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Childhood favorites and internet sleuthing
For a comfort-reading break from the big thick books I am otherwise reading, I am rereading some childhood favorites, the All-of-a-Kind Family books. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, first of all, I am so sorry they weren't part of your childhood because they were the most delightful. Second, a summary: the books are about five sisters (and finally later a little brother) growing up in the Lower East Side. The first book opens in 1912 and I the final one closes shortly after the end of WWI. They're wonderfully written (and illustrated! I love the illustrations!) children's books, but what makes them special is that the family being written about is Jewish. And their Jewishness isn't treated as strange or exotic or un-American--the family is presented like a completely typical American family (which of course they are) and though Sydney Taylor, the author, makes sure that she explains all the holidays and foods anything else that might not be familiar to the gentiles in her readership, she does it in such a wonderfully matter-of-fact way. I really can't convey how well she balances "this is new information for some of my readers" with "this is a typical American family." It helps that the books are based on Taylor's own childhood in a very Laura Ingalls Wilder sort of way.
Anyway, I loved them to itty-bitty bits as a child (and so did my mama before me--she introduced me to them). They're just as wonderful now that I'm an adult, but also I am totally aware now as I was not then of how difficult the life Taylor is describing actually was. It all seems like a grand adventure when you're reading it at eight or ten. As an adult, you're really struck by the ways poverty shapes their lives. There's a scene where one of their peddler friends cuts out cardboard to line the insides of his shoes till he can afford a new pair and that just...strikes you as completely different as an adult than it does as a kid.
There are so many images and scenes that were clear in my mind before I started my reread (sneaking crackers and chocolate to bed! dying the dress with tea! the nuts in the umbrella!) but also so many things I had forgotten. For instance, in the first book, some of the girls catch scarlet fever right before Passover. I had totally forgotten that the book talks about isolation and quarantine and the Board of Health coming by to put up a sign on the front door of the apartment (as I said on tumblr: prompt government action! In 1913!), which of course struck me especially now. In the third book, there's a polio epidemic (though it's not called polio, but infantile paralysis) which strikes someone they love.
As a kid, I was supremely uninterested in the authors of books. It was the books I cared about--even with someone like Wilder or Taylor whose books were based on their lives, I just didn't care to know anything about them. Now, of course, I have a great curiosity about writers' lives, and I did some research to see what I could find out about Sydney Taylor's life. There's not much out there, but she was born Sarah, like the middle daughter in the books, and all of the sisters in her book are named after her own sisters (in order: Ella, Henrietta called Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertrude called Gertie). I did manage to find out that her family's last name was Brenner (Taylor was her middle name).
In the books, the girls' parents talk about "the old country" and they all speak Yiddish, but I was curious about which old country was their old country. I found some genealogical info that may or may not be entirely correct. If it is, they had another little brother (not mentioned in the books) who died after only a year or two of life and yet another little brother (the mother's last pregnancy is mentioned in the last book) born after the last book closes.
A wonderful discovery--in the book, the little brother Charlie has an accident that puts him in a coma and the family isn't sure he's going to recover. So they change his name, as part of a Ashkenazi tradition that's supposed to render a dying person unfindable by the angel of death, who finds a person by calling their name. So they change his name to Charles-Irving. Listed on the genealogical information? His name is Irving. So I guess the name change stuck.
It also lists her father as Morris Aaron Brenner of "Vishnitz, undefined, Poland" and her mother as Cecilla 'Tsilly' Brenner (Morowitz) born somewhere in the Russian Federation. Almost all of their children were born after they immigrated to NYC, but oldest daughter Ella appears to have been born in "Magdaberg, undefined, Germany." I want to know about this family's history! I want to know about how Tsilly and Morris met! And how they ended up in Germany and then decided to go to the US! I want to know if they spoke different dialects of Yiddish since they were (presumably) from different places. I want to know how Mama felt about having so many children--had she always wanted a lot of children? Or was this a result of a world without birth control? Judging by the books, a great deal of family also immigrated, but surely there were some family members who did not. Did they manage to communicate with those back home after immigrating? How did they feel about their new country? Did the sons fight in WWII? How did they all feel about living through two world wars and how much was their family back in Europe affected by the Shoah?
So the family:
+ Morris Aaron Brenner
Birthdate: January 05, 1874
Birthplace: Vishnitz, undefined, Poland
Death: circa August 15, 1960 (82-90)
NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Occupation: Woolen Waste [my note: he's a junk collector in the books, mostly focusing on fabrics]
+ Cecilla 'Tsilly' Brenner (Morowitz)
Birthdate: circa September 10, 1882
Birthplace: Russian Federation
Death: circa September 10, 1963 (73-89)
NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Occupation: Homemaker
+ Ella Kornweitz (Brenner)
Birthdate: 1900
Birthplace: Magdaberg, undefined, Germany
Death: June 1990 (89-90)
NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Occupation: Head counselor Cejwin (Cent Jewish Inst CJI) Camps
+ Henrietta Fried (Brenner)
Birthdate: 1902
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1996 (93-94)
Occupation: Husband's Trucking Co.
+ Sarah "Sydney" Taylor (Brenner)
Birthdate: 1904
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1981 (76-77)
Occupation: Author of "All of a kind family"; danced in Martha Graham Dance
+ Charlotte Himber (Brenner)
Birthdate: circa 1906
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1996 (85-94)
Occupation: Columnist for Jewish Daily Forward; YMCA Administrator [my note: aww, little dreamer Charlotte! I can so easily imagine her as a writer as well!)
+ Gertrude Schiner (Brenner)
Birthdate: circa 1908
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1995 (82-91)
Occupation: Secretary
+ Irving Brenner [my note: this is Charlie-turned-Irving]
Birthdate: October 1912
Birthplace: NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Death: 2002 (89-90)
Occupation: Family Woolen Waste Business [ my note: awww!]
+ Ralph Brenner
Birthdate: 1916
Death: 1918 (1-2) [my note: heartbreaking]
+ Joseph "Jerry" Brenner
Birthdate: October 02, 1919
Birthplace: NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Death: August 05, 2010 (90)
Lexington, MA, United States (Old Age)
Occupation: Transportation Rate Analyst for Interstate Commerce Comm.
If all of this is true, all of the girls married (mostly within the Jewish community; I don't believe that Sarah/Sydney's husband was Jewish) and most of them lived long lives which I hope were happy.
Taylor only had one daughter, who she wrote her books for. Turns out that she was non-observant by her adulthood but you'd never know it from the way she writes about the religious aspects of Jewish life in the books. She describes all of the holy days, the Sabbath traditions, and her parents' words about their faith in a warm, loving way. She obviously really valued her childhood and her heritage. I find that very touching.
So this will have to satisfy my curiosity until someone writes a biography of her! I really, really hope someone writes a biography!
Anyway, I loved them to itty-bitty bits as a child (and so did my mama before me--she introduced me to them). They're just as wonderful now that I'm an adult, but also I am totally aware now as I was not then of how difficult the life Taylor is describing actually was. It all seems like a grand adventure when you're reading it at eight or ten. As an adult, you're really struck by the ways poverty shapes their lives. There's a scene where one of their peddler friends cuts out cardboard to line the insides of his shoes till he can afford a new pair and that just...strikes you as completely different as an adult than it does as a kid.
There are so many images and scenes that were clear in my mind before I started my reread (sneaking crackers and chocolate to bed! dying the dress with tea! the nuts in the umbrella!) but also so many things I had forgotten. For instance, in the first book, some of the girls catch scarlet fever right before Passover. I had totally forgotten that the book talks about isolation and quarantine and the Board of Health coming by to put up a sign on the front door of the apartment (as I said on tumblr: prompt government action! In 1913!), which of course struck me especially now. In the third book, there's a polio epidemic (though it's not called polio, but infantile paralysis) which strikes someone they love.
As a kid, I was supremely uninterested in the authors of books. It was the books I cared about--even with someone like Wilder or Taylor whose books were based on their lives, I just didn't care to know anything about them. Now, of course, I have a great curiosity about writers' lives, and I did some research to see what I could find out about Sydney Taylor's life. There's not much out there, but she was born Sarah, like the middle daughter in the books, and all of the sisters in her book are named after her own sisters (in order: Ella, Henrietta called Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertrude called Gertie). I did manage to find out that her family's last name was Brenner (Taylor was her middle name).
In the books, the girls' parents talk about "the old country" and they all speak Yiddish, but I was curious about which old country was their old country. I found some genealogical info that may or may not be entirely correct. If it is, they had another little brother (not mentioned in the books) who died after only a year or two of life and yet another little brother (the mother's last pregnancy is mentioned in the last book) born after the last book closes.
A wonderful discovery--in the book, the little brother Charlie has an accident that puts him in a coma and the family isn't sure he's going to recover. So they change his name, as part of a Ashkenazi tradition that's supposed to render a dying person unfindable by the angel of death, who finds a person by calling their name. So they change his name to Charles-Irving. Listed on the genealogical information? His name is Irving. So I guess the name change stuck.
It also lists her father as Morris Aaron Brenner of "Vishnitz, undefined, Poland" and her mother as Cecilla 'Tsilly' Brenner (Morowitz) born somewhere in the Russian Federation. Almost all of their children were born after they immigrated to NYC, but oldest daughter Ella appears to have been born in "Magdaberg, undefined, Germany." I want to know about this family's history! I want to know about how Tsilly and Morris met! And how they ended up in Germany and then decided to go to the US! I want to know if they spoke different dialects of Yiddish since they were (presumably) from different places. I want to know how Mama felt about having so many children--had she always wanted a lot of children? Or was this a result of a world without birth control? Judging by the books, a great deal of family also immigrated, but surely there were some family members who did not. Did they manage to communicate with those back home after immigrating? How did they feel about their new country? Did the sons fight in WWII? How did they all feel about living through two world wars and how much was their family back in Europe affected by the Shoah?
So the family:
+ Morris Aaron Brenner
Birthdate: January 05, 1874
Birthplace: Vishnitz, undefined, Poland
Death: circa August 15, 1960 (82-90)
NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Occupation: Woolen Waste [my note: he's a junk collector in the books, mostly focusing on fabrics]
+ Cecilla 'Tsilly' Brenner (Morowitz)
Birthdate: circa September 10, 1882
Birthplace: Russian Federation
Death: circa September 10, 1963 (73-89)
NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Occupation: Homemaker
+ Ella Kornweitz (Brenner)
Birthdate: 1900
Birthplace: Magdaberg, undefined, Germany
Death: June 1990 (89-90)
NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Occupation: Head counselor Cejwin (Cent Jewish Inst CJI) Camps
+ Henrietta Fried (Brenner)
Birthdate: 1902
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1996 (93-94)
Occupation: Husband's Trucking Co.
+ Sarah "Sydney" Taylor (Brenner)
Birthdate: 1904
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1981 (76-77)
Occupation: Author of "All of a kind family"; danced in Martha Graham Dance
+ Charlotte Himber (Brenner)
Birthdate: circa 1906
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1996 (85-94)
Occupation: Columnist for Jewish Daily Forward; YMCA Administrator [my note: aww, little dreamer Charlotte! I can so easily imagine her as a writer as well!)
+ Gertrude Schiner (Brenner)
Birthdate: circa 1908
Birthplace: NY, Manhattan, NY, United States
Death: 1995 (82-91)
Occupation: Secretary
+ Irving Brenner [my note: this is Charlie-turned-Irving]
Birthdate: October 1912
Birthplace: NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Death: 2002 (89-90)
Occupation: Family Woolen Waste Business [ my note: awww!]
+ Ralph Brenner
Birthdate: 1916
Death: 1918 (1-2) [my note: heartbreaking]
+ Joseph "Jerry" Brenner
Birthdate: October 02, 1919
Birthplace: NY, Bronx, NY, United States
Death: August 05, 2010 (90)
Lexington, MA, United States (Old Age)
Occupation: Transportation Rate Analyst for Interstate Commerce Comm.
If all of this is true, all of the girls married (mostly within the Jewish community; I don't believe that Sarah/Sydney's husband was Jewish) and most of them lived long lives which I hope were happy.
Taylor only had one daughter, who she wrote her books for. Turns out that she was non-observant by her adulthood but you'd never know it from the way she writes about the religious aspects of Jewish life in the books. She describes all of the holy days, the Sabbath traditions, and her parents' words about their faith in a warm, loving way. She obviously really valued her childhood and her heritage. I find that very touching.
So this will have to satisfy my curiosity until someone writes a biography of her! I really, really hope someone writes a biography!