During 1940 the war was progressing in Europe. Many Americans still wanted nothing to do with a war. President Roosevelt had promised to keep the US out of WWII but was trying to help the British whatever way he could. I always wished I had asked my mother or Hannie if they had followed events in Europe - had they realized what was going on? Did they see how Hitler was trampling country after country? Did they know about the persecution of the Jews? Were they reading the newspapers? Were there newsreels at the movies? What did they and their friends know?
I used the website - https://www.historic-newspapers.com/blog/1940-timeline/ - as a review of some of the 1940 events.
In January 1940 Britain started rationing for the first time because of a national food shortage during WWII. Every British citizen including children were given a ration book with coupons and had to register with particular shops. Butter, bacon, and sugar were the first items to be rationed - all ingredients in an Irish/English breakfast!
In January 1940 Nazis established a Jewish ghetto in Lodz, Poland after they performed mass executions of Jews in another area of Poland.
In February 1940 Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American woman to win an Oscar for her role in Gone with the Wind. Gone with the Wind also won 7 more Academy Awards.
In March 1940 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini joined Hitler in Germany’s war against Britain and France.
In April 1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. After a six hour battle, Denmark surrendered.
PBS recently screened a series that I watched on the Norwegian royal family fleeing Norway during WWII.
On April 13, 1940 Thomas Fallon visited Ma to obtain information to complete the US Census. The X beside Ma's name indicates that she provided the information, Ma was paying $30/month rent for the upstairs apartment at 6 Green Street. She was 45 years old - for some reason it is difficult to think of a young Ma - other than as a teenager - she always looked and seemed old. She reported that she only completed the 3rd grade - I suppose that is because she had to help with the farm work - remember her only brother Jim Moriarty went to live in Inch with their uncle after Myles Moriarty died. Ma was born in Eire, and she was a naturalized citizen. The family lived in the same house 5 years ago. She stated that she did not work, and, interestingly, she said that she received no other income. I wonder what happened with the Mothers' Aid? Or did she not have to report that?
Jim Keohane was 20 years old and had completed high school. He was working as a foreman at a metal factory making $720/year. I wonder where that factory was located?
My mother, Ellen, was 18 years old - she had also completed high school. She was listed as a new worker in search of a job - she had been unemployed for 24 weeks up to March 30, 1940 - she had no income.
Anna/Hannie was 16 years old and had completed the 2nd year of high school. Margaret/Peggy was 14 and had completed 8th grade. Both Hannie and Peggy were attending school. How odd! Peggy was also listed as a new worker, but was not listed as having a job or looking for work!! Page 2 listed Rita as 10 years old. She was attending school and had completed 4th grade.
Downstairs at 4 Green Street Dennis/Bunny Callahan is paying $25/month rent. He is 38 years old and is a chauffeur for the Town Highway Department. He made $1400/year in salary. He and his 32 year old wife Mary have one daughter, Mary Ellen, who is a year old. Bunny and Mary lived in Watertown 5 years ago.
The names of the neighbors on Green Street, Chestnut Street, and Green Street Terrace sound so familiar to me - a lot of the families were still there in the 50s when I was growing up. Bunny Callahan had moved up Green Street a couple of doors. One day Bunny actually drove me and my mother in his town truck to Dr Baron's up Main St. on the Watertown/Waltham line - I had tried to stop the back door from slamming and my hand went right through the glass - I ended up with stitches in my right wrist. Maybe we can take a look at these neighbors later.
I found a listing for Jim Keohane in the 1939 Watertown Street Directory on the Watertown Public Library website. He was working for Abbott Products Company - he r(ooms) at 6 Green Street. Interesting that Ma was not listed. The next directory was 1942, and Jim was still working at Abbott.
I couldn't find any information on Abbott Products in Watertown - there is an Abbotts Products in Weymouth which was started in 1969 - and of course there is Abbot Labs in Chicago. So I scrolled through the 1939 Watertown Street Directory and found a listing under manufacturers for Abbott Products Co. (aquariums) at 36 Pleasant Street. In the same directory there was an Arthur S. Abbott working in sales but no company was listed - he was living at 105 Palfrey Street in Watertown - I have no idea if he had anything to do with the Abbott Products Company.
The red icon in the lower middle shows where 36 Pleasant Street was located - it was a short distance for Jim to walk from Green Street which is just above Saint Patrick's Church on upper left.
It appears that 36 Pleasant Street was located where the Watertown Savings Bank parking lot is now located.
Did I mention before that Edwin Land, who invented the Polaroid Land Camera, had asked Jim to come to work for him at Polaroid Corporation that Land had founded in Cambridge in 1937? Jim declined the offer because of the cost of the fare to take the bus from Watertown to Cambridge - Jim turned over his paycheck to Ma. What a wasted opportunity because of the cost of the trolley! But it shows how strongly Jim felt the responsibility for Ma and his sisters.
I worked for Mrs. Helen Land at her home on Brattle Street after her husband Edwin died - I used to do private duty 11-7 part time. Mrs Land had dementia and had help around the clock. She lived in a big beautiful house. The money I earned helped pay for Danno to live on campus at Boston College - he had a scholarship for the tuition.
April 27, 1940 Heinrich Himmler, Leader of the SS, ordered the establishment of Auschwitz Concentration Camp - the largest of the Nazi concentration camps - it was located in Poland. Over 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz - mostly Jews and most in the gas chambers and crematoriums as part of the Nazi's Final Solution to the Jewish Question.
My mother attended the Fifth Anniversary Fidelis Club Breakfast on Sunday, April 28, 1940. It was probably held in the school hall. It was a group organized by Helene Maxwell Dardis - my mother kept in touch with her until the early 1990s after Helene moved to Arizona.
In May 1940 John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer prize for The Grapes of Wrath - a novel advocating social change by showing the unfair working conditions migrants face when they reach California.
Also in May 1940 the British Local Defence Volunteers formed. It would later be renamed the Home Guard. It was Britain's last line of defense against German invasion. The website - https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-dads-army - reports "the Home Guard was at first a rag-tag militia, with scarce and often make-do uniforms and weaponry. Yet it evolved into a well-equipped and well-trained army of 1.7 million men. Men of the Home Guard were not only readied for invasion, but also performed other roles including bomb disposal and manning anti-aircraft and coastal artillery. Over the course of the war, 1206 men of the Home Guard were killed on duty or died of wounds."
On May 10, 1940 Nazi armies attack the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Meanwhile in Britain Winston Churchill becomes the British Prime Minister, succeeding Neville Chamberlain.
On May 13, 1940 in his first speech to the House of Commons as Prime Minister, Winston Churchill said “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
On May 15, 1940 Nazi troops occupy Amsterdam and General Winkelman surrendered - while in the United States Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
On May 17, 1940 Germany occupied Brussels and began the invasion of France. I can't get over the speed of the Germans.
On May 19, 1940 St. Patrick's Church in Watertown held a May Procession and Crowning of the Blessed Mother. According to the website - https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-are-the-origins-of-the-may-crowning/ - "the origins of the May crowning are hard to pinpoint, although devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary originated in the earliest days of the church ... toward the end of the 18th century, Father Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus (in Rome) instituted the practice of dedicating this month (May) to our Blessed Mother ... From Rome, the May devotion spread throughout the Jesuit colleges, and eventually throughout the whole church."
The website - https://www.orlandocatholicschools.org/blog/celebrating-may-crowning - tells us that in early Greece, ancient Greeks dedicated May to Artemis, goddess of fertility ... In medieval times, winter ended at the start of May because it was considered a time of new growth and beginnings, During this time the 30 day devotions to Mary began - special devotions to the Mother of God began in May. It spread from Italy all around the world.
When I was at St Pat's Grammar School, we would have a May procession around the school property - Statues from the homerooms were set up in the parking lot - a girl from each class crowned the Blessed Mother for her class. I think I crowned Mary in the 4th or 5th grade - to me it was a special honor. I used to go to the morning Mass before school during the months of May and October in honor of Mary. I had great faith when I was young. I didn't appreciate it then - I wish I had it now.
These ladies were my mother's best friends - they all graduated with my mother in 1939.
Below is Virginia's yearbook picture on the right - it says: Virginia Robbins - 185 Palfrey Street - she attended West Junior High School - she was in the General Course. Virginia joined the Junior Chamber of Commerce in her 3rd, 2nd, and 1st years - Basketball 3, 2, 1 - Field Hockey 3, 2, 1 - Class Play Property Committee 1 - Class Play Candy Committee 1 - Parent Teachers' Night Usher 3, 2, 1. She enjoyed sports, and her nickname was "Gin." "Choose what you are, no other state prefer."
I looked Virginia's family up on www.ancestry.com. The 1930 US Census of Watertown showed the Robbins family were paying $30/month rent for an apartment at 30 Gertrude Street. They had a radio. 32 year old Benjamin Robbins was the head of the family - he was married when he was 19 years old - he and his parents were born in Massachusetts - he was a painter and worked in interior decorating. His 32 year old wife Adaline was also 19 when she first married - she was born in Massachusetts - her parents were born in Portugal. Their son Francis was 12 and was attending school. Virginia was 9 and also attended school. Gloria was 6 but did not attend school.
By 1933 the Robbins family had moved to 9 Elmwood Street. Benjamin was working for W F D - that was the Watertown Fire Department.
The red icon shows 9 Elmwood St which is just down off Waverley Ave from Gertrude St where the Robbins were living in 1930. Gertrude St is just before the icon for Pizza Roma.
9 Elmwood Street is the door on the right of this two family house.
By 1937 the Robbins family had again moved but only a few blocks away - to 185 Palfrey Street.
Below is the block where Hackett Brothers Market was located. The arched doorway on the left is #23 so 21 Main Street is where the All Dental Center is now located. Is this the Otis Building where Otis shoe store was located? Dr Dinjian, our dentist when we were kids, also had an office in this building - I still have nightmares about him. But his "nurse" or hygienist got me a babysitting job for her niece who lived on Church Street near us - Margy McClellan - I absolutely loved that child and was heart broken when her family moved to Arlington! Her father Alan McClellan went to work for the town of Arlington.
Let's get back to the rest of there world. The website - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/germans-break-through-to-english-channel-at-abbeville-france - reports that on May 20, 1940, the German army in northern France reached the English Channel and pushed the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and French forces back to the French port of Dunkirk. In reaching Abbeville, German armored columns, led by General Heinz Guderian (a tank expert), severed all communication between the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the north and the main French army in the south. He also cut off the Force from its supplies in the west. The Germans now faced the sea, England in sight.
Winston Churchill was prepared - having already made plans for the withdrawal of the BEF (the BEF was a home-based army force that went to northern France at the start of both World Wars in order to support the French armies) and having called on the British Admiralty to prepare “a large number of vessels” to cross over to France if necessary - Operation Dynamo.
According to website - https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-dunkirk-evacuations - Operation Dynamo began on May 26, 1940. Strong defenses were established around Dunkirk, and the Royal Air Force sent all available aircraft to protect the evacuation. Over 800 naval vessels of all shapes and sizes helped to transport troops across the English Channel. The last British troops were evacuated on June 3, 1940 with French forces covering their escape.
The gently shelving beaches meant that large warships could only pick up soldiers from the town's East Mole, a sea wall which extended into deep water, or send their boats on the beaches to collect them. To speed up the process, the British Admiralty appealed to the owners of small boats for help. These became known as the "little ships."
Churchill and his advisors had expected that it would be possible to rescue only 20,000 to 30,000 men but in all 338,000 troops were rescued from Dunkirk, a third of them French. Ninety thousand remained to be taken prison and the British Expeditionary Force left behind the bulk of its tanks and heavy guns. All resistance in Dunkirk ended at 9:30 am on June 4.
The Dunkirk evacuation was an important event for the Allies. If the BEF had been captured, it would have meant the loss of Britain's only trained troops and the collapse of the Allied cause. The successful evacuation was a great boost to civilian morale, and created the "Dunkirk spirit" which helped Britain to fight on in the summer of 1940.
With German tanks at the Chanel, Churchill prepared for a possible invasion of England itself, approving a plan to put into place gun posts and barbed wire roadblocks to protect government offices in Whitehall as well as the prime minister's dwelling, 10 Downing Street. My sisters, Patty and Joanne, and I visited Churchill's bunker/War Rooms in Whitehall where he and other leaders plotted and followed the events of WWII. Everything was as it was left at the end of the war. It was fascinating to walk through it.
I loved the film Mrs. Miniver which was the top box office attraction in 1942. It was about a British family living outside of London on the river Thames and how WWII affected them and their community. The husband - played by Walter Pigeon - took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk.
On May 30, 1940 my mother went to Benson Wild Animal Farm with one of her best friends - Madeline Vaughan. She graduated with my mother - below right is her 1939 yearbook picture. She was living at 14 Edenfield Avenue - she had gone to the West Junior - she was in the Commercial Course and planned to be a secretary. She belonged to the Home economics Club 2, 1 - She played field hockey 3, 2, 1 and Basketball 3, 2. She was interested in sports - her nickname was "Madge." "Life, if you know how to use it, is long enough."
I see the Ambrose family are living at 56 Westminster Avenue - I think this is my brother-in-law Richie Schiavoni's family - Lucy Ambrose was his grandmother.
The 1939 Watertown Street Directory shows the Vaughans living at 14 Edenfield Avenue - Frank is a swimming instructor at Harvard University. Herbert is a secretary at Beaudette & Co - he rooms at 14 Edenfield Ave.
The Vaughans had moved into 14 Edenfield Ave which is just up Main Street.
Another two family with #12 Edenfield on the left and #14 on the right.
The 1940 US Census shows the Vaughans still at 14 Edenfield Avenue. Frank is now 40 years old and is still a swimming coach at Harvard College. Eva is also 40. Herbert is now 21 years old - he finished high school and is working as a typist at an office supply company. Madeline, 18, is listed as a new worker searching for a job. Arline is 5 and is in school. Raymond is not listed so perhaps that was him in the death index for 1935.
I found a WWII draft registration card for Madeline's brother - Herbert Francis Vaughan. His address at 14 Edenfield Ave in Watertown is crossed out and replace by 9 Patten St. He has a telephone - Mid(dlesex) 1615M. He is 21 years old - he was born in Watertown on 1-3-1919. The person who will always know his address is Mrs. Eva Madeline Vaughan - his mother - at 14 Edenfield Avenue in Watertown. His employer is Beaudette & Co at 99 Spring Street, Watertown. Herbert signs the form.
Page 2 of Herbert's draft registration reports that he is white, 5'4" and 140 lbs. He has blue eyes and blonde hair with a light complexion. HE wears glasses all the time. The registration is dated 10-16-40 at the local board #155 - Grant School Building - Whites Ave, Watertown.
9 Patten Street is the red icon at the bottom right where Herbert Vaughan had moved - you can see Edenfield Ave up Main Street just below the Watertown Middle School.
This seems to be a single family home. We saw Jimmy McCarthy living at the other end of Patten Street back when we were talking about the Keohanes.
Page 2 of the draft registration reports that Herbert is white, 5'4" tall, 140 lbs with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a light complexion. It makes note that he wears glasses all the time. Grace H Ford is the Registrar for 9 Watertown, Middlesex, Mass. Date of registration is 10-16-40. Local Board #155, Grant School, Whites Ave,, Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
99 Spring Street where Herbert worked is the red icon at the bottom right below Watertown High School.
It was interesting when I went on the Watertown Free Public Library website to look up Beaudette & Co. I grew up on Marshall St which is only a block or so up from where 99 Spring St must have been. I seem to remember some old brick buildings there. The red icon seems to indicate a long rectangular building back from Spring St not far from the intersection of Spring St and Palfrey St. My house on Marshall St was up a block from Palfrey St and then left - we lived in the 3rd house on the upper side of the street - the Grimes were in the corner, the Greens were next and then our house.
I just want to include the screen shot from the 1939 Watertown Street Directory which shows all the businesses located at #99. There are 8 of them with one vacancy. The building includes a fuse company, 2 laundries, 1 manufacturing company, 1 furniture reproduction company, 1 upholsterer, and 1 wall paper company. So the rectangular building in the aerial view would be large enough to house all these companies. But nothing tells us what kind of company Beaudette is.
The 1942 Newton Street Directory has a listing for Madeline E. Vaughan, a packer for Raytheon, rooming at 14 Edenfield Ave.
"The building was originally built as a button factory and then was used for manufacturing. It was inhabited by Metz Company from 1908 to 1922. Metz was originally a bicycle and then eventually a car manufacturer.
In 1941 the buildings were purchased by Raytheon and housed both their corporate headquarters and extensive manufacturing space for magnetron tubes, missiles, radar and more. Raytheon retained ownership of the buildings until 1999 when they were purchased by a team of investment companies."
Page 2 reports that Frank is white, 5' 91/2", 198 lbs with blue eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion. He has a tattoo on his right arm. William Sweeney, Jr was the Register for local district 155, Watertown. Frank registered on Feb. 15, 1942 at the same local board as his son Herbert had in 1940.
The map below shows Quincy Street in Cambridge - again the red icon. No athletic center came up when I was researching it.
Below is an aerial view of the Quincy St, Cambridge area where the Athletic Club was located.
Back to May 30, 1940 - below is the label from my mother's scrap book that has since fallen apart. She went to Benson's Animal Farm with her friend Madeline Vaughn's family.
In the late 1870s John T Benson ran away from his home in Yorkshire, England to join a circus. He became an animal trainer. He immigrated to the United States and helped start the Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester. By the 1920s he had bought a 200 acre farm in Hudson, NH near a Boston & Maine Railroad station. He started off buying wild animals and training them for zoos and circuses. Eventually he decided it might be more profitable to run a zoo himself.
The website - https://forgottennewengland.com/2020/11/08/bensons-wild-animal-farm-the-strangest-farm-on-earth/ - reports: "Visitors to Benson’s frequently saw elephants–both the concrete and flesh-and-blood types–at the park. Early in Benson’s history, John Benson’s real-life pet elephant Betsy emerged as one of the park’s earliest stars. Betsy was best remembered for her baths in the park’s pond and for giving rides to park visitors in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Betsy survived John Benson by 28 years, dying in 1971. She’s said to be buried somewhere on the park’s grounds."
I wonder if this is Betsy the elephant in the picture above? That must be Madeline's sister Arline sitting beside Madeline and then my mother - someone else is in the back but I don't know who it Is.
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