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December 28th, 2009 Dear Mr. Stevens, I am not certain I am writing to the correct party and if I am not, perhaps you will be good enough to help me connect to someone who might be interested in what I have to offer. I am a fan of the newly-formed "rockaway memories" website and I am fascinated with what it has to offer. I was a long-time resident of the Rockaways, moving out to Long Island after I retired at the end of the 70s. I look forward to seeing the many photographs and reading the wonderful articles. I especially favor the history of which you write. Recently, one of my childhood friends acquired from eBay (of all the most unlikely places) an old photo scrapbook from the year 1909 showing the pride of a couple in their purchase of a summer home in Edgemere, Far Rockaway. My friend and I had spoken on a few occasions about his recent acquisition and I was most anxious to "get my hands on it" - I had hoped to share it with someone from the website where it could be reproduced and enjoyed by all. I have to admit I was disappointed with the quality of what my friend purchased. I suppose the description of the album on the auction site was modestly accurate; however, the small photographs were so badly faded, I found it rather impossible to determine any specifics about the area. I was hoping to at least recognize the street and the position of the bungalow with relation to the ocean front. I sat with the album for a few days, not certain as to what to do with it. Perhaps I should just return it to my friend along with my thanks - but then I felt: why not write to Mr. Stevens at the website and see what he suggests I do with it. I want to repeat that it is not my family or my family bungalow, nor is it that of my friend. We have no idea of who these people are nor do we know where the bungalow was located. So, naturally we have no way of knowing whether or not this house still stands. I have gone over all of the photos and have written possible descriptions of what is being shown in each photo. My own family rented a bungalow in Edgemere for many seasons (back in the 40s). I was told that the initial building costs for such abodes amounted to about $900. — a lot of money back at the turn of the century. There were no roads, no sidewalks, no services, no stores, no electricity (that DID come in a few years later), no telephone, and no heat or hot water. Cooking was conducted by way of burning of wood (very little of that available on the peninsula back then) or by bottled gas. Most people who owned bungalows back at that time simply left all their belongings in the summer home during the winter and then when they returned the following spring, they just did a reasonable clean-up, everything was exactly as they had left it the prior fall season. People were honest back then and I never heard of a house break-in; also, there was very little of true value to steal. Whoever put this album together certainly did it with a lot of love and an abundance of pride. A lot of work went into taking these pictures, having them developed, and then neatly positioning them on the pages. Too bad that the photo-developing chemicals and paper of the early 1900s were of such poor and temporary quality.
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Whoever coined the term "summer fades into yesterday" certainly "hit the nail on the head" because I would wager that most of the pictures taken one hundred years ago have simply faded off the very papers they were printed on. I hope you can use what I have sent along. If not, please forward the material along to someone who can best utilize it. I have enclosed my check to pay for the cost of return mailing. I sincerely pray that you can do something with this wonderful and nostalgic piece of Rockaway history. John S. December 30th, 2009 Dear John, Thank you for your thoughtful note and the wonderful picture album. You most certainly have sent the album to the correct person. I will take special care of this item while it is in my possession. I will notify you when the album has been completely scanned and I will make proper arrangements for its safe return. I also want you to know that any materials submitted to me for inclusion on the website will be returned at my own personal expense. There is absolutely no reason why you should be penalized a single cent for making such a valuable contribution. I will return your undeposited check when I send the album back to you. I have spoken to Martin Nislick, the webmaster of "www.rockawaymemories.com" and he feels that he might be able to "work some magic" to enhance the quality of the original photographs (click here to view an unretouched page of photos prior to photo-editing). It is very unfortunate that the chemicals of the day were so unstable and undependable. And you are most correct that so much of our early history is fading away with each and every passing year. This is why, as lovers of history, we have to learn to depend upon picture postcards because so much of the time and effort taken to record the everyday happenings of the early years has faded away over the past decades. After reviewing what you have written to describe each and every photo, I have decided to "go" with what you have written. Obviously you have experience living in a summer bungalow and you are probably more familiar with the Edgemere of the mid century than am I. I have taken a few liberties with what you wrote but for the most part, the captions accompanying the photos are what you yourself have provided. I have requested of the webmaster that after he has displayed your album on the website, that it be included in the history section of the site as a permanent historical document. I cannot thank you enough for your interest in the Rockaways and for taking the time to write to me and to send along this valuable article for all to enjoy. Please also extend my thanks to your friend for discovering this album on eBay, for bidding on it and "winning" it and then for passing it along to you. I will get back to you shortly to let you know when we have completed
work on this album and I will let you know at that time when it will
be returned to you. Stevie S. Stevens email: steviesstevens@cs.com |
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