Image Update

Above, and updated version of the Sydney with Kodak image.  Just playing around one night with color and texture.

Sydney, The Creative Side

Above, a photo of Sydney, my father, taking a photo.  Word on the street is, this may have been taken by his girlfriend, one Ruby?  Not sure.  In any case, I think it is a fantastic image, and a treasure for the family that loves him.  Looks to me like he is holding a Kodak box camera, perhaps the Brownie Target Six-20.  He looks calm and focused, with great hair and a handsome suit.  Looks to be about twenty years of age.

I have been fortunate to find some of the photos he took over the years, and some of those have been amazing, especially photos of people, which is a rare skill.  He had a good eye for composition.  Perhaps I will post some of those images at a later time.  In addition, my father certainly had a flair for design and a strong mechanical aptitude.  He designed elegant furniture for our house when we were growing up.  I recall him painting a canvas once, and I thought he was quite good.  He was passionate about the repair of things.  I thought he could fix anything and he approached these projects with confidence.  He seemed to intuitively follow the adage, that once your material needs are met, it is time to create.

Old Money

Above, the front and back of a bill that my father, Sydney, brought back from his youthful travels, in this case, from China.  He spoke little about these adventures, but I did hear a little about his time in Shanghai back in 1939.  Especially, he recalled the Japanese troops marching in.  I had heard from Harry many years later, that my father was aboard one of the ships tasked with evacuating American citizens from China during the Japanese occupation, that is, prior to the United States entering World War II.

Looks to me like this bill was designed with both native and foreign users in mind.  What I call the front, appears entirely in Chinese, while the back has English text.

1930, The Facts

A detail from the 1930 US Census showing the Benjamin Bernstein family.  The entire family is listed.  Grandma's name is spelled "Fannie", and thinking that this is how her name was spelled for the census taker, going forward, I am staying with this spelling.  Of note, Abraham, er, Charlie, is working in collections in the furniture industry.  I recall Harry mentioning this to me some years back.  Not an easy job in 1930's America.  

Young Harry

Young Harry Bernstein, on the front edge of his nearly 95 year run.  The above photo is circa 1917. 

Perhaps I should call him, "Gershon", as I believe he was originally named.  Well, it could be that "Gershon" was his Hebrew name, as my Dad's Hebrew name was "Yisroel."  If there is more to the story, and if anyone has information on the when and why for of the transition from the name "Gershon" to "Harry", kindly comment and let us know! 

Pitcha, It Makes A Refreshing First Course

Pitcha, it's what for dinner, at least, that is what the Bernsteins regularly ate some eighty years ago.  By all accounts, they loved it.  I made it for my father, and used the above recipe as a starting point.  He preferred adding at least a dozen cloves of garlic, and more salt.  That is how he remembered it.  The last time I made it for him, I showed it to him, and all he said was, "get me a spoon."  It has to be good for your hair and fingernails.  If you make it, be prepared for a "hoofy" smell in the house, though it isn't as bad as you might expect.

What's Old Is New Again

Fanya Beder Bernstein, looking as young as I have seen her.  There appears to be a ring on her finger.  Perhaps she was newly married, circa 190?. 

1920, The Facts

A detail from the 1920 US Census showing the Benjamin Bernstein family.  Of note, Fannie's brother, Uncle Nathan, was living with them, just back from WWI, recuperating after being gassed.  Also, my father, Sydney, not shown.  He was born later in the year.

It Is Official

Attached is an official document from Ellis Island stating that Benjamin Bernstein and Fanny Beder Bernstein "came to the United States of America from ZinkoProsno and Kremechug, Russia."  Now I will have to confirm the dates of their arrivals.  This document sent to me from Cousin Robert. 

On The Streets Of... New York (?)

Above, Benjamin Bernstein and Fanya Beder Bernstein.  I can't be sure of the date of this image.  I thought I had heard that this was taken right after Sophie was born, circa 1915, but there is no way to verify.  This is another photo that I flipped horizontally based on the fact that it appears to be photographed by a street photographer, and, I double checked the usual way that their hair was parted to confirm the orientation.  It looks right to me.

Our Back Pages

By way of information on the above image, I recently wrote the following to family members:

"Hello, All!

I have attached a note that Uncle Harry had written down for me some years ago.  According to Harry, our true family name was "Bronfamacher", and, if I am not mistaken, this is the preferred English spelling.  I had previously heard that the name was "Bronfman", and as I recall, Harry referred to that as some kind of shortened version, also valid.  The family name means "Whiskey Maker", and I am thinking that perhaps that is how the family fortune was made, because by all accounts they were wealthy and educated, a rarity for Jews in Czarist Russia. 

As I recall, Harry indicated that his father, Benjamin, was from Zinkov.  This name may be a shortened version of some longer Russian name.  Harry had tried to locate family members in recent years.  I think that the town may have been destroyed in WWII.  There were no records to search, which I think is common in Russia.  I believe that Benjamin was one of four sons.  A younger brother, Max, had emigrated to the USA, and the other two brothers stayed in Russia.  Their mother moved to the USA, and my Dad recalled going to her apartment after school.  My father always referred to her as a "real tootsie", and lit up at the thought of her.  Benjamin was a big fan of classical music and Enrico Caruso in particular.

Harry indicated that Fanny was from Poltava, perhaps from a village called Primachug, near the Dnieper River.  He mentioned once that she was a cigarette girl there, and ate a halvah sandwich at work every day.  The thought of this made him weep.

Well, they are all gone.  All we can do is hold on to the memories, and perhaps pass along some information and stories.

I hope all is well.

Love to all.

Cousin Richard"

Man Cub

This photograph is of my father, Sydney Bartell (then Bernstein), as a young man off on his own, circa 1922/23, age two.  According to Uncle Harry, this was taken by a roving street photographer.  For that reason, I have reversed the image.  To my knowledge, street photographers at the time took reversed images which allowed them to process the image on the street in a matter of minutes.  My sense is that the photographer probably called my father over and had him pose for the shot.  Later, the image would be marketed to a family member.  The reversed image looks correct to me.

It was at this age that my father went missing one day.  Family and friends searched the building and neighborhood looking for him for some time.  He was later found wandering around a train yard, thank G-d!  This was the start of some serious wanderlust that caused him to enlist in the Merchant Marines, misrepresenting his age, being only seventeen, one year shy of the requirement.  He had "shipped out", as he called it.  He signed, immediately boarded the ship as was the protocol, and wrote my grandmother a letter from Panama.  He was off to see the "watery parts of the world", as written in "Moby Dick".  He had reinvented himself.  He was wild and free.  As a poker prodigy, he had plenty of money to spend.  My father was off to explore Asia, South America, and G-d knows where else.  He shared little of these adventures.  I do know that he returned periodically with exotic gifts for my grandmother, and regularly sent money home, a lot of money.

Expect to see this photograph again, with another story to tell.

Welcome Friends and Family

Welcome, friends and family, to "Bronfamacher", a new blog, a journey into our family's history and experience.  The image posted above is of my paternal grandfather, Benjamin Bernstein.  Upon arriving to the United States of America from Russia, he was compelled to drop the family name Bronfamacher, and from then on become Bernstein.  As for the reasoning, we can only guess.  Was the name too long, too complicated, too difficult to pronounce?  It seems a shame to have lost the family name.  This name makes us whole.  This name means "Whiskey Maker."  This name, Bronfamacher, is the key to our past.   

I look forward to a sharing of information, stories and images with you.  I am glad that you stopped by.