Off to the theater

Photo by beautifulcataya
California First Theater - Monterey, California

One thing I've learned about my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, is that she loved to go out, especially to the theater.  And she's even left me some programs and descriptions about what she saw.

Sunday - Sept 6 - 1914 - Bryan and Gene came from Hollister to stay a week or so - In the afternoon we went for ride to Grove - After I obtained the above - Then we all - Hallie, Bryan, Gene & I went to the Monterey Theatre where I got ------->

See where she wrote this with the arrow? 

Wikipedia describes this as a silent movie from 1914 set in the period of the Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.). 

From the looks of the inside of the program this seems about right.

Here's a few other programs.

 



She must have liked this one a lot.  I like it a lot when she writes captions telling me about her experience!

A wonderful play - comedy
enjoyed it every minute

I don't think she cared for this one as much.

Margaret, Hallie, Elfie, Helen, Mary and I were asked to usher for "The Hazard of the King."  It was quite a good production, scenery, costumes, etc. but play wasn't much.

It's funny how seeing things she wrote nearly 100 years ago brings back a memory for me.  I remember when she didn't like something much she'd say "I couldn't give it much". 

How I wish she were here to tell me about these plays!

 

 

 

 

Grandma goes camping

In the summer of 1914 my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, went camping at Arbolado with the Hitchcocks.  Since she wrote that they went "down" to Arbolado, I can only guess that they were at the camp in San Bernardino National Forest which is at approximately 6600 foot elevation, but I'll never know for sure.

For anyone who knew my grandmother, the thought of her camping is a complete contradiction and my mind just can't quite grasp the concept.  Loraine was a very proud woman - her favorite place to shop was Saks Fifth Avenue and she was always dressed to the nines.  I have a very vivid memory of her from my last visit with her before she passed away in 1982.  She suffered a stroke in February and I was able to surprise her with a visit in late March.  When she accidentally learned that we were in town, she dolled herself up for the visit that she knew was to take place.  We arrived at the nursing home to find her right inside the door in a wheelchair, dressed in her very best silk suit and a fresh application of lipstick on her lips.  Even in sickness, Grandma always wanted to look stylish.

So imagine my surprise when I ran across this spread of photos in her scrapbook describing her camping trip.  Grandma wasn't always great at labeling her photos (darn her, anyway) but this time she was - yay for me! 

"The other camp, Salinas Hitchcock's.  In the foreground is our bon fire where we sat every night."
"The camp in which we enjoyed every evening."

The other camp - "her" Hitchcocks would have been from Monterey so the Salinas Hitchcocks must have been relatives.  I'm having trouble making out the bonfire.




"Aren't we the affectionate ones, though.  Ha and I."

Her friend is Hallie Agnes Hitchcock, one of her schoolmates.  I believe John Elbert Hitchcock, another schoolmate, was Hallie's brother.

Looks like Grandma and Hallie had some fun with the wildlife!

"Our picnic was at the falls - Billie certainly has a distance look.  We had a fine time that day."

Looks like they had fun at the falls with Mr. & Mrs. H (Hitchcock).  I'm not sure who Billie and Doris are as I don't see them listed in the school documents.

I will admit that when I saw these photos of them hiking I thought it was a little more like Grandma's kind of camping as they were in dresses!  I've racked my brain trying to think of a time in my life when I saw Grandma in a pair of slacks and the answer is no - some things just never changed.

"We took this at the beach - we surely look sleepy.  Hallie asleep as it is.  The four of us had an awfully good time that day.  We didn't get a fish but -"

I wish I could figure out who Matt was as he's in quite a few pictures in her scrapbook - must have been someone important.

"Here we are again - on the beach.  The natural bridge in the background.  We have just 'landed' - it's windy, too."

"Just after we finished our lunch I snapped this of Matt, Billie & Hallie."

Hmmm, scared? Here's Matt again.

"The day before I came away the men brot [sic] into camp this big catch and one trout was 24 in. long."

This is the second time I've seen her mention fish.  Another thing I can't picture my grandmother ever getting excited over is fish.  I'm sure she loved to eat it but clean it?  Not on your life!

It's so fun to see her at play as a young woman, even though I still can't get over the thought of her camping!

1914 Graduation

My grandmother's scrap book is filled with memories and here she even kept mementos from the graduating class before her, the class of 1914 from Monterey High School.  This class looks to be quite small in comparison to the graduating class of 1915 when my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, graduated with 15 classmates.  However, I found a newspaper article about the graduation and it stated there were 14 classmates.  I wonder why only six were listed in the announcement? 

Each class must have been able to select their own colors, flower, and motto as the class of 1915's were different.

Looks like Loraine was a contributor to "El Susurro" which was the yearbook at Monterey High School.

Mrs. Jenkins gave a party!



Mrs. Jenkins
at home
in honor of the
seniors of her class
Friday evening
June fifth, at
half past eight

I remember my grandmother always saying "half past eight" instead of 8:30 - now I know where she got it!

And I have to laugh how just about everything went into the newspaper.  Today we typically just read about the bad stuff.

I'm glad to know they had a very nice time!

A very pretty informal reception to the senior class of the Monterey high school was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. R.H. Jenkins on Van Buren street last evening.  Some of the friends of the seniors were present also.  The evening was spent in classic conversation and playing games.  Delightful refreshments were served near the end of the evening.

Those present were:  Faye Scarlett, Martha McKillop, Hazel Platz, Blanche Littlefield, Mary Salterbach, Loraine Gunzendorfer, Hattie Hitchcock, Viawillis Hutchinson, Hazel Peregrine, Mildred Dolly, Ruby Tuttle, Hannah McKillop and Grace Layton.

This doesn't look anything like medals to me and I have no idea what the "stunt" was but I'm sure it was fun.



Just (a piece) for remembrance of Class Day - These
medals were used in our "stunt".

Feast of Lanterns - July 25, 1914
Carlton, Margaret, Earle & I went out and had an awfully good time.  This is the last of the lantern that Earle stole out there and he sure did have a good time with it, even if he did get candle grease all over his face.

Now that's a story I would have liked to hear.  But Grandma - stealing again?

As I was preparing this post I went into the box of photos I have of her to find one at about the right age.  I came across this one and thought she must be about 16-17 here.....and then I turned it over and saw the date of Xmas 1912, which would have been one month before her 17th birthday.  And she even wrote a message on the back!



Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer
Xmas 1912

Now I just have to connect the dots to figure out who Aunt Ray is.

May Day

May Day, 1914 must have been a fun time in Monterey.  In the scrapbook there's this photo of the high school girls, I'm assuming from Monterey High School which is where my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, went to school.

They had quite a turnout and it looks very festive with the girls decked out with flowers and ribbons.

And on the next page we see some more photos, although I'm not sure these are from May Day.  Fortunately for me, she wrote lots of captions in her scrapbook that helps me identify what's here.

Sis, Ruth,, Elizabeth, Hollie, Marion, Rachel and Loraine

Loraine is third from the right and she is actually smiling.  I never really thought about it until now but I really don't remember her smiling too often.  Looks like that could have been true for her even as a teenager.  The only name here that could be someone from her class is her classmate Hallie Agnes Hitchcock.

And here are the boys.

Oh those boys?  I wonder what they might have done to warrant that description?  Again, no classmates jump out at me except Elbert could be John Ebert Hitchcock.

She wrote a few things on this page but nothing really makes sense.  I'm guessing that the mementos she wrote about have disappeared for the last 100 years.  But there are a few menus that are interesting - I've never heard of an egg drink before.

Looks like Matt may have been someone special in her life as they had a "big time" together.  Sure would like to know the story around that.



For a little hook,
In your memory book.

Quite a dapper young man!

I sure like seeing the things that were important to her back then.  How I wish I'd come across this when she was still living so she could tell me more about these things.  I guess I'll just have to use my imagination.