1911: Appliances to bring "peace of soul and domestic independence"

I was mulling around in old editions of The New York Times at the New York Public Library a few years ago when I came across this gem. I can't help but share it in honor of all those of us that take our kitchen appliances for granted.

An excerpt from The New York Times, Tuesday, September 26, 1911:

KITCHEN ENGINEERS TO AID WOMANKIND

Wives at the Domestic Science Show Hear About the Labor-Saving Hope.

MUST IMITATE BUSINESS MEN

Average Servant's Stay in a Household is Now Two Weeks - Housework Minus Dirt and Fatigue.

"...It is labor-saving household machinery that Mrs. Pattison advocates. She is an ex-President of the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs, and over there they have been making experiments which show that housework can be done without dirt and fatigue. 'It means the success of the first women engineers,' Mrs. Pattison said. 'Women have never been interested in engineering, because it had nothing to do with the household, but now that machinery has been brought into it, domestic engineers must be developed. They will develop peace of soul and domestic independence.'

"A big fireless cooker with electric attachments was dragged to the front of the stage for the women to look at. Mrs. Pattison, who is pretty and wore a smart gown and hat, showed the cooker herself.

"...Miss Sara J. Lovejoy told the women that they must reorganize their households, and just as men in their different lines of business plan by convenient methods to conserve the energy of the workers, so women must do in their households.

"Arrange your kitchen and laundry so that the cook and laundress will not have to take so many extra steps. Have your cooking table and your supplies near the oven where the baking is to be done."

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In spite of the progressive nature of many of the women of New York at the time my great-grandparents were first settling their families there, it would be many years before modern inventions and ways crept into their households. I doubt that any of them could afford these new technologies, not to mention a household servant: cook, laundress, or other.

However, the world around them was truly changing quickly. They must never have imagined what the lives of their descendants would be like - even from the standpoint of kitchen life!

Source:
“Kitchen Engineers to Aid Womankind,” The New York Times, p. 1, September 26, 1911.

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This article has been contributed to the "I read it in the news!" edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Jasia of Creative Gene.

Can't find your Ellis Island ancestor's passenger list?

Try the new phonetic matching feature at Steve Morse's Ellis Island gold search form.

I've had trouble in the past finding family members that I absolutely knew had to be listed, but just could not be found because their name was misspelled.

Thanks again to Steve for helping to bring hard-to-find ancestors out into the light!

Much appreciation to Olive Tree Genealogy Blog for sharing this tip about the new search feature.

Getting to know "100 Years in America"

It has been more than a year since I began sharing my family history on my three blogs: my Hungarian/Croatian side of the family here at 100 Years in America and my Irish side of the family at Small-leaved Shamrock (with an emphasis on my Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania roots) and A light that shines again (with an emphasis on my Boston and Quincy, Massachusetts immigrant ancestors).

This was certainly not the beginning of my interest in genealogy, however. I have been researching my family’s story for more than a quarter of a century. You can read a little background at Why do I trace my family tree?

I initially began blogging to share with my extended family what I had learned. (See The Gift of the Photograph: Uniting Families With Their History for the full story.) Instead, I found that my readers often included many others: those with a connection to the places, cultures and other subjects that I write about. My hope is that as I continue to write I will inspire others, particularly young people, to gain a better understanding and appreciation of their own place in history.

To get a further introduction to 100 Years in America, you might enjoy reading the following. Inspired by Terry Thornton's "Getting to Know You" challenge, I've listed what I've chosen as the "brightest", "breeziest" and "most beautiful" articles here at 100 Years in America.

Brightest (my best work): Međimurje: Meeting place of rivers and cultures

Breeziest (best light-hearted article): The love of fine cars: it's in the genes

Most beautiful: Remembering Mother Magdalena: 1860-1957

I choose not to write too much about myself on my various family history blogs. The preservation of the stories of my family's deeper history are usually my focus. However, you can learn a little more about me at The view from my corner of the world. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments, so please write!

Ádám to Zsuzsanna: Hungarian & Croatian given names in the family tree

The gift of a name...

...is one of the most important choices that parents can make for their children. Although nicknames often fall into place as the years go by, original given names have a way of remaining with most of us throughout our lives.

As a parent myself, I have not taken the great duty of choosing a baby’s name lightly. In preparation for the birth of each of my children, I have spent hours looking for possible name choices, thinking through the meanings and sounds and fit of certain names, and talking through the choices with my husband. It has been no easy task to choose a good name to accompany a child throughout the course of life.

In addition to carefully choosing my children's names, I have long been interested in the names of my forebears, and the meanings of those names. A name on a page is often the first glimpse that I have received of each of my ancestors as I’ve worked back within the family tree. I remember the first time I wrote down the names of those in the generations immediately preceding mine. After questioning each of my parents and grandparents, I had the beginnings of my “pedigree chart” filled in - and what wonderful names it held! I looked with interest on each one and wondered what more there was to each of their lives.

I love the sound of the names of my family members in their ancestral language. Somehow much beauty seems to be lost in the sound of the English/American translations.

My great-grandmother Helen was formerly Ilona. Her daughter Ethel began her life as Etelka. I’m partial to their original monikers – the beautiful sound of their traditional names rings more feminine to my ears.

Following is a look at Hungarian and Croatian naming traditions along with a few "name stories" from my personal family tree.

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And little Pista became big Stephen…

I was a little puzzled when I received the naturalization papers of the man I knew to be Stephen Toth. Everything was in order – his Declaration of Intention and Petition for Naturalization. What puzzled me was the small note attached to the top of the original paperwork, of which I received a copy from the National Archives and Records Administration. The note indicated his arrival at Ellis Island in 1907, but instead of Stephen’s name, written there was the name Cisto Toth.

Who was Cisto? I had never heard Steve referred to by this name before, but clearly the NARA was confident that this was him.

It was only later that I learned that Cisto was a misspelling of a very common nickname for the Hungarian name Istvan (Stephen). Pista means “little Stephen”. Here was the record of proof that Steve Toth had arrived at Ellis Island as a very young boy indeed. He was two years old when he crossed that Atlantic and arrived in America. Somehow learning his childhood nickname, Pista, enabled me to better imagine his big adventure as a little boy crossing the ocean with his mother and sisters.

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A tale of two Francis-es

Many of the first names of those in the immigrant generation in my family were transformed into their American equivalents after their arrival in the United States. My great-grandfather Ferencz, named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi (he is listed as Franciscus in the village church’s Latin language Baptismal register) became Frank in America. The Slavic people have had a long devotion to St. Francis. That devotion has continued in our family. After Frank’s death, his wife Ilona (translated to Helen in America) became a third order Franciscan. You could say that her entire adult life was spent in the service and companionship of a Francis of one kind or another: first her earthly husband, then the well-known saint.

Want more information about Hungarian given names and their English counterparts? A section of Jared Suess’ Handy Guide to Hungarian Genealogical Records is devoted to Personal Hungarian Names and Forms of Address.


Suess writes, “Many given names used in Hungarian are Saints’ and Biblical names. Diminutives used in addressing good friends, acquaintances and children became the best known given name of a man or woman. Many names and nicknames are expressed diminutively by adding the suffixes –ka, -ika, and –ke.”  

Suess gives several examples of the use of these Hungarian suffixes, including Ilonka for Ilona and Péterke for Péter. He also mentions other traditional nicknames such as Feri for Ferencz, and Pista or Pityu for Istvan. The guide includes a list of most of the common Hungarian given names and their English equivalents (if they have one).

The fact that my family resided in an area that changed hands between Austria-Hungary, Yugoslavia and Croatia meant that often one person’s name would be referred to in different documents in different ways. My great-grandfather Stjepan Bence was of Croatian origin, hence his Croatian name meaning Stephen. Living in an area controlled by Hungary during his lifetime, he may have been referred to as Istvan and his church baptismal and marriage records would have used the Latin version of his name.

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From Ujlaki Ferenczné to Mrs. Helen Ulaky

As explained in Seuss’ Handy Guide to Hungarian Genealogical Records, Hungarians list their surname first followed by their given name, just as many Asian cultures do.

Also, the English “Mrs.” is written by using the Hungarian article né following the husband’s given name. Knowing this helped me to find Ilona Ujlaki on my search through the Ellis Island website for her ship’s passenger list from 1909. She was listed as Ujlaki Ferenczné. Searching for her given name would have yielded me no success.

Another note of interest regarding Hungarian and Croatian given names is this: there is no grammatical gender, therefore no way to immediately distinguish male and female given names by their endings. Saša, Béla, Miksa and other names ending in "a" are men’s names, although they share an ending with women’s names such as Mária, Julia and many others.

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In closing, here is a short list of a few of the Hungarian and Croatian names from my family tree, including their English equivalents (if they exist):

Male

Ádám = Adam

Albert

Andor = András = Andrew

Elemér = Elmer

Ferencz = Frank

István = Stjepan = Steven or Stephen

József = Josip = Joseph

Kasmir

Lajos = Louis

Vilmos = William

Female

Anna

Etel = Etelka = Ethel

Eva = Eve

Ilona = Helene = Helen

Katarina = Catherine

Lenzika = Lena

Magdalena

Mária = Mary

Terezia = Tereszia = Teresa

Vilma = Wilma

For more information see Brian Speer's Hungarian Names 101, Hungarian Feminine Names, and Hungarian Personal Names in the 16th Century, Early Croatian Given Names, and Behind the Name's Serbian and Croatian Names.

This article has been submitted to the 11th edition of Jessica's Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy on Given Names, hosted for the first time at Steve's Genealogy Blog.

When feathers were in: A tip of the hat to Hungarian dancers

Just for fun, I'd thought I zoom in on a few of the marvelous headdresses worn by the dancers in my great-grandfather's Hungarian dance troupe in the early 20th-century. It looks like feathers were in for men's headwear:

Along with the occasional "flower" on top (is that a flower?):

Then again, traditional costume go could a little more regal-looking. This young man looks like he might have inherited a royal crown:

Then there is the seaman's look, modeled here by my great-grandfather, Ferencz Ujlaki:

Handsome, isn't he? I can't help but admire his fur-edged jacket and the large quantity of shining brass buttons he sports on his shirt.

What fun to see this group dance when the Hungarian music began!

This post was inspired by the 5th edition of the Smile for the Camera Carnival: Crowning Glory. For more on hats, hair-do's and more, see footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed.

On the hunt for Hungarians in Trenton, New Jersey

In the process of looking for information about ancestors residing in Trenton, New Jersey in the early 20th-century, I found a helpful resource: the Trenton Historical Society. With help from the Trenton Public Library's Local History & Genealogy Trentoniana section, the Trenton Historical Society has placed data from seven of its city directories online, spanning the years 1844 to 1920.

I am particularly interested in István & Maria (Németh) Tóth and their family who arrived in Trenton in the early 20th-century from Gelej and Mezőkeresztes, Hungary. I looked up their surname in the 1900 and 1920 directories. It seems that Toths didn't arrive until after 1900, but when they came they did so in large numbers. Thirty-three listings for Toths occur in the 1920 Trenton directory. Unfortunately, my family members had come after 1900 and had already moved on to Massachusetts by 1920 so they were not listed.

I found interesting reading in the historical society's 1929 history, including an overview of the Magyar population of the city at the time. A History of Trenton: 1679-1929 has a chapter entitled Trenton Citizens of Foreign Origin. It includes a section on Hungarians, stating the following statistics on the number of Magyars in Trenton:

1900 - 1,494
1910 - 4, 980
1920 - 4,042

It looks like my family was one of the more nomadic Hungarian immigrant families. They arrived in Trenton when most other Hungarian families did, and left a few short years afterward.

The rest of the 1929 history includes a description of the character of the Hungarian people and the Hungarian neighborhood of the city.

According to the Trenton Historical Society authors in 1929, "The Hungarian makes a valuable workman and is quiet, thrifty, industrious, home-loving and sturdy. By nature he is sociable and finds company necessary in his scheme of life. This accounts for the courtesy and politeness of the people."

I hope these glowing words applied to all of my family members!

It was helpful for me to read the overview of the Hungarian neighborhood in Trenton circa 1929. According to the book, "In Trenton the Hungarians occupy more than thirty-five different streets in whole or in part. All that section of Trenton lying south of Bridge Street, extending many blocks east and west, all the way down to what was formerly Wharton Street, now merged in South Clinton Avenue, is populated by Hungarians".

Now to find the home of István & Maria (Németh) Tóth, and the final resting place of their little Lajos...

Interested in getting a peek back at Trenton, New Jersey one-hundred years ago? View these local WZBN-TV videos for a look back (though not great video-quality, they provide a little bit of interesting history): Trenton Makes, The World Takes and Trenton 100 Years Ago.

Croatia comes to Carnegie Hall

Croatia will make its debut at Carnegie Hall with the October 9, 2008 performance of Oliver Dragojevic and the accompaniment of a chamber orchestra from Croatia (Solisti di Zagreb) along with jazz musicians from the United States.

According to the press release from The Doors Art Foundation, "The promotion of Croatian culture has made significant progress over the past few years, and the Doors Art Foundation believes that this concert by the first Croatian musician to independently perform at world renowned Carnegie Hall will provide even more opportunities for future collaborations."

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About Oliver Dragojevic:

"Oliver Dragojevic needs no major introduction in Croatia and in much of Europe. His songs and character has been a part of most Croatians’ lives, their culture and memories for several generations.

"A recipient of the most prestigious festival and recording awards, Oliver was also the winner of the first Croatian music award, the Porin, which he received for his performance of Gibonni’s 'Cesarica.'

"Oliver Dragojevic has been closely tied to music since the early days of his childhood. He was born in Vela Luka and attended music school in Split. He started out learning the piano, followed by the clarinet and the guitar. Since the mid-60s he has been a singer and an organist with the Split-based group 'Batali' with which he achieved local renown. At the 1967 Split Music Festival, Zdenko Runjic entrusted him with interpreting his song 'Picaferaj.' By this time Oliver had already chosen music as his life’s calling and left Split to spend the next few years performing internationally in the style of his great role models Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder."

Read more about Oliver Dragojevic here.

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About Solisti di Zagreb (the Zagreb Soloists):
From their website: "The world-renown Zagreb Soloists chamber orchestra was formed in 1953 under the artistic guidance of famous violoncellist and conductor Antonio Janigro. The Zagreb Soloists have held more than 3000 perfomances on all 7 continents. They have amassed numerous prizes and awards from great world centers and prestigious concert halls. All members of the orchestra display the utmost passion and enthusiasm for chamber music."

More information can be found at the Solisti di Zagreb website.

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For additional information about the concert and to purchase tickets, please visit the event website.

Image sources: Oliver Dragojevic by Mario Lalich and Zagreb Soloists in the Klović Palace, 2002.

The footprint of little Ethel

Ethel was the youngest sister in a family of six children (only her baby brother Kas came after her). Chances are, she was mothered not only by her mother but also by her three older sisters. I can just imagine this cute little girl with her head of blond hair, dress handmade by her mother, wiggling as her mother painstakingly buttoned each button on her little leather baby bootie.

Thanks to the care of her sisters, Ethel's bronzed baby shoe, circa 1920, has survived and is part of my little family history museum. (Admission free to the public; the red carpet is rolled out in a special way for extended family in particular!)

In addition to Ethel's little bootie, I have in my collection two little hooks: tools that must have been helpful in securing the five little buttons on each bootie. Hopefully, the children never got a hold of these tools - they might be quite dangerous in the wrong hands!

Both kept with the bronze shoe for many years, one hook has no information on it, but the other indicates the store where it must have been purchased. Along the handle (pictured above on the right), it reads:

A. GREENFELD
203 AVE. A BET. 12th & 13th STS. N.Y.C.

Was this where my great-grandparents' did their shopping? I'm interested in looking further into the history of these items and New York City's A. Greenfeld just a few blocks from my family's home on E. 16th Street. After living in Manhattan since immigrating to America, they moved to Staten Island shortly after Ethel's birth.

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To have these little pieces of Ethel's childhood in my possession is a true treasure. A beloved member of her family, Ethel was lost to us in her twenties because of a fatal illness. She remains in the hearts of her siblings and hopefully her memory will continue, thanks to family stories, beautiful photographs, and this little shoe that gives us a glimpse into her babyhood in the 1920's.

Ethel Ujlaky with one of her big sisters
riding Buster the horse
Staten Island, 1921

This story has been submitted as part of the 55th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic is "Show and Tell!". Visit Jasia's Creative Gene for more stories about family heirlooms and other special items in family collections.