Honk If You Love Bumper Stickers

By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

 

It’s election season and political bumper stickers are out in force. They’re taking over my office too. We were recently donated 20+ bumper stickers for local, state, and federal elections from the 1960s through the 2000s. Kennedy for President! No, vote Bob Dole! Either way, there’s nothing quite like advertising your politics on your vehicle.

 

Bumper sticker from our recent donation

Americans have been using their vehicles to display signs and other advertisements for longer than those vehicles have been cars. Business would hang ads off the back of their wagons. When cars first came along, they didn’t even have bumpers! The first car to have bumpers was the 1927 Ford Model A. During the 1930s and 40s, car owners experimented with hanging wooden, metal, or cardboard signs with wires and twine off of their back bumpers, much as they had with wagons.

The bumper sticker as we know it today developed shortly after World War II thanks to the confluence of several new innovations. In 1935, Ray Stanton Avery invented the first pressure-sensitive self-adhesive labels, a.k.a., stickers. During the early 1940s, Bob and Joseph Switzer, owners of Day-Glo Color Corp. began working on daylight fluorescent pigments for use in signage and high-visibility safety gear. It all came together in 1946 when Forrest P. Gill, a screen printer in Kansas City, Missouri, combined Avery’s stickers with the Switzer brothers’ fluorescent paint to create the first bumper sticker, then called a bumper strip.

The first group to latch on to the new “bumper strips” was the tourism industry. Hotels and tourist sites would print bumper stickers with their logos and stick them to their guests’ cars. While a lot of car owners wouldn’t be cool with that today, it was a great way to make sure that folks all over the country knew their name. These early stickers were primarily printed on paper which tended to wear off pretty quickly. By the 1950s, most bumper sticker manufacturers were printing on vinyl, which was way more durable.

The first political bumper stickers were used by Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1952 campaign against Adlai Stevenson. Cars throughout the country featuring his iconic “I Like Ike” helped drive him all the way to the White House. From then on, bumper stickers became a mainstay of American political campaigns. While today there are bumper stickers advertising everything from babies on board to religious affiliations, political advertising is the most prominent use of the medium. 

More of our new bumper stickers

 Growing up, my family never used political bumper stickers because my mother was a Federal employee and they are strongly discouraged against advertising their political affiliations. In 1964, authorities at the Elmira Reformatory barred the display of political bumper stickers in the prison parking lot. At the time, William Ciuros Jr., a Reformatory guard, was running for state senate on the Democratic ticket and many of his fellow guards supported him. The New York State Department of Corrections threatened to bring disciplinary action against any employee who parked a vehicle sporting a sticker for Ciuros or anyone else on State property. 

Car in Reformatory parking lot from Elmira Star-Gazette, July 10, 1964

 Whatever your political affiliation and however you choose to display it, your vote counts! Make sure you vote this election!  

Hallowe’en in 1924

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator

If you lived in Elmira 100 years ago, on October 31 you would not see children in costumes trick-or-treating. Going house-to-house collecting candy and other goodies on Halloween just wasn’t a thing yet. Archivist Rachel Dworkin wrote a great blogpost last year about the history of trick-or-treat. Click here to read it. 

You may still hear your doorbell on Hallowe’en night in 1924. When you go to answer it, however, no one’s there. Ha! You’ve become a victim of a classic prank. It was common for youngsters to sneak around on the night of Hallowe’en engaging in mischief that ranged from the innocent door knock-and-run to malicious acts of theft and vandalism. On October 29, 1924, the Star-Gazette ran an article from Washington D.C. describing the city’s regulations for a safe and sane Hallowe’en. Throwing bricks and using flour for confetti were strictly prohibited and people could not wear masks on the street. Horn tooting and standard confetti tossing was permitted, however, if gently done. Pictures of chorus girls should not under any circumstances be posted on church doors, nor undertakers’ signs on doctors’ doors.

Police and residents here were also worried that mischief may get out of hand on Hallowe’en. In Elmira Heights, special police did extra patrols October 27-31 to keep pranksters in check. Another potential solution was to provide kids with so many activities around the holiday that they didn’t have the energy or inclination to get into trouble. Both the Elmira Free Academy and Southside High School hosted parties. Grace Church, First Baptist Church, Westside M.E. Church, the King’s Daughters Class of Oakwood Avenue M.E. Church, the Christian Endeavor Society of the Baptist Church, the Young People’s Fellowship of Trinity Church, the Christian Endeavor Society of the Baptist Church in Horseheads, and the First Church of Christ, Disciples all entertained young people and their families at Hallowe’en parties, dances, and masquerades in 1924.  

The Neighborhood House hosted two Hallowe’en parties – one on October 30 for boys and one on October 31 for girls. Nearly 300 boys attended the festivities. In order to get into the party, they had to pass through a “Chamber of Horrors” filled with ghosts, goblins, electrified stair railings, and jangling chains and tin pans. The awesome sounds, sights, and sensations reportedly sent thrills down their spines. Once inside the gymnasium, they enjoyed games, various races including sack, crab, wheelbarrow, water pan, candle, and shoe races, and pie and doughnut eating contests. The best costumes won prizes and each boy got apples to take home.

The Neighborhood House, c. 1925

The Southside Athletic Association, the Westside Community Association, and the North Main Street Better Business Club also hosted large neighborhood Hallowe’en celebrations specifically to keep youngsters from getting up to mischief such as ringing all the doorbells in town or heaving ancient cabbages on clean front porches. All three parties were free and open to the public.

The Southside Athletic Association’s Hallowe’en carnival took place on October 30 at the playground at Miller and Keefe Streets. The entire playground was lit up with red flame lights. More than 3,000 people enjoyed games, refreshments, and a big bonfire. The highlight of the evening was the greased pig chase. When the slicked-up animal was released, pandemonium broke loose. The Star-Gazette reported the next day that the porker was finally caught by John R. Mack. But then two weeks later, it published an article claiming that Johnnie Sweeney had caught the greased pig but then had it stolen from him. An unnamed man told the boy he was a member of the organizing committee, took the animal from him, and then ran off with it. The Southside Athletic Club promised to buy little Johnnie another pig.

The Westside Community Association celebration took place on October 31 at the playground on Hoffman Street. Festivities began with a parade of about 200 costumed children with prizes awarded from most comical costumes. The 1,000 attendees snacked on popcorn and apples, played games, enjoyed musical entertainment, and danced around a large bonfire.

Star-Gazette, October 22, 1924

The North Main Street Better Business Club hosted a large, well-advertised Mardi Gras Hallowe’en carnival on October 31 as well. North Main Street was closed from West Clinton to West Fourth Streets for the event. The party began with a parade of men, women, and children dressed up as ghosts, clowns, gnomes, elves, bandits, angels, male and female impersonators, and other characters. Local businesses and residents donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of prizes for those in the best costumes including toys, musical instruments, silk hose, flowers, candy, perfume, various hats, sacks of flour, a large ham, and cold, hard cash. After the parade, several thousand people enjoyed music played by the Elmira College orchestra and the Italian band, and entertainment from a troupe of performing donkeys. There were also refreshments and a large bonfire. 

Star-Gazette, November 1, 1924

The morning after Hallowe’en, the results were in: remarkably few instances of depredation or property damage were reported compared to previous years. The strategy of hosting a ton of parties to keep kids out of mischief was a success! Some of the tricks that were still pulled during the night included youngsters ringing the old ball at School No. 5, signs for “ice cream,” “boy wanted,” and “for rent” appearing on people’s homes, and windshields and windows being painted with soap. Police Chief Weaver admitted that harmless pranks were winked at by the police but his officers did go after more egregious offenders. A group of youths on Grove Street “jacked” up an automobile to see what would happen and were taken to police headquarters. They were given a warning and sent home. Another group used a ladder to let down four electric lamps suspended near Woodlawn Cemetery. The crime wasn’t discovered until a car got caught in the wires. No one was hurt but the perpetrators were still at large. There was also a large willow wicker chair awaiting its owner at police headquarters, the result of a not-particularly-clever Hallowe’en prank.

Have a Safe and Happy Hallowe’en!

 

A Friendly Family

By Rachel Dworkin, Archivist

 

It’s fascinating the influence a single family can have on a town, or even a nation. In the 1850s, four brothers immigrated to America from Bavaria, Germany. They were the sons of Josef M. Freundlich, a Jewish dairy farmer turned livestock dealer. Following a series of failed pro-democratic uprisings across the German states, there was an antiemetic wave which spurred many Jews to flee to the United States throughout the 1850s. The brothers Henry, Theodore, Samson, and Myer were part of this group.

The brothers initially settled in Cuba, New York, where they worked as peddlers. I was unable to find which brother arrived first, Henry or Theodore, but whichever did changed the family name to Friendly, the English translation of their original German surname. The younger brothers, Samson and Myer, came next around 1865 but found Cuba wasn’t to their liking. The boys headed further west to Lawrence, Kansas, which they used as a base of operations while they traded with the Native Americans out on the Great Plains. They soon amassed a small fortune trading in buffalo skins. Around 1875, they headed back east to settle in Elmira.

Theodore Friendly (1839-1933) came to Elmira in 1875 to establish Friendly Brothers dealership in wagons, carriages and agricultural implements with his brothers Samson and Myer. The business fell apart in the mid-1880s as each brother went his own way. Theodore opened a wagon store at 255-257 W. Water Street. He retired and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1908. His children were Abraham Friendly and Caroline Friendly Fybush. He had been a long-time member of Temple B’Nai Israel and he left them $500 in his will to establish a fund for building improvements and maintenance. 

Theodore Friendly

 Samson J. Friendly (1843-1919) left Friendly Brothers to establish a boot and shoe company. He brought his nephews, Myer and Solomon, into the business which they kept running after his eventual retirement. After retiring, he became a silent investor in a number of area industries and bought property here, as well as in Syracuse, Buffalo, and California.  He was an active member in Elmira’s Jewish community serving as president of Congregation B’Nai Israel from 1900 to 1908 as well as on the board of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association. He donated generously to both in his will, as well as the Arnot-Ogden Hospital, where he donated $5,000 to establish a fund for the care of indigent patients. The on-going renovation of his former home at 456 W. Water Street is currently the subject of a popular Instagram page.  

Samson Friendly

 

Myer Friendly (1848-1937) opened a wholesale/retail business in wagons, carriages, and farm implements on State Street after the breakup of Friendly Brothers. He and his wife Sarah built a stately home at 510 W. Church Street which eventually served as the first group home run by Glove House. He and Sarah had three children: Helen, Edwin, and Joseph, none of whom remained in the area. Edwin went on to become the long-time general manager of the New York Sun newspaper.  

 

Myer Friendly

Henry Friendly (1835-1910) was the eldest brother, but the last to settle in Elmira. Despite only being here a short time, he managed to have a pretty significant influence.  He came in 1891 at the urging of his sons, Myer and Solomon, who ran a shoe business with their uncle Samson. Henry served as the Elmira Park Commissioner under two consecutive administrations in the 1890s and early 1900s. At one point, he came under fire for the way he had ordered the willow trees trimmed at Eldridge Park. Apparently, he’d ordered the trees to be pollarded, a rather radical pruning that removes most branches in order to spur new, dense growth. Henry had to bring in a forestry expert from Cornell University to publically justify his decision. Three years later in 1909, the newspaper printed an apology agreeing that he made the right call and the trees looked better now. Henry joined Congregation B’Nai Israel where he served as president 1894 to 1897. He was a thrifty man and the fact that each of the city’s three synagogues had mortgages troubled him. So, he offered to pay off all the mortgages, providing each of the congregations agreed not to take up any new ones during his lifetime and five years after.

Henry Friendly

 Henry’s sons Myer H. Friendly (1862-1938) and Solomon H. Friendly (1865-1943) ran that shoe store I mentioned. After retiring in 1916, they both became real estate agents. Myer’s wife Leah was the founder of the local chapter of National Council of Jewish Women, which helped recent immigrants navigate the naturalization process and provided scholarships to Jewish youth. Stay tuned for the next paragraph about her and Myer’s son, Henry.  Solomon and his wife, Bertha, were unable to have biological children and instead adopted Bertha’s niece, Elsa, who became the modern languages teacher at Southside High School.

Henry J. Friendly (1903-1986), Myer and Leah’s son, is widely regarded as one of the most influential Federal judges of the 20^th century. He was the valedictorian of the EFA Class of 1919 and editor of the school newspaper, despite being two years younger than his peers. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he served as editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation, he practiced law in New York City until he was named to the Federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1959 where he served until his death in 1986. His name was once floated as an option for the Supreme Court, but it never panned out.

Although there are no longer any members of the Friendly family residing in Elmira, their influence still lingers on both locally, and across the nation.

Swimming in Wool

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator

There’s nothing better on a hot summer day than taking a dip in some nice cool water. For centuries people have used lakes, rivers, oceans, and pools to help beat the heat. But what if you had to wear layers of thick, heavy wool to go swimming?  That doesn’t sound refreshing at all.

Women posing for a studio portrait in bathing clothes, 1890s

Swimming as a recreational activity, especially for women, is a relatively new idea. By the mid-1800s, the growing middle class found themselves with more free time and disposable income. With railroads allowing for faster and less expensive travel, vacations to the shore where people would swim, surf bathe, and dive became very popular.

While women could go to the beach, they were required to preserve their modesty. They did this by wearing loose, full-length bathing gowns made of thick wool or canvas that wouldn’t cling to their bodies when they got wet. These outfits had high necks and full sleeves. They sometimes even had weights at the hem so the skirt wouldn’t rise up in the water. Another option was known as the Princess suit which was a one-piece garment of a blouse attached to trousers. A calf-length skirt was worn over top. Because of the restrictive, heavy clothing, women didn’t so much swim as just walk out into the water then walk back to shore again.

Two ladies testing the water, c. 1900, Harry B. Mitchell photographer

Actual swimming was left to men. Before the 1800s, it was typical for men to swim nude but as Victorian modesty took hold, men were required to also wear swimsuits. Their suits were also made of wool with long legs and sleeves but were much more form-fitting. As the 1800s progressed, men’s swimwear lost its sleeves and the length of the legs shortened to allow more freedom of movement.

Swimming the old fashioned way, 1890s, Robert Turner, Jr. photographer

Women wanted to move around more easily in the water too but the evolution of their swimwear was much more gradual. The bloomer suit, named after suffragist and dress reformer Amelia Bloomer, with shortened trousers underneath a short-sleeve tunic became increasingly popular through the middle of the century. Women wore these shorter suits with stockings and shoes to maintain their modesty. Through the late 1800s, the trousers became shorter until they could no longer be seen under the skirt. Knit fabric, while still made of wool, made for more comfortable suits. In France, women’s swimsuits lost their sleeves entirely and bottom hems rose all the way to the knees.

Local swim fashions c. 1900, Harry B. Mitchell photographer

In 1900, swimsuits with a sailor-style collar were very popular. They were typically made of dark colored fabric, still to preserve modesty, but were of a lighter weave. White trim around the hem and collar was also quite fashionable, as was wearing a soft cap or straw hat to complete the ensemble.

Edith Miller and Eva Derby modeling swimwear on March 8, 1901

The first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896. Swimming was one of the men’s events. In 1912, women were permitted to also compete in swimming in the Olympics. Leading up to women’s entry into the sport on the world’s stage, swimwear underwent major changes. In 1907, Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested for indecency at Revere Beach in Boston for wearing a fitted one-piece swimsuit that bared her arms and legs. The new style, though considered risqué, was much more practical for swimming and quickly caught on.

Annette Kellerman, early 1900s, from loc.gov

Swimsuits continued to become lighter and smaller through the 1910s and 1920s. Men’s and women’s suits actually looked strikingly similar during the 1920s. Both were one-piece garments with tank-style tops and straight overskirts with attached shorts underneath. They were also still made of wool. Some were even made locally. The Queen City Knitting Mills on Scottwood Avenue in the Elmira Heights manufactured wool bathing suits in the early 1900s.

The Carr family in Keuka Lake, 1929

By the 1930s, swimsuits were finally being made of different fabrics like cotton and rayon, and later other new synthetic materials. Swimmers during that era must have found the change refreshing.

Clinton Island in the Chemung River, c. 1910s

Operation Elmira

By Rachel Dworkin, archivist

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, just as the sun was setting, two waves of Douglas C-47s towing Horsa and Waco CG-4A gliders flew east over Utah Beach in Normandy, France. They were headed for Ste-Mére-Eglise, just a few miles in from the coast. Loaded aboard the 176 gliders were 1,190 troops, 59 vehicles, 25 anti-tank guns, and 131 tons of ammunition. It was Operation Elmira and they were flying into trouble.

The first glider combat operation was carried out by the Germans on May 10, 1940 when they used them to land troops inside Fort Eben-Emael, Belgium, allowing them to take what was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress. The United States Army Air Corps began its own glider program in February 1941 in response. In May 1941, army glider pilots began training at Harris Hill in Elmira, New York, on the east coast, and Twenty-Nine Palms, California, on the west. These early trainees were trained on commercial sailplanes, including the Schweizer SGS 2-8, manufactured here in Elmira. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and America’s entry into the war in December 1941, the Air Corps began training its glider pilots in earnest. American forces first used gliders during the Sicily campaign of 1943 and again in Burma in 1944. 

 

Gliders proved a valuable tool during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Operation Elmira was the third and final mission flown by the 82^nd Airborne Division on D-Day. The goal of Operation Elmira was to bring in reinforcements and equipment to paratroopers who had parachuted in earlier in the day. The mission consisted 36 Waco CG-4A gliders and 140 Horsa gliders towed by 176 Douglas C-47 airplanes. They left England around 6:30 pm and arrived in France in two waves. The first wave arrived around 9pm while the second arrived two hours later around 11pm. 

Horsa glider being pulled by a tow plane on its way to Normandy, June 6, 1944

 Things went wrong fast. The original plan called for the gliders to land at two different zones, LZ W and LZ O, but troops on the ground were unable to secure LZ W. Ground forces attempted to communicate with the in-coming pilots to warn them to divert all gliders to LZ O, but the message never went through. Instead, the C-47’s and their gliders flew into a barrage of German ground fire as soon as they began their approaches over LZ W. Of the 176 airplanes, 92 were damaged and five are shot down. Eight of the pilots were injured and one was killed. Things were even worse for the gilder pilots.

The gliders came down hard. One pilot, Ben Ward, touched down in a field only to realize that his break line had been shot out and they were headed for a pair of trees at 90 miles per hour. Their Horsa glider slid between the trees, sheering off the sides of the fuselage and killing one of their passengers. All told, most of the gliders were destroyed upon landing. Ten of their pilots were killed on impact with 29 injured and 7 missing in action. Of the 1,190 troops they carried, 157 were killed or injured. 

Horsa glider with rear open for loading

 The glider crews and passengers were still in danger even after they landed, considering many of them had landed behind enemy lines. Glider pilot Clifford Fearn had barely unbuckled his safety harness when his glider was overrun by Germans and they were all taken prisoner. He was freed a few hours later by advancing American troops. Another pilot, Rollin B. Fowler, found himself in a similar situation but managed to free himself with a grenade he had stuffed down his pants.

Despite the initial issues with the landing zones and resulting casualties, Operation Elmira was largely considered a success. Most of their cargo was delivered undamaged, as were the reinforcements. Seeing the first wave arrived in daylight hours helped boost American morale, even as it demoralized the Germans. Gliders continued to be used throughout the war, including on the very next day. Despite how useful they had been in delivering men and supplies, the sun soon set on combat gliders. They were never used again after World War II. Instead, they were replaced in their role by helicopters which had the advantage of being able to fly in and out under their own steam.  

 

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If you’re interested in learning more about Operation Elmira, the Chemung County Historical Society has a collection of first-person accounts of men who participated as compiled by researcher Adelbert Sahlberg in 1998.