike up into town. One of the interesting things during that time was when New Cars came out. Every car dealer would rent a big light to shine in the night sky to tell people they could come and see all the new models. We would go in to see the cars - they smelled "funny" like new cars do. Not many could afford cars in those days, but it was such fun to go in a look at them and get a colored booklet that told all about the advantages of owning one. There was Sopp Chevrolet and Park Ford on Pacific Blvd with the Hudson dealer on Slauson Avenue.
Pacific Blvd was home to the shopping in town and the Movie Houses. At the very end was the
"dime struggle". The whole family could see two features, 2 to 3 comics and the Newsreel for 50 cents. The movies were "older" by about 3 to 4 weeks. The next was the Park. It cost 15 cents to see the same amount of movies, comics and newsreel, only they were only 2 weeks old. Next was the California. It cost 25 cents but the movies were new. In fact they had sneak previews once in awhile. What a thrill that was. In the next block was Warner Brothers. They played their own movies that were just released. Both the California and Warner Bros. were posh buildings. At the other end of town was the Lyric. It showed a mixture of pictures and was also 25 cents as I recall. It was too far for us to walk, but great for those who lived that far away.
On Saturdays, when we would mostly attend, they had Serials and the "passing parade". These were in addition to all the other showings. A real buy. They never cleared the theatre after the showing, so you could stay and see the main features over again. Well one was a first run with the second being a "B" picture. They were all good.
None of us had homes as well decorated or furnished at those two theatres. It was a real thrill to go up on the Second floor and set in the lounges or admire yourself at the vanities. The bathrooms were really special. Well we just lived it up at the "show".
When I was 8 years old, our parents purchased a home on Belgrave Avenue, next to the High School. It had been built in 1928 and withstood the 1933 earthquake. In fact it went through a number of other shakes while we lived there. It was only a two bedroom house, but it too had a sun porch where the boys and Edmund slept.
When I was 12 I remember a Sunday Morning when I was laying on the living room floor reading the funny papers. Dad had the radio on listening to the news. The announcement came over that radio telling us the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I turned and looked at Dad setting in his chair, reading the Sunday Paper. We didn't say a word, we just looked at each other. Ralph was 21 at the time and was working at Northrup Aircraft as I recall and Ronald was still in High School age 17. I am sure none of us realized at that time just what it all would mean to not only our family, but to the entire Country.
Come Monday morning - we all went to school and work like things were normal, but they weren't. All the kids in the classrooms were crying - not knowing what to expect. Some had had family members at Pearl Harbor. One knew his brother had been killed in the attack. We were only in the 7th grade. Too young to be part of any action. Our lives would never, however, be the same. In no time at all there were long lines at the recruiting offices, men wanting to "join up". When the men left to serve, women were recruited to join the War Effort by going to work to replace the men.
We lived near the coast, so an immediate concern of an attack loomed before us. Windows were darkened with "black out curtains". All street lights, sign boards, car head lights, etc. were turned off or modified. Gas rationing soon followed. Cards were issued with stickers placed on windshields to signify what use the car qualified for. Rallies to sell Ward Bonds were common place. Every Movie Theater sold Bonds and Savings Stamps. These were to support the War Effort. The Government issued Food Stamps. Not like those in use today. These were for various commodities. Sugar, Butter, Meat, or other things. When all the stamps were gone, you had to wait for then next issue to be able to buy. All the meat counters were pretty sad looking. If there was any meat it was in small quantities. If you weren't at the markets when it came in,
you had to wait until more was released for public use. Everything "went to war". Even the colors. Lucky Strike Cigaretts had a green package before the war. The familiar saying was "Lucky Strike Green has gone to war". They never did go back to the green package. Leather shoes were a thing of the past. I remember buying a lovely pair of linen shoes with plastic, look like leather trim and cord soles. They were "special". All but for the day I walked in the water with them on. The soles came loose and the shoes fell apart. Silk hose were gone - even the new nylons that we were just learning to wear. All had gone to war for parachutes, or other supplies for the troups. That was when "leg makeup" came into being. It was awful stuff. Streaked on your legs and made you look rediculous. Sun tanned legs seems to be the only option. A new profession was born however. In every 5 and dime on the Blvd. Hose repair stations began to pop up. Take hose in with a run, and they could mend it good as new. I have no idea what the cost was for the service, but I know many women took advantage of it.
As our family was use to walking everywhere, gas rationing only caused problems for Dad getting back and forth to his work. Fortunate for him, he was in War Work, so he qualified for help and they encouraged pooling of rides. Everything seemed to work out.
I remember what it was like. Mother was a Red Cross volunteer so we made bandages for the Armed Services. She was active in the VFW and Navy Mothers, so we were part of the volunteers that kept the local USO Canteen open and staffed. We made sandwiches and snacks for the men on leave. We made beds and kept the area neat and clean so there was a place for the boys to rest when they were in town over night. We attended the functions for the various clubs when they held dances or social for the Service Men.
I remember the day when the War was over. I was walking down Malabar Street on my way home when a lady ran out on her porch and screamed: "the war is over". I stopped walking and stared at her for a moment. She walked back inside and I sat down on a cement wall at the house on the corner. I was happy, I was stunned, I was beside myself. I wasn't sure what I should do, laugh, cry, yell or just set there and enjoy the feeling. Ralph was in the 111th Airborne Division in the South Pacific. Ronald was with the 1st Marine Division also in the Pacific. They would be coming home. Mom would be able to relax and rest. Dad would not have to work all the long hours just to keep things moving for the War Effort. I could return to being a girl again. We all seemed to be forced into being grown ups. I wasn't a kid any more, and would never be again. Edmund had tried to enlist in the RAF but was turned down because he had false teeth from an accident while he was still a young man. The US Army AirCorp took him and he served as well. All came home. We had three blue stars in our window, and we retired that flag with great relief - our boys had all come home.
I believe I have gone over the information about Jay else where so I will not add it here. I have been a part of History that saw the Second World War. I have been envolved in the terrible times of the Korean War and survived the experiences as a mother during the Vietnam War.
Today things are still in an uproar. It appears there are those who have learned nothing from the past. I guess that is why we are seeing History repeating itself. Know this - it does not matter what we are called to face, we can get through it because we have faith, and we live in a country that has held to higher standards. We have helped our fellowman, we have protected the weak and repaired the broken. So long as we remember this country was founded on a belief in God our Eternal Father, and we keep the faith of the Founding Fathers - even when things look bleak, we will survive.
Posted this 8th day of June, 2009
by: Eileen Charmaine Smith Rosenberg
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