(The original) Adele Oltarsh was Hilda's beloved grandmother, (buried in our family plot at the Mt Lebanon, Glendale, Cemetery -- do I have this right?). Hilda's mother was Rose, for whom I'm sort of named -- Alexis Rachel. Hilda told me a story about Adele carrying her money in her bosom, which Hilda always pronounced boo-zum. This was, I suppose, in the days before bras, or pockets or good banking practices. Rose died after I was born, but had been institutionalized for many years and didn't recognize the family when they visited.
Hilda used to point out to me, and now I point out to Tariq, the building at the corner of Broadway and Canal, a handsome brick four-story number, that (according to Hilda) was built by an Oltarsh relative, an architect. It has the legend The Oltarsh Building in very big, green, copper Times Roman letters on both faces. (I think Hilda said the architect and the building were from the wealthy side of the Oltarsh family, but that may be my addition to the story.) What Hilda did tell me is that there was a feeble-minded female cousin who was set up in a business of her own, with a newspaper stand right near the handsome building, until she died. Another instance of immigrant families looking out for their own.
Hilda invented Christmas as an American holiday for the Berman family. As a teen one winter she got a seasonal job as a present wrapper at Macy's, and with her earnings bought her whole family gifts. I think this is significant because it's a tale of Hilda's great natural bounty and good cheer, and it also shows that she didn't feel she had to contribute to the family's upkeep -- evidently they were middle class enough not to need her earnings, despite being too poor for HD, Bib's dad.
Hilda was in her 80s when confessed to me that she'd been born on the Lower East Side, which, at the time, was the most densely populated slum in the Western world. What came as a shock (to me) was that her birthplace was evidently so shameful that she'd never mentioned it to me before. This is especially surprising in the light of the many frank conversations I had during the 29-odd years I was Hilda's only granddaughter, and Hilda's known candor. I remember that she once casually mentioned to me that she and Bib had slept together before marrying, quite a risk in those days.
The story I know about Frank Berman, Hilda's dad, was that he was sent to the new world to escape conscription in the Czar's army. That would makes us the descendants of a draft dodger, fine by me. Conscription was, I was told, especially onerous for Jews (?) who could expect tours of duty lasting 10 years and separations from their families of the same, unless they died in uniform. Frank arrived first in Canada, aged 14 or so, where relatives gave him a "peddlar's sack" probably filled with cloth, buttons, needles, pins, etc., and told him to come back when it was empty. According to Hilda, he almost married a Chicago woman, but for some reason that relationship didn't work out, and he found Rose Oltarsh in New York to marry him instead.
Bib was 12 when his mom, Ida (Ita) died. I know this because it was oft-repeated family lore that my paternal grandfather AND my maternal grandmother (Sadie Karnofsky of Glasgow, no relation to you) both lost their mothers at age 12.
Another point of connection was between my maternal grandfather (Daniel Swift) and Hilda: they were both born on December 13, although in different years.
The story I know about Bib and Cornell is from Allan, with a minor change in detail: that Harris would send money to the Dean for Bib. Instead, and for the reason you state, Bib attended City College, known as "the poor man's Harvard," where Allan would end up in the English Department many years later. I don't know if Bib actually graduated with a degree, do you? [Nachum is pretty sure he never got the college diploma, though he does have the gradeschool and highschool diplomas.]
One of Bib's jobs was selling books door-to-door. Encyclopedias? Not sure. He used the name "Danzio" when staying at the Young Men's Christian Association -- as an Italian Catholic -- while traveling.
Camp Swago, where Bib met Hilda, was owned by Dave Oltarsh, Hilda's uncle, the father of the Adele Oltarsh known to us. It'd be great to figure out if Dave was a brother of the orginal Adele Oltarsh or a son, and therefore what his relationship to us was exactly. Mark Smoller will know, and this will give me a wonderful reason to call him. (Bobby's been ill but is recuperating. I'm in regular touch with our cousin Bruce, having been reintroduced to him at Mark and Bobby's 50th wedding anniversary two years ago. Bruce has two boys, Jason and Gabey, both now off to college, a lovely medieval history professor wife, and is the Chair of the Pathology Department at the U of Arkansas). At Camp Swago, Bib showed his interest in Hilda by tipping her out of a canoe where she was relaxing and reading a book during her off-hours. Hilda told me this with great merriment.
I think you have the card story essentially right -- from what I know. It certainly works as a narrative. Not to sow seeds of discontent amongst competing narratives and their tellers, but I like your version of the card story. I don't know whether it's precisely "traditionalist" or not, but it feels right, given the personalities. That's sometimes how bona fide biographers do this stuff you know. (I've been reading the NYTimes Book Review quite a lot since law school's been over.)
Did you hear the one, told to me by Mark and Bobby, of my parents, Allan and Naomi, inviting M & B over for dinner (all were newly weds) and greeting them stark naked?
No, I'd never heard that one either.
At some point, Hilda had two canaries, one of which was named Blue Bells. Bib called it Blue Balls, with no pretense of affection. It was one of those ideas of Hilda's that Bib just went along with. As young marrieds Naomi and Allan had cats, McHaggis and Scouse, and left them in Hilda and Bib's care before going on vacation. They'd just released the cats in the house when a huge crash was heard: Scouse (or McHaggis) had levitated, smashing the wicker bird cage to pieces and eating both canaries.