The Ruffs go to Florida

Nov 2, 2019 | Tin Horn

As half the Catskills prepares to load up the car to head to the Sunshine State for the winter, it’s fun to look back half a century or more to see what that trip used to cost. A penciled accounting of the pennies spent on the round trip from New Kingston to Orlando was found in a diary believed kept by Florence Cowan Ruff (wife of Howard, mother of Francis and Floyd, the family that ran Ruff Farms for several decades). The diary was written in the early 1940s; it’s unclear when the trip took place, because it would have been difficult if not impossible to do it during the gas rationing war years.

It took three days to travel 1,237 miles to Orlando. The first day they spent $5.20 on gas, $1.08 on the ferry at New Castle, DE, $3.25 for supper (for two), and $4 to rent a cabin on the outskirts of Baltimore. “Froze stiff,” was the terse comment next to that entry.

Sunday’s expenses included $2 for breakfast, 32 cents for cigarettes, $1 for four quarts of oil, three stops for gas at $1.06, $1.14 and $2.83, and $5 for lodging at Rockingham, NC.

On Monday, they had breakfast at the Greyhound stop for $2.30 and “a good fish supper” at Darien, GA for $4.

By the time they got to Florida, the car had consumed 69 gallons of gas, costing an average of 23 cents a gallon. A telephone call made in Savannah ($1.50) actually cost more than the gas they purchased “somewhere in North Florida” ($1.05).

The trip down cost a total of $48.89 and the return trip set them back $45.56. Total: $95.55.

“Reached home Dec.4th, 6 a.m. Amen.”
Thanks to Dave Burrows for donating the diary to HSM.

Fleischmanns businesses, c. 1950

Oct 2, 2019 | Tin Horn

Marilyn Mayes Kaltenborn spoke recently at a Fleischmans history program at Skene Memorial Library. She is the author of “An Unconventional Childood,” a memoir about growing up in Fleischmanns in the 1950s and ’60s, the daughter of Murray and Bertha Mayes. She was also the featured speaker at HSM’s Annual Meeting and Luncheon Oct. 26, 2019.

With help from Richard Pultz and Ian Cohen, Marilyn came up with this list of businesses that existed in Fleischmanns during the 1950s. How many do YOU remember? Add your comments and memories . . .

Businesses in Fleischmanns During the 1950s

By Marilyn Mayes Kaltenborn
with help from Richard Pultz and Ian Cohen
(October 2013)

OPEN YEAR-AROUND:

2 toy/candy stores each with a lunch counter (Gale’s – Max and Shirley Geller, Muller’s – Charles and Luella Muller),
liquor store (Sid Silberstein),
small department store (Glen Haderup),
2 grocery stores (David Solomon and Sam Lipton and at some point
there was an A&P),
2-3 bars (Cat’s Meow, Monahan’s),
doctor (Abraham Rottkov and Elwin Champlin in very early 1950s),
dentist (William Cohen)
attorney (Gleason Speenburg),
2 drug stores (Phillip Miller and Kaplan’s) ,
hardware store (Paul Shaver) ,
bank,
post office,
barber shop (Anthony Cerami)
plumbing store (Louis Halpern & Sigmund Halpern),
restaurant (Anthony Cerami),
Kosher butcher (Meyer Dlasnow),
lumber yard (Wadler’s: Herman, Bernard & Arthur Wadler),
concrete and paving company (Sam & Morris Slavin)
paint store (Izzy Sliverman) ,
insurance agency (Flisser-DeGrof),
4 motels (Meinstein’s Lodge – Julius and Lori Gross, Valkarian Motel – Milton & June Valk, Delaware Court Motel – James & Geraldine Cantwell, and DePitt’s Motel. The Northland was built in the late 1950s – George Smith
Laundromat (Sollie Darling),
4 garages/gas stations (Meyers’ – Ralph Meyers, Todd’s – Otis & Robert Todd, Lerner’s – Sonny Lerner, and Darling’s – Sollie Darling),
car dealership (Ford dealership – Todd’s

Fleischmanns Park House, operated by Edelsteins

SUMMER ONLY
(because thousands of tourists came to the area):

a candy store (Milt Hersch),
candy store with some clothing (Jack’s was the name of the store, not sure who operated it)
2-3 more grocery stores (Klein’s, Progressive Market, Canned goods and pickles – Nat Israel),
fish market (Charles Barrett),
hair dresser (Diane Mathes),
2 taxi services,
antiquities store (Robert Lustig – opened in late 1950s – had items from ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece),
department store (Schwartz),
theater opened (name was Onteora Theater),
2 -3 restaurants (Bel-Air, Elsie’s on the Green, Sugar Bowl (a teenage hangout)),
lake opened,
many hotels (some very large, e.g., The Takanassee Hotel’s pool was so large it had a raft and The Grand Hotel had its own golf course), rooming houses and bungalows opened.

There was passenger train service to Fleischmanns until the mid-1950s.

Stranded in Greenland

Feb 3, 2019 | Tin Horn

So you think it’s cold in the Catskills? Consider the case of Louis A. Lane, who was stranded on a 7,800-foot ice cap in Greenland 70 years ago and lived to tell the tale.

Louis Arlington Lane was the son of Louis R. and Mary Quick Lane who lived in Arena and ran a general store there. The Lanes came from Willow, Ulster County in the early 1940s, first setting up shop in the Dickson/Post Office building at the corner of Main and Church Streets, and later moving to the Rickert building. Len Utter remembers you could buy everything from meat to milk, overalls to shoes at Lane’s store.

Louis A., born in 1918, was the oldest of six children. His siblings were Arthur, Virginia, Dottie, Gene and Duane, who was born in 1944 (“The doctor thought my grandmother had a tumor, but it was my uncle Duane,” said Mary Ellen Lane Lawrence.) When Louis’ family moved to Arena, he was married to Ruth Dorn, and about to embark on a military path. He spent a couple of years in Alabama and Texas during the war, returning to Arena in 1945. Then, as an Army Air Corps reservist, Louis went back into service., taking his family along to Greenland where he was stationed in 1947.

In December of 1948, the community was shocked to learn that 2nd Lt. Louis A. Lane was among 11 soldiers stranded on an icy outcropping on the frozen continent. Seven of the men had been there since Dec. 8 when their C-47 crash landed. Two others, including Lane, tried to rescue them but crashed in their B-17 on Dec. 13. Two more in a glider attempting a rescue mission then joined the group. Food, heaters, fuel and clothing were dropped by parachute. So was a Christmas tree, and the fixings for holiday dinner, while the Air Force figured out how to get the men out. They hunkered down in ice shelters and tried to stay warm in blizzard conditions that produced 100 mph winds and 40-below-zero temperatures.

Finally, on December 28, a jet-ski equipped transport landed on the ice cap and ferried Louis and his compatriots to safety. Len Utter remembers following the situation with concern. It captured a lot of media attention, including an article in Life Magazine.

Louis’ brother, Arthur (Mary Ellen’s dad) also served in WWII, as a medical assistant in North Africa and Italy. Their little brother, Duane, served in Vietnam in the Air Force, as did Duane’s nephew, Louis and Ruth’s son Russell, who was born in 1944. Russell died tragically in 1967 in an explosion at the Hercules Powder Company plant in Port Ewen where both he and his father worked.

Louis died in 1990, Ruth passed in 2006. Most members of the family are buried in Ulster County.

A young doctor faces diptheria

Jan 1, 2019 | Tin Horn

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The year 1879 was a traumatic one for several local families and, we suspect, for one young doctor who tried to keep their children alive during an outbreak of diptheria.

Dr. James L. Allaben was one of half a dozen physicians working in Middletown that year, when ten children died of the contagious disease. Diptheria is caused by a bacteria that creates toxins and throat lesions and blocks breathing. It is fatal in a high percentage of cases contracted by children. Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Alice, and a granddaughter, died of the choking disease in 1878, years before a preventive vaccine was developed.

The Mortality Schedule of the 1880 census lists Middletown people who died the previous year. It shows that five families suffered unimaginable grief when diptheria visited their homes. George M. and Angeline Winn Griffin lost three children in September and October — Etta, 6, Harry, 3, and Fannie, eight months. Willie, the only son of John M. and Jemima Blish, died in August, age 7. The Blishes are believed to have lived in Clovesville, near blacksmith John Ludeke and his wife Louisa, German immigrants whose children, Amelia, 10 and John, 5 contracted diptheria and died in June. 12-year-old Frankie Winn, and three children of John and Angeline Halcott – Mathalia, 11, William, 6 and Freddie, 3 — all died in October.

Treating them as best they could were Doctors S. M. Decker, H. W. Garrison, J. H. Banker and James L. Allaben. The latter was just 34 years old. He and wife Hattie had three little ones of their own, almost the exact ages of the Griffin children he cared for that terrible autumn. James Luther Allaben came from a family of physicians, ministers and lawyers. His father William was both a clergyman and a dentist! His uncle, Dr. Orson Allaben, is credited with spurring development of the village of Margaretville in the 1840s.

Among the patients Dr. James Allaben saw in 1879 were the Griffins. This was a family that had already seen more than their share of tragedy, having lost two infants in 1873 and 1877. The death by diptheria of three more left them with just one child, 11-year-old Bertha.

The same affliction visited the Halcott family. Losing three of their youngsters in October meant only one child, 8-month-old Alvin James, survived.

It would be logical to assume that such heartache would make for a bleak future for families such as these. But the Griffins and the Halcotts, ordinary laborers of little means, were made of sterner stuff. Perhaps obeying the biological imperative or a deep need to fill the empty spaces at the table, both couples had several more children. By 1892, John and Angeline Halcott and son Alvin had welcomed Christopher, Lula, Charles, Harvey and Harry. Neighbors George and Angeline Griffin had two more sons, Howard and Albert, to join older sister Bertha. All of them lived to adulthood.

And what of Dr. James L. Allaben? Well, the good doctor and wife Hattie grieved the loss of three of their own – Orlie, George and Harriet Marie — who died as infants during the 1880s. But in 1889, with four sons aged 11 to 15, the Allabens rejoiced at the arrival of a daughter, Deidamia (known as Damie). She would not know her father, however – Dr. Allaben died of pneumonia in 1890 at the age of 46.

Hattie carried on with five surviving children who all became successful adults, several building lives in California. One, John Hamilton Allaben, stayed in Middletown. He was a barber in Arkville for 50 years. Hattie passed on in 1932, and is buried in the Margaretville Cemetery with James, their babies, and many other treasured children he could not save.

MAC — where major leaguers got their start

Jul 1, 2018 | Tin Horn

In a slide talk given June 8 at Skene Memorial Library in Fleischmanns, baseball historian Bob Mayer provided insight into the baseball-loving Fleischmann family and some of the men who played for the Mountain Athletic Club (MAC).

The club was started by Julius Fleischmann, son of yeast magnate Charles Louis Fleischmann who established the family summer compound in Griffin Corners. (The Village was renamed Fleischmanns in 1913.) The family built the local ball park to host MAC games in which a young Julius and his brother Max often played.

Two Baseball Hall of Famers — Honus Wagner and Miller Huggins — reputedly played for a time with MAC in Fleischmanns — Wagner c 1896, Huggins in 1900. (Contrary to an oft repeated story, there is no documentation that a third Hall of Famer, Ty Cobb, ever played in Fleischmanns.)

Honus Wagner

Johannes Peter ‘Honus’ Wagner — (1874-1955) — is considered by many to be baseball’s greatest all-around player. The “Flying Dutchman” spent his entire career as shortstop with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was adept at hitting, base running and fielding. He put together 17 consecutive .300 seasons and was the National League batting champion for eight of those 17 seasons. Before that. He played in the minors. Said Mayer, “It’s probable that Wagner played with MAC in 1896 since his manager in the Minors was also the manager for MAC that year, and may have brought Honus to play with the team.”

One of the first five players inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, Wagner retired with more hits, runs, RBIs, doubles, triples, games and steals than any other National League player. He was the first player to have his signature branded into a Louisville Slugger baseball bat in 1905.

Miller Huggins

Miller James Huggins (1878 –1929) was born in Cincinnati, where Julius Fleischmann was Mayor from 1900 to 1905. He earned a law degree from the University of Cincinnati, but chose to pursue a professional baseball career. He played semi-professional and minor league baseball from 1898 through 1903, including appearances with the Fleischmann-owned Cincinnati Shamrocks and with MAC in 1900.

Huggins played second base for the Cincinnati Reds (1904–1909), part-owned by Julius Fleischmann, and the St. Louis Cardinals (1910–1916). He managed the Cardinals (1913–1917) and the New York Yankees (1918–1929), which won six American League pennants and three World Series championships during that time.

There were quite a few other MAC players who played professionally. At least nine of them played in the Major Leagues: Nick Altrock, Andy Coakley, Tom Colcolough, Pete Cregan, Red Dooin, Bug Holliday, Barney McFadden, George Rohe, and Doc White.

Nick Altrock was considered the best left hand pitcher in the game as he won 62 games for the White Sox between 1904 and 1906. However, baseball was ultimately overshadowed by his second career as one of the most popular and longest working baseball clowns. He partnered with Al Schacht in 1919 and went out on his own after 1934. He continued until 1957 when he was 81 years old. At his peak, he had a salary that rivaled Babe Ruth’s.

Red Dooin caught 1,124 games for the Phillies, which is still the team record, and he may have been the first catcher to wear shin guards. Red managed the Phillies for five years and had a 392 wins and 370 losses. He had done vaudeville and sung on the radio during off seasons, and went back to that after retiring from baseball.

Bug Holliday played with Cincinnati 1889-98 batting .312, and in 1894 he hit .376 with 123 RBI’s and 126 runs scored. Bug played with MAC after the Majors then spent a short time as a boxing referee then a National League umpire. He was only 43 when he died in 1910.

George Rohe was a reserve infielder batting .258 in 1906, but in the third World Series, led the “Hitless Wonders” White Sox to an upset win over the powerful Cubs who had won 116 games. George had two triples, a double and four singles in the series. He played third base and managed the MAC team in 1900.

Doc White pitched five straight shutouts in 1904. He was ultimately tied by Don Drysdale in 1968. He pitched for Georgetown University in 1897, and in 1898 he struck out the first nine batters he faced against Holy Cross. He pitched for MAC in 1900, and signed directly into MLB by the Phils. He continued his education and got his dentistry degree in 1902. He won the 7th game of the 1906 World Series for the White Sox. Over his career he won 189 games with a 2.39 ERA over 13 years.

At least seven of the players spent time playing for the Cincinnati Reds when the Fleischmanns owned the team, but surprisingly, four of the MAC players (Altrock, Rohe, White, and Pat Dougherty) were on the 1906 Championship Chicago White Sox team.