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Apartment 17: 1912

January 1912. New York. "Basso family, 2 Carmine Street, Apt 17. Making roses in dirty, poorly lighted kitchen. They work some at night. Pauline, 6 years old, works after school. Peter, 8, works until 8 p.m. Mike, (cross-eyed), 12 years old, until 10 p.m. Father keeps a rag shop." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.

January 1912. New York. "Basso family, 2 Carmine Street, Apt 17. Making roses in dirty, poorly lighted kitchen. They work some at night. Pauline, 6 years old, works after school. Peter, 8, works until 8 p.m. Mike, (cross-eyed), 12 years old, until 10 p.m. Father keeps a rag shop." Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.

 

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Clock Works

The clockworks from the Ruppert Brewery survives today at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. The tower may be gone, but the works are still with us.

The Basso Family through the years

Following up on Mr. Manning's post, I can see the Basso Family on the 1910, 1920 and 1930 US Census. Also on the 1915 NY State Census.

The original family in 1910 was: Antoine (father), Columbia (mother), John (20), Antoinette (14), Michael (10), Edith/Aida (9), Peter/Pietro (7) and Pauline (4).

1915: The father, Antoine (on 1910 Census), either died or skipped town between 1912 and 1915 as the mother Columbia is shown as the head of household in 1915. All sibs are still there at 2 Carmine St.

1920: Antoinette is gone so she either married or died between 1915 and 1920. Probably married as she was in her 20's. Everyone else is still there, but they have moved to 28 King Street which is a few blocks south of Carmine.

1930: Edith is gone so like Antoinette she either married or died between 1920 and 1930. Left are Columbia, John, Michael, Peter and Pauline.

I couldn't find anything on Pauline after 1930.

Maxfield Parrish Calendar

I always enjoy seeing these in old photographs. His art was ethereal

2 Carmine St.

I'm guessing this is what 2 Carmine looks like from the outside today:


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To Joe Manning

This is the first chance I've had to mention seeing you on the CBS Evening News last week. The item Seth Doane did on you and your work with the Lewis Hine photos was excellent, and the interview with Mamie La Barge's granddaughters gave the topic a sense of relevance.

The video can be found here.

Last Call

As a footnote to a footnote, a recent Streetscapes column in the New York Times outlined the rise and fall of Ehret's Brewery. It was demolished in 1969 for an apartment complex. The clock tower pictured in the calendar was intended to be saved, but wound up being destroyed by vandals.

Jacob Rupert Brewery

The Rupert Brewery, brewers of Knickerbocker Beer, took over the Ehret's Brewery in 1935. Col. Rupert, of the beer company, also owned the NY Yankees. The Brewery was torn down around 1965 and the Rupert Houses, a group of high rise residential buildings was built shortly after that.

Apartment 17: 1912

This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. I did some quick research this morning. In the 1940 census, Mrs. Basso (first name Columbia) was a widow, and lived in NYC with three sons, John (50), Michael (40) and Peter (36). John is not in this picture, but Michael and Peter are. John was working, oddly enough, as a flower dyer. Michael was a trucker, and Peter worked in a print shop. Michael died in New Jersey in 1986. I could find no certain death records for John, Peter or Pauline. I hope I can find more when I get time.

This kitchen

looks neither particularly dirty or poorly-lit for the standards of the day. The room is humble but it looks fairly clean to me, especially considering the activity they're engaged in.

[The magnesium flash took care of the lighting. - Dave]

A million barrels of beer on the wall

In late 19th century New York City, George Ehret was its most successful brewer, and the partly obscured line on the calendar page bottom (“1,000,000 barrels sold every year”) was no empty brag. He made a trip to Germany during the First World War, couldn’t get back to the U.S., and the government, caught up in anti-German actions, seized his business. When he managed to return, he worked to straighten everything out, and sponsored a number of pro-American ads for War Bonds. Here's a calendar similar to the one in the Basso home. (Note the Star of David incorporated in the company logo. He might not have made it out of WW II Germany.) What the war couldn’t do to Ehret’s business Prohibition did; the company floundered and in 1935 was bought by the Jacob Ruppert Brewery, also in New York.

[That "Star of David" -- the hexagram or Bierstern (beer star) -- is a symbol of the brewers' guild in Germany. - Dave]

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