Miscellaneous
Here are some of the things we remember about Mom and Pop and the family and about growing up in Rochester that didn't seem to fit in with what has gone before.
When Mom Did Ask for Help.
From what has been said before, the reader knows that Mom expected very little in the way of help from her children - especially from her sons. Now and then there would be an exception. One such exception occurred in December 1926 a few days after Bucky was born.
Mom was in the recuperating stage and asked Mitch to vacuum the living room and the upholstered pieces in it, the principal one being the sofa. While working on the sofa, Mitch came across a nondescript little piece of paper under one of the seat cushions, and disposed of it. A few days later, Mom asked Mitch if he had come across a little piece of paper under one of the seat cushions. Mitch said yes, and Mom asked if he remembered what he had done with it. He said he had thrown it out.
Mom went right outside and brought in a trash barrel, and emptied the contents on the kitchen floor, and started examining them. "What are you looking for?", asked Mitch.
"Michele, mein kind (my child), that little piece of paper, remember it? In it was a small diamond."
That was all.
No scolding. No raising of voices. She never scolded her children; she loved them too much to hurt them.
Where did she get the diamond, and why did she hide it? Lou says she didn't say, but he guesses it was from her engagement ring, had become loose in its setting, and she had concealed it until she had a chance to have it repaired.
Pop's First Law of the Dinner Table: "When you eat you eat, when you talk you talk". In other words, don't talk at the dinner table.
Pop's Second Law of the Dinner Table: "Eat with bread." In other words, eat with bread.
Uncle Morris's Bath Soap. When Uncle Morris stayed with us before driving west he didn't use the soap we kept in the bathroom. He bathed with Fels Naphtha soap. It was a coarse laundry soap that may still be around.
Vorspeis. This is an appetizer. But at our house certain appetizers were almost main courses; when served they covered a dinner plate (we didn't use salad plates). Chopped eggplant and Spanish rice were two "appetizers" that could easily have substituted as main courses. (Pop believed that a main course had to be meat or chicken. And he believed that a meal had to have a main course.)
What Some Things Cost. When Et had piano lessons, her teacher used to come to the house four days a week to give an hour lesson each time. The piano teacher received $1 for the week. When Buck went to cheder, religious school, he went five days a week (four afternoons and Sunday morning), each lesson lasting for two hours. The teacher received $1 for the week. During the early 1940s, Pop received $28 a month rent for each of the flats at 22 Gorham St and 2 and 4 Martin St. (Each flat had four bedrooms. Utilities were not included in the rent.)
Bucky and the Policeman. In 1930 when Buck was four years old a policeman in uniform came to the house for that year's census. Mom handed the policeman the bottle and nipple that Buck had been sucking on. That was how they got him off the bottle.
Rice Pudding with Raisins. When Mom put raisins in the rice pudding, and when she made potato salad, we knew that Louie was coming home to visit. When Louie was visiting he would have gefilte fish for breakfast.
A Scary Sight. A sight that still causes shudders: Walking up Martin St on a spring afternoon and looking up and seeing Mom sitting in one of the second floor bedroom windows as she washes the window.
Eddie Remembers Gorham St. Eddie Heit spent quite a bit of time
with us on Gorham St as we were growing up, and he is familiar
with family, relatives, neighbors, customs and the rest. The
following are some of Eddie's memories of Gorham St.
"When in Rochester I spent much time on the Rappaport
porch, which was a pretty lively place. The family, sometimes the
roomers, Sadowskys, and friends used to congregate there.
"When Ethel and I got to the handholding stage of our
relationship, I remember our sitting in side by side rocking
chairs. Pearl's leather jacket casually placed so that no one
could see our intertwined fingers. Once in a while we got kidded
about it, but mostly, I believe, no one noticed.
"Passover was a special time. We would come from Canan-
daigua and spend 2-3 days for the seders. My aunts and uncles
were always at our seder. It was pretty jolly. My aunts acted
giddy from the wine (I never really knew if it was for real or an
act) and it was fun.
"My zayde, grandfather, was a very fast man with a
Haggadah (the book used during the seder that tells the story of
Israel's bondage in, and flight from, Egypt) and we would finish
with our seder and supper pretty quickly. Then I would go up to
20 Gorham St and join the seder there, the Rappaports being more
leisurely about it all. Sometimes I even got a second meal out of
it. I really enjoyed being with the Rappaport household at times
like that.
"I remember being on Gorham St when the bread man came
with the fresh rolls, the bulkes (hard rolls) and the onion
rolls, and the farmer who brought sour cream that tasted so
different from what is called sour cream today. The food was
always great at your house."
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