Tuesday July 8

After listening till 4 am
to the dem. convention at the
Garden, there is still no choice
of a candidate.

There is a new and powerful
radio station W.N.Y.C.
run by this city. I expect
to derive the most benefit from
it as I am an ardent radio
listener. The first nights
program was an indication
that they will give good programs
in the future!

---------------

Matt's Notes

Papa felt compelled to listen to the Democratic Convention broadcast until 4 AM because the voting deadlock that had crippled the nominating process (and kept the convention in Madison Square Garden for a week longer than originally intended) had finally broken. William McAdoo, who seemed a stone's throw from the nomination just a couple of weeks earlier, had finally faced the impossibility of his candidacy and released his delegates, as had all other candidates including New York Governor Al Smith.

The nomination, of course, was not going to be more than a door prize at this point. The 1924 Presidential conventions were the first ever to be broadcast on the radio and accordingly received unprecedented scrutiny. The Democrats' public, drawn-out conflicts over how to treat the Klan and the League of Nations in their platform, as well as their comically protracted balloting, had pretty much sealed their party's defeat in the upcoming general election.

For those of you just joining us, we should note again that commercial radio was just finding its footing in 1924, and the novelty of the Democratic convention's broadcast had New Yorkers enthralled. They clustered in public parks to listen to the action on public address systems, crowded the entrances of radio stores, and, if they were early adopters like Papa, stayed up until all hours with their headphones on. I suppose many people, including Papa (pictured below with his radio) must have spent the week of the Democratic convention, especially during its final days, in a hyper-attenuated, sleep-deprived state.



Yet even as New Yorkers wondered how the action at the convention was going to play out, they must have also wondered, in some way, at the strange cultural phenomenon unfolding in their city. New York may have been familiar with hosting large events, but until now there was no such thing as a broadcast "media event" of such scale and profile. Buildings were lined with bunting, the streets were full of parades and local businesses played host to packs of seersuckered delegates from all over. But now, in addition to what they could see, New Yorkers had the odd, new ability to witness the raw goings-on inside the Garden. There simply had never been anything like it. The ubiquity must have been disorienting, maybe even thrilling. How did it feel? Like a child tasting ice cream for the first time? A blind person suddenly seeing a rainbow? (Or, more appropriately, someone discovering e-mail in the early 90's?) What was it, exactly, they were a part of? How were they supposed to regard it?

But, let's get back to the night of the 8th: At some point around 9:00, well before he realized he'd be up until the wee hours with the convention broadcast on WEAF, Papa tuned his radio to the 526-meter wave and caught the first sounds of WNYC. Today, New Yorkers of a certain demographic know WNYC as their city's public radio station and take its existence for granted, but back in the 20's municipally-financed radio was a strange innovation; it would not have arrived in New York but for the political savvy and tenacity of Grover A. Whalen, the city's Commissioner for Plant and Structures.

The New York Times' coverage of the opening ceremonies quoted Mayor Hylan's descriptions of the station's rather broad goals:

To insure uninterrupted programs of recreational entertainment for all the people is one of the compelling reasons for the installation of the Municipal Radio Broadcasting Station. To assist the Police Department in the work of crime prevention and detection; the Fire Department in the expeditious employment of its land and marine equipment in fighting fires; and the Health Department in safeguarding the physical well-being of New York's gigantic population are also some of the conspicuous services to be rendered by this municipal plant.
...

Municipal information, formerly available only after patient perusal of reports, is not to be brought into one's home in an interesting, delightful and attractive form. Facts, civic, social, commercial and industrial, will be marshaled and presented by those with their subjects well in hand. Talks on timely topics will also be broadcasted. Programs sufficiently diversified to meed all tastes, with musical concerts, both vocal in instrumental, featured at all times, should make 'tuning in' on the Municipal Radio pleasant as well as profitable.

According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the night's programming that so excited Papa included these highlights:

Clergymen of three different faiths pronounced invocations. Mons. Charles A. Cassidy, the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Nauman and Rabbi Bernard Drachman offered prayers. The program included several musical numbers in addition to addresses by many city officials. Vincent Lopez was there with his orchestra. The Six Brown Brothers saxophoned several selections. Miss Estelle Carey, who is widely known from her connection with the Mark Strand Theater in this boro, rendered a vocal solo. Several other features, including the Police Band and the Police Quartet, made the initial program pleasant to the musical ear.

Note that Papa almost never used exclamation marks in his diary, so I think the last line of this entry -- "The first nights program was an indication that they will give good programs in the future!" -- shows his excitement not only for the programming, but for the development of the radio medium in general. As I've mentioned before, Papa's love of radio made him something of a proto-media geek -- he likely built his radio set from a kit before commercial sets were commonly available, he listened obsessively (and, in his lonelier moments, wistfully characterized the radio as his "only companion") and he recorded with boyish excitement the music, speeches, and sporting events he heard.

Alas, few recordings of 1924 radio exist (though WNYC has a simulation of their opening night's programming on their 80th Anniversary retrospective Web site) though a few are still around. Earlier in the year, I paid a lunchtime visit to the Museum of Television and Radio and listened to a clip of Al Smith's campaign manager, young Franklin Delano Roosevelt, announcing the release of Smith's delegates to the roaring approval of the Democratic Convention crowd. I must admit I wasn't prepared for how solemn I'd feel when I realized I was listening to the very sounds Papa must have heard himself. I sat there and stared for a while at my carrel's desk. Some guy behind me chuckled aloud at the old sitcoms he was watching, and I felt offended somehow, as if he should have known how close I had just come to Papa.

------------------

Thanks to Andy and Jennifer at WNYC for their help with this post.

-------------------

References from The New York Times:

• CITY'S RADIO PLANT OPENED BY MAYOR; His Speech Broadcast on 526-Meter Wave From Top of Municipal Building.
  
• SMITH AND M'ADOO HELD SECRET PARLEY; Before Night Session Governor Appealed in Vain to Rival to Withdraw.
  
• HOPE AND FEAR RULE DELEGATES BY TURNS; Some on Verge of Hysteria as Struggle for Supremacy Wanes and Waxes.
  
• Thrills Come Early in Morning After Session Opens Tamely; Galleries Cheer Steadfast Stand of Smith Supporters and Boo Unyielding McAdoo States -- 'Dark Horses' Make Gains After Ralston Goes.
  
• Text of Mr. Roosevelt' s Speech With Smith Offer to Quit
  
• Text of McAdoo's Letter to the Convention Freeing His Delegates from All Pledges to Him

Other references:

• Here's more on WNYC's history at their Web site.

------------

Image Source: "One of the delegates to the convention who comes from Texas." Library of Congress #LC-USZ62-132243. Image rights not evaluated, according to the LOC.

Tuesday June 24

11:30

I am now listening to the
proceedings of the opening of
the democratic convention

I love to listen in to Robert
McN Graham McNamee
Official announcer of W.E.A.F.
He certainly has a beautiful
way of presenting a picture of
everything in the most vivid
language, Before the Convention
opens at 12 now a fine band plays

2pm.

Whether I approve of the Democratic
platform or not their proceeding brings
forward my tears, a mighty party
of a mighty liberal country in convention
to chose a nominee for the Presidency.

-------------------

Matt's Notes

More than any other entry Papa has written about radio programming, this one puts us right in the middle of a hugely important moment in American popular culture. Though some early radio experimenters had taken stabs at live Presidential election coverage (most significantly in 1920, when the Detroit News shared updates from its news desk about the Harding-Cox election through its "radiophone" station, 8MK) live political convention coverage -- in fact, any detailed, live look at the American political process -- was entirely novel in 1924.

When Papa heard the opening remarks of the convention on WEAF, he was on the receiving end of American Telephone and Telegraph's most ambitious national radio broadcasting effort to date. AT&T had previously managed large-scale broadcasts by linking its many radio stations by telephone wire (and renting its wires to other stations that wanted to receive and rebroadcast their programming) but the Republican and Democratic conventions "provided sensational stimulus at precisely the time the broadcasters were technically ready for the challenge."¹

According to the New York Times, "twenty radio stations extending from Boston to Kansas City and from Buffalo to Atlanta" broadcast the Democratic convention. Eighteen of these were AT&T's, while their corporate rivals, RCA and General Electric, connected a couple of other stations through Western Union telegraph lines to carry broadcasts from WJZ, New York's other station on hand for the convention. Public address systems played radio broadcasts for crowds in various New York parks and squares, and radio set retailers set up their own loudspeakers to draw crowds to their stores. It was, as an advertisement proclaimed in the Democratic Convention Official Program, "indeed a radio summer!"

Papa's enthusiasm for Graham McNamee also shows him catching the beginning of a cultural wave. McNamee had made a name for himself as a sports broadcaster over the previous year, becoming one of the first practitioners of what would later be known as color commentary. His career continued to grow with the popularity of radio, and before his untimely death in 1942 at 53 he had secured himself a reputation as one of the great voices of radio. He would cover many political conventions during his career, though the 1924 Democratic Conventions may have been his most challenging; as we'll soon see, the Convention would go on to be the longest and perhaps most contentious in history, and McNamee's performance bordered on the heroic.

When Papa says "whether I approve of the Democratic platform," he's most likely referring to the divisive debate about whether the platform should include language explicitly condemning the Ku Klux Klan (America's relationship to the League of Nations, prohibition law and immigration law were also important issues of the day, but none were as publicly contentious). The Democratic front runner William McAdoo (it looks like Papa started to write "McAdoo" instead of "McNamee" in the second paragraph of this entry) received support from the Klan and declined to condemn them, while New York Governor Al Smith, the other leading contender, rigorously supported anti-Klan platform language. (The Klan's influential role in national politics was prominent enough to earn the Grand Wizard, Dr. Hiram Wesley Evans, a Time Magazine cover photo on July 23, 1924.)

As in many other matters, though, Papa's idealism and romanticism helped him overcome his apprehension. This entry may be filled with interesting historical and political tidbits, but nothing about it is more compelling to me than to read how Papa shed tears of admiration for his adopted country's political process. Would he still do the same today?

-----------------

Update 7/1/07

I just came across an article in the New York Times archive entitled
"Radio Taxi for Delagates; Cab Keeps Tabs on Balloting During Trips to the Waldorf." It describes the curious and unexpected phenomenon of a car equipped with a radio:

Delegates rushing back and forth between the Garden and the Waldorf-Astoria need no longer fear when stepping into Frank Bagan's taxicab of being out of touch with the balloting.

Bagan...turned up at the Waldorf yesterday afternoon...with a radio outfit installed in his taxicab.

He and whatever passenger he is carrying are each equipped with ear phones, and the aerial standing about two feed above the roof of the cab is the only grotesque feature to distinguish the cab from hundreds of others."

Bagan did not charge extra for the "radio service." Looks like the trend caught on, too. Here's a photo of a radio-equipped campaign car from 1924, via the Library of Congress:



---------------


References

1 - From Erik Barnouw's A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933.

Tuesday Nov 4

Election Day

The usual election noise
around my neighborhood more
than in any other part of the city
Stopped half day a union holiday.

Visited Rifke in E.N.Y. with
Clara & Sadie present. I went
there in quest of customers
of Claras friends.

9 P.M. Home & radio
listening to radio returns.

-----------

Matt's Notes

Papa mentioned yesterday his intention to supplement his income by selling womens' gowns on the side (he worked in a garment factory during the day) and today we see his first attempt: A trip to Brooklyn with his cousin Sadie and one of the many women in his life named "Clara." (Papa's sister was named Clara, but so was his cousin Sadie's sister. Papa knew cousins Sadie, Clara their other sister Eva rather intimately, since he stayed in their home and shared a bed with them when he first came to America in 1913.) Papa has stopped by Rifke's house in East New York a couple of times on his way to events sponsored by the Kessler Zion Club, but I don't know if she was a cousin as well or just a close friend.

It seems like Rifke's house became the scene of a little direct sales party, with Papa showing catalogues and fabric swatches or, perhaps, pulling entire gowns out of a sample case and passing them around the room. I'll try to learn more about what someone like him really would have carried on a sales call, but meanwhile it's worth noting that he was able to take his Brooklyn trip because he had half the day off for Election Day, an admirable show of cultural enlightenment we might not expect from a country that had, in the words of President Coolidge's election eve get-out-the-vote speech, only "lately...added to our voting population the womanhood of the nation." (Unfortunately, we don't expect it from 21st century America, either.)

Perhaps a more historically interesting detail from this entry is Papa's account of how he "listened to radio returns in the evening." This seems like an offhand statement, but with the exception of a few early radio enthusiasts who had picked up some experimental coverage of the 1920 Harding-Cox returns from Pittsburgh's pioneering station KDKA, no American could have written such a thing about a national election before 1924. A New York Times article from November 2, 1924 called the 1920 KDKA broadcast as the birth date of modern broadcasting went on to discuss the explosive growth of the industry:

Into these four years has been crowded the most extraordinary progress which has ever followed any of the great scientific discoveries. After the invention of the steam engine, steam-boat, telephone and airplane a generation or more has been required to bring about a similar development.

Today, when radio broadcasting is so much a part of our national life, the crude methods of four years ago and its limited application seem to belong to another century. The pioneers in broadcasting faced a small audience. It was only possible for a few hundred to listen in, and these were grouped for the most part within a narrow radius. Today 530 broadcasting stations are scattered across the United States, and daily teach and entertain an audience estimated at upward of 10,000,000 people.

As sophisticated as modern radio might have seemed to the Times, it still devoted thousands of awestruck words throughout the year, and especially in the days leading up to the elections, to the logistics of nationally broadcast campaign speeches and Election Day coverage. AT&T, by then an innovative and important player in the radio business, led the way by linking its stations and facilitating simultaneous broadcasts via phone lines, an arrangement the Times referred to, in quotes to denote the freshness of the term, as a "hook-up."

I mention all this not to laugh at the quaint technology of the early 20th century, but to better understand the world Papa lived in, and to examine another facet of his personal evolution, in this case the process through which radio makes its way into his life: he is quietly delighted when he hears an early Presidential speech; cheers the broadcasts of his favorite musicians; suffers through the dramatic, epic implosion of the Democratic party at its National Convention; feels lonely when he listens too long by himself.

The 1924 Election Day broadcast lasted until 1:00 AM on New York's WEAF, and I'm sure he listened to every minute, found it a remarkable addition to the traditional, street-level campaign clamor he'd become accustomed to (or at least become accustomed to hating) in recent weeks. Still, I wonder how much longer such broadcasts would strike him as remarkable, how long it would be until, one day without even realizing it, he turned off the radio because he just didn't feel like hearing the President's voice.



---------

New York Times references for this post:

• RADIO BROADCASTING STARTED AT KDKA FOUR YEARS AGO TODAY; First Program Featured Harding-Cox Election Returns -- Pittsburgh's First Call Was 8ZZ -- Phonograph Records Furnished Music
• Davis and Coolidge on Radio In Same Hook-Up Monday
• TO RADIO ELECTION RETURNS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY; Election Bulletins to Be Featured Tuesday Night -- WGBS, WWJ and WCAP Assigned Special Wave Lengths for Election Night
• President Urges All to Vote as Only Means of Making Public Opinion Effective.; TEXT OF COOLIDGE TALK BY RADIO

Cry For Help

It's about to get harder for me to spend as much time as I'd like on research for this project. That's why I'm calling on you, my legions of readers -- and make no mistake, your numbers are so vast that to keep count takes almost all of my fingers -- for research help.

The following list contains the many people, places, organizations, musical references, events and details of New York life that appear in Papa's diary. If you know about or are interested in any of these subjects, please write to me at papasdiary 'at' gmail.com or post comments about them. If you’d really like to dig in to a subject that might require ongoing research or collaboration, let me know and I'll set up a collaborative document for us to work on.

Note: If you want to delve into anything under a "some information already collected" heading, please let me know and I'll share with you what I've got.

Thanks!

Matt
1/21/07

--------------------------------

Organizations:

Total mysteries:

• David Wolpohn Club
• Downtown Zionist Club
• Holland Belgium Club
• Jewish Students Club
• Judea Insurance Company
• Kessler Zion Club
• Kinereth Camp (probably a B'nai Zion camp in Borough Park)

Some information already collected:

• B'nai Zion (a.k.a. Order Sons of Zion)
• Bar Kochba camp of B'nai Zion
• Hebrew Free Loan Society
• Keren Hayesod
• Montefiore Home (later hospital)
• Tikwaith Yehuda club
• Zionist Organization of America
• Information or artifacts and photos relating to Jewish fraternal organizations in general

People (many names are incomplete in the diary, but most of these people would be affiliated with B'nai Zion, Keren Hayesod or the Zionist Organization of America):

Total mysteries:

• 
  
• "Mr. Graf"
• Rabbi David Horowitz
• Leibel Krebs (described as "a legendary figure from the old country")
• "Dr. Schecter"
• "Dr. Thon"
• And a ZOA organizer mysteriously named "Blitz"
• I.S. Hurwich

Some information already collected:

• "Rabbi Cook"
• Joseph Bluestone
• David Blaustien
• Abraham Goldberg
• Arthur Ruppin
• "Judge Strahl"
• Maurice Samuel
• "Mr. Zeldin"
• Eisig (Isaac) Roth
• David Yelies or Yellis, a Zionist who lived in Palestine and visited New York in 1924
  

President Calvin Coolidge

• Relationships with Zionism and labor
• February 12 speech on radio
• February 22 speech on radio
• Radio announcement of reelection on November 4

Places

Total mysteries:

• Boisy (?) Hotel
• Malick's Restaurant
• Regina Mansion
• Snyatyn Synagogue

Some information already collected:

• Pennsylvania Hotel
• Café Royal
• Spring Valley, New York -- Jewish summer colonies or other Jewish presence

Movies and Movie Theaters

Total mysteries:

• Lists of releases playing in New York for each month of 1924

Some information already collected:

• Capitol Theatre
• Clinton Theatre
• "Woman of Paris"
• Academy of Music
• "Song of Love"
• "White Sister"

Sports

Some information already collected:

• Abe Goldstein (a professional boxer; won a title fight in 1924)
• 1924 New York Yankees
• 1924 New York Giants
• 1924 Brooklyn Robins (a.k.a. "Dodgers")

Leisure

General and specific information needed:

• Central Park in the 20's, esp. scenes of people rowing
• Coney Island of the 20's (overall experience, transportation, summer rental lockers)

Music (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

• "Drigo's Serendade"
• Eastern European Folk tunes that would have been played in immigrant-oriented Radio in 1924
• Gypsy String Orchestra (particularly their radio presence in the 1920's)
• "Gypsy Chardash"
• "Indian Love Lyrics" (?)
• Kessler's Theater
• "Kreuzer Sonata" (at Kessler's theater on 10/9/24)
• "Rubenstein's Romance"
• "Shubert's Waltz op 64#2"
• "Sleeping Beauty
• "Straus's Waltz, Artist's Dream"
• "Tosca"

Opera (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

• "Cavalleria rusticana" (March 8th Performance)
• "Carmen" (December 4th performance at the Met)
• "Le Roi de Lahore" (March 26th at the Met)
• L'Cock D'or (heard on radio march 30)
• L'Oracolo" (heard on radio march 30)
• Madame Butterfly" (November 22nd performance)
• "Martha" (December 5th performance)
• "Mefistofele" (with Chaliapin, November 24 performance)
• "Pagliacci (March 8th Performance)
• "Tannhauser" (November 5th at the Met) would also love an English translation of Heine's Elementargeister, on which this opera is partly based
  
• General History of the Met, the New York Opera scene, and what the Opera experience would have been like for cash-strapped immigrants

Radio events and history:

• 1924 Democratic convention coverage radio coverage
• November 4 Election returns coverage
• November 5 Coolidge reelection announcement
• 1924 Democratic convention coverage, esp. June 26, June 30, July 8
• April 14 Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony
• Radio Station WEAF
• WNYC history esp. early broadcasts in July and August

Lifestyle:

• Cars (Photos and information regarding cars available to immigrants in the 1920's)
• Writing instruments (Photos of pens and pencils used in the 1920's)
• Telephones (usage and technology in 1924, images of private phones in 1920's)
• Public transportation (trolley and subway history, maps, fare information, usage in 1920's)

---------------

Update 6/18/07:

Reader Ben writes:

In your "Notes on Usage" article, you remark that your grandfather began quotations with quote marks at the bottom of the line. This is the typographic standard for German and, I think, Polish. In computer typography (Unicode especially), they're referred to as "low-nine quotes"

Ben is working on some software to facilitate manuscript transcription. You can read about it at his blog, manuscripttranscription.blogspot.com.

Tuesday Dec 30

Home and radio night.

The year is ending
a new book shall be
written.

and may the pages
chronicle only happy
events. Amen

---------------

Matt's Notes

Papa's had a mixed relationship with "home and radio" nights all year. As we've discussed before, the kit-built radio set he posed with in the photo below indicates an early adopter's love for the medium (by "early" we mean he'd probably built his radio set somewhere around 1922 when commercial radio first became viable) and 1924 was particularly full of breakout developments in broadcasting. Among other things, it was the first year a presidential campaign season, including both national conventions, played out on the airwaves, it was the debut year of New York's venerable public radio station, WNYC, and it was the year AT&T, the biggest corporate player in the industry, made nationwide broadcasts through connected affiliate stations a common practice.



Yet thrilling as it was to listen to the radio in 1924, the isolating effect of Papa's headphones put an unwelcome accent on a year in which his longing for companionship became deeper and less forgiving. Though he had no privacy when he was "living in board," his move to an apartment of his own on Attorney Street left him ill at ease and disconnected. This intensified, as those of you who have been following well know, after he learned of his father's death in the old country, an event that left him bereft, unmoored and, since it fell to him to cover burial expenses, depressingly in debt. (He felt so desperate that he invited his neighbor's son to stay in his apartment for a time.) Later on he got himself a telephone so he could hear some friendly voices in his spare surroundings, but he found as little comfort in it as he did in formerly reliable distractions like movies, baseball, and his radio.

The year was not entirely free of satisfying moments, naturally. Papa enjoyed his visits to Coney Island, the Metropolitan Opera house, and New York's assorted parks; he felt the pangs of love for a couple of different women, and though these episodes were disappointing in the end they were food for his romantic soul; he co-founded the "Maccabean" chapter of the fraternal organization, B'nai Zion (Order Sons of Zion) and became its Master of Ceremonies; he saw speeches by and occasionally met his Zionist heroes; he witnessed the first endorsement of Zionism by organized labor, a spiritually inspiring convergence of his most beloved causes; and he welcomed the arrival of two new nephews.

By the end of the year, Papa had emerged from the shadow of mourning and perhaps grown up a little. As I've mentioned before, I think his father's death allowed him, if in a wrenching, unpleasant way, to give up his attachment to the old country and the long-held dream that he could somehow recapture the idealized comforts of his boyhood. It may, in fact, have helped him stop spending quite so much time with his daydreams in general, prompted him to stop wishing for the life he would like and start working on the life he could have. It was, for Papa, a remarkable year, the sort of year people have when they're twenty-nine.

I wonder, did Papa review his own year in the way I just have when he penned his 1924 diary's last "home and radio" entry? Or did he just think about the coming year and his prayer to fill "a new book" with only "happy events"? If such a book literally exists I don't have it, but I know his future. I know he was about to meet my grandmother, I know he would, at last, have a family of his own. I know he found his happiness and that his happiness included me. And I know I'm here now, and I know he can't hear me, but I swear I'm sitting and whispering the word "Papa" like a spell, whispering Papa, Papa, Papa, please tell me what comes next.

Monday Apr 28

Matt's Notes

home radio

Hurrah the Gypsy Orchestra
The most fascinating on he
air is here. The first number,
Gypsy Chardash 2) Tosca,
3. Shuberts Waltz op 64#2
4. Serenade by Drigo
5 Indian Love Lyrics

---------------


Matt's Notes

If you're at all interested in the evolution of American media, Papa's accounts of his radio listening are truly precious artifacts. They allow us to witness a moment of enormous transition in our culture, when the broadcast industry was barely two years old and, like a two-year-old child, was growing furiously, dashing about like mad on its newfound legs, and shouting its head off even though it didn't quite know what to say. It's amazing to think that just three years before Papa wrote this entry, "wireless" communication was known only to military personnel and the few crazed enthusiasts willing to build their own radio transceivers and spread the broadcast gospel (not that there was always much of a distinction in the early days, since many engineers who served in World War I were recruited from the ranks of these ur-nerds)¹.

It looks like Papa was a bit of a technical enthusiast himself. Though all-in-one radios with cabinet configurations or Victrola-style horn speakers were commercially available in 1924, the photo below shows him listening to a much earlier radio set:



The headphones he's using, along with the overall messy look of the radio, indicate that it was most likely hand-built:



It also looks like Papa's early radio enthusiasm reflected the broader Jewish community's attitudes of the day; radio listings appeared in the Daily Forward (the influential left-leaning Yiddish language newspaper) as early as 1923. Papa undoubtedly checked out these listings every day, and maybe even let out a little "hurrah" when he saw a mention of his beloved Gypsy String Orchestra, "the most fascinating on the air." (It's interesting to note that the expression "on the air" was in circulation even at this early point in broadcasting history.)

The phrase "Gypsy String Orchestra" refers generally to a type of music ensemble, but in this case probably refers specifically to a group of New York-area musicians known for their appearances at such venues as Cafe Royal, The Rainbow Restaurant, and the Parkway Restaurant.² Few recordings of 1920's radio exist so it's unlikely that we'll ever know exactly what Papa listened to, but the wonderful Internets do afford us a chance to hear some early recordings of the songs he mentions above.

Here's a 1921 Edison Diamond Disc recording of "Indian Love Lyrics" from the Library of Congress:




And here's a 1920's-ish "Chardash" (a.k.a. "tsardas," "czardas," "tzardash," etc.) from Archive.org:



For good measure, here's a "Gypsy Love Song" from 1923:





According to our friend Jill, who knows about such things, a Tzardash is technically more of a Hungarian folk form than truly Romani (i.e. more Gypsy-like than Gypsy) and points out that "in parts of austria and the old austro-hungarian empire-- and still today in vienna-- there are hungarian musicians who travel around and play hungarian folk music in the street. but i could see how one could take them to be gypsies or conflate it with gypsy music." Papa probably did exactly that, though I expect less because he was Austro-Hungarian than because it was common practice in the 20's to label Hungarian music as "gypsy" -- or at least is was for the Gypsy String Orchestra and the group that recorded the above Tzardash, Bibor Olga Ciganyzenekara or (Olga Bibor's Gypsy Ensemble).

-----------

Update 4/29 -- Well, that was fortuitous. I just stuck the "Gypsy Love Song" clip on this post because it happened to be on Archive.org, not because Papa mentioned it specifically. But, my mother just wrote to say "I can remember, as a little girl, Papa singing the Gypsy Serenade to me. What lovely memories this evoked." How about that.

------------

References:

1 - I got this from Erik Barnouw's A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933.

2 - Most of the information about the Jewish relationship to early radio and the cultural scene of the 20's comes from Ari K., an academic advisor to this site. If you want to know more, you can purchase a copy of his dissertation at the University Microfilms (UMI) site. The site is stunningly shitty, but the dissertation number is 1392538.

I can't find Web streams of the other pieces Papa mentions above, though most appear to be available in modern recordings (alas, I find no references to Schubert's Op. 64 #2). I'm playing the above-mentioned "Serenade," a selection from Richard Drigo's ballet Les Millions d'Arlequin, right now. Anyway, here are some sources:

• As noted, the "Indian Love Lyrics" recording is from the Library of Congress, call #82205.
• The Gypsy Czardas is here and the Gypsy Love Song is here at Archive.org. It's got plenty of other such recordings here.
• Wikipedia's entry on Riccardo Drigo
• Information on Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera site.

Tuesday Jan 22

Light

A Poem by
Francis William Bourdillon
-----------------------
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
with the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

----------------

Matt's Notes

Papa has clearly not shaken the wistful, reflective mood triggered by his Hebrew birthday and the arrival of his niece's wedding photo on the previous day. You need only read this poem a couple of times to understand his mood.

------------

Call for research help

It's about to get harder for me to spend as much time as I'd like on research for this project. That's why I'm asking you, my legions of readers -- and make no mistake, your numbers are so vast that to keep count takes almost all of my fingers -- for help.

I've posted a page on this site called "Cry For Help" with a list of the many people, places, organizations, musical references, events and details of New York life that appear in Papa's diary. If you know about or are interested in any of these subjects, please write to me at papasdiary 'at' gmail.com or post comments about them. If you’d really like to dig in to a subject that might require ongoing research or collaboration, let me know and I'll set up a collaborative document for us to work on.

I've added the list of subjects below, but it'll always be available on the "Cry For Help" page of this site.

Note: If you want to delve into anything under a "some information already collected" heading, please let me know and I'll share with you what I've got.

--------------------------------

Organizations:

Total mysteries:

• David Wolpohn Club
• Downtown Zionist Club
• Holland Belgium Club
• Jewish Students Club
• Judea Insurance Company
• Kessler Zion Club
• Kinereth Camp (probably a B'nai Zion camp in Borough Park)

Some information already collected:

• B'nai Zion (a.k.a. Order Sons of Zion)
• Bar Kochba camp of B'nai Zion
• Hebrew Free Loan Society
• Keren Hayesod
• Montefiore Home (later hospital)
• Tikwaith Yehuda club
• Zionist Organization of America
• Information or artifacts and photos relating to Jewish fraternal organizations in general

People (many names are incomplete in the diary, but most of these people would be affiliated with B'nai Zion, Keren Hayesod or the Zionist Organization of America):

Total mysteries:

• "Rabbi Cook"
• "Mr. Graf"
• Rabbi David Horowitz
• Leibel Krebs (described as "a legendary figure from the old country")
• "Dr. Schecter"
• "Dr. Thon"
• And a ZOA organizer mysteriously named "Blitz"

Some information already collected:

• Joseph Bluestone
• David Blaustien
• Abraham Goldberg
• Arthur Ruppin
• "Judge Strahl"
• Maurice Samuel
• "Mr. Zeldin"

President Calvin Coolidge

• Relationships with Zionism and labor
• February 12 speech on radio
• February 22 speech on radio
• Radio announcement of reelection on November 4

Places

Total mysteries:

• Boisy (?) Hotel
• Café Royal
• Malick's Restaurant
• Regina Mansion
• Snyatyn Synagogue
• Spring Valley, New York -- Jewish summer colonies or other Jewish presence

Some information already collected:

• Pennsylvania Hotel

Movies and Movie Theaters

Total mysteries:

• Academy of Music
• "Song of Love"
• "White Sister"
• Lists of releases playing in New York for each month of 1924

Some information already collected:

• Capitol Theatre
• Clinton Theatre
• "Woman of Paris"

Sports

Some information already collected:

• Abe Goldstein (a professional boxer; won a title fight in 1924)
• 1924 New York Yankees
• 1924 New York Giants
• 1924 Brooklyn Robins (a.k.a. "Dodgers")

Leisure

General and specific information needed:

• Central Park in the 20's, esp. scenes of people rowing
• Coney Island of the 20's (overall experience, transportation, summer rental lockers)

Music (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

• "Drigo's Serendade"
• Eastern European Folk tunes that would have been played in immigrant-oriented Radio in 1924
• Gypsy String Orchestra (particularly their radio presence in the 1920's)
• "Gypsy Chardash"
• "Indian Love Lyrics" (?)
• Kessler's Theater
• "Kreuzer Sonata" (at Kessler's theater on 10/9/24)
• "Rubenstein's Romance"
• "Shubert's Waltz op 64#2"
• "Sleeping Beauty
• "Straus's Waltz, Artist's Dream"
• "Tosca"

Opera (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

• "Cavalleria rusticana" (March 8th Performance)
• "Carmen" (December 4th performance at the Met)
• "Le Roi de Lahore" (March 26th at the Met)
• L'Cock D'or (heard on radio march 30)
• L'Oracolo" (heard on radio march 30)
• Madame Butterfly" (November 22nd performance)
• "Martha" (December 5th performance)
• "Mefistofele" (with Chaliapin, November 24 performance)
• "Pagliacci (March 8th Performance)
• "Tannhauser" (November 5th at the Met)
• General History of the Met, the New York Opera scene, and what the Opera experience would have been like for cash-strapped immigrants

Radio events and history:

• 1924 Democratic convention coverage radio coverage
• November 4 Election returns coverage
• November 5 Coolidge reelection announcement
• 1924 Democratic convention coverage, esp. June 26, June 30, July 8
• April 14 Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony
• Radio Station WEAF
• WNYC history esp. early broadcasts in July and August

Lifestyle:

• Cars (Photos and information regarding cars available to immigrants in the 1920's)
• Writing instruments (Photos of pens and pencils used in the 1920's)
• Telephones (usage and technology in 1924, images of private phones in 1920's)
• Public transportation (trolley and subway history, maps, fare information, usage in 1920's)

Tuesday Sept 23

[no entry]

----------------

No entry from Papa today, but here are some articles from the September 23rd, 1924 edition of the New York Times that might have caught his eye:

Giants, Robins in Virtual Tie; Yanks Trail Senators 2 Games - 1924 has been called baseball's greatest season -- at least by the guy who wrote Baseball's Greatest Season, 1924 -- and the Times' accounts of the race's final days show why. With only a handful of games left to play, the Senators appeared to have unseated the world champion Yankees at last, while in the National League the Robins (a.k.a. Dodgers) New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates were all within a game and a half of each other. The Giants would eventually lose to the Senators in the "world's series," as the championship was called.

RADIO FAIR DRAWS OVERFLOW CROWDS; Opens With 225 Foreign and Domestic Manufacturers Represented. -- As an early radio enthusiast, Papa would have liked any news about radio innovation, and this article about a Radio World's Fair at Madison Square Garden and the 69th Regiment Armory (a precursor, I suppose, to the Consumer Electronics Show) confirms that radio is here to stay. "The sensational growth of radio which has raised the industry from a feeble experiment a few years ago to a $400,000,000 enterprise today was reflected in the 225 exhibits...The novelties were in the shape of refinements of existing types of radio equipement, indicating that the experimental stage had been left far behind." This article also notes the novel presence of two Japanese radio manufacturers.

NEW LABOR SYSTEM IN GARMENT INDUSTRY; R. Sadowsky, Inc., to Begin Specialization Program Today, Giving Year-Round Work. -- Papa was out of work for several weeks during the summer due to the garment industry's "slack season," and the resulting idleness made him notably anxious. I wonder if the proposed changes to the industry this article discusses really put an end to such down time.

M'ADOO BACK, URGES US TO JOIN LEAGUE; Says Trip Abroad Strengthened His Belief That America Should Help to Prevent War. -- Papa believed in the League of Nations, and hoped the United States would fully endorse it, but it wasn't meant to be. "M'adoo" refers to William McAdoo, one of the key players in the 1924 Democratic Convention's embarrassing deadlock that all but guaranteed a Republican victory in the general election.

WILSON SHRINE PLANNED.; Cathedral Evidently Will Be His Permanent Resting Place. - Papa's enthusiasm for the League of Nations went hand-in-hand with his respect for Woodrow Wilson's legacy, so he would have been interested in any article about Wilson, who died earlier in the year.

THE SCREEN; A Dog Hero. -- According to this article, Rin-Tin-Tin is an up-and-coming screen hero whose chief competition was a dog named "Strongheart" who starred in a series of silent adventures. We know how that story ended. I'm not sure if Papa would have been especially interested in dog movies, but he was a movie fan and probably read this article.

Monday Mar 31

What keep me at home for
an entire evening, the radio.

In my quest for a rest of
my longing soul there is no
better remedy as the radio
The fascinating music, and
other features.

I heard just new, Rubensteins
Romance which was wonderful

-----

Henriette will undoubtedly
answer my letter, I am
anxious to see what she will
write.

It's her kind that appeals
to me, but has a poor dog [like me]
a chance? Is a girl even of
her type ripe enough to see
my qualities, and truly love
me despite my poor standing?

Heard Sleeping Beauty Tchaikovsky
Waltz

----------

Matt's Notes

Papa's fascination with the radio may seem quaint, but it fairly represents the excitement most radio listeners felt in 1924. Up until then, wireless broadcasting had been a tool for a military and a toy for amateur enthusiasts who were willing to build their own transceivers and spend their days and nights sending, receiving and praying for a signal. If Papa came to America in 1913, it would be eight more years before he'd see an all-in-one radio set in a shop window, and still another year before the radio business really took off.¹

So, when he wrote this entry Papa was still discovering, along with broadcasters, advertisers and artists, what the medium could do. That's not to say it wasn't widespread -- I just mean it had exploded before Papa's eyes as a commercial and social force in the same way the Internet exploded before our eyes in the mid 1990's. In describing how the radio distracts him, however incompletely, from his woes, Papa may have shown us an early prototype of the lonely guy who sits and home, channel- or Web-surfing while everyone else is out having fun.

Speaking of which, the song this "poor dog" listened to, "Rubenstein's Romance," was a classical piece by Anton Rubinstein properly called "Romance in B-flat, Op. 44, No.1." A popular adaptation known as "If You Are But a Dream" became a Frank Sinatra hit, and though this didn't happen until the 1940's I think the lyrics sum up Papa's feelings about Henreitte:

If you are but a dream, I hope I never waken,
It's more than I could bear to find that I'm forsaken.

If you're a fantasy, then I'm content to be
In love with lovely you,
And pray my dream comes true.

I long to kiss you but I would not dare,
I'm so afraid that you may vanish in the air,
So darling, if our romance should break up,
I hope I never wake up, if you are but a dream.

I long to kiss you but I would not dare,
I'm so afraid that you may vanish in the air,
So darling, if our romance should break up,
I hope I never wake up, if you are but a dream.

--------------------

Additional Notes and References:

1 - This is very roughly condensed from information presented in Erik Barnouw's A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933.

------------------------

Music:

• Rubinstein's Romance (via Rhapsody)
• If You Are But A Dream (via Rhapsody)
• Sleeping Beauty - Waltz (via Rhapsody)
  
• Sleeping Beauty - Waltz (via allofmp3.com)
  

Sound and Video

Papa's Diary contains frequent references to music and popular culture, especially when he discusses the programming he listened to on the radio. Here are a few sound and video files from the Web that might help us understand what he saw and heard himself.

-------------------------

January 1 entry:

The Volga Boat Song was played in the New Years Eve concert Papa attended. Here's a version from Radio Blog Club:



----------------------------

January 4 entry:

Papa recounts the story of a young Jewish woman who plays Schubert's Serenade for immigration officials in order to qualify for an artist's exception to the Jewish immigrant quota laws. It's here at Radio Blog Club:



-------------------

March 21 entry:

Papa describes how he listened to a boxing match in which Jewish boxer Abe Goldstein took the bantamweight title. We don't have any footage of Golstein's fight, but YouTube does have this 1922 fight featuring Benny Leonard, who was perhaps the most famous Jewish fighter:



---------------------

April 6 entry:

"Always blues, blues, even the radio is sending me blues through the air," said Papa one rainy April day. We can't be sure what he listened to, but here's 1923 Bessie Smith recording of "Down Hearted Blues" from Last.fm:





And here's a recording of "Who's Sorry Now" by the Original Memphis Five from Archive.org:




-----------------

April 7 entry:

Papa frequently says he listens to an ensemble called The Gypsy String Orchestra on the radio, and while I haven't yet found one of their recordings, this 1914, Gypsy-influenced Berkes Bela tune from archive.org might be in the ballpark:


----------------

April 28 entry:

Papa lists a number of songs the Gypsy String Orchestra played on the radio that day, among them:

"Indian Love Lyrics," which surely sounded a lot like this 1921 Edison Diamond Disc recording from the Library of Congress:




A "Gypsy Chardash" along the lines of this 1920's-ish recording by Bibor Olga Ciganyzenekara (Olga Bibor's Gypsy Ensemble) at Archive.org:



Papa didn't mentioned the "Gypsy Love Song" specifically, but I thew in this 1923 recording of it, also available at Archive.org:



On September 12, Papa used the phrase "Flaming Youth," which was the title of a popular movie starring Colleen Moore. Here's a video of Moore, who became a huge star after her appearance in Flaming Youth:



Once in a while, when Papa doesn't write in his diary for a day or two, I fill in the blanks with fictional episodes or dream sequences. I thought it would be fun to use the following Felix the Cat cartoon to illustrate a dream on October 12.



On November 5th, Papa saw Maria Jeritza in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Tannhauser. The following clip features Jeritza singing an aria from that very opera:




And here's a video of Herbert Von Karajan conducting the opening of Tannhauser:


And here's the finale of Tannhauser from archive.org (this link will open a new window)

Papa saw Madame Butterfly on November 22nd with Beniamino Gigli and and Antonio Scotti. Here's a clip of Gigli singing "O Solo Mio":



And here's a clip of Scotti singing "Tosca":



Here's a 1918 recording, via archive.org, of Frances Alda singing from Madama Butterfly.


On November 24t, Papa saw Mefistofele at the Met with the great Chaliapin. Here's a clip of Chaliapin singing "Ave Signori (Hail, Sovereign Lord)" from Mefistofele:





Papa hit the Met again on December 4th, where he saw the venerable Giovanni Martinelli in Carmen. Here's a clip from archive.org of Martinelli singing La fleur que tu m'avais jetee from Carmen.


More opera on December 5th, and this time it's Martha at the Met. Here's the great Giovanni Martinelli, who Papa had seen the previous day in Carmen, singing the well known aria "M'appari tutt'amor" from Martha:



--------

I got rather wistful after I posted the last diary entry on December 31, 2007, and I wound up putting this video together and posting it the next day. It's just a slide show with pictures of Papa at various stages of his life, set to a song called "Indian Love Lyrics" that Papa heard on the radio (as mentioned above) on April 28, 1924.

Friday May 9

Home.

---------------

Matt's Notes

A slow evening at home for Papa; he probably listened to the radio and perused the day's headlines. It looks like it was a slow news day, though a couple of New York Times stories that might have caught his eye included:

REPORT MEASURE FOR RADIO CONTROL; House Committee Bill Provides for the Application of Anti-Trust Laws. - A bill to create a Bureau of Radio in the Department of Commerce, with broad powers to regulate broadcasting and "the correction of evils that have grown up as the science has progressed" was introduced before Congress. Papa was an early adopter of radio (the commercial radio industry was all of two years old in 1924) and would have been keenly interested in any attempts to regulate broadcasting.

This article shared a page with story about how "Houdini, the conjuror" challenged a young man named Joaqin Maria Argamasilla to prove his claim that he could read through metal. He couldn't.

SAY BRITAIN APPROVES TUNNEL UNDER CHANNEL; France Hears Project, Already Authorized There, Is Planned to Provide Employment. - Britain agreed to finish a tunnel to France started in 1883, the construction of which had been halted due to security concerns (among them the dangers of a poison gas attack). The tunnel opened in 1994.

--------------------------

While Papa's taking it easy, we might as well take a look at another of his photographic calling cards, or "cabinet cards," from the 20's. I like this one because it's tinted and signed:



-------------

And remember, if you're just getting started with Papa's Diary Project, here are a few good subjects to check out:

• B'nai Zion
• The 20th Century Girl
• Sniatyn
• Papa's Father's Injury
• Radio
• Cry For Help.

Tuesday Feb 12

12:10 P.M.

The radio afforded me the
opportunity to hear the adress
of Pres. Coolidge, delivered at the
Waldorf Astoria. It was a
masterpiece, He is for tax reduction
against a bonus, and the way I
understood it he made an overture
for the European Nations for another
conference for still more disarmament.

He is for National economy.
He states that the 3 Americans that
are in Europe conferring about the
present situation, are not the repre-
sentatives of the government, but they
have with them the mind of the Am.
people. He outlined his attitude
toward Mexico.

Although I do not fully agree with
him, he won for his simplicity and
frankness my highest admiration
tonight.

-----------

Matt's Notes:

Coolidge's Lincoln Day Dinner address at the Waldorf-Astoria was his first appearance in New York, his first national address, and, as the the New York Times noted, "was generally considered as the first utterance in his campaign for election to the Presidency..." Presidential radio appearances were still novel at the time; I think the way Papa introduces his recap of the broadcast ("the radio afforded the the opportunity to hear the address...") shows how unaccustomed he was to such a privilege. Similarly, the Times devoted a few paragraphs to the logistics of the broadcast ("atmospheric conditions were splendid") and assorted snafus (apparently the broadcast crossed wires a few times with a broadcast by the China Society).

I'm tempted to kid myself into pining for a long-lost America whose airwaves weren't befouled by political dross, but Coolidge's speech betrays signs of the approaching darkness. In it, Coolidge tries to contain the Teapot Dome scandal, which he inherited from Harding and centered on the illicit relationships between Cabinet members and oil companies; defended his plan to give tax breaks to corporations and wealthy Americans, even though he said the government could not afford bonuses for the military (something about how soldiers had fought WWI for principles, not money); and gave a lukewarm nod toward world disarmament while pitching an arms sale to Mexico.

It's hard for me not to cringe at Coolidge's speech because it reminds me so much of the crap Dubya spews, but even factoring that in I find Papa's kind assessment of such a non-progressive speech incongruous (the New York Times' transcript is here; subscription required). Still, it's not incomprehensible for a few reasons. First, as I've noted before, Papa inherently expected the best from people and had a remarkable ability to look kindly on their flaws; why wouldn't this apply to Presidents as well? Second, the mere excitement over hearing the President on the radio may have predisposed him toward what he heard. Third, Woodrow Wilson, who I think Papa was particularly attached to, had died nine days earlier; maybe Papa just needed to be won over, to feel the "highest admiration" for a President once again and get back a little of what he'd lost.

In any event, now seems like a good time to share this photograph of Papa listening to his radio. Maybe this is what he looked like when he heard the Coolidge speech:

Monday Apr 14

Home attended to some
correspondence, listened
in on the radio. The opening of
the congress of Daughters
of the American Revolution,
Adresses by Pres. Coolidge
French ambassador Jusserand,
British Amb. Howard,
Gen. Pershing.

--------------------

Matt's Notes

When Papa sat down at 8:00 PM and tuned in to WEAF, he listened to President Coolidge urge the Daughters of the American Revolution to get out and vote in the next election. It seems like an offhand moment by today's standards, but Papa found it novel enough, as he did with many radio broadcasts, to record it in his diary.

As with its February 6 coverage of President Wilson's funeral, AT&T distributed Coolidge's speech by telephone line to three of its East coast radio stations: WCAP in Washington, WJAR in Providence, R.I., and WEAF in New York. The previous day's New York Times saw fit to devote a column to the complexities and expense involved -- the "remote control" technology it described had only been commercially practical for a year, and even so "the actual work necessary to prepare long-distance telephone lines for use in connection with radio broadcasting sometimes requires as many as sixty-five engineers."

(A related article also excitedly reported on how "Hertzian waves" helped farmers research prices in multiple markets and figure out where to sell their goods. Said one Ohio farmer: "It is not difficult to make a radio pay dividends when rightly handled, and scarcely a week passes without my outfit yielding me something of value.")

Coolidge had only been on the radio a few times since he took the reigns after President Harding's death in 1923, but his voice resonated particularly well and helped make him an early broadcast celebrity. Coolidge quickly caught on to the medium's potential as a campaign tool and broadcast a number of speeches, including the one mentioned above, in the run-up to the 1924 Republican Convention.

Since the audience consisted of women descended from America's founders, the speech was appropriately full of patriotic rhetoric and historical references. Its central theme, though, concerned a more recent historical development, the effects of which had not, it seems, entirely permeated American life: the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in federal elections. As Coolidge noted:

We have not yet been able to frame a very definite judgment of the changes that will be wrought in our public life, or our private life, because of this remarkable development. It has come so suddenly upon the world, chiefly within this first quarter of the twentieth century, that we have not had time to appraise its full meaning.

And:

I suppose that even among the Daughters of the America Revolution there are some women who sincerely feel that it is unbecoming of their sex to take an active part in politics. It is a little difficult to comprehend how such an attitude could be maintained by any women eligible to such a society as this…

Nevertheless, there are such, and to them I want especially to direct an appeal for a different attitude toward the obligations of the voter…

What must Papa have thought of such a speech? It's hard to imagine a group more removed from his world of Zionist fundraisers and immigrant support societies than the Daughters of the American Revolution, and it's hard to imagine an issue more baffling to him than the need to convince well-established, entirely assimilated Americans to accept their enfranchisement (still a baffling problem today, of course). Perhaps the mere thrill of listening to the President through his headphones distracted Papa from contemplating such things.

Friday Feb 22

This is Washingtons birthday
which reminds me that his
courage and sacrifice is a
source of inspiration not only
to Americans, but to people
the world over.

After brief visits to both
my sisters this evening,
I listened in to a radio
adress (sic) given by President
Coolidge to the occasion
of Washingtons birthday.

--------------

Matt's notes:

For Papa to make a note about George Washington's example in his private diary again proves how sincerely he believes in America and in the merits of sacrificing oneself for the greater good. Coolidge echoed these sentiments in his radio address (the transcript is in the New York Times archive) but they feel more genuine coming from Papa (who knows, maybe Coolidge was sincere -- I've just lost the capacity to be impressed by Presidential speeches after decades of grotesque national politics, and particularly after the last six years of Presidential lies and opportunism.)

As it did for Coolidge's radio address a few weeks prior, the New York Times reviewed the clarity of the broadcast, reported on atmospheric conditions, and described the logistics associated with carrying the speech to various American Telephone and Telegraph Company radio stations in the Northeast. I mention this just as a reminder of how novel it still was, in February 1924, to hear a President's voice on the radio.

-----------

Update 3/8

Dina writes:

Reading Papa's thoughts about Washington reminded me that my Zeide, my Dad's father, also had great American heroes. He admired Lincoln, Helen Keller and I think Walt Whitman! I wonder if it was characteristic, for men of our grandfather's generation, to hold these historical figures in such high regard because they represented, for them, what was best about America. i will have to ask my Dad if he remembers why Zeide loved these individuals so much.

Reading your grandfather's entries and your comments has caused me to remember things about my Zeide. He like your Papa loved the theater but I don't believe that he attended many shows. He did however read plays and as a teen ager I borrowed anthologies from him and read many well known and obscure plays from the 1930's. My grandfather too was an ardent Zionist but probably less left leaning than Papa. I'll try to dig up some info on his activities. It would be interesting if their paths crossed as I believe they were more or less contemporaries.

Wednesday Dec 17

[no entry today]

----------

We arrive at the room, Thomas finally speaks and he he warns us the door opens on its own sometimes, we must lock it to keep it closed. Inside now H. sits on the bed she leans back on her elbows and I think for some reason I want to sit at the desk, there is a stack of paper on the desk and a pen and I think I might write to my sisters on Rivington Street, or to my brother in Sniatyn that he might read my letter out loud to my mother. How it would puzzle them, a letter from a hotel in my own city, a letter written from a room with a private bathroom. In the corner is a "cabinet" radio of the newer type, built of wood and cloth and shaped like a spire. There will be an opera tonight I tell H. and I switch the radio on, it is so unlike my own radio, its dials are large, raised numbers on the cabinet mark the stations. The controls are stiff and I wonder if I am the first to use it.

Can the ghost hear the radio, does it confuse her because she lived at a time before such inventions? Do the voices and music from this strange pointed box seem to her phantom emanations, sudden and soft from a source unknown? I would certainly relieve her of this fear if I could, if I could I would end the frustration of her eternal wait, stop the terrible drama she performs at night, the repetition of her life's most frightening most disappointing most regrettable moment. Why does she remain in this moment, remain where she no longer belongs, does the very instant of her death, her terrible death, does she prefer it to what unknown future awaits her soul?

Thomas is again at the door, H. lets him in and he enters he bears pitcher and glasses on a tray. Refreshments he calls them and H. claps her hands and says now we can have a party and I am briefly relieved, I am thirsty and then I remember H. and her secret meeting with the clerk. My suspicion proves correct the pitcher conceals not water but instead some kind of clear hooch I have heard hotels do this but I never have seen it myself.

Thomas leaves a moment later the door swings open just as he said it would, I lock it to conceal the little secret the secret H. and I share. H. takes a drink and she pours some more and she holds out a glass to me. I tell her if she drinks much more she won't see the ghost, that's the idea Harry she says. Her face looks strange, shadows across her cheeks and eyes, I did not think it possible but I prefer not to look at her.

Just a few blocks away I might find Blitz at headquarters and we might discuss the ball and I might ask him to assist in the preparation of my speech. I know now what the speech will be, a treatise on patience on hard work I will urge all to remember how long we have wandered how close we are now how some of us, at least some of us may live to see all of Israel come home at last. Like a letter to my beloved father it will be and I would like to sit at the desk and begin but H. of course stands there and she holds a glass out to me.

I take a tiny sip so as not to disappoint her, it is sharp with a poisonous taste and I mention the ghost again, aren't we here to see the ghost I ask surely we will see her if we watch carefully. "Oh Harry what's the difference" she says, and glass still in hand puts her arms on my shoulders, drapes them around my neck. It is what I have wanted yet so unlike what I want, all the same the music on the radio is a sweet sweet song and she smiles, a small smile but full of intention she moves only the corners of her mouth and her eyes darken and she melts against me. Dance with me Harry she says and we sway, I drift with her in a tiny waltz I waltz in miniature with small steps and she notices the steps and follows and then giggles and she smiles the smile again and tilts her head to the side like she has a question, a question for which there is but one answer and I kiss her now I kiss her at last.

Wednesday June 4

[no entry]

------------

Papa leaves his diary entries blank for the next few days, so I'm going to add a few pages to the site I've been meaning to work on for a while. First up, a new "Sound and Video" page, accessible from the left navigation, with a collection of all the audio and video files associated with Papa's diary.

(Now that's interesting: all this thinking about music and Papa leads me to remember that he used to sing "I Love You, a Bushel and a Peck" to me quite a bit, or at least that's how it seemed to me. I haven't thought about that in decades. I wonder how many other memories like this are still waiting to be tapped.)

The contents of the "Sound and Video" page includes:

January 1: The Volga Boat Song was played in the New Years Eve concert Papa attended. Here's a version from Radio Blog Club:



----------------------------

January 4

Papa recounts the story of a young Jewish woman who plays Schubert's Serenade for immigration officials in order to qualify for an artist's exception to the Jewish immigrant quota laws. It's here at Radio Blog Club:



-------------------

March 21

Papa describes how he listened to a boxing match in which Jewish boxer Abe Goldstein took the bantamweight title. We don't have any footage of Golstein's fight, but YouTube does have this 1922 fight featuring Benny Leonard, who was perhaps the most famous Jewish fighter:



---------------------

April 6

"Always blues, blues, even the radio is sending me blues through the air," said Papa one rainy April day. We can't be sure what he listened to, but here's 1923 Bessie Smith recording of "Down Hearted Blues" from Last.fm:





And here's a recording of "Who's Sorry Now" by the Original Memphis Five from Archive.org:




-----------------

April 7

Papa frequently says he listens to an ensemble called The Gypsy String Orchestra on the radio, and while I haven't yet found one of their recordings, this 1914, Gypsy-influenced Berkes Bela tune from archive.org might be in the ballpark:


----------------

April 28

Papa lists a number of songs the Gypsy String Orchestra played on the radio that day, among them:

"Indian Love Lyrics," which surely sounded a lot like this 1921 Edison Diamond Disc recording from the Library of Congress:




A "Gypsy Chardash" along the lines of this 1920's-ish recording by Bibor Olga Ciganyzenekara (Olga Bibor's Gypsy Ensemble) at Archive.org:



Papa didn't mentioned the "Gypsy Love Song" specifically, but I thew in this 1923 recording of it, also available at Archive.org:

Monday July 7

Radio and an open hour
at C.I. bathing.

Just heard on radio that
Presidents son died at 10:30
tonight. My sympathy goes
forth to the Presidents family

---------

Matt's Notes

Papa likely heard about the death of President Coolidge's son when the Democratic Convention, as heard on WEAF's broadcast, adjourned early that night out of respect for the President's family. (Calvin, Jr. died of septicemia after a tennis-related blister on his heel became infected.)

It's worth pointing out how odd it must have been for Americans like Papa, who weren't yet accustomed to live radio news, to learn of such an event as it happened. Papa was by all accounts an extraordinarily compassionate person, but I wonder if he would have written "my sympathy goes forth to the President's family" in his private journal had he merely read the news in the morning papers. (Then again, he was still profoundly affected by his own father's death, so perhaps he would have responded the same way to the President's loss no matter how he heard about it.)

We should also note that the Democratic Convention had reached an interesting point before its early adjournment.

Balloting had been deadlocked for a week. The frontrunner, William McAdoo, had unsuccessfully proposed a rules change that would have allowed him to take the nomination with a simple majority of delegates as opposed to the traditional two-thirds. New York Governor Al Smith, who controlled a blocking minority, had led a push to get all candidates to release their delegates, but McAdoo had refused.

Into the fray waded James M. Cox, the newspaper publisher, former Governor of Ohio and 1920 Democratic Presidential candidate. The negotiations Cox held upon his arrival in New York seemed to trigger some movement at the convention. McAdoo's delegates started to drift toward other candidates, effectively ending his bid. Smith gained a few votes, but seasoned political observers knew he had no chance, either. The race was wide open again.

I've been party to a conversational ice-breaker where someone asks everyone in the room whether they'd rather visit the past or the future. I usually say the future, but I must say it would be hard to resist a chance to witness the stunning levels of deal-making, cigar-smoking, hallway-sprinting and door-knocking that lit up convention headquarters at the Waldorf-Astoria that night. If the rules permitted, though, I'd probably sneak out, hop a subway to the Lower East Side, and knock on Papa's door. I don't know what I'd say when he answered. Maybe I'd just ask him how the waves were at Coney Island.

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References from the New York Times:

• PRESIDENT'S SON, CALVIN JR., 16, DIES AS PARENTS WATCH; End Comes at 10:30 P.M. in Walter Reed Hospital After Gallant Struggle. - (This article mentions how most Americans learned of the Calvin Jr.'s death through the Democratic Convention broadcast.)
  
  
• COX ARRIVES HERE FOR HARMONY MOVE; Begins Conferences at Once to Concentrate Upon a Candidate and Procedure.
  
  
• SMITH FORGES TO THE FRONT; He Holds His Own in Voting While Delegates Quit McAdoo.
  
  
• M'ADOO BLOC IS MELTING; Floating Away, Piece by Piece, Like Ice Jam in a Thaw.
  
  
• Coolidge Thanks Democrats For Message of Sympathy
  
  
• SCIENCE OF RADIO ADDS 5,000 NEW WORDS TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE; Biblical Student Claims Radio an Old Word Used in Bible to Describe Lightning -- Radiocasting Is the Newest Term. - (This article cites the efforts of the Associated Manufacturers of Electrical Supplies to discourage use of the term "broadcasting" in favor of "radiocasting.")

Other References:

• Definition of septicemia from Medline