Hillmanns 55 Port Washington

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 55

1937

Port Washington

In 1937 was a momentous year for the Hillmanns.  Marian spent the summer in Reno getting divorced.  Herman and Rose were building a new house, in Port Washington, New York. Herman is in the garage.

This house took the Hillmanns, who were all born in Brooklyn, out of Brooklyn for the rest of their lives.

The house was also a major change from the Brooklyn house with its small yard, so close to the street.  If you look at pictures of the Hillmann's Brooklyn house taken in the early 1900s compared to the same house viewed on Google Earth today you see the street became wider at the expense of the yard.  .

Herman worked for one company his entire life. He started as a clerk and ended up as a credit manager. In 1940, according to the census, he was earning $5,000 a year.

This newspaper clipping, was saved in Rose's album. It tells us the house was in Montford Hills. My research leads me to believe it was/is on St. John Place in Port Washington. It's 1940 value was $12,500.

My father tells me the Hillmanns left Brooklyn because the neighborhood was changing.

It appears to me Herman and Rose had been living in the same house in which Herman was raised.  Herman's mother moved to New Jersey.  I have not researched to see if I can determine if Herman owned the house and, if so, when did he receive it, or did his mother own the house?

Rose at the door of her new home.

The decorating theme in Rose's dining room was oriental. Marian drew this picture which hung in the dining room. It hangs in my dining room today.

Marian came back from her divorce in Reno and moved into her parents' new house to start her new life. Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesday, next week we're hanging out with Marian and her friends.

Hillmanns 54 1937 Colorado and New Mexico

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 54

1937

Colorado and New Mexico

It's the Summer of 1937.  Marian Hillmann is living in Reno, Nevada for at least six weeks to establish residency to get a quickie divorce.  Marian made the best of her time in Nevada, by taking side trips.  Here she is in Colorado with her friend, Mary Behrens.  I don't know if Mary came with her to Nevada or if she met Mary there.

When I see a place in the Hillmann's albums I like to look it up and see if it is still there.

with Del Fedderman. If you Google "Del Fedderman" you learn he won a table tennis tournament in Denver in September 1938, about 13 months after this picture was taken.

Will Rogers Shrine, then and now

Now we travel on to New Mexico

and we're back to eliminated people, which makes me think Del Fedderman was an okay guy

Puye Cliff Dwellings

Puye Pathway

It's time for Marian to go home, a newly-single woman, with a ticking biological clock and thoughts of becoming an old maid. Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays. Join us next week when the Hillmanns leave Brooklyn for good.

Hillmanns 53 1937 Yosemite and San Francisco

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 54

1937

Yosemite and San Francisco

It's the Summer of 1937.  Marian Hillmann is in Reno, Nevada where she has to stay for six weeks to establish residency to get a divorce.  She took side trips and saw the West.  .

Mary Behrens and Dale Fedderman

My father sent my daughter this postcard when he traveled there in 2006.  He forgot his mother was there in 1937.

Marian traveled on to San Francisco

I assume they stayed at the St. Francis

The modern Westin St. Francis

Chinatown

Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays. Next week we're going to Colorado and New Mexico