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| Quit laughing! I sewed that patch on there, myself! |
#38 The way we wore, Part 2: Patches make Perfect!
(or at least make things last longer)
In our last post we began to examine how we Drums
presented ourselves to the world via the clothing we wore. We stopped with
Gertrude and George Driesbach’s portrait taken around 1906. We pick the story up
again in that same decade and continue to push forward. Two other images from
the “19 aught” decade we can share are of Philip Leo Drum and Christie A. Drum.
Philip Leo Drum(Nathan S., Philip, George, Jacob,
Philip) was born January 31, 1871. His parents were the Drums merchant
and politically active Nathan S. Drum and Elizabeth Hess Drum. This
photo was “stolen” (by me) from the Pennsylvania Legislature web page[1]
where it is noting him to have been a member of the Legislature from 1901-1902
so probably taken in 1901. There’s that high, stiff collar again, although,
somehow it looks more comfortable on Philip than it did on George in the
previous post. His hair, like George’s, appears to have that somewhat
off-center part, as well. I don’t think he was trying to get it to bunch up like
that on the back of his head. I’m sure it is a “cow-lick” he couldn’t control,
just like mine! (Hairspray, Philip, lots of hairspray) Anyway, the mustache, in
my opinion, certainly makes up for it. He must be about 30 years old here but
he seems so very young to me. Holding degrees from Lafayette College and the
University of Pennsylvania, he became a lawyer in Wilkes-Barre. He died in
1960. I wonder if we, he and I, ever met, me being close to three when he died.
Christie A. Drum(Nathan A, John, Philip, George,
Jacob, Philip) was born May 25, 1897. Her parents were the Coal Miner
Nathan A. Drum and Mary Ann Balliett Drum.
There is a bit of controversy over Christie’s first name.
Helman lists Christie as “Christine” on page 9 of her Drum Genealogy. [2]
It does seem logical that a person named Christine could be nick-named
Christie. However, I can find nothing else that lists her as Christine. I have
not seen a birth or death certificate for Christie, and my dad and his parents
are all dead, so I cannot ask them to confirm her first name as Christie.
Growing up I’d hear stories of “Christie”, every picture of her that I’ve seen
labeled is labeled as “Christie” and the commencement booklet handed out during
her high school graduation ceremony, and these are usually very formal
documents, lists her as “Christie”. Even the stone that marks her grave reads: "Christie A." I think that Helman made an incorrect assumption, or misread
information she had been given about Christie, and put her in the genealogy not
as Christie, but as Christine. There is
yet one more piece of evidence that adds to this conclusion. You see, she is
not the only Christie in the family! Mary Ann Balliett Drum, Christie’s
mother, had a number of siblings, one of whom was a sister named Christie, Christie
Balliett Schaffer. I believe Christie Drum was named after her aunt! Two
photos of Christie Schaffer are included later in this post.
Anyway, there stands Christie Drum in all her 5-year-old
glory. You can just make out the buttons on her boots. I’m sure she liked the
little lace flowers that circle the collar of her dress. Her hair has been
braided into long pig-tails on either side and then pulled back up to form big
loops, held in place by pretty ribbons. The thing about this photo that always
somewhat amused me is how “uncertain” her eyes look. I am certain this child
does not want to be standing there. Her eyes are focused on something, or
someone, most likely mom, sitting or standing to the left of the camera. I can
just imagine the argument that occurred just prior to this photo being taken;
and the pure joy that erupted once the child was “released” from the
cameraman’s “grip”. Christie married a
coal miner named Paul Yoch on June 10, 1922. Her coal miner father died from
Tuberculosis in 1934. Seven years later, 1941, Christie died from Tuberculosis,
too.
Here is a picture of Christie taken around 1933, now all
grown up. I wonder if it was the same photographer. This time she is wearing
very stylish, attractive laced boots. On her hand is a ring, I suppose her
wedding ring, and a dainty bracelet on her wrist. No lace flowers around her
neck this time and instead of pigtails looped up on each side we see a pretty
hairstyle, short in length. But I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, or the
glasses, but that “uncertain look” still seems to be in her eyes. This time she
is focused on something, or someone, on the right of the camera. Maybe she just
didn’t like having her picture “made”.
We do have a few more photos of Christie, all taken
around 1910. In the post They
Call it Progress, a Nathan A. Drum family portrait is
included. It was taken on the porch of the house they rented from Cal Schaffer.
We think the years they lived there were 1905-1908. Therefore, the photo was
probably taken in 1908 and, if so, we see Elmer at age 13 and Christie, age
11. They are “dressed up” of course
because they are having their “picture made”.
Included below are a few details from that portrait
allowing us to get a closer view of the family members.
Elmer is quite handsome in his (wool?) suit, sporting a
bow tie, knickers, and laced boots. He may actually be growing out of that
suit. Kids do grow up so fast, don’t they? It’s a wonder you can keep any of
them in clothes! My question here, however, is how are knickers different from
breeches? And the answer is, the years in which they were worn, apparently!
Except for that detail, knickers appear to be breeches of a slightly more
modern and, especially in the 20’s, baggy style. Elmer is surprisingly
cutting-edge stylish in this 1908 suit; a trend-setter, in fact. His “look”
really became the “fad” of the 1910’s and early 20’s.[3]
Christie wore a nice simple dress and laced boots quite
similar to Elmer’s. She seems to have put the most time into her hair, quite
attractively pulled up onto the top of her head.
Since I pulled out the children, here is mom and dad as well in what I can only guess is their Sunday Finest.
That is a nice detail on
the bottom of Mary’s dress. The pattern on her blouse appears to be some kind
of stylized leaf. I’ve included a close up to help us see it better.
As for Nathan, that is a GREAT moustache! Sort of off-sets
the receding hairline perfectly. He is approximately 40 years old in this
photo.
Both Christie Drum and Elmer are in this class photo. Christie is seated on the left side, fourth girl in. I’ve zoomed in so we could see her better. The taller girl on her right is Sarah Cook. The boy behind Christie is William Uplinger and behind Sarah is Nevin Elliott. Elmer is in the photo as well, further to the right, back row, fifth in from the right. In front of him is Rev. Cook and Florence Watson. Behind Rev. Cook stands Elmer Morie, Elmer Drum and Stanley Hentzlemen (the names appear as Mom spelled them in the scrapbook). .
It seems that it was just about this period - the “aught”
years just after the turn of the Century into the early teens - that photography made its presence
known in the Drums valley. Most photos that I’ve seen from this area that were
taken prior to 1900 appear to have been taken in a studio, probably in
Hazleton. After 1900, however, the number of Valley photos suddenly takes a big
jump, more with each year. Many of them are still professionally taken; most of those are the work
of Edwin Finstermacher. We believe the above two photos (Drum family and Union Church School students) were taken by him. He seems to have broken the “in-studio mold”,
moving his equipment out of a studio and to the subjects of his photos. However,
many other photos in Mom’s scrapbook are what might be termed “amateur” photos,
the numbers of which quickly overwhelm the professionally made photos as the
decades move forward.
Here is a photo we know Finstermacher took. We have
photos he took of St. Johns, “Cal Schaffer’s House” (as labeled in Mom’s
scrapbook), St. John’s Union Church and grave yard, Beisel’s Corner, County
Road, and more. I think the one that I like the most of them all is this one, labeled
in Mom’s scrapbook “Santee Home”. I like it because we can see Edwin in the
photo, well, his shadow, at least. There in the lower right corner, we see Edwin’s
box camera beside a man wearing a hat (at least that’s what the shadows appear
to be).
We could do a better job of “dating” the photo if we knew
who the people are IN the photo. I assume the man is Mr. George Santee. The little
girl standing on the fence would be the “give-away”. It could be a seven or
eight-year-old Ella and if so, the photo is from about 1905.
One didn’t get their picture taken every day, by the way. One
prepared to get their photo “made”. They dressed up, looked their nicest. So,
we don’t often get to see what people wore daily in earlier photos, only what
they wore for special occasions, like going to church or getting their picture
made. We usually only see the “daily” look in advertisements or newspaper
stories, books, etc.
Here on the left we see a “Flower Girl” from an ad that
appeared around 1910. She is dressed as we’d expect for a girl working in a
field in 1910. She is, however, also looking very much to be a “Gibson Girl”.
That ain’t no Gibson Girl on the right, however, but the
photo is from 1910.
This is Ransom Young as he appeared in the Valley
Vigilant on November 17, 1910.[4]
He appears to be wearing a coat and vest, fancy spotted bow tie and is sporting
chin whiskers. What was the attraction for that look? And to all of
those out there that called me a “hippy” in my youth, please note the length of
his hair. Ransom’s youngest son, Ed, built his farm on the land adjacent to
what has now become known as “Drumyngham”. There’s a bit more about Ransom
Young in the post: It
Takes a Village. Why was he in the paper? “Grandfather Young”, as
he liked to be called, had just celebrated his 100th birthday
anniversary that November 8, 1910.
Here are some more folks who don’t quite qualify as “Gibson
Girls”: George and Martha Santee. The interesting thing about this photo is how
“nonprofessional” it appears to be. Finstermacher was still taking photos
professionally at this time but this one appears to be an amateur photo, like
what one might expect from someone with a Kodak camera. George Eastman
introduced the first Kodak Camera in 1888 but it takes a while for things to
reach out into the public. It seems someone in the Drum line got a hold of a
personal camera, probably a Kodak, around 1910 and started taking photos. Mom’s
scrapbook is suddenly filled with amateur photos from about that time on. This one is one of them. I wish I knew who took the photo and with what kind
of camera. I bet it was new, however. I can just hear the conversation, “Hey,
come on outside! I got this here new camera and I want to take your picture!” “Our
PICTURE!? Well, come on, Martha. He’s gonna take our picture!” I wonder if they
“gussied up a bit”
before they came out.
I bet that most folks who walked about Drums around 1915
(give or take 5 years) looked just like this. This photo is undated in Mom’s scrapbook
but we know that Martha, Mrs. Santee, died on July 3, 1920. Here is another
shot of her. I think it was taken on the same day. She seems to be wearing the
same clothes.
George and Martha Santee became the parents of Ella Nora
on June 23, 1897. On July 3, 1919, they watched their daughter marry Elmer Drum
in the St. John’s German Reformed Church in St. Johns, PA. In our cedar chest
there is the jacket of a dress. A note attached to it, in my mom’s handwriting,
identifies it as “Dress belonged to Mrs. George Santee Harry’s grandmother”. It
is black so I thought it might be a dress for mourning. If so, it wasn’t for
her husband. He lived until January 25, 1932. It is, however, fancy so perhaps
she wore it to the wedding. There is a pin/brooch pinned on it. The image
appears to be a water wheel mill in the Alps or Vermont. I’m not getting a lot
of clues from that!
Here is the brooch close-up and the jacket top, itself.
 |
| Something Mom glued into one of her scrapbooks. It was her birth year, BTW. |
That is not to say we Drums couldn’t be wild and crazy in
our own way. I did find some photos of Drums “living on the edge” in the 1920’s;
a few examples follow.
Elmer Cogan and Elmer Drum, about 1921. I’m thinking “our”
Elmer was into the “Gangster Look” then.
This is about as close to a “Flapper” as I found. This is
neighbor Dorothy Sipple holding Harry’s sister, Clara Drum, about 1925. 
We have no idea who this
kid is, but he is cute in his suit, with
a watch chain to boot!
Ella holding Harry, 1923.
Photo by Edwin Finstermacher.
Mr. and Mrs. Schaffer, also known as Jacob and Cathern. I
wonder who the photographer was. Great mustache and nice suit! The dress Mrs.
Schaffer is wearing is not the same as Mary’s shown above but it does give us
an idea of how Mary’s was worn, right down to the brooch.
Here we have Mr. and Mrs. Schaffer again. Of course, this
is Howard and Christie Schaffer, Jacob and Cathern’s son and daughter-in-law.
Before they were married, Christie was Christie Balliett, Elmer’s mother’s
sister or, put another way, Elmer and CHRISTIE’s aunt. I believe this is Christie
Drum’s namesake. I am uncertain of their child’s name. His name might have been David.
Mary Drum’s sister, Christie Schaffer, again. Great hat.
Like I said, wild and crazy.
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| The Plain Speaker, Afternoon Edition, Wednesday, May 9, 1928, page 3. |
For all the photos of the 1920’s, the number falls off a
bit for the 1930’s in Mom’s scrapbooks. Perhaps folks just didn’t have the
money any longer to “waste” on photographs, amateur or professional, after the Stock
Market crashed in October of 1929.
Knickers were, for the most part, relegated back to the Golf Course.
Now that’s what you’d expect people to be looking like on
an everyday basis. Hair mussed, overalls, and a t-shirt. Nothing gussied-up
here! This is Harry Drum showing off his overalls, and holding a horse, in
1937. I’m not sure who is on the horse. Mom’s scrapbook says it is Marvin Yoch
but I’m not convinced.
In 1937, the Drums took a trip to New York City. Here we
see them standing together at the top of the recently opened Empire State
Building, looking all the world like a bunch of tourists, which, of course,
they were! From left to right: Clara (12), Ella (40), Elmer (42), and Harry (14).
The Empire State Building opened May 1, 1931 and was, at that time, the world’s
tallest skyscraper reaching all the way up to 1,250 feet. Its enough to make a
whole family dizzy. 
Speaking of weddings, here we have the wedding photo for
Kenneth and Clara Dorwart. Clara Drum married Ken Dorwart on May 17, 1947. Ken
and Clara are the two in the middle. Mom’s notes are a bit cryptic about this
but I think the attendants are Jack and Rosemary Leck. Both men are wearing
double breasted suits. I’m not a fan of double-breasted suits. I like Rev.
Hesson’s suit better (no offense intended, Ken). That little bit of newspaper
at the bottom of the photo is the engagement announcement from, I think, The
Standard-Speaker. That’s how Mom’s scrapbooks rolled.
In 1957, a number of things of some importance happened.
I was born, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the German Reformed Church and
the Congregationalist Church united to become the United Church of Christ, and Hazleton,
PA celebrated its Centennial (not in that order, of course) just to mention a
few! As part of that Centennial celebration, area men were invited to grow
facial hair (moustaches, beards, etc). My dad participated. Here we see him
happily showing off his moustache and sideburns.
I don’t think he liked the mustache too much. To my
knowledge, he never wore one again!
My dad passed away in 1986, about 3.5 months short of his
63rd birthday. As Mom moved through the house, deciding what needed
to be given away, tossed, etc.; a very difficult but always necessary task at
such times; she came upon Dad’s Sunday hat. I can remember him wearing this hat
to church every Sunday for as long as I can remember. “I guess we’ll give this
away,” Mom said quietly as tears welled in her eyes and she caressed the brim
with her palm. “Mom,” I said, “May I have the hat?” “I think it’s too small for
you,” she said. “I know”, I answered, and gently took it from her hands.
On the inside hat band, beside the Stetson logo, is
printed “Royal DeLux Stetson”. Under the crown it says “The Gun Club by
Stetson”. I guess that’s why there is a rifle decorating the bow of the hat
band. I found a place on our wall to hang the hat. It’s hung on the wall, one
place or another, ever since.
In our next post, #39, we’ll take a look at the Drums and
their education. Join us again on March 10, 2020 for the story: Drums and the
three R’s. It ain’t Goldilocks but it’s bearable.
[2] Helman,
Laura M., History and Genealogy of the Drum Family (Allentown, PA:
Berkemeyer, Keck & Co., 1927), p 9
[4] “Ransom
Young’s Letter: Centenarian of Butler Township Dictates Letter of Thanks”, Valley
Vigilant, November 17, 1910
[5] 200th
Anniversary: 1792-1992
(St. Johns, PA: St. Johns United Church of Christ, 1992)
