Franklin Square House: Comments from a Reader

Last year I posted about Madeline's time at the Franklin Square House for Women in Boston.  You can revisit it here.  I recently received an email comment from Andrew whose great aunt also lived there.  He sent a wonderful pic of her and allowed me to share with you:

I was hunting down photos to add to a family history collection and came across your Madeline site. My great aunt Helen E. Zak (1900-1992) lived at the Franklin Square House starting in 1924 (she never married). I believe she was there at least 20 years. She latter moved to a women's hotel on the Fenway and then to her own apartment in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. She was from Turners Falls, Massachusetts.  As I recall, she told me that this was taken on the roof of the Franklin Square House when she first moved to Boston in 1924.

 

Thank you so much Andrew for sharing your great aunt's photo.  I love that others have heard stories about the Franklin Square House.  I received an email from a college student who was doing a paper on the FSH and said she was so happy to see the brochure that Madeline had saved.  I hope she received a good grade on the paper!  I also hope that others will share their memories as they read about Madeline's.

 

 

 

Vintage Wallpaper, Post 3

I'm cleaning my craft room and rediscovered all the wonderful old wallpaper samples.  Here are another group of these classics:

Adorable pink poodles for a baby's room

Subtle Americana

Bunnies, elephants, and a maypole!

Astrology

Country quilt pattern

Ben Franklin and a history lesson.

What room would you put this in?!

A fantasy zoo

Perfect for a little girl

Sweet flowers

Hope you enjoyed these samples.  There will be a 4th post!

Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy

One of Madeline's many scrapbooks is dedicated to Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.  I recall her talking about their movies and what a handsome couple they were.  Her scrapbook starts out with a listing of their pictures:

There are many pages of newspaper clippings of the duo.  I have selected some highlights for your enjoyment:  (Click on pic to enlarge.)

He was rather a handsome guy!  She told me that they were in love but the studio discouraged their romance.  I would think it would be an asset and would sell more movies.  If you want to learn more about these two Hollywood stars, here is a good website to visit.

Open Invitation Ski Jumping Tournament

This brochure was quite a surprise!  I have a hard time picturing Madeline skiing.

I think she just came to watch, though.

The event was held on February 16, 1947.  She was married then so I'm not sure what she was doing here.

This is her handwriting!

It's nice to find something unexpected in her memories.

Movie Star Scrapbooks

I discovered a box full of Madeline's scrapbooks this past weekend.  I just picked out the top two which are both Movie Star Scrapbooks.  It was fun to look through and pick out which pages to show you.  Hope you enjoy the movie star history treat today!

Here is the second album:

If you are interested in seeing more of these scrapbooks, just google "movie star scrapbooks" and you will get quite a list to look at.  Also, check this webpage out.  Interesting!  I will post more of Madeline's scrapbooks in the future.

Madeline's Husband and High School

Madeline's husband Archer attended Watertown Senior High School in Watertown, MA.  Yesterday I found some of his high school memories in a box.  Here is his class photo, sadly it is not dated.

Archer is in the middle of the first row.

I found two dance cards, complete with attached pencils.

Lots of fox trots!

Here is another dance card from 1934.  The cover is black with green printing, but the scanned image came out just black.  You'll have to use your imagination.

More fox trots, but I love that he saved the last dance for "Mother"!

I checked on Ebay and they have a few dance cards from this era offered for around $25!

One other item pertaining to Archer was in this box, but it is not high school related.  It is a business card for the family business, which was renting chairs for events.  I love the idea and the card so wanted to share with you.