Interview
with
Remembering the 20th
Century: An Oral History of Monmouth County
Date of Interview: April 11,
2000
Name of Interviewer: Joanna Aiken
Premises of Interview: Mrs. Thompson's home, Freehold, NJ
Birthdate of Subject: September 22, 1917
Ms. Aiken: Thank you
so much for letting us interview you, Mrs. Thompson. What are your most
prominent memories of Monmouth County?
|
Helen Tela (Thompson) 1936 |
Mrs. Thompson: As a child, I remember all
of the beautiful farm land that we had
here. My father died when he was only forty-two, and my
mother, of course, had to survive with three children, so we did farm work
every summer. When school let out, we went to the farm. My brothers and I would
ride on the back of the flatbed truck that took us from the house to the farm,
and I remember how beautiful all of the farms looked. The farmer would come
to the neighborhood. We'd hop on the truck and we'd go and pick potatoes,
raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, whatever he had to pick, and we earned enough money so that my mother was able to
survive for the rest of the year. The widows didn't have the
benefits that they have today, but we survived. And that was it. I enjoyed
it. I really and truly enjoyed it. My two brothers and I, and many other children
in the neighborhood, did just that, and that is how we spent our summer
vacations. And then, of
course, later on when we went to high school, we always worked at
other places like Newberry's or an ice cream parlor. For three summers, I babysat
for Dr. Berger's children. He was from New York, but the family used to come here to their summer
home in Bergerville. And then,
lots of times, I'd go to New York with them, and spend an extended weekend with
them if it was a holiday or something. It was so fascinating. They had an
enormous impact on my life. It
was like I was a big sister, and I will never forget the summers I spent with
them. Very nice.
Ms. Aiken: Was there a Newberry's in Freehold?
Mrs. Thompson: Yes.
Sure, there was a Newberrys right on West Main Street. The store was where
CVS is now.
Ms. Aiken: What is Newberry's?
Mrs. Thompson: Newberry's was a
five and ten cent store. That was all before your time. Woolworth's and Newberry's
were called five and ten cent stores.
Ms. Aiken: Oh, like a little drug store.
Mrs. Thompson: Well, you didn't
get too many things for five or ten cents, but that is what they were
called.
Ms. Aiken: What was the famous chain
that just closed in
New York?
Mrs. Thompson: Woolworth's. Woolworth's and
Newberry's were all the same category.
Ms. Aiken: So, you grew up in the
Peach Orchard, right?
Mrs. Thompson: Yes, yes.
Ms. Aiken: Can you tell me what exactly what that
is?
Mrs. Thompson:
I don't know where they get the name from, but evidently they must have
had peach orchards in that section of Freehold. They had apple orchards
at Club Place in Freehold, but they didn't call it "Apple Orchard."
Nobody seems to know why Texas is called Texas. Mr. Ira Tilton, who was
our local historian, tried to find out why that area is called Peach Orchard,
but to no avail. And West End is another section. If you lived on Bannard
Street in Freehold, or any of the streets in that section, you lived in
West End. So, that's it. And if you lived between Haley Street and Rhea
Street, you lived in Peach Orchard. We had a very diversified group of
people lived there. Mostly Irish and Lithuanian; my people were Lithuanian,
and then we had the Negroes. It was a beautifully blended neighborhood.
And if it wasn't for our next door neighbor, a Negro family, I don't think
we would have survived. They were a fine family. The lady's name was Lavinia
Jackson. Living with her were her brothers, one who worked in the Post
Office, and one who worked as a glasscutter for Freehold Glass Company.
Another brother, Gus, used to be sort of a messenger for Rexall Drug Store,
which was on the corner of Main and Throckmorton Street, right by the
Episcopal Church. "Especially For You," the florist, is there
now. There were five of them all together, and they were all single. Anyway,
when my dad died, my mother became a widow at thirty-eight with a history
of rheumatic heart, which meant frequent trips to the Monmouth Medical
Center in Long Branch. Lavinia Jackson would bring in a chunk of meat
that she had roasted, or a pie or a cake, or a kettle of soup, and this
was all the time. Among the other "colored" were the Gatlin
family. They were very nice people, very nice. The Gatlins later moved
to Randolph Street right near the Catholic Church. And we had the Valentine
family, the Lewis family, and the Robinson family. And then, of course,
we had all the Lithuanians. We had the Gallenouskis, the Sirutis, the
Marks, the Bushmans, the Westpenders, the Valencius, the Yoczis, the Globis,
and the Shatkus families. These are Lithuanian people in that area.
Ms. Aiken: Is there still a
Lithuanian community there?
Mrs. Thompson: No, no. It's mostly now
colored, and
maybe Hispanic, too. I'm not too sure now. But there are many new houses there
and three churches on the street. My house burned down after my mother sold
it. We sold the house to Allan and Julia Sparks.
Ms. Aiken: How did you happen to get here from
Lithuania?
Mrs. Thompson: I didn't come
here from Lithuania. I was born here in Freehold. But my mother and father
were from Lithuania. They lived in the low income housing. When I was
just a baby, my mother lost a daughter. There used to be a little bridge
there, and Gilbert Colmbs used to have a lumber and coal place where you
could buy. I don't remember this myself, but I just visualize what my
mother told me. They used to grade potatoes there along the railroad siding.
Certain potatoes were too small, and if they fell through the grates,
then the children could take those potatoes because that meant they were
rejects. Today we call them "gourmet" potatoes. And everyone
in the neighborhood used to go there and get their share of potatoes.
There was a freakish accident on the rails and that was how my sister
was killed. I don't remember because I was a newborn at the time.
Ms. Aiken: How old was she?
Ms. Thompson: Going
on six, just six. A very, very brilliant girl for her age. Very mature,
my mother said. She'd walk down the street, and a neighbor would say,
"Well, Isabel, how are things at the house?" And she'd say,
"Well, you'd have to ask my mother and dad, I don't know." She
wouldn't tell them, and she would bring home a large coal piece. My mother
would say, "Isabel, why did you bring that? You got your dress all
dirty." She'd say, "Well, Mom, it was so cold last year, we
could use more coal." Now, my dad was alive at that time, and he
worked for the County Road Department. I'm told my mother had a rough
time when she lost her daughter, and understandably so.
Ms. Aiken: We were just talking about
the different communities in Peach Orchard. You said there was an
Irish community as well.
Mrs. Thompson: Yes,
the Irish. We had the Dugans, the Daleys, the Kelleys, the Van Schoiks,
and the Martins. Mrs. Norkus was Irish and her husband was Lithuanian.
Margaret Malloy was the housekeeper for the Brakely Beanery. The Daley
family lived next to the Court Street School. She, too, was a widow
who raised a fine family.
Ms. Aiken: You used to speak Lithuanian?
Mrs. Thompson: Yes.
I struggle with it now, because I don't have anyone to speak it with.
I have a friend, Helen Mica, who speaks it fluently. I can grasp it, but
it is a little hard to communicate, but I try. I used to read and write
it. I used to write my mother's letters to people in Europe. They must
have understood them because they wrote back. (Laughter) When someone
died, in the Lithuanian culture, the body would always be viewed at home.
And I remember going with my mother to these various viewings, and my
mother had a hymnbook. I still have the hymnbook; it is all in Lithuanian.
They used to sing and sing, and I got to the point where I knew all those
hymns pretty well. It would be late sometimes. I would be sleepy. They'd
put the children off to take a nap and the mothers and fathers would continue
singing until about midnight. That was the way they revered and paid respect
to the deceased. Lithuanians are very strong Catholics. Of the three Baltic
states, and I've heard this before on TV, too, Lithuania was the strongest
Catholic nation. My mother used to say that when they were young, they
would start out for church on Sundays in the morning, and would be all
day getting to church, and they'd go barefoot so that their shoes wouldn't
be all dirtied from the road. But they did this to appear neat in church.
Ms. Aiken: How did your parents
happen to come to
America?
|
Helen Tela
Thompson's mother, 1936
|
Mrs. Thompson: How did they
come? Well, I asked my mother that several times. I said, "Mom, how
could you have left your mother?" And she wasn't even eighteen when
she came. I think she fudged her age a little bit. And, she said, "Well,
my mother said 'go,' because my mother's father came to America in the
hopes that he would get a job and be able to support his family and then
bring his family over." At that time, I guess, they were allowed
to come over without any kind of a problem. My grandfather worked himself
into a nice position in the coalmines in Pennsylvania. Now, this is the
story that I am told. He was promoted to a foreman position of a team.
And there must have been jealousy or envy or something and next thing
you know, they say he was accidentally killed, but my mother always said
he was probably not killed accidentally. They probably killed him. And
they identified him and they traced it down to my grandmother in Europe.
And so, that plan fell through, and he couldn't bring his family to America.
So my grandmother said there is nothing left for you children to live
here for. So, they all left. One daughter left for South America. I understand
she went back to Europe in later years. My mother was one of five girls
and one boy. Some of them settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I have first
cousins in Grand Rapids. Her brother, my Uncle Joe, never married, so
there were no children there. But Aunt Anna had three children.
And they have quite a lot of offspring. It's a large family. So, we communicate
and visit more recently. I asked this one cousin in Europe if she would
like to come to America, and she said she had had an only child who died
of leukemia and she buried him in Lithuania. And she said I would
never leave him. So that was it. But I have other cousins who wanted to
come here also. I started the process, and then in the meantime, Canada
opened its doors to all the displaced persons. During the war time most
of them lost everything. And they just had to leave, hiding in barns and
haystacks and everything to avoid the Nazis. They finally came to Canada.
My mother and I visited them. They all live in very attractive homes and
have attained success in their positions. They have done very well.
Ms. Aiken: Good.
Mrs. Thompson: Yes. So, they contributed something
to Canada. And that was it. I don't know too much about my father's background. I do remember a beautiful
picture of his brother who was an officer in the European Army; he was a handsome man.
My father had a
sister who came here. She came to Camden, New Jersey. She had a large family, too. I think she had five or six children. They are my first cousins. One of them now is married
with seven
children. And he never spent five cents on their education but they are all educated. One is a nurse practitioner, another one is an electrical engineer, a nuclear engineer. And another one is a banker. Another one is in the
financial market in New York. They are all doing
beautifully.
Ms. Aiken: When you and the other children weren't
picking the raspberries and the potatoes, how did you play? What kinds of
games did you play?
|
St. Rose of Lima (building
no longer exists) around 1931 |
Mrs. Thompson: Oh, we played marbles. We'd shoot
marbles of all descriptions. We played hide and seek, hop scotch, and jump rope.
We liked to play baseball and football.
Ms. Aiken: Girls?
Mrs. Thompson: Oh, sure, we played
baseball. We played hide and seek and marbles. Oh, marbles were a big thing.
We all had big jars of marbles. I wish I had them now.
Ms. Aiken: What was your favorite game to play?
Mrs. Thompson: I don't know. I liked them all. I grew up with two brothers, so I got kicked and hurt. We
lived on a farm one time, and I that is how I got a perforated eardrum. My
husband used to laugh all the time and say, "Now I know what's wrong with you.
Horse kicked you."
Ms. Aiken: Really?
Mrs. Thompson: Yes,
he did. I didn't realize it. I was pulling on his tail thinking I could
jump up on his back. (Laughter) But, he kicked me, I mean really kicked
me. I mean I was unconscious for a long time, out on the field.
Ms. Aiken: It must have been terrifying for your
mother.
Mrs. Thompson: Yes, yes, but it all worked out
all right.
Ms. Aiken: Did you go to the
shore when you were growing up?
Mrs. Thompson: Oh, once in a while, when my dad first
learned to drive a car. He died in 1928. He took pride in the fact that he could drive a car. And he took us
crabbing down in Keansburg. He knew some friends down there.
And every once in a while we'd go on the beach. And, of course, years
later, we all liked going down to the shore. But not anymore; I don't care
for the shore, now.
|
George Tela (Helen's
brother), circa 1936 |
Ms. Aiken: Do you remember going around in a horse
carriage before you had the car?
Mrs. Thompson: When we lived
in Tennent, my older brother, George, became very ill with scarlet fever,
and my mother called for Dr. Applegate in Englishtown. She also called
for Monsignor Kivelitz, formerly the Pastor of the Rose of Lima Church
in Freehold. And who do you think was the first to respond? Monsignor
Kivelitz in his horse and buggy.
Ms. Aiken: Oh, dear!
Ms. Thompson: Oh, yes. Well,
my home in Tennent also burned to the ground. This is the way I understand
how it happened: the ceilings were low, and the pipe to the stove was
very close to the ceiling, and it became too hot, I guess, and caused
a fire. My father had the good sense and the wisdom to throw all of the
bedding out the windows. Pillows, blankets, everything he could possibly
throw out, and then he lowered the three children on top of the blankets,
followed by my mother and himself. And not a one of us had a scratch or
a broken bone or anything. All five of us escaped. And I still remember
sitting across the roadway and watching the house burn down to the ground.
Sad.
Ms. Aiken: You were sad?
Mrs. Thompson: Of course. Then we had nothing,
nothing, absolutely nothing left. A woman in Tennent, who lived on Tennent Road, a Mrs. Bogusess
took us in and got us started and then we moved here to Freehold. She was related
to the Daliks in Freehold. In due time, my parents purchased a house on Avenue A
in Freehold--house number seventeen. Ironically, this home also burned down
after my mother sold it to Julia and Allan Sparks.
Ms. Aiken: Is there a house
there now?
Mrs. Thompson: Presently,
there is a Habitat for Humanity house on the site, and it will be occupied by
Guggie Lewis' niece. There are now two Habitat for Humanity houses on the
street, and three churches.
Ms. Aiken: What
do you remember about the Karagheusian Rug Mill in Freehold?
Mrs. Thompson: Oh, I remember
that very well. When I finished school, there was no place you could work
unless you went to work in an office where you earned about five dollars
a week at the most. I know a friend of mine who worked for Dr. Bill Erickson.
I think she earned seven dollars a week, and she even had to supply her
own uniform. So, I went to work in the Rug Mill, which many of the girls
from high school did, because we made five dollars a day, or more sometimes.
It was piecework, winding yarn. You worked hard. I remember one woman
saying to me, "Why are you working so hard? You are just a young
kid. You don't need to work so hard." I said, "My mother is
a widow, she needs the money."
Ms. Aiken: So, did you give all the money to your
mother?
Mrs. Thompson: Sure.
Always did. I gave all my money to my mother. Unfortunately, I didn't
know how to shop, because at that point, I was still working weekends
for the Bergers when they'd come here to Bergerville for an extended weekend.
If time permitted, I would stay in New York City with them for a day or
two. My mother gave me one hundred dollars one day. She said, "Now
when you go to New York and you are going to stay there an extra day,
I want you to go shopping and buy yourself a nice coat and a few other
things to go with it." I shopped around. I couldn't find the coat
or anything. I didn't know how to shop. I came home and gave my mother
the money back. (Laughter) That's the truth. I'll never forget. Clothes
didn't mean that much to me.
|
Helen Tela
Thompson and future husband, Walter Thompson, 1938. They were married
June 29, 1940.
|
Ms. Aiken: How did you meet your husband?
Mrs. Thompson: He was
a friend of my brother, George, who also worked in the Rug Mill.
Walter was a weaver on a sixteen quarter loom, and they wove for Radio
City, the airlines, and many prominent hotels. You just didn't walk off
the street and operate one of those looms--no way. No, it was very complicated.
That was what really caused his untimely death, too. When he became ill,
the doctor kept saying he had water on the lungs. And so he had diets
and all that sort of thing. I was a label reader. He was sick a couple
of years before he died. But before he died, I finally found another pulmonary
man, and I said, "Let's try this one. There is something wrong. This
can't be just water. You're sticking to your diet, you've taken the medicine,
and you still have the condition." So the doctor gave my husband
some tests. He said to Walter, "What was your primary job when
you were younger?" Walter said, "Well, I worked at the parimutuals
at the racetrack and I worked at Fort Monmouth." The doctor asked,
"But what did you work at mainly?" My husband said, "I
was a rug carpet weaver." "Oh," the doctor said, "now
I know what the problem is. That's lint. That's not water."
Ms. Aiken: Fibers?
Mrs. Thompson: It was lint.
Now you see when these men worked
the four to twelve shift, they worked from eight in the morning until four, and then
from four to twelve. By law,
they had to have half an hour recreation period. And so with that, what did
they do? They'd go outside and have a smoke. The smoking brought this problem along a little quicker. But the main culprit was the
rugs, his job. Today, they would have things
that would prevent things like this. But, I know on a sunny day if you looked
over where the looms were working, you could almost cut a
knife through the haze that had formed.
Ms. Aiken: I can well imagine that.
Mrs. Thompson: And many weavers died of the same
thing-- lint in their lungs. Yes, some were using oxygen tanks before they
died.
Ms. Aiken: You both eventually worked at Fort
Monmouth?
Mrs. Thompson: After the
Rug Mill moved to North Carolina, my husband was out of work, of course. And after putting
thirty years in the rug mill, there was no severance pay, nothing, absolutely nothing.
But
he was able to get a job at Fort Monmouth. At that time, I was working at Fort Monmouth,
also, and he worked at the Parimutuals at Freehold Raceway. He became a section manager of the
Parimutuals. They were in different sections,
and his section was adjacent to my office.
Ms. Aiken: How was the commute from Freehold all the way over to Fort Monmouth everyday?
Mrs. Thompson: Colts Neck
Road, or Route 537, was still a very beautiful road to travel. There were
still open fields and beautiful pastures, as opposed to the mass building of the
mansions today. I always enjoyed my trip to and from Fort Monmouth; Route
537 was one of the nicest highways to travel.
Ms. Aiken: How did you get there?
Mrs. Thompson: By car, and
sometimes car pools. It wasn't bad. It wasn't
heavy traffic like we have today. We didn't have that kind of traffic. I mean
you had to be careful. One year, I remember we could not travel any speed
because for the entire month of February, the roads were completely covered with
snow and ice. At one time, I took my eyes off the road for a minute, and my
gosh, there was a car in front of me that was facing me. The driver had made a
complete turn around due to the icy road conditions.
Ms. Aiken: Wow! Oh my
goodness.
Mrs. Thompson: But I never had an accident.
Ms. Aiken: Do you feel winters were colder?
Mrs. Thompson: Somewhat. I think they were.
One year, as I said, for the entire month
of February there was ice on the road and there was no way they could get
that ice off.
Ms. Aiken:
What do you remember about the Raceway Track?
Mrs. Thompson: I worked in the office there for
five years. Because I had already had the children at that time, I couldn't
keep a full-time job. We would only work from
about May to September in the office. And, I liked that. I did secretarial work
and also trained at Western Union in Asbury Park to learn how to operate the
telegraph machine to report to various newspapers the racing results.
Ms. Aiken: Were you here at the Freehold track?
Mrs. Thompson: Yes, Freehold
Raceway.
Ms. Aiken: Did you see a lot of famous
people?
Mrs. Thompson: Oh yes,
we had a lot of famous people, primarily on special days. I remember Rudy
Valley coming one day. I'm upstairs in the office looking down at Rudy
Valley, and Rudy Valley was making sure his toupee was on. (Laughter)
Yes, we had a lot of celebrities there. They used to have celebrities
there to attract customers on weekends especially.
Ms. Aiken: Tell us about Larry and Raymond.
Mrs. Thompson: Both
of my sons brought me great pleasure. When growing up, Miss Ivins
taught Larry piano-- Raymond had Mr. Starsnick. Raymond performed
with local theater groups, too. Ms. Ivan lived on the corner of
Yard and Main Street. Nolan Higgins and family live there now. I remember
going to concerts that Larry would be taking part in. And, Ms. Ivans used
to say, "Larry knows his music very well. But, his timing is so bad.
Get him a metronome." So, I purchased a metronome. It didn't help
much. And then Raymond, he was one of these little fellows that if there
was a picnic in anybody's neighborhood, they wanted Raymond there-- he
was a real "clown" and thrived on people's laughter. I
used to take both boys to Armed Forces Day. They had Earle Ammunition
Day, too. I must backtrack a little bit. In the apartment, we had two
ladies: Miss Amelia Waller and Mabel Williams. They lived here for thirteen
years. They saw my boys grow up. They were both maiden ladies. Ms. Mabel
Williams worked at the New York 5th Avenue Library. She was more than
a librarian, and they had books dedicated to her. I found out later that
she was once named the Most Outstanding Librarian in the United States.
We went to her memorial service. And the woman she always lived with was
Amelia Waller. Her brother was a professor at the Rutgers University,
and Ms. Waller was a high school principal at Point Pleasant. She had
Dr. William Erickson, our local dentist, as one of her pupils at one time.
So anyway, they used to watch the children playing in the sandbox. And
they'd always say to me, "Raymond is a leader, he is a leader, that
little boy of yours." And Larry, he sort of sits back all the time.
My husband built that sandbox, a huge sandbox. And we filled it up by
having a dump truck full of sand come in the spring. But by the end of
the summer, there was no sand left. And that's the truth.
Ms. Aiken: (Laughter)
Mrs. Thompson: That's the
truth. The big sandbox had a big platform and they used to ride their
trains and their trucks and create situations. And all the kids in the
neighborhood were here. I used to take Larry and Raymond on Armed Forces
Day and to McGuire Airforce Base, Leonardo, and to Fort Monmouth just
because I thought they should have all these things and know a little
bit about what's going on in the area. I remember going on the ship in
Leonardo, and the captain explained the ship and he explained the equipment.
He told all the years that it was operating and all that business. And
then he said, "Are there any questions?" And my little Raymond's
hand went up. Incidentally, I forgot to tell you. Ms. Williams, the librarian,
used to work as a volunteer for the Mobile Library Unit, and at that time,
it was located on the corner of Broad Street and Manalapan Avenue. And
every week she would come with an arm-full of books for the children for
me to read to them. And every week, she'd take them back and bring me
a new group of books. So, those children knew Dr. Seuss, Babar the Elephant,
and you just name them, and they knew them all. So anyway, when I took
him to Leonardo this one time, the captain explained to us the dates of
the ship's commission and all that business. And my little Raymond's hand
went up and he said, "Now you said that this ship was commissioned
on such and such a date. Well, this equipment was not invented until another
day." The captain, with a kind of startled look on his face, said,
"Well, you're right, son. We put that on later." Raymond asked
the captain four good questions, but I was embarrassed at this point.
And the captain said to him finally, "You know son, I think you know
more about this boat than I do. I think you could take over."
Ms. Aiken: (Laughter)
Do you know the name of the boat?
Mrs. Thompson: No, it was one of these boats that bring in cargo or whatever it was. It was at Earle. I will never forget that.
We went to the Museum of Natural History in New York when Raymond was a cub
scout.
He'd spot the brontosaurus and the other dinosaurs. He knew all these
things. You see, my two boys were so well read. And then when
Raymond started school over at the
Catholic school, the teacher called me aside the night when the parents were coming to hear the reports of their children, and
she said, "Mrs. Thompson, what I'm going to tell you, I don't want you to
repeat to anybody here because they'll think I'm prejudiced." And I said,
"What happened?" She said, "Your Raymond is a genius." I said,
"Genius? He brings me Cs and
Ds. And that's not a genius report." "Ignore the report card. Forget about the
report card. He has a brain the likes of which I have never seen," she said.
"And I know he is listening to the trucks going by, but I say to him, 'Raymond what was that answer
now?' and Raymond has it just
like that," she says. "He has it. I have never been able to trap him, never."
Unfortunately, he has another
biological problem, so his life didn't turn out too good. He went into the
service and
became a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force and then after twelve years, he left the
Service.
Ms. Aiken: Did you see a lot of changes after World War II?
Mrs. Thompson: I guess so. Things were really
being speeded up. Of course, by that time, the Karagheusian Rug Mill was moving
out of Freehold.
Ms. Aiken: Did you feel that Freehold or Monmouth
County was successfully governed during all this speeding up with a lot of
people coming to live here and all the changes?
Ms. Thompson: Well,
it was gradual. The last ten years was when it has really happened. Oh
my goodness, they were coming out of the woodwork. They were leaving the
cities and coming here, and I don't blame them in a way. I am on the welcoming
committee for my church, which is Saint Rose of Lima. So, when a Sister
or Father has a list of newly registered parishioners, I am to call and
welcome them. And I ask them, "What made you come here to Freehold?"
They said, "We love the town. We just love the town. It seems like
such a friendly, nice town that you would want to be a part of."
Yes, and really that's what they tell me. And at church too, they said
people greet us like we're old neighbors and they like that. The friendliness,
they say. I believe we can attribute the friendly part to the new pastor,
Father Rich, who had introduced many ways for parishioners to be more
friendly and supportive.
Ms. Aiken: Do you have any specific
historical events that have like an impact on your life? Any specific ones
like maybe FDR's New Deal Program or anything?
|
Helen's brother, William
Tela, Jr., who served under General George Patton |
Mrs. Thompson:
Well, I remember when the Hindenberg blew up in Lakehurst. I happened
to be in Bukowsky's butcher shop on Throckmorton Street. I remember
all this traffic on Throckmorton Street and the horns were blowing and
the people were rushing out of their homes. I was only a young child.
I found out later that the Hindenberg had collapsed and there were casualties.
World War II changed my family structure with both of my brothers and
my husband in Europe. George was a first class boatsman on the lead
ship on D-Day. The ship was not expected to return to the United
States, but all of the men survived the ordeal. My younger brother,
Bill, was in the Engineer Corps, rebuilding damaged bridges. He
remembered watching his comrades falling into the river like potato sacks.
Thank God, he too was spared. My husband, Walter, was fighting in
the trenches in Italy. He was wounded, and they were going to have
to amputate his feet, but he was saved by penicillin. In fact, the
doctor that treated him in Europe was his doctor from Freehold, Dr. McDonald.
Ms. Aiken: How about
the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby?
Mrs. Thompson: I remember
that, yes, oh yes. That was sad. That was so sad. That beautiful picture
of that little boy. And I still wonder if they ever got the right man.
Ms. Aiken: A lot of
people do. What were you doing when you heard about Kennedy?
Mrs. Thompson: I was
working for the Borough at the time, for my first engineer. I had five
engineers during my nineteen-year stay at the Borough. And Mr. Goldberger
was the engineer. Mr. Goldberger's plaque is on the hospital wall as well
as at the Borough Municipal Building. He was the man who started the planning
phase for the hospital. He has since died. He was climbing up the stairs
and he said, "We have some very bad news. Did you hear the news?"
I said, "No, I haven't heard any news." "President Kennedy
was shot." "Ooooh," I said, "Wow." And then,
of course, I came home and heard it on the television. Later on we found
out he died. That was so sad. He was so admired in spite of a lot of talk,
you know, gossip. But he tried to do the best he could for his country.
Ms. Aiken: Yes.
Mrs. Thompson: You know,
they talk about the Kennedys, saying they are womanizers and all that
sort of thing. With all the wealth, they didn't have to work anywhere,
they didn't have to do anything. But, they were civic-minded people and
politically inclined
Ms. Aiken: Yes.
Mrs. Thompson: And now,
of course, Caroline is the only one left. It was tragic what happened
to her brother.
Ms. Aiken: Yes.
Mrs. Thompson: And there,
again, the gossip columns are going crazy about him too. Ridiculous.
Ms. Aiken: It sells
papers I guess.
Mrs. Thompson: Yes,
it's terrible.
Ms. Aiken: What were your favorite movies or books when you were
younger?
Mrs. Thompson: Favorite
movies? We had the Strand
Theatre, and the Liberty Theatre. I enjoyed seeing comedies and movies with
Barbara Stanwick or Clark Gable. I also enjoyed Laurel and Hardy, and Amos
and Andy. Some of my favorite books were Little Women and any of
the books in the Jalna Series.
Ms. Aiken: Was the Strand
Theatre in Freehold?
Mrs. Thompson: Sure,
sure. The Strand Theatre was located where the Court House Annex is now.
There was a group of stores there, a bakery shop and I think the Firestone,
and one of those stores that deals with automobile parts and things like
that, and a little hardware. And the theatre was there. They always used
to have the Saturday matinees and each week there would be a little segment
of it, and then the next week, it'd be continued. I remember Barbara
Stanwick in one movie, I don't remember the name of the movie, but I know
that somehow or another she didn't reconcile herself with her daughter.
I remember her looking from outside into the window, and she saw her daughter
in the house. She was dancing or having a party of some kind. I don't
remember the movie, but it was starring Barbara Stanwick. And, then, of
course, when I used to go to visit the Bergers, they had a live-in maid.
One day the maid said to Mrs. Berger, "Can I take Helen to a movie?"
And Mrs. Berger said, "All right, sure you can take her to a movie."
And she took me to the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Ella Fitzgerald was on
stage.
Ms. Aiken: Oh, you lucky
thing!
Ms. Thompson: Yes, Ella
Fitzgerald. And they had Jeannette Gaynor and Charles Farrell in Seventh
Heaven, I'll never forget that. And when I came home, Mrs. Berger
said, "It's kind of late. Where did you go?" We said, "We
went up to Harlem." And she said, "You took her to Harlem?"
She said, "Yes." I said, "It was nice, oh, I enjoyed it."
In the old days, whenever there was a movie, there was a stage show as
well. Ella Fitzgerald was in her prime and performed in great style.
Ms. Aiken: Wonderful, wonderful.
I wish they still had that now.
Mrs. Thompson: Well,
they have that in some of the casinos in Atlantic City. But they don't
appeal to me. I like the shows, but that's it. And I'll spend the ten
dollars that they give in the casino and after that I'll quit. When I
worked at the racetrack, I was secretary to Charlie Davenport, the manager.
Once, I said, "Mr. Davenport, is it ethical for me to bet? I'm here
right in the office, and if I win, they'd think it was fixed or something."
He said, "Wait a minute, did you even bet?" he asked. I said
no. He replied, "Don't start. They are not meant to be beaten."
(Laughter) I worked at the racetrack because my husband was working only
three days a week for approximately six years before the mill finalized
their plans to move to North Carolina.
Ms. Aiken: That's right.
Mrs. Thompson: So I
never did bet. I don't even play the Lottery. I never put a dollar in
the Lottery, no. I'm just not the gambling type. I have been very fortunate.
God has been good to me in many ways. The reason why I got that job at
Fort Monmouth is because when I left school, I had to work in a mill because
times were tough in 1936. I had to make some money. I just couldn't work
in an office for five dollars a week. So with that, wartime came, and
my husband was going to be drafted. My neighbor was the late Mrs. Kelsey;
her daughter's a nun, Sister Alice Kelsey. She is very much involved with
the Correctional Institute. She has a degree in Theology, too. Anyway,
Margaret Kelsey said to me, "Helen, there are some openings in Fort
Monmouth, why don't you try and see if you can get a job there? Because
if Walter is going away, you don't want to be working so hard and you'd
do all right in an office. Things will be different." So, with that
I said, "Okay, but gee, I'm out of school now for five years. I don't
think I could make it." But anyway, I applied, and they accepted
me. But of course, at that time, if you had two hands and two feet they
would take you in. You could just peck on a typewriter, because they needed
people so badly. Anyway, they hired me. But there was a stipulation in
order for me to keep that job: I had to pass a Permanent Civil Service
Test. And, I said, "Uh huh. I've got to get some refresher courses
here." So, I knew that my mother, being sick with a rheumatic heart,
was living here with me at that time. My brothers were in the Service,
and mother had sold her house to the Julia and Allan Sparks, so she came
to live with me. And, I said to my neighbor, an art teacher named Florence
Woolfender, "What am I going to do? I know a teacher, Mrs. Case,
but," I said, "she lives in Farmingdale. I can't be traveling
to Farmingdale and working at Fort Monmouth all day and leaving my mother
here, I can't do that." She said, "There is a woman in Freehold
who was a business teacher, and I think she will take you." And I
said, "Who is she?" And she said, "Her name is Sally Lou
Tilton." I said, "I don't know Sally Lou Tilton." So, with
that, she said, "Well, I'll tell her I recommended you." So,
I called up Mrs. Tilton and she said, "I don't want to take any more
students. I have had a lot of students, and I get no satisfaction from
them at all. I don't even know if they are successful or what, I'm finished--I'm
through with them." I said, "Mrs. Tilton, I have a house to
pay for. I have a sick mother on my hands, and my husband is going in
the Service. I have a job, but I have to pass the test in order to keep
that job. So, won't you please help me?" She replied, "Come
on over Tuesday; I'll give you a try." And, every time I paid her,
she had some reason to give me that money back. It was either a birthday
or some reason. She and her husband had no children. He was an only child,
and she was an only child. So with that, we became very friendly, and
we have been friends now for close to fifty years. And we had a little
dining club. Some friends got together and we all went out once a month
to eat, celebrating birthdays. And just became very friendly. Some how
or other our chemistry agreed with one another. I liked her very much,
and I think she felt the same way about me. So, every time we have a little
get together, they were always invited. Anyway, she taught me, and when
I took my Civil Service exam, I got a nice high mark: ninety something.
She was so happy she gave me all the money back that I had paid. I think
she felt satisfaction from her efforts that she helped somebody achieve
a goal. And so with that, she said, "You'll get along. You'll make
out all right." So the next thing you know, I was working on a full-time
basis at Fort Monmouth. I enjoyed the girls I worked with. They came from
all over the country, though, so they never applied themselves too vigorously
because they felt if and when their husbands would be transferred, out
they would go, also. They weren't going to worry; they were just there
buying time. But that was not the case with me. I had to apply myself
vigorously so that I could get promoted, and I could keep on working,
and so I did; and from a file clerk going to other jobs, secretary, in
charge of the steno group, and then I had to give instructions on military
correspondence, and things like that. Next thing you know, I became an
Administrative Assistant to the Deputy Post Commander. His name was Colonel
Holmes Paullin. That was my final position at Fort Monmouth because my
husband and I made out an application to adopt a baby boy from Catholic
Charities. Subsequently, we adopted a second baby boy.
Ms. Aiken: When you would go out to
dinner with this dining group, what restaurants did you like to go to in the area?
Mrs. Thompson: Oh, we went
to the very best restaurants: Shadow Brook, Old Mill Inn, and Molly Pitcher Inn.
Mr. and Mrs. Tilton were used to the best. I served Mr. and Mrs. Tilton a number
of times during a crisis upon their request. I was happy to be of some
help. After the death of Mrs. Tilton, I graciously included Mr. Tilton
with my work schedule at home. Upon his request, my husband and I were
only too happy to oblige; he enjoyed his main meal at my home for fourteen years
and there was always a happy camaraderie. He was such an intelligent man and full
of local history. Mayor Wilson and Borough Council honored him on his last
birthday, when he turned ninety-nine. In the council meeting room, a painting of
him by Susan Winter hangs on the wall.
Ms. Aiken: What is the significance of the harness
bells that you have in your house?
Mrs. Thompson: The sleigh
bells in my dining room are one of the several items of interest that Mr. Tilton
willingly and graciously brought to my home.
Ms. Aiken: In what way is your life now different from
you thought it would be when you were young?
Mrs. Thompson: I always
wanted to have a home on Morris Street-- that I achieved. I always enjoyed
people and hoped my children would marry and live locally so I'd always have
children around me, but that did not happen. Now, through the grace
of God, I have found great pleasures and enjoyment in my friends' cousins'
families and my neighbor's children, who live nearby. All in all, I'd say I'm
quite content, and I feel that my strong faith has helped me to endure the
hardships that have befallen me.
Ms. Aiken: What would
you say has been your greatest achievement?
Mrs. Thompson: My greatest
achievement? I would say through the help of God and prayerful guidance,
I am no longer in the poverty level; I was fortunate to have married a
good husband who connected to Catholicism and tried his best to be a good
father to our two sons. I gave my very utmost in raising out
two sons by providing a good environment, care, and bunches of love.
Unfortunately, one can try their very best, yet every one is born with
biological genes and that is something very difficult to control, I found.
I thank God for His help--I have no regrets. I feel God has been so good
to me because in the course of my work at Fort Monmouth, I met and dealt
with knowledgeable people who enhanced my style of living. The friendships
I made after the adoptions of my two sons have also enriched my life immensely.
My older son, Lawrence, passed away this past Mother's Day, and is interred
in Saint Rose of Lima Cemetery. He was married and lived in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Through a search, he found a biological sister who lived in
Trenton and is employed by the New Jersey State Police Department. My
younger son, Raymond, was married and divorced and has three children,
all of which are adults now and are living in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Through a search, he found that he has six biological siblings.
The nearest one is a young lady who is presently studying for her degree
in nursing, and works at St. Francis Hospital in Trenton as a nurse.
Ms. Aiken: What would you describe as your most
important legacy to your family or friends or society?
Mrs. Thompson: I treasure
my friends and enjoy happy camaraderie via visits and telephone conversations. I
also have many charities, and remain active in my church-- only minimally now,
though. Finally, I have a strong faith: "Love thy neighbor as
thyself," and I try my utmost to live up to that commandment.
Ms. Aiken: I have enjoyed this interview so very
much. Thank you for your time.
Mrs. Thompson: You're quite
welcome.
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