Growing Up (12 page)

Two days later:

“… this hours, it is day and night, work all the time, Yesterday we work all day till ten last evening then we started again at two this morning, now it is three Afternoon I just got home, now Elizabeth don’t worrie, get along the best you can, and always think and say, someday Oluf will come, and I will. …”

These lines were the closest to a promise of marriage he had written. She wrote back immediately urging him to look for an easier job more fitting for a man of his age and achievements.

November 25, 1932:

“No, Elizabeth I tried all over to get a job, I vill bet you I spendt over five Dollars on Stemps, sending letters to every one of this Bakers, who offered me jobs with big mony when I was traveling, but only one of them answered, no there was two, one in Newark and one in Boston, but they said they diddent have anything just now, the rest of them wouldent even spend a two cent Stamps on me, and they all were my Freinds, well such is Life, no you musent think I would stay here in this dumpe one day ef I could get an other Job. … now it is three a clock Afternoon, and we got to go to work at elleven this evening, isint it some Life, vell I hope soon vill change to something better … I will get to you some day, don’t worrie, love to you all from Oluf.”

Five days later he had good news.

“Yesterday I received a Box of Cigares from a wery good Baker in Philladelphia, so maby my Freinds begin to come rown again, I wrote him to day and Thankt him, and said ef he needed a man lett me know and I would come down there.”

Ten days later:

“I got a letter from that Baker in Philadelphia to day, but it was the same story, he like very much to have me, but not now, vell there vill be something comming soon, I think so. …

“Say isent it funny doing a Persons Life all there comes up, one thing after an other, and then it is nothing, as long as we have our Health. …”

In the middle of December she wrote that she had sent him a Christmas present.

“You shouldn’t send me any Precent, not in times like this,” he replied. “I am sending a litle so you can by something for the Children for Christmas and I hope you vill all have a neice Christmas, and I wich I could be there with you, but I will someday, good Night with love to you all from Oluf.”

Her gift arrived December 20.

“Dear Elizabeth, Thanks wery much for your letter and the Packets I received today. I wont open up for it til Christmas I never du with any Precent, My Wife used to open up for everything before the day and I always scoled her, say you are a sweet Girl now Elizabeth, the way you write me, and I like it, you vill see when I come down to you, we know each other, and we vont be afraid, now I never was of you, but you was a little of me, and you should be them days becouse you diddent know me, but now you do, and I can almost feel how sweet it vill be when I put my arms rown you. …”

He also had good news.

“To day a man came in our shop from Gumbert Co in New York, he said to me, vhat in the World are you doing here Oluf, I told hem, then he said, write to our Company and I think they vill heire you, so that is vhat I vill do, and I hope I vill get a job, but it vont be til in January, vell again I wishes you a Mery Christmas and Thanks for all your kindnes to me. …”

January 4, 1933:

“I got a letter from this People in New York to day, but the same Story, they vould like very much to have me, but the Depression is on, oh how I do wich it soon vill be better so I can get a job, but rown here it is getting worce insted of better. …”

Four days later his spirits were high and he was counting his blessings.

“This job here has been a great experience for me, you know vhat I mean, I use to be a Baker but it is eight years ago since I was working at it and a Fellow forgot all about working in that time, but now I am fearly good ad it again, I am loosing in waith now, I can feel it when I get dressed up on Sundays, but that is OK, because I was to fatt, don’t you think? Elizabeth isent it
funny all a Person goes tru during a Life time you have going tru lots, but I think I a litle more, because I am older, but again as long as we have our Health everything is OK, and we shouldent complain. …”

In mid-January another job prospect failed.

“That Baker never answered, and I spoce never will, it is funny how it goes.”

The end of January:

“I did write Jelke Co, and hat an answeer, I did write Echerson Co, but it is the same Story, they sjure would like to have me, but the Depression is on, it is affoul, I wont to come down to you, and you wont me to come and here I am more than 400 Miles away, and it is all from that Depression.”

February 1, 1933:

“Business is getting worce insteadt of better. …”

February 9:

“That Baker in Baltimore never answered yet, it is funy, he is the one who offered me 125 Dollars per week ef I only whute come to hem, and it is not much over a Year ago, now he wont even spend a three cent Stamp on me, I mean telling me he cant use me, or something, the same day I wrote to hem, I wrote to one in Boston, he offered me 50 Dollars per week a Year ago, but I dont think he will spend a Stamp on me, well such is Life, I think I wrote over fifty Letters to differens Bakers about a job, but only two answered me telling how sorry they where they couldent use me. …

The following week the gloom lifted at last. After so much despair, everything was turning out OK, after all. Life really was “funy” with its “cracy ups and downs.” He was exuberant.

February 15, 1933:

“Dear Elizabeth, Can you imagien I received a letter to Day from Mr. Echerson in Jersey City telling me that Rice’s Bakery at Baltimore wont to gett me at least for two weeks, and for ever if I am not to expensive, so I wrote them right now, I don’t know who they are, but who ever they are, they must be OK, I mean becouse they wont me, so maby our dreams at last will come true,
say it is funy, here I give up all this Bakers, and they send for me. … now I hope it soon will be over with and then I will come to you, are you glad? Love to you all from Oluf.”

Was she glad? She was delighted. She immediately wrote urging him not to sell himself too cheaply to Rice’s Bakery. His reply to her was an epitaph for their entire generation.

“Dear Elizabeth, Thanks very much for your letter I received Yesterday, and Thanks very much for your Advice, but Elizabeth the War is over with, the good times is over with, them days we did seat a Price on ourself, but to day we just take what we can get and must be satisfact,—am I not right? So I diddent put any Price on, only told them what I am getting here, but what ever the wages are for a man like me down there I vould take. …”

Franklin Roosevelt was inaugurated March 4, 1933, but his sonorous cadences designed to revive the national spirit failed to stir Oluf. The great Baltimore opportunity seemed to be vanishing.

“Dear Elizabeth, Do you know Elizabeth I am feeling wery blue, I never heard from Rices Baking Co yet, and I begin to think it will go the same way as the others, now I have been seathing here all Day listening to Rosevelt being installed as our new Precident, well I do hope some of all this neice tings they told us over the Radio will come true, Elizabeth I am very Radicall, my idea would be to day ef I was to be the Precident, to jump on a Freight Train going to Washington, and say here I am ready to go to work, what they done there today will cost over 10 Million Dollars and we all know it would have helped many poor People out spending that mony giving us work, but perhaps I am funny the way I look at such tings. …”

Four days later:

“Yes, I got a letter from Rices Baking Co, saying
no.”

He had been trying to rent his houses, but without success. It was becoming harder to meet the payments on their mortgages. He was also having trouble paying the taxes. His letters were increasingly melancholy.

March 26, 1933:

“No, I dont do any thing, just seat rown or warlk up Town, and listening to People telling me how Lucky I am has lots of Mony, I always say, yes it is great, tomorrow I got to put in a new Hot Water Tank in a House, well there is always something. …”

On April 14 he confided that he was $1,000 in debt.

“I talk to the Caschier in our Bank to day, asking him to lett me have 1500 Dollars, he said, not now, but come in here middle of next month, I think then you can have it, ef I do I will come to you, ef I could have got it to day, I would have been down with you tomorrow night. …”

April 19, 1933:

“Dear Elizabeth, Thanks very much for your wery sweet letter I received to day, Thanks for telling me all the neice things, I do know now we can be free to each other, not afraid, when we see each other again, not like it was when I was down there, I know I was always looking at you when I was at your House, but you never seemed to be interested in me, I know you beginn to be the day we went to the Hospital, am I right? …”

His next letter, written on April 24, was a hammer blow.

“Dear Elizabeth, Thanks for your letter I received to day, I am sorry, but Please dont write me any more.

“Yours truly

“Oluf”

She wrote back immediately. Had she said something that offended him?

April 30, 1933:

“Dear Elizabeth, Thanks for your letter I received the other day, no you have not done anything to me, but the Deprescion has, the City took everything I hat for Taxes, so I am down and out, that is why I don’t want you to write me any more, I came to like you tru your letters, and I thought maybe some day we would come to know each other Personly, but not now, I wont be able to borrow any mony, any more, I am trying to gett anof so I can
go to Danmark, and Perhaps stay there, so Please forget all about me, I am lost and going, ef I ever got back again, and you are not married, then ef I can help you I will, but please try to feind a man good anof for you, and forget all about your ever seing Oluf.”

She wrote again and had no reply. Then again, and no reply. She sent a registered letter and the Post Office sent her his signed receipt for it, dated May 18.

On May 19 he wrote “Dear Elizabeth” for the last time:

“Thanks for your letters, yes I received them all, but as I told you vhat is the use to keep on writting, I was in hope someday to come to know you, by getting a job down there, but now I never can come down, I am like I told you before, lost. I tried to raice anof mony so I could go over Home, but so far I diddent, this Town is going down and out, so I am asking you to stop writting to me, becouse I am not interested in anything any more, love to you all from Oluf.”

The war was over with, the good times were over with.

“Well it will all come out OK, I hope so” had become “I am lost and going and not interested in anything any more.”

Oluf disappeared into the Depression. My mother’s hopes for finding love and security vanished with him.

U
NCLE
Allen moved us out of Newark and up to Belleville in 1932. I liked Belleville. There were big grassy lawns and streets canopied with trees. We lived on the first floor of a two-family house across the street from Public School Number 8. The landlady lived on the second floor. Aunt Pat detested her for being a landlady. The propertied classes ranked high in Aunt Pat’s catalogue of natural enemies.

Coming in from play one evening at dusk, I heard Aunt Pat shouting in the kitchen.

“She’s got her nerve!”

Uncle Allen tried his customary soothing refrain. “Calm down now, Pat. Just calm down.”

“Calm down! Not with that thing on the front door! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Allen! What are the neighbors going to think?”

I tiptoed outside to see what terrible thing was on the front door. In fact there were two front doors side by side. One opened directly into our parlor, the other opened onto a staircase that led up to the landlady’s quarters. Our front door looked the same as
always, but fixed to the landlady’s door was a large head-and-shoulders portrait of a genial-looking man with hair parted down the middle.

There was printing under the picture. I could read easily now. My mother had spent so much time teaching me to read that the principal at P.S. Number 8 had agreed to let me skip second grade and go on to the third, which didn’t satisfy my mother, who thought I should have been skipped at least to the fourth. Reading the material under the picture gave me no trouble, but I couldn’t understand why it should anger Aunt Pat.

It identified the man in the picture as Herbert Hoover. It said something to the effect that he should be reelected. I studied the picture carefully and was impressed by the gentleness of Herbert Hoover’s expression. He had round, chubby cheeks that reminded me of babies. He certainly didn’t look like a man to make your blood boil. I went back in the house, where Uncle Allen was trying to focus Aunt Pat’s mind on making supper.

“How can I cook with that damn thing on the front door?” she cried.

My mother was sitting at the table smiling and enjoying the excitement. As meekly as possible, I asked her, “What’s wrong about Herbert Hoover?”