52 Ancestors: School

One of the first treasures I found when I started this journey was related to School – my grandmother’s high school yearbook.  I remember thinking it was really cool to look through it online but when I somehow discovered that I could actually OWN it, I thought my head would explode!  Since then I have become the proud owner of the original high school yearbooks of my grandfather, Sig Levy, and his brothers and the high school and college yearbooks of my parents.  But this was my first and will always be a special treasure.

The original Monterey High School, prior to 1905, consisted of both Monterey High School and Del Monte Technical School.  In 1905, the two schools were joined to form Monterey Union High School.  The school serviced students from Castroville to Big Sur to all of Carmel Valley.

When the original three story wood building burned down (on the site where the District Office is today), the new school was built at 101 Hermann Drive where it stands today.

The Whisper was the original name of the yearbook, which was a collection of poems and pictures by the students rather than a ‘traditional’ yearbook.  The word whisper was used to reflect the “whisper” in the students’ voices in their poems.  Keeping with the Spanish tradition, the name was changed to El Susurro (Spanish for the whisper).

A couple of notable people (besides my grandmother) attended the school – former Secretary of Defense Leon Paneta and former NFL head coach and defensive back, Herman Edwards.

With the rich Spanish heritage in the City of Monterey, the Toreador was chosen as the mascot when the school opened in 1905. The original Mascot "Tony the Toreador" caricature served as the face of the school for 80 years.

Some interesting facts from about the time my grandmother attended Monterey High School:

• The green and gold were chosen as the school colors in 1906.
• Three new departments were added – Home Economics, Manual Training, and Biology – in 1912.
• Eight seniors were in the graduating class of 1913, which increased to 133 in 1933.
• The new high school building was officially opened in its current location on February 12, 1915.

And now on to the yearbook of 1915.



I love that a beautiful painting was included in the yearbook – it looks so “Monterey-like”.



I guess you don’t need a huge faculty with only 16 seniors.



Luella Thurston was the yearbook adviser as the students dedicated the book to her.

“To Miss Luella Thurston who for five years has been ‘El Susurro’s’ staunchest friend, we now with our ‘good byes’ and warmest wishes dedicate our Journal”

And the graduating class of 1915.  So many names I’ve read about or seen pictures of.  My grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer, and that beautiful smile.  Her BFF was Hallie Hitchcock, who was actually a year older than Grandma, and her brother, John Elbert Hitchcock, was about 8 months younger than Grandma.  Another notable name on this page is Howard Hatton, who married Mary Salterbach on the next page.




Clayton Philip Salterbach was younger than Mary by two years so not sure how or why he ended up with the class of 1915.  While the other names on this page are familiar to me, one that really stands out is J. Meryl Pugh who appeared in Loraine’s scrapbook.



I laughed at the Senior Advice.  There’s Loraine advising the girls to never allow their hearts to “go adrift”.  I wonder who broke her heart that caused her to write that.




An example of a story included – Loraine snatched an apple!




This collage of photos is interesting - can you find Loraine in the Before and After photos?



Loraine’s younger brother, Wilton, was a Freshman at the time.  I know their father was often known as Gunzy so I’m assuming “Champ Gunzy” is Wilt.



And here’s mention of Wilt again – president of his class!



Even with a close up of the photo, I can’t be sure which young man is Wilt.  Perhaps the one on the left sitting on the steps?



Some more photos from El Susurro.







I can almost imagine my grandmother walking the halls of the school and sitting in the dining room.  But I cannot imagine her in the Manual Training Shop.

Another collage of photos.  Since dad Abe was a photographer, I wonder if he took any of these photos.



I have to enlarge the Mermaids as you-know-who was posing.  Yep, that’s Loraine second from the left.



Grandma was the Assistant Editor!

And no yearbook would be complete without advertisers.  I wasn’t surprised to find a very special advertisement.



The White House and the Gunzendorfers were a fixture in Monterey during the late 1800’s and until Abe’s death in 1944.  Nearly 100 years of a successful family business.

What a wonderful account of Loraine’s senior year in high school.  I am so happy to have a glimpse into her life as a young woman.

Monterey Grammar School

I’ve run across things confirming that my grandmother, Mildred Loraine Gunzendorfer, attended Monterey Grammar School but now I know that she not only attended but she graduated from the school.  From what I can tell, the grammar school went through 8th grade and then off the students went to high school.

Not only did Loraine’s things spend the last 100+ years in an outdoor storage facility, but for whatever reason, some of her things never made it out of my garage.  Until recently, when it was time to bring things inside and make it easier for me to actually look at what I have.  And that’s when I found this.



Oh boy, the years have definitely taken a toll on this document – the Diploma of Graduation for my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, from June 30, 1911.  The photo actually looks better than it really is and I was anxious to somehow restore it, at least a little bit.  Thankfully, I’m a member of the Random Acts of Photo Restoration on Facebook which is a group of individuals who volunteer to restore photos so I posted the photo to see what could be done. 

And before long, I had a “cleaned up” version.  It looks so much better – I know this wasn’t an easy task!



Today I was looking through some things and I came across an autograph book I hadn’t really paid attention to before.  But it caught my eye today.



How beautiful is this?  I can just imagine my grandmother taking it to school for her friends to sign. 

And here’s the back.



I opened it up and saw this on the inside front cover.



Although the inside front cover isn’t dated, her friends dated their entries so I’m guessing this was a Christmas gift in 1909.  I sure wish I knew why she destroyed the name of the gift giver and replaced it with ? I’m not sure if she used an eraser or just something sharp to make the name unreadable.

What struck me was that very few of those who signed the book are names I’ve ever heard before.  And since I have her yearbook from just 4 years later, it’s surprising that there were only a couple of friends who graduated from Monterey High School with her.

One was her BFF, Hallie Hitchcock.  I sure would love to find a descendant of Hallie’s so I could share some of the school girl memories and pictures Loraine kept.



Another one of her girlfriends was Mary Salterbach.  Sometimes I see the name with a K on the end but this, in Mary’s handwriting, looks like an H to me.



And Carleton’s name seems familiar – ah yes, she kept some of Carleton’s cigarettes in her COLLECTION. 



This note from Diavillis Hutchinson was one that tells me these were friends from her days at Monterey Grammar School.



And another one which stands out to me – I have a friend with the same name.



I think the handwriting is beautiful – I’m sure kids back then spent a lot of time practicing their handwriting.  I still remember what a thrill it was to give up printing and begin writing in cursive!



What a beautiful school – and one which held so many memories for my grandmother.  Thanks again for sharing, Grandma!

Grandma was a dancing machine

One thing I’ve learned from going through my grandmother’s scrapbook is that she loved to go out and she loved to dance!  Well, I’m not 100% sure that she loved to dance but I do know that she went to a lot of dances and fortunately for me, she kept a lot of mementos from those special events.

The invitations, bids, and dance cards just amaze me.  Now I realize that by today’s standards these items would be pretty boring but in 1912, these were amazing!  Look at the beautiful writing on this dance card.



Someone must have spent a lot of time putting this together.  It took me a minute but can you see the 1912 in the ‘block’ of green ink?  Here’s the inside that shows the dance program.



Some of these names, Carleton Best and M. Pugh, are familiar to me.  She danced with Carleton three times – wonder if she (or he) was smitten?  And here’s her description.



So we know the date was May 17, 1912 and we know she didn’t go with anyone.  But it looks like she danced the night away!

And then there’s this one.



These are hard to read but I can pick out Elbert (dance #3) who was the brother of her BFF, Hallie Hitchcock.  And again, a few dances with Carleton (#1 and #9) and even Howard (#2 and Extra #1).  What in the world would Extras and Extra Extras be? 



And here’s her description:



Ooooohhh, she went to the dance with Carleton.  I sure wish I knew the date of this dance – was it before May 17, 1912 or after?  And just what does “had a pretty good time considering” mean?  Did she not like Carleton after she got home?  Did he not pay enough attention to her?  Come on, Grandma, inquiring minds want to know!

And then there was this dance given at Eleanor Phelps’ house.



Now this one really took some time as the blue paper was cut out and glued to the front.  That’s a lot of detail and must have required a bunch of patience.  And the inside:



Oh boy, looks like Earl was penciled in a lot on this dance card and poor Carleton was only on there once.  But wait – what’s this?



What?  She didn’t go?  So how did this dance card get filled up?  And none of these names are in my grandmother’s handwriting so did she have them sign the card after the fact?

Grandma, just about the time I get you figured out you throw me a curveball!

Girlfriends!

One thing I’ve learned about my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, is that she had lots of friends, especially girlfriends.  And since I am preparing to spend some time with my long-time girlfriends, it seems appropriate that the next pages of the scrapbook shows Grandma with her girlfriends!  I wish I knew who these women are but I’ll just have to enjoy seeing them all together having fun.

Here’s one group – Grandma is on the right.



And a bigger group – Grandma on the top right.



Check out these hats – aren’t they great?  Again, Grandma on the right.



This could  be her BFF, Hallie Hitchcock.



Does it look like the same person?  I know these two photos are of Hallie.

And here’s her friend, Elfie.  Sadly, I don’t know anything more about her than that.  Beautiful clothes and hat she has on – looks like she was dressed up for a special event.



And another group shot.  She’s looking down but I think Grandma is on the left this time.



And here’s everyone all dressed up for some special occasion.  What wonderful fashions in those days.  Grandma is back to the right again in the striped coat.



And one last photo, this time of at least one family member.  Grandma’s grandmother (my 3rd great grandmother), Fannie Goldstein Gunzendorfer, is – where else – but on the right.



I don’t know who the rest of the people are but I especially like the two lovebirds on the left.

See you soon, girlfriends!