knew how hard I worked for it and knew I was an orphan girl, and he didn’t want that kind of money. I told him, ‘I need the $200 now, and the $400 when I get married.’ So, I took the $200 and gave it to Frank, and he took out the ring. Years later I gave the ring to Ida, my daughter- in-law, but it was stolen from her home. When I got married to Joe, my second husband, and he gave me a ring, I didn’t care too much for diamonds anymore, so he spent only $85 for the setting. [$85 in 1914 equals $2,214 in 2021] I gave this to Ida, too. Harry, Ida’s husband, my son, couldn’t afford to have a ring when she first got married. Meanwhile, my brother, Boruch, told me, ‘I want to dance at your wedding. So you have to make a wedding.’ I told him that I needed the money for furniture. My lady friend, his wife, Dora, said that they would get with some other ladies togeth- er and they would cook ducks and chickens. In those days everything was cheap. We will make you a wedding. I rented a beautiful gown for $5 [$130 in 2021] on 5th and Fitzwater Streets, and Frank rented a tuxedo. We also got a few musicians. Tanta Mary came with the four children, and I saw to it that all the children should be dressed. They were all little. We got married on a Sunday night. In the meantime, I went to 5th and Passyunk Avenue, and I bought furniture. She was a lantzman of my father’s, and she gave me wholesale. She gave me a beautiful brass bed, two bureaus, and a beautiful dining room set, too. In those days, everything was linoleum. They didn’t use carpets then, but they carpet- ed the steps with brass finishes. I even called a paperhanger in to paper the little room in the store. I always liked things to look nice, and I made it beautiful. I couldn’t afford a honey- moon because I just bought furniture with all the money. Frank’s sister, Mary, lived with us. She had a bedroom upstairs. She lived there about a year, and then she moved out. I was planning my first baby, Izzy, at the time. Tanta Mary’s little boy, Harry, was fresh [rude to Dora]. It didn’t work out; he didn’t respect me enough.
We went to Boruch’s house for the honey- moon, in Chester. Boruch’s wife didn’t even have enough courtesy to give me a bed or a couch. It was at 3rd and Hay Street. She put a blanket on the floor, and we slept on the floor. This was the honeymoon. We stayed there a few days because I didn’t want people to know what kind of honeymoon I had, so I purposely stayed there a few days before we came back.” Ida Shooster - “Dora was always saving money. These small funds were known as a knipple. To save she had to hide the money. At one point she hid it next to the motor under the refrigerator. That wasn’t a good idea. The paper caught fire, and she lost her knipple of $250.”
Three Candles Oil on Canvas 1939 Marc Chaghall
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