Hillmanns 34

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 34

1927

Summer Vacation

Hinsdale, Massachusetts and

Fort Ticonderoga

Marian beaming in her Erasmus sweater.

The Hillmanns visited Fort Tionderoga in 1927.  How many high school graduates today know what happened at Fort Ticonderoga or where it is?

What percentage of people know Ethan Allen as anything other than a furniture store?

How many of us believe in the concept of great men?  Can you name any great man?

Let us leave the arena of deep thought and journey on to relaxation.

In 1927 a portable, wind-up phonograph started at $14.95.

In 1927 Stalin took over Russia. His Communist Party then condemned all deviation from the party line. 

Not to be a downer, but while the Hillmanns enjoyed their Summer vacation, one thousand people a week were dying in Britain from a flu epidemic.  Thank God for antibiotics.

In 1927 Harvard professors invented the iron lung, which allowed people with polio to breathe.

Pan American Airways was formed and took its first flight from Key West to Havana.

I think there are Hillmanns in this group, besides Herman, Rose and Marian.   I have been blessed, though Ancestry.com to have met descendants of Herman's sister.  Herman only had one sister.  I would like to make contact with an avid genealogist on the Hillmann side, descended from a generation above Herman. 

Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays. Next week it's 1928.

Hillmanns 33

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 33

1927

MARIAN GRADUATES

Before we see all the graduation photos, let's join the pre-graduation picnic.

What a momentous thing high school graduation is.  A time to move forward, with the realization you won't see the same people everyday anymore.

Also, in 1927, the Holland Tunnel was completed, connecting New York to New Jersey.

Charles Lindberg completed the first solo flight across the Atlantic and was a hero.

Marian's mother, Rose, had two sisters and two brothers. Her oldest sister, Henrietta, never married. Her younger sister, Angelica, married a few years after Rose. Conversely, Rose's brothers married much later in life. This is Rose's brother, Henry "Harry" with his son, Harry.

Harry Sr. worked for Borden Foods his entire life. Pretty much all the men you see in this album, except my father, worked for the same companies, or in the same profession, all their lives.  Harry Sr. was 38 years old when Harry Jr. was born. His wife was a couple years younger. ThroughAncestry.com I met a cousin of Harry and Marian's.

She told me Harry Jr. was spoiled.  I said he had to be.

In 1927 seventy-eight children were killed in one Montreal theatre fire.

A school in Bath Township, Michigan was bombed killing 45, mostly children. It was perpetrated by a man protesting high taxes, in case you thought Timothy McVeigh or terrorism were something new.

Rose just saw her only child graduate from high school. Her brother, Henry, has just begun raising his only child. Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays. Next week we're going on Summer vacay.

Hillmanns 32 - Bert's Party

THE HILLMANN'S OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 32

1926

BERT'S PARTY

This is one of my favorite albums.

It's 1926 and Marian is a senior at Erasmus High School.

Senior year party at Bert's place

Attended by

The girls dressed up like boys.

Marian is top row, second from left.

The boys dressed up like girls.

How much fun is that?

All together now

Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesday

Hillmanns 31

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 31

1926

It's 1926 and the summer between Marian's junior and senior year at Erasmus.  

It's a Manhattan Beach Day!

Rose, Marian's Mom, is second on the left.

We go from the beach to the woods.

Herman and Rose, Marian's Pa and Ma

Emma, Herman's Mom, Marian's "Granny"

I'm so happy Marian decided to label this picture.

Cousin Dot, Herman's sister, Louise's, daughter, was a few years younger than Marian. This is the last picture I have of her. Dot's parents divorced.  Both parents abandoned their children, leaving Dot, and her sister, Ruth, with Granny Emma, who raised them.  I met descendants of Dot through Ancestry.com.  This resulted in my father's second cousin visiting.  We are also now FB friends.  How wonderful is the internet?

I don't know where we are..

But Herman and Marian are there.

It's the start of Marian's senior year

Hillmann's albums comes out on Tuesday.  Next week is one of my favorites.