DWF Seeking Short Jewish Fat Messy Retired Man

Now that the index is starting to take shape it is a lot easier to locate individual cards. Even though I wasn't sure if it existed, the card I was most hoping to find was the one for my grand-mother. And sure enough, she did make herself a card. If you didn't know her, I am sure you are getting the sense from my examination of the index, that she was a complete character. I will share a little bit about her history later in this post but of specific note to this card is the fact that she divorced my grandfather at a time when divorce seemed more scandalous, and that after the divorce and up until the end of her life she dated a lot. If she was a "Golden Girl" she would have definitely been Blanche. Every time we visited with her throughout my life it seemed as if she had a different boyfriend. All of this information makes the card she created for herself so perfect.



As you can see cut and pasted to the top of the card is a personal ad for herself. Now I am not sure if this was an actual personal ad, a joke, or something in between but I think it is fantastic. I can't help to smile at the words "warm affectionate lively creampuff."

The other information contained in the ad is pretty illuminating. I think it is clear from the index that my grand-mother was intelligent and educated, and these seemed to be characteristics she viewed as central to her identity. The other word I find interesting is "Jewish." This will be something I continue to explore through the index and hopefully through family interviews but I always got the feeling that Jewish to her was much more a cultural indicator than a religious one. I don't think that she went to Temple, though I could be wrong. When I was a child I attended Jewish school and went to Temple regularly, but ultimately decided organized religion wasn't for me. I didn't mind the rituals, foods, and holidays, which makes me, like my grand-mother more of a cultural jew than a religious one. There will be a little more about my grand-mother and her Jewish history a little later in the post.

The other two pieces of information on the card I also find interesting. She has recorded her cholesterol levels for 1990 and 1991. Both levels are dangerously high but at least she managed to drop 20 points over the year. She also included the obituary for a different Ethel Snyder that passed away in 1989.

Once again this is a folding card. However, there is only one document found inside. A relatively small (almost business card sized) piece of paper she cut out from a Nassau Inn (in Princeton) brochure. Here is the side which she scribbled on.



The only names I know of on the card are Ethel's and Masse's. Masse was Ethel's brother who currently lives in California. If anyone has any information on the other names I would appreciate the help.

And that's it for her card. While I love the personal ad, personally I feel that there should be so much more information included.

Last year, my cousin Erica sat down with our grand-mother and had her hand-write a short history. Erica transcribed the document and shared it on geni. I am reproducing it here:

Family

As told to me as I remember. These facts could be wrong, memory is often unreliable.

My father (Harry Bloomfield) Hershel Belaroos came from Russia with his mother Freda. (She was a widow) & 6 other brothers. All his sisters died young. They came to N.Y. Harry was approx age 17.
Freda was told that a bunch of Polish workers were coming to Franklin, N.H. & a grocery catering to them would be profitable. She started a grocery in Franklin. The Poles did not come. Harry worked in the store & got excused from army service in WWI to help his mother.

Brothers: Aaron ran a drugstore – soda fountain in Windsor, Vt
Willie – after marriage ran a stationery store in Dallas, Tex.
Max – lived in Windsor, Vt
Harry –
Ben – engineer in Springfield, Vt
Joe – school principal in Cranston, R.I. summer camp director
Barney – childhood accident left him retarded. Worked for his father-in-law as a rag sorter. He inherted when his father-in-law died.

My mother (Ida Steinberg) Chaika Zatsepitsky came from Grodno, Russia-Poland. Her father’s 1st wife gave him 8 children before she died. His second wife was a divorcee. Charles thought she was barren & a good stepmother for his kids. She gave him 8 more, my mother, Ida, the oldest. When Ida was 15 her parents said they could no longer afford her & told her to go to your half sister in N.Y., which she did. It colored her life. All the family that remained in Poland were wiped out in the holocaust. Charles was in a synagogue when the Nazi’s told him to leave. He said he wasn’t finished & was shot. My grandmother was hiding in a basement [and] started to scream she couldn’t stand it any more & was strangled to keep her quiet. One sister & 2 nieces survived & came to U.S. Survived because they were women, & abused.
Ida’s cousin Minnie knew Willie Bloomfield & asked Ida to accompany her to N.H. for a visit. They both went. Minnie married Willie & moved to Texas.
A while later Freda said to Harry “that Ida was a nice girl, & she will make a nice wife.” Harry agreed, proposed by mail & Ida accepted. No romance, no courtship. They lived in Franklin, N.H. Then they started a grocery in Laconia, N.H. on Water St. & lived upstairs. During WW2 the store was sold twice & demolished.
1st child – Ethel. Born in Phila 1921 because Ida wanted to be near her family & soon returned to N.H.
Masse born in Franklin
Theresa & Sally born in Laconia
Enos died 9 mo due to loss of blood at circumcision

Bought Lakewood Cottages for $1,000, a 16 acre empty lot between Rt 3 & Lake Winnisquam. Started with 2 cabins – cheated out of a summer’s rent. Built a few each year. Rt 3 was re-engineered & a new entrance was created, giving Harry $1,000.
Bought 3 cabins from Swedish Villager. Ida ran it, Harry came 5 miles from Laconia every evening. It was sold contingent that they would get paid when lots & cabins were sold. It worked out as agreed.

Ethel married Arthur Snyder who was born in Brooklyn, moved to Vermont. His father Morris had a shoe store, was wiped out in a fire. Went to work for Mr. Ginsberg’s shoe store in Rutland, Vt. Arthur worked for him as truck driver, even with his bad eyes. No eye tests in those days. Arthur carried a vision of Mr. Ginsberg as feet on a desk in a big cigar getting rich on other people’s work. It was a dream for Arthur, never attained. He tried photography, billiards, Greystone Inn – all failed.
He was bi-polar & after his 3rd meltdown the marriage collapsed. He went to live with Fred, then Aunt Evelyn, then a home.
Ethel worked at various jobs, moved many times, had many boyfriends and found steady work at the Inquirer – Daily News from which she retired. She started as a research analyst, & through job changes downward became a clerk at lungher?? Salary
After retirement Ethel spent several years as a volunteer at the Camden Co. Historical Society.



Thanks so much to Erica for having the foresight to have our grand-mother do this! The history is incomplete but the parts highlighted are so interesting. Obviously the Nazi Holocaust story is completely disturbing. The mental health issues of my grand-father were well known to the family and I witnessed them first hand during my childhood as he lived with us for a good period of time. The allusion to his driving and his poor eyesight also makes me slightly chuckle. He was legally blind and had a seeing eye dog. The seeing eye dog actually bit my nose and somewhere there is a great picture of me as a kid on a couch with my nose taped up like Jack Nicholson's in Chinatown and my grandfather is laughing as his dog is snapping at my face. And even though he was legally blind I remember he had a moped that he would ride around on.