Barney Newmark's 1921 Oakland

Over the weekend St. Louis County Library shared a link to their Digital Archives on social media. It's been around since March, but I hadn't realized it.

Searching the archives, I found a reference to my great grandfather in the 1921 St. Louis City/County Auto Registrations Directory

Organized by registration number, these would be next to impossible to browse if they weren't digitized and made searchable. I knew Barney's address from city directories and census records.

Oakland, a division of General Motors, would later change its name to Pontiac. 

I've long had a photograph in my collection of my great grandfather, Barney, great grandmother Bertha, and their two sons, Melvin and Harold - standing in front of a car. There was no date on the photograph. Since there are multiple cars in the background, I surmised they were on a parking lot. But they could easily be on a sales lot as well. In 1921 Melvin would have been 9 and Harold 6. That seems about right for the photograph.

The directory only tells us the make, not the model. We don't see much of the car in the background. But assuming it's a 1921 Oakland, I have been able to find online images of a coupe, touring car, and a sedan. For a family of four, it's not difficult to guess which one they bought. 

There's no guarantee that the photograph is of them purchasing the car, but it seems likely. 

This doesn't add a lot of genealogical information, but it does provide a very likely year for a photograph. 

Amanuensis Monday: Biography of Martin Deutsch - 1963

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. 

After a long hiatus, I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

Below I transcribe an article found at Newspapers.com providing a nice biography of my maternal grandfather, late in his career.

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Martin Deutsch, bio

Article from Apr 18, 1963 The Crane Chronicle (Crane, Missouri)

Meanwhile, for the local postal dedication, the Postmaster announced that the principal speaker will be Mr. Martin J Deutsch, Director, Engineering and Facilities Division. St Louis Regional Office. 

Mr. Deutsch was raised in Chicago where he attended the public schools, including a technical High School and Junior College. He received a LLB from DePaul University and is a member of the Illinois Bar. He has been with the Postal Service during his entire adult life, starting out as a postal clerk in the Chicago Post Office in 1925. He was a Postal Inspector (St. Louis Division) for about 25 years, specializing in buildings and facilities in Missouri, Iowa, and Arkansas. Subsequently, he was re-assigned as Real Estate Officer in the St. Louis Region. He has occupied his present position as Director Engineering and Facilities Division, St Louis Region, since establishment of the office in late 1962. 

Mr. Deutsch served in Africa and the Caribbean Area with the Air Transport Command during World War II. He has two married daughters _______, Pt Washington, New York, and _______ Lincoln, Nebraska.

 

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Notes

1) I continue my practice of leaving out the names of living relatives. However I will note that in both instances the individuals were residing in locations they were only in briefly, so it was a well-timed newspaper article.

2) I am fascinated by the detail the newspaper article went into the career and family of my grandfather when he was simply a speaker at a building dedication.

3) This does suggest he maintained his membership with the Illinois Bar Association even though he never practiced as a lawyer.