Scrapbook #2 – Meet Mr. Levy

On to the next scrapbook!  Today I briefly went through the remaining scrapbooks in an effort to determine what I have and what, eventually, can be donated to a historical society.  Remember, this is what I have.



Some of it doesn’t seem all that interesting to me so I thought I would try to get them in some sort of date order.  I got a good start on that but decided I would start with these two gems.



They looked pretty similar so seemed like a good place to start, especially when I opened up the first one and saw this.



That, my friends, is my grandfather, Sigmund Levy.  It looked like this had some interesting and fun stuff in it so no time like the present to get started!



Yep, that’s the face I remember so vividly from all those years ago.  How can it be possible that he has been gone nearly 50 years?  More importantly, how can it be possible that I remember the day he died like it was yesterday?  I swear I’m not that old!

And then a newspaper article from February, 1939 inviting us to Meet Mr. Levy.




I love learning that he pioneered the idea of newspaper delivery by air – wouldn’t he be astonished today to know that we have instant access to news and printed newspapers are almost a thing of the past.  And, I need to find out more about his days playing in the Fresno Y.M.C.A. mandolin club! 

And a few other stories from the newspaper.









I wish this article had some sort of date with it – I don’t think I’ve ever heard about him fracturing his knee cap.  How did that happen?



It’s always good to see more photos.  I’ve seen this before but it’s nice to see it included in this scrapbook.



Seeing what was important to him is really fun.  But I don’t think anything will ever top this story.



Could this really have been true?  Poor Sig!

Homeward Bound

With that, it appears The Levy Family Motoring Trip of 1940 had come to an end.  Maybe abruptly, maybe not – I just don’t know.  There are so many questions I have about this trip and as I reflect on what I’ve learned, I may have created even more questions.  I sure wish I’d come across this photo album when Dad was still here so I could get some answers and talk about all of the details with him.

First, I look back at this itinerary.



From the photos and hotel bills, it seems as if the family turned around in Portland and then spent July 9 at the Coquille Hotel.  Why didn’t they go on to Seattle?  Although from the notation at the bottom of the itinerary it looks like Sig might have known this was a possibility. 

And as I went through the few items that were loose in the scrapbook, I found some clues.



Southern Pacific’s routes.  Look at that – the Shasta Route went from San Francisco to Portland.  Seems like that would be a pretty interesting trip for a family.  And on the back was this.



Total $99.  For what?  Did they actually make the journey by train??  All this time I thought they were in a car but now I think they were, in fact, on the train!



Look at that – $99 again.  That can’t be coincidental.



And there you have it – $99 for 9 days.  So was the $99 for the hotels……or for the rail tickets?  I’m not sure but now I’m about 99% sure that they were on the train rather then in their car.  How cool is that?

I have to wonder how they returned to San Francisco since the scrapbooker didn’t leave me any clues.  I do know they made it back and spent some time with family.  In fact, in my boxes of photos I found another family photo where I can identify people more clearly now.



Left around the table, starting with my Dad, Gordon Levy, in front.  Carol Sherwin, Mervyn Gunzendorfer, Jacob Gunzendorfer, Irene Gunzendorfer Sherwin, Al Sherwin, Rob Levy, Loraine Guzendorfer Levy, Sig Levy.  Looks like Lois Sherwin was taking the photo.  Either that or Jacob’s wife, Edith. 

Another photo I found was the Potter Hotel, which is in Santa Barbara.  Seems like a likely stop as they traveled from Monterey to Hollywood.  Or maybe on their way back to Fresno.  Since there is no hotel bill, it was probably just a meal stop.



One question I did answer was if the family visited with Abe and Birdie (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer during their time in Pacific Grove.  I figured they did but it’s nice to have proof with this photo of Abe from July 22, 1940.  And I can be almost certain that this was taken in the garden of their home.



And that’s the end of the line.  Thanks for traveling along on The Levy Family Motoring Trip of 1940.

We ain’t afraid of no ghosts!

The Levy Family Motoring Trip of 1940 next headed to San Francisco.  Once again, the family stayed at The Clift Hotel, their favorite spot.  I have memories as a child of traveling the one hour or so from our house to San Francisco to visit our grandparents who always, ALWAYS, stayed at The Clift.



And, of course, they kept the hotel bill.



Whoa!  Six days in one spot?  Good to see they had their laundry done for a whopping $3.56.  And parking was just 75 cents!  It’s probably closer to $75 these days.  And a long distance call – who was there to call?  Oh wait, maybe they were checking in with their family who they were going to visit while they were there.

This was titled Sherwin’s lunch.  My grandmother’s cousin, Irene Gunzendorfer, married Albert Sherwin so this would have been their family.  Irene’s father, Jacob Gunzendorfer, was the younger brother of Loraine’s father (and my great grandfather), Abraham Gunzendorfer.



Finding this photo brought me back in touch with my cousins, Irene’s grandchildren, as I turned to them for help identifying the folks seated around the table.

As best we can tell, Inez (Jacob’s wife) is the woman standing and Jacob is the gent in the straw hat.  Next to Jacob is Irene (aka Lolly) and to her left is either her husband, Albert (aka Bump), or son, Mervyn.  Irene and Al had twins, Carol and Lois, one of which is seated on the left with the sunglasses and the other looks to be in the right hand corner.  Okay, we think that’s it. 

But wait!  There are two other people in the photo which my cousin couldn’t identify and as I looked closer, I realized that the back of the head is Sig’s and the young man on the right taking a drink is my dad’s brother, Rob Levy.  Looks like they all had a really nice meal and I’ll bet they had a good time visiting.

And a few more of the family.



These are the twins, daughters of Irene (Guzendorfer) and Al Sherwin.  Carol and Lois?  Or Lois and Carol? 

I remember all these names – in fact, we actually visited with them in San Francisco several times and, I’m told, saw each other on vacation in Washington D.C. and/or New York in the early 1960’s.  But with all of that, it wasn’t until recently that I figured out that we were actually related.

This one was titled The Board. 



There’s an empty chair – was that where my dad was sitting?

After 6 days in San Francisco, that’s all the photos they took.  Or at least the only ones they included in the scrapbook.

And then they were off……



Say what?  Someone was trying to get creative with the word RODEO.  I had to laugh that they started to write it in a straight line and then erased it in order to get more creative.  Another entry on the page tells me that they were at the Salinas Rodeo.

And look at this – Fresno was represented!  That must have been fun to see your home town in the rodeo.  So, of course, they took a photo!  You can barely see that the Fresno Sheriff Posse was in the 2nd row.



And more photos of the rodeo.









Again, boring photos.  These wouldn’t even make the cut in our photography of today.

And then it was on to other hotels.



Pacific Grove makes sense – I’m sure they spent time with Loraine’s parents, Abraham and Birdie (Schwartz) Gunzendorfer.  6 days’ charges in the cafe – a grand total of $12.45!

The Forest Hill Hotel was built in 1926 and was the only hotel in Pacific Grove at that time.  It was a five story, 100 room hotel which was an immediate success.  In 1954 the hotel was purchased by the Methodist Church and converted into a retirement home, now called Forest Hill Manor.

 

And then farther south to Hollywood.

 

Another 6 days and not a single photo?  I’m guessing someone got bored with the scrapbook.

Look at that – the Hollywood Roosevelt is still there today and has quite a history.



Some notable guests of the hotel, which opened in 1927.

• Marilyn Monroe lived at the hotel for 2 years early in her career.  It is said that she and Arthur Miller, her third husband, met in the nightclub.
• Shirley Temple learned to do her famed stairstep dance routine on the hotel steps.
• Montgomery Clift stayed here for 3 months (room 928) while he filmed From Here to Eternity.
• Errol Flynn is said to have developed his recipe for bootlegged gin in a tub in the hotel’s barber shop.
• Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable (swoon!), Carole Lombard, Mary Martin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Prince, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie have all been guests in the hotel.

But the most interesting fact, and one that my daughter might need to research further, is that the hotel is rumored to be haunted and has welcomed ghosts as visitors.  Some involve celebrities who have stayed at the hotel while some involve a little girl in a blue dress named Caroline.  There have been reports of cold spots, photographic “orbs”, and mysterious calls to the hotel operator.

WE AIN’T AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS!

Time to turn around

The Levy Family Motoring Trip of 1940 made it to Portland……and then, it seems, they turned around.

I’m not sure where these photos are from and they aren’t very good ones, at that.  But it’s still fun to see some of the sights and to know what the family found interesting.



I wonder where this coastline is?  I can safely say it is in either Oregon or California.

This is an interesting photo – were they tempting the buck with a treat above his head.



Just like the caption said, this one is pretty cute.  Not just the deer but the cute young man (my dad) with it.

And another unknown location.  All I know is that it is a ‘small inlet’.  Thanks for the clue, Scrapbooker.



These photos are pretty boring.  I’ve learned over the years that most photos that don’t include a person or a special place mean nothing many years later.  These are no exception.



Yawn.

And this one is just weird.  What in the heck is this creature?



By the looks of this postcard, they seem to have made it back to the Redwood Forest. 



And then on July 10 it was back to The Eureka Inn.  And just like any good Levy would do, of course they had to keep the bill.  This time they were in rooms 357 and 358 and they wired someone – wouldn’t it be great to know more about that?



Apparently they forgot that they’d already bought this postcard and included it earlier in the scrapbook.  Now that’s the sign of a true pack rat!  I wish I knew the story behind the “kennels”.



And then it was on to Benbow…..again.



While not the exact postcard from above, it’s pretty darned close.  Maybe they thought this return trip was sparse when it came to memorabilia.

Now we get to see the Benbow Docks.  Looks like a nice spot to relax and read a good book.



And last but not least, what would a stop be without a copy of the bill?  Interesting that one room was $6.00, the other was $4.50 – wonder which was which.  And can you imagine feeding a family of four dinner for $5.00 and breakfast for $3.00?



I found this on the back of the bill.  Were they keeping track of all the charges, figuring out their bank balance, or just what?  Boy, wouldn’t they have loved a calculator or an Excel spreadsheet?



Heading farther south next time where they’ll stop for a visit with some family.