NOT A PENNY IN THE HOUSE 1917, Dora Shooster - Frank wanted a new overcoat to go to the assembly for Woodrow Wilson. I asked him how he is going to get a new overcoat because we didn’t have money. He told me that he has a roll of goods that he is going to pawn. The jacket cost $12. I came home, and Tanta Mary is there with all her children and my son, Izzy, and there isn’t a penny in the house, and nobody had Frigidaires. We would have a little hole in the ground in the basement, and when we wanted to keep something cold, we would put it there. Tanta Mary, ‘What are we going to cook?’ I went over to the shelf, and I found a half- pound of lima beans. We cooked the lima beans, and we bought a bread. That was our supper for the four children of Tanta Mary and us. We wanted to see if we could make a living there. In the meantime, it is another month, and we haven’t got any money to pay the rent. So, I go to my cousin’s. I walked from Third and Cambria all the way down to Goldie’s to ask them if they could lend me $20, and then perhaps the landlord could wait another month. Nobody would lend me $20 because they thought that I don’t have a G-d! That my G-d is already dead. [sic] Frank had something wrong with his head, terrible pains. He couldn’t take it. Frank use to tear himself apart. My cousin didn’t even ask me if I have 10 cents to go home by trolley car, which was a nickel at that time. When I got home, I said, ‘Frank, let’s put out a sign.’ The house was a corner house. When you walked from the Philadelphia train station, you had to go by my corner; Furnished Room for Rent. We buy a sign, and sure enough, a couple rings the bell. I showed them the room; It was $10 a month, all furnished. I made it beautiful. He said alright, he’ll take it. I felt that if the agent came for rent, I already had $10. It takes about an hour, and Frank sees that the couple goes down with their suitcase. I was so naive.
President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
Frank told me, You don’t have a tenant anymore. He knew it, but I didn’t understand. Where was I wrong? I said, I gave them clean towels and made a lease with them. Frank, ‘They needed it for an hour, so...’ At that time, it was the First World War. We lived next door to the National Biscuit Company. I went in with the two little chil- dren and told them, ‘I just moved in. If you had anything to clean, press, or needs alter- ation bring it in, and I’ll be glad to do it, what- ever I make. I’ll be glad to do it.’ He told me that they would accommodate me. Then he goes out to the factory and brings out cookies for the two children. It was 25 cents to press a suit in those days. From all that hardship that I went through, and it was good, bad, and worse, I saved. If I saved a quarter or a dollar, I saved $200. I thought ‘What would I do if something happened to Frank? I have nobody to turn to. Nobody has any pity for me. I must save.’ Herman Shooster - Mother was exceed- ingly careful with money. From their meager earnings, she managed to scrape together $600 in savings. She told no one about this money, not even her husband. My father truly was a very talented tailor, so they managed to get by. But as the days went by, he had a nagging yearning to be in his own business. The savings my mother collected made it possible.
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