Steve’s Genealogy Blog

Mom rarely baked cookies. At the holidays, there really was no need. Everyone seemed to give us cookies at Christmastime, so there was never a cookie shortage in our house. At one time, Mom kept the cookies in a round, ceramic cookie jar decorated with images of cookies of every kind. Even the knob on the lid was a cookie.

But the cookies I remember best at Christmas were Danish Butter Cookies presented in a tin. At Grandmother Danko’s apartment, there always seemed to be a supply of these cookies with the different varieties - round, pretzel-shaped, rectangular, or swirly - stacked neatly in paper dividers that reminded me of cupcake wrappers. When the cookies were gone, someone would always save the tin.

Grandmother Danko only spoke Polish and my sisters and I only knew a few Polish words. When she would offer us cookies, we took our cues from her actions since we couldn’t understand what she was saying and, because we couldn’t have a conversation with her, during most of the time at Grandmother’s apartment we’d read the funny papers, work the puzzles in Highlights magazine, or watch television.

Grandmother enjoyed watching television, especially Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, The Lawrence Welk Show, Sing Along with Mitch, and The Ed Sullivan Show.

We’d watch with Grandmother as Marlon Perkins sent his sidekick Jim Fowler to wrestle an alligator on Wild Kingdom. We’d watch as Lawrence Welk introduced the Lennon Sisters (our favorite act on Lawrence Welk). We’d watch as Mitch Miller instructed us to “follow the bouncing ball” and sing along. We’d watch as Ed Sullivan bantered with tiny Topo Gigio and laugh when Topo Gigio would shyly ask “Eddie… kiss me goodnight!” We’d watch, and we’d eat Danish Butter Cookies.

YouTube - topo gigio.flv

Written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 8. 

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

In 1945, my grandparents were listed in the city directory with only two changes from the 1944 edition. My mother, Jane A. Niedzialkowski, is listed as a computer operator. This occupation is different from her occupations of key punch operator as listed in the 1943 directory and clerk as listed in the 1944 directory.

Kostanty, Helen, Raymond, Jane, and Frederick Niedzialkowski are listed in the 1945 Worcester Directory published by R.L. Polk & Co. The eldest child was married and living outside this household. Another child was still too young to be listed.

As in the 1944 directory, my grandfather seems to be listed a second time in the same directory, this time without a residential address.

Worcester Directory 1945 Entry for Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski and Family

Worcester Directory 1945 Entry for Kostanty Niedzialkowski

SOURCE: Massachusetts City Directories, Worcester 1945, page 631, Kostanty Niedzialkoski; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 03 December 2007); citing Polk’s Worcester (Worcester County, Mass.) City Directory Vol. 1945 CII. 1945. Boston, MA: R.L. Polk & Co.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester Directory 1945 Entry for Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski and Family. The brief record states the following:

Kostanty Niedzialkowski resided at 40 Barnes av;
his wife Helen also resided at 40 Barnes av;
his son Raymond was in the United States Coast Guard and resided at 40 Barnes av;
his daughter Jane worked as a computer operator for Grafton & Knight Co. and resided at 40 Barnes av; and
his son Frederick was in the United States Navy and resided at 40 Barnes av.

Konstanty Niedzialkowski is also listed as a set-up man at Worcester Pressed Steel Co. No residential address was mentioned in the second entry.

In both entries, the surname is misspelled. In the first entry, the name is spelled Nieczialkowski and in the second entry the name is spelled Niedzalkowski. My grandfather’s first name is spelled Kostanty in the first entry (which is the way he usually spelled his name) and is spelled Konstanty in the second entry (which is the proper way to spell the name).

The name Damian Niedzialkowski again appears in the directory (misspelled as Damiam Niedzalkowski). He may or may not be related to my grandfather, but the circumstantial evidence indicates that he is probably a distant relative.

My mother’s occupations in the 1943, 1944, and 1945 directories were Key punch operator, clerk, and computer operator. I don’t know whether these different job titles represented different occupations within the same company, but they may reflect positions of increasing responsibility.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko