fiction – Hipstory

Gall Stones and Connections in 1948

To: Mrs. Lydia Mandel. From: Marion 1948

Sammy, has been very ill but is coming along O.K. Gall stone attack.

Marion

*Alternatively, it could say “Sorry have been very ill”, however the following “but is coming along O.K.” changes tense and thus feels incongruous. Therefore, my best guess is that the first word is a name (Sammy, or perhaps Avery).

This may be one of the “later” cards I’ve blogged about, though it’s certainly not the oldest in my collection. However, it was serendipity that I chose this card today.

On July 29, 1948, the Summer Olympics opened in London. This was the first Summer Olympics held since the 1936 games held in Berlin. The fact that the games were held, and in London of all places, indicates that nations were beginning to heal after the devastation of World War II.

Despite the world uniting in sportsmanship, tensions between the United States and Russia were heating up. On July 22, President Truman issued a peacetime draft, and ten communist leaders were arrested under the Alien Registration Act. In fact, the second Red Scare had begun

It’s amidst these conflicting events (sportsmanship and fear mongering) that Sammy (or Avery, or Marion) had a gall attack. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever had a gall attack, but if you haven’t — they are awful. I call them the “stabbies” because it’s like a sharp pain entering the space just above your stomach. Nothing helps but time. I’m lucky enough that I’ve only had two or three in my lifetime. I also have the benefit of modern medicine if they get too bad. In 1948, there’s not much to do but wait, and I imagine that time probably crept by at a snail’s pace for the poor patient.

I have no evidence of this, but I imagine that Sammy is a child, Marion the mother, and Lydia the grandmother…or perhaps sister to Marion. Again, there’s nothing that indicates any sort of relationship barring the existing postcard, but in my mind…it’s a multi-generational connection.

I did find a “Lydia Mandel”, who was a Russian artist. However, everything I see indicates she was active in France, so I find it difficult to believe thats our Lydia. The address on the postcard still exists — it’s a quaint apartment in the Bronx. For us, Sammy and Marion and Lydia’s story must therefore end with this card. However, the fifties hadn’t yet begun, and the sixties were a decade away. The coming decades were a time of great inner change and turmoil in the United States.

I guess it was sort of like a gall stone attack in that respect.

Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

The Scarlet Letter: Women’s Names and Identity in 1908

To: Mrs. Oscar Lee Masters, From: Anna 1908

Dear Sadie,

Rec’d Oscars card and am sorry to hear you were so sick. Hope you are better ere this reaches you. Am coming home Saturday and will see you then. Weill try and write you this week. With love,

I am,

Anna

In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt was president, the ball dropped in Times Square for the first time, and Henry Ford launched the Model T, pricing the car at $850. The Progressives were in power, and despite their work dismantling monopolies and establishing national parks — they also came from a strict moral backdrop. “Reform” often came from religious motivations.

There are two things I find especially unique about this postcard. The first is that it seems to have been written in red ink. Now, I did not expect my research to lead me down an ink-enthusiast rabbit hole…but this did. Why? Because I wasn’t sure if the ink used started out black, and dried red over the century+ it’s been exposed to air, or, if it could have been written in actual red ink. Spoiler…I still don’t know. I found an advertisement in 1908 for a red inked fountain pen…perhaps that’s what Anna had? On the physical postcard the ink is a vibrant red–not rusted or brown. So, I lean toward the thought that it was written in red ink. If this is the case…it’s a style choice by Anna that I sort of love.

The second think I find unique about this postcard is that Anna uses Sadie’s name. In a time where so many women’s names hid underneath their husbands, here we have a situation where Anna specifically addresses the letter as “Dear Sadie.” If you’ve followed along with me for a while, you’ll know this actually rarely happens. Once a woman is married, it’s almost like her name totally disappears from the record. This is from the laws of “coverture” in which a woman is literally “covered” by her husband. So, not only did Anna defy convention by using black ink, she provided us with Sadie’s name.

So, starting out my research I felt I was already in a good position. I had a date, a place, and two names: Oscar Lee Masters (or master) and Sadie Master(s). It felt easy.

That was my first mistake.

I got lucky with my postcard yesterday, but today I had no luck at all. There were a few hits on Oscar Masters, but none that showed me his wife or family. I had nearly nothing on Sadie Masters…this tells me Sadie was probably a nickname for something (maybe Saundra?).

Here’s what I suspect: Anna was likely a sister or maybe a close cousin, and a flamboyant one at that. I’d like to think she was like one of the Aunt’s in Practical Magic. Of course, I don’t know for sure. But her use of the red pen has me thinking that she was definitely someone who stood out in a crowd. As for Sadie, I hope she felt better by the time Anna arrived. I imagine the two of them strolling down a spring street arm and arm catching up on life.

Center Street, Ashland, Ohio