Hillmanns 15 1919 Airplanes

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 15

1919

AIRPLANES

Here with have our hero, Herman, with an airplane, in August of 1919, slightly more than 15 years after the Wright Brothers got one off the ground. How did Herman, who spent his entire life working for the H.B. Smith Co., America's oldest cast iron boiler company, get so close to this action? We can only speculate.

Herman also spent his entire life in New York City, where the action was.

Also in 1919, several mail bombs were sent to prominent figures as part of the 1919 United States Anarchist Bombings.

Andy Rooney was born in 1919.

Marian and Herman

Here we have Rose's mother, Henrietta, with Herman's mother, Emma. In 1919 Henrietta was 65 years old. She was born in Brooklyn to parents who had immigrated from Hamburg. Henrietta was the mother of five. Her husband was still living, and her oldest son still lived at home and contributed to his parents' support. 

Emma was 54. She was born in Pennsylvania to parents who had immigrated from Hamburg. Emma was the mother of two. She had been widowed and remarried. She was raising her two granddaughters because her daughter had divorced and neither her daughter nor her former son-in-law cared for their children.

Both Henrietta and Emma married German immigrants. Both of their husbands were bartenders. We know Emma's husband, Herman's Dad, owned a bar on Flatbush Avenue. We don't know if Henrietta's husband owned a bar or worked a bar.

I don't know why the Hillmanns took so few pictures in 1919, but next week we start on the 1920s and I have so many photos. Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays.