Steve's Genealogy Blog

With a one-two punch, Albany, New York received about a foot of snow this morning and is expecting another 6 inches on tomorrow. I’m not worried about tomorrow – I’ll be in California.

Snow in the Morning – Albany, New York

SOURCE: Snow in the Morning – Albany, New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 31 Dec 2007.

The snow plows work quickly here. The streets are already cleared of snow and most flights out of Albany International Airport, including mine, are still on time.

The fresh snow certainly looks beautiful in the morning. Especially when you don’t have to shovel it.

New Year’s Eve Scene – Albany, New York

SOURCE: New Year’s Eve Scene – Albany, New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 31 Dec 2007.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

As I try to squeeze as many family treasures as possible into my suitcases, the snow has begun to fall again in upstate New York. This snowstorm started on 30 December and will last until about mid-day on New Year’s Eve.

New Year’s Eve Snow in Upstate New York

SOURCE: New Year’s Eve Snow in Upstate New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 30 Dec 2007.

My plane leaves for San Francisco in about 14 hours. With luck, the snowstorm won’t interfere with my flight home.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

Another family treasure I found while cleaning out the attic at the family home was a Brownie Hawkeye camera.

The Brownie Hawkeye with Flash Attachment

SOURCE: The Brownie Hawkeye with Flash Attachment. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 30 Dec 2007.

The Brownie Hawkeye was introduced by the Kodak Company in September 1950 and was discontinued in July 1961. My family used this camera from about 1953-1965 and I still have most of the square negatives taken with this camera.

The camera has a molded Bakelite body and uses 620 film in rolls of 12 exposures. The scene to be photographed is centered in its “Brilliant Viewfinder”. The original price of the camera was about $7.00. Current prices for this camera on e-bay are about $5.00 to $15.00.

A copy of the original owner’s manual is available as a PDF file.

Rolls of 620 film are still available, although the price of a 12-exposure roll of 620 film is currently about $15-20. This camera is still in excellent condition and could certainly be used after the optics are cleaned. I might buy and shoot a roll of film in this camera for sentimental reasons but, for now, I’ll just keep the camera as a family heirloom.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

My sister, my brother-in-law, and I spent quite a bit of time this past week cleaning out the family home. The latest news is that the sale of the property should be completed next week.

The Front of the Family Home

SOURCE: The Front of the Family Home in Albany, New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 29 Dec 2007.

The Back of the Family Home

SOURCE: The Back of the Family Home in Albany, New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 29 Dec 2007.

Parquet Floors in the Family Home

SOURCE: Parquet Floors in the Family Home in Albany, New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 28 Dec 2007.

The Front Hall in the Family Home

SOURCE: The Front Hall in the Family Home in Albany, New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 28 Dec 2007.

My sisters and I hung our stockings from the radiator in the front hall, above. The dining room, sitting room, living room, main hallway, and front hall all have parquet floors with the pattern shown above.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

While cleaning out the attic of the house in which my sisters and I grew up, we found these two towels.

SOURCE: Embroidered Towels. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 27 December 2007.

I believe these are linen. They are hand embroidered with the names of my parents.

I’ll have to ask my father if he remembers these towels. I suspect they may have been wedding gifts for my parents in 1947.

We’re still going through boxes and boxes of mementos and documents from the attic and cellar on this snowy afternoon in upstate New York.

SOURCE: Snowy Afternoon in Upstate New York. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 27 December 2007.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

My sister is preparing to close the sale of the house in which we grew up. Selling the house has certainly been an event full of mixed emotions. Despite the fact that our family has owned the house since 1961, nobody in the family wants the responsibility of owning the property any longer.

The attic and basement are full of clutter, mostly from my younger sister’s family, but there are still some mementos of my older sister, my parents, and me.

While sifting through the remnants, deciding what to keep and what to discard, I came across my mother’s Catechism book, dated 1932.

On the cover is handwritten:

Wed 3:00 o’clock

Niedziałkowska Janina
18 Huntington Ave.
Worcester, Mass.

Catechism – Katechizm
St. Mary’s School
Richland Street

Wear white dress if you have one and veil . 

SOURCE: Faeber, Wilhelm. 1932. Catechism for the Catholic parochial schools of the United States. St. Louis: B. Herder book Co.

The book is bilingual, with Polish on the left page and English on the right.

The Catechism was designed to prepare young Polish-American Catholics for their First Communion:

1. Kto nas stworzył?
Pan Bóg nas stworzył.

1. Who made us?
God made us.

2. Poco nas Pan Bóg stworzył?
Pan Bóg stworzył nas na to, abyśmy Mu służyli a przez to do nieba się dostali . 

2. Why did God make us?
God made us that we might know, love, and serve Him, and thereby gain Heaven.

The Catechism didn’t change much in the 30 years that elapsed between 1932 when my mother studied these questions and 1962 when I studied the Catechism myself.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

This year, my sisters and I agreed to limit our Christmas gifts to each other to $25.

Not a problem. Christmas shopping would be a bit more selective, that’s all, I thought.

My younger sister certainly outdid herself, though. When she asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I suggested that she select one of the “Images of America” books, the local history books published by Arcadia Publishing.

The one she selected was the book for the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.

SOURCE: Cotter, Bill, and Bill Young. 2004. The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. Images of America. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 25 Dec 2007.

The reason she selected this book was that my sisters and I all remember the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, not that we attended the fair, but that my father bought each of us a souvenir glass from the fair.

And that was the second part of my sister’s Christmas gift to me. She found the three glasses tucked away in the attic of the house in which we grew up and included them as part of my Christmas gift.

SOURCE: Three 1964-1965 World’s Fair Glasses. Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 25 Dec 2007.

The three glasses show different scenes from the fair, each of which is described on the back of the glasses. From left to right:

HALL OF SCIENCE

This is a permanent structure built by the city of New York. It is designed to show educational groups the practical application of scientific techniques. The exhibit will demonstrate not only the laws of natural science, the application of these laws by industry to the needs of mankind.

NEW YORK STATE EXHIBIT

The high point of the fair, Twelve Concrete Towers and Three Observation Towers of the New York State Pavilion provide viewing platforms with a sweeping vista of the fair-grounds and show the attractions, culture, and activities of New York State to best advantage.

PORT AUTHORITY BUILDING

The Port of New York Authority Building will feature the fair’s own restaurant and private terrace club. A big attraction is the Round-the-World Bar offering refreshments from 80 nations. Helicopters will transport visitors to and from the heart of New York and the city’s airports to the roof-top heliport.

She didn’t spend much, but my sister certainly gave me a memorable Christmas gift!

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko