Chapter 27

Our new house was a delight and a distraction to all the Stewarts that first year. Campbell had put a great deal of thought into its construction anticipating that it would be our home for many, many years. I loved the basement - cozy and warm in the winter - and cool and pleasant in the summer. The huge coal furnace stood in the center, and behind it the coal bin, the laundry room, complete with clotheslines and a bathroom with a vanity sink, toilet, and shower, plus a dressing room. At the other end of the basement, a workbench the entire length of the wall, complete with all the tools needed to maintain a large household. Campbell put one of his old radios down on the bench so that Florence could enjoy music while she did the washing. Eric spent a great deal of time working at the bench, fixing something for the house, or building a model ship or plane.

Florence would set the dining room table promptly at six every evening while mother put the finishing touches to dinner. We each had our napkins in silver monogrammed napkin rings from Scotland. Mother sat at one end of the table, with Irv and Helen to her right and left, and father sat at the other end with Martha and me on either side. Father kept the conversation light and family and school oriented. Florence set places for herself and Eric at the kitchen table, but I noticed if I made a trip to the kitchen that Eric had taken his plate to the sunroom and was eating there. He would not sit at the same table with her as he was a racist. This was confirmed when we found KKK literature in his wastebasket. The KKK was a powerful force in the late twenties and early thirties in the country. When we mentioned this to Campbell, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I've already spoken to him about using the word nigger...let me know if he does (again) and he will be out of here!"

Changing Times (Chapter 28)

The year 1930 began with the Great Depression well under way. Hoover was President, and many people blamed him, but of course no one person could be blamed. There was much talk every week when father met with his friends around the dining room table - usually on Friday nights. All the ramifications of the state of the country were discussed and the name Franklin Delano Roosevelt emerged as a principal topic. Campbell was impressed with him, and put his support squarely behind him. All the talk was animated, intelligent and informative, and as a `10 year old, I learned a lot just listening.

Going on trips downtown with father were depressing and not quite as much fun as they used to be. There were long lines of unemployed lining up for whatever jobs were available, and soup kitchens set up all over to feed those with no jobs or money. These sights made a deep impression on me when I was 12, especially when I saw World War 1 veterans selling apples on street corners, huddled in their World War 1 uniforms and polishing the apples with their "doughboy" caps before holding them out for your inspection. The Forgotten Men!

Eric Hopf did not participate in any of the round table discussions. In fact, Friday nights were mother's movie night, and she always went out to see a film saying that she was going with her younger brother, Eugene Beck, who was 22 at the time. Eric, of course, drove them!

The Stewart children loved the living room in their new house, especially in the winter when after supper the fire in the large stone fireplace would be lit. Campbell would be settled in his big red leather wing chair and the large console radio would be turned on. He enjoyed "The March of Time" weekly news hour. Martha and I loved the "Little Theater off Times Square". Irving loved "G Men" and the "Eddie Cantor show". Helen was too young to really have a favorite, and didn't like the scary music sometimes played on "G Men" and so would end up on father's lap. But, father would not allow the radio to take over, and the nights when programs weren't on were reading time. We all enjoyed this time as much as the radio and Martha and I took turns as reader. How we loved and enjoyed our big, cozy living room with the crackling fire. Those years 1930 to 1934 became the last and most enjoyable of our family "years". The family was fractured after that and we never knew them again...

The Early 1930's (Chapter 29)

Yes, the years from 1930 to 1934 were our last years as a family, and even though the rest of the country was in the throes of a terrible deparession, it did not affect us. We lived as comfortably as ever. Mother continued with her lavish Christmases - with a twelve foot Christmas tree and a huge roast goose every year - plus a living room full of toys. In 1931, I was given a doll house that became the talk of the neighborhood as all the neighbors trooped in to see it. It was furnished in handmade furniture from England. Irving got a large Lionel train that ran all around the tree, through tunnels, over hills and dales with little houses and a railroad Station. All toys in 1931 were made of wood or metal. Plastic was a material in the far distant future. Martha got her own roll-top desk and Helen received a wicker doll buggy with a brand new Eff and Bee baby doll. Uncle Edward's boxes from Scotland continued to add so much joy to our Christmas celebration. He made a point of getting all our sizes in advance and this was the year he sent Campbell a Harris Tweed jacket that he wore for twenty years. Martha and Helen and I all received pleated skirts in the Stewart tartan and this was the year that he sent Irving a Pennywhistle like the ones used in Highland bands - it drove us all crazy as Irv learned to play it, and he did!

Campbell would sit in his red chair listening to all the exclamations of joy as we looked at our gifts. He was no doubt remembering Christmases in Scotland as a boy when his grandfather would give him a Bible and his mother would give him a new fishing pole. It was the year 1931 that we were listening to an account of a parade being broadcast from New York and a band of pipers passed playing Scotland Forever on their bagpipes. I looked over at father, and the tears were streaming silently down his face.

You Ain't So Tough (Chapter 30)

During those early Depression years, Eric Hopf knew that he was fortunate to have a job, especially one that included room and board in a lovely home, and proximity to an attractive woman who was attracted to HIM! His job was easy - just have the Cadillac ready to go wherever Campbell or the family needed it, tend the furnace, and keep the yard tidy and the grass cut. Once he took Campbell to wherever destination he needed to go, he was free to chauffeur Jeanette to her principal activities, which were shopping, visiting relatives, and visiting Mrs. Hopf, his mother.

Jeanette had maintained her friendship with Gerta Hopf. Eric was 26 when he moved in and mother was 32. Jeanette bought Eric a much larger tropical fish tank than the one he moved in with to keep his tropical fish on display in the rear sunroom where he also ate all his meals alone. Eric was not included in any family meals or activities except as driver.

Campbell continued to set up his typewriter every morning on the dining room table to write his correspondence for the day. Florence would serve him his breakfast there, and Ed Gregor would often join him. Eric would go in and get his orders for the day, but his conversations with Campbell were short and to the point. The two men had little in common. The four of us - Martha, Nannie, Irv, and Helen would be noisily eating breakfast and getting ready for school in the kitchen under the watchful eye of Florence, and sometimes Mother. Eric was totally indifferent to the four of us. Oh, he would drive us to school on rainy or very cold days, but he cared nothing for us, and he was especially irritated by 8 year old Irv! Irv had to share part of the garage with Eric as Campbell had his carpenters build a little workbench for Irv in a corner and a ladder leading up to his pigeon coops. Every once in awhile Irv would make a mess with sawdust or wood shavings and did not always sweep it all up. Mother was expecting Grandma and Grandpa Beck one weekend to show off her new house and Irv had left a terrific mess in the garage. Eric was pointing it out to her when Irv came in and mother angrily said, "You should get a good spanking for leaving this mess!" I was standing in the far corner feeding my rabbits, when to my horror, Eric unbuckled and took off his leather belt and thrust it in her hands saying, "Here - go ahead!" As children, we were never hit or beaten - ever! She took one look at Eric, swung the belt around, and whacked him across the chest with it, saying "I dont need a belt to discipline my kids!" If she had struck Irv with the belt, I would never have forgiven her...But, she used it right back on Eric, and I loved her for it!

Weeks later we all went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to see the fearsome Bushman, the world famous gorilla. We were all standing in front of his cage with a small crowd. Uncle Eugene had hoisted Irv up on his shoulder for a better look when suddenly Irv looked over at Eric, who was standing beside mother, and shouted, "Hey Eric - do you still think you're so tough!"

The Reader (Chapter 31)

The early Depression years saw many changes in the world. In the Stewart family, Martha turned thirteen years of age in 1932 and seemed to be less cranky, as she was apparently outgrowing her allergies. She found a new friend, a long-legged girl like herself, who also wore huge hair bows. Her name was Mary Jane Hoppe, and the two of them had secrets, and did not include me. I felt hurt and left out..father, sensing my pain, made me his "secretary". So, it was my job to read him his mail - the headlines, articles, and market reports in the Tribune every evening, and to proof read back to him all his typewritten correspondence. Also, to stamp and mail his letters in the mailbox on the corner. I was twelve and in the 7th grade and these tasks, and making his tea every afternoon after school, made me feel very important and needed. He always invited Florence to stop her work and have a "cuppa" with us.

This was the year that we received the phone call from Auntie Nan with the news that Aunt Helen's husband, uncle Harry Fagan, had died. Father had tears in his eyes as he typed out a beautiful letter to Helen and signed it "Cambie". He asked me to write out a little note at the bottom of the page. All I could say was, "Dear Aunt Helen. I loved him too - and I am so sorry. Love, Nanny". That was a very sad year as the Lindberg baby was kidnapped and murdered - a crime that left a deep impression on me at age 12, as I had just finished reading "WE" - the story of Lindy's famous flight to father and Irv. I read two other books that year - All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, and Mother India, by Katherine Mayo. My teacher, Mrs. Ford, saw the books in my school bag to bring to the Community House lending library and promptly wrote a note to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart. The note said, "I believe that Nancy is reading books that are too mature for her. Please give this your attention," signed Mrs. Ford. Campbell wrote back on his typewriter, "Dear Mrs. Ford, Please be advised - Nancy is allowed to read whatever she wishes," signed in his "old world" script - Campbell Stewart.

A Friendship is Born (Chapter 32)

The last years of our lives together as a family were eventful and happy. Campbell wanted his children to partake of all the cultural advantages of living in Chicago - and there were many. We would all pile into the Cadillac on Saturdays or Sunday afternoons and go downtown to the lake front where we could visit the great Field Museum of Natural History, the Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium - all wonderful sources of exposure to the wonders of the world. Irv loved the magnificent Buckingham Fountain and occasionally got soaked as he played too close to it. He loved the great Lincoln Park Zoo and never tired if seeing Bushman the Gorilla. Martha and I enjoyed the Art Institute and strolling down Michigan Avenue to look in all the elegant store windows.

When the Century of Progress - the great Chicago World's Fair of 1933/34 - came, Martha and I were 13 and 15 years old and we spent many happy hours there with our young uncle Eugene Beck viewing all it's wonders! Irv never liked the "Loop" - the downtown business area of the city - so Campbell did not take him or Helen on trips there, but Martha and I loved it. We loved the glittering marquees on the theater fronts, the shops, and elegant hotels and restaurants. After father had conducted his business downtown, we often followed it with a "treat", lunch at a favorite restaurant or hotel, all within walking distance of the many theaters. For a special treat when I was twelve and Martha was fourteen, Campbell took us to a matinee performance of the great Katherine Cornell in The Barretts of Wimpole Street, a thrilling live theater experience. Another memorable theater experience was a live performance of La Argentina, the greatest Spanish Flamenco dancer of that day. Campbell really enjoyed that, and even though he could not see the swirling red ruffles of her skirts, he loved the sound of her castanets and the guitars. When we got home, Martha and I spent the next few weeks stamping our feet on the kitchen floor, strumming her Ukelele and wailing away in a vain attempt at Flamenco much to Florence's chagrin!

Campbell had many friends downtown. He knew the Loop and had the map of it's streets in his head so that he could be dropped off anywhere downtown and not be lost. One early evening Father, Martha, and I were standing on a corner of State Street waiting for Eric to come with the car and take us home. A newsman nearby was hawking his papers, shouting the headlines, "Get your Daily News here - read all about it!" He had his papers on a portable stand right on the corner. After a few minutes, Campbell said, "Nannie, Martha take me to that newsman." We did, and the man said, "Paper sir?" Campbell replied, "Yes, indeed, and you sir are from Glasgow!" The man staggered back, "How did ya know?" Campbell replied, "I have been listening to you, and I think you worked in the shipyards - I recognize the language "O the Clyde." The man stared at father as though he'd seen a ghost. He said, "All true, and you sir are a Scot, right?" Father replied, "Right you are," and, putting out his hand said, "Campbell Stewart." The man grasped his hand and said, "Alan Brodie from Glasgow." They both laughed heartily and a friendship was born on the spot that was to last many years.

A New Arrival (Chapter 33)

Martha and I shared a large front bedroom with twin beds directly across the hall from the master bedroom, our parents' room. Our room overlooked the street and the front entrance to our house so that we could see the comings and goings of everyone. We always knew when mother came home as she would jump out of the car at the front door and come in alone while Eric drove to the rear and put the car in the garage. Campbell would be seated in his big red wing chair listening to the radio. He did not always wait up for her, but would go up to bed in his twin bed alone, but not before he had done his nightly check up. He would make sure the fireplace screen was in place, then go into the kitchen and check all the burners on the gas stove, tightening them to be sure they were all off. Then he would lock the two back doors on the Sun Room and back door and lock all the lower windows. It was one of Eric's tasks to bank the furnace with coal in the winter and to make sure the basement door was locked to the outside, also the windows. The garage, too, was Eric's responsibility - to be carefully locked after the car was put away. All that to prevent burglary as there were many "break ins" in Sauganash during those "hard times".

Many times Eric would stay up late down in the basement working on models on the workbench down there and listening to the radio. More than once, I saw mother slip downstairs, and I knew that she was going down the basement to see him. If she met Campbell she would hastily say, "Oh - I have to get something off the line!" (Clothesline in basement). Martha and I were in our early teens and keenly aware of every look, every nuance in the behavior of mother towards Eric. And, of his behavior towards her! And, they were oh so careful! They kept a low profile and tread VERY lightly through these early thirties years in the Tudor house, doing nothing that would jeopardize their situation as the recipients of the "Goose that laid the Golden Egg." Campbell, who was providing them with a life of luxury amid all the woes of the outside world - suffering the worst depression in history.

Martha and I knew very little of the "facts of life" at 13 and 15. We were not as precocious as the teenagers of today. The adults in our lives were the ultimate authority. So, we did not confront mother, or heaven forbid, Eric! And, we could not tell father! I had seen him weep at the sound of bagpipes, and when he heard of the death of Aunt Helen's husband, and the thought of hurting him by telling him of the obvious duplicity that was happening right in our home was beyond the pale! But we knew, Martha and I, and we had stopped talking about it in our twin beds at bedtime - the knowledge became something unspoken between us that we just lived with.

Gerta Hopf knew too, and she had been a witness to Campbell's suffering when he came back from the war, blind. She could do nothing and she was a kind, good soul! Florence, dear Florence, was utterly devoted to Campbell! She only spoke to Eric when she had to and avoided all contact or conversation with him. I believe she hated and feared Eric because of his racism and Klan interests. My dear, funny, young uncle Eugene Beck served as cover for them, mother and Eric! Whenever mother was asked, "What did you do downtown?" The answer was, "Oh I went down with "Eug" or "Eug and I" are going up to the cabin for a few days - I'm thinking of buying it!" And of course Eric accompanied them - as the driver of course!

On the evening of February 13th, 1934, Martha and I were sitting at the dining room table making Valentines for the Valentine box in school the next day. Irv and Helen were watching us, and we were happily teasing each other about who would be getting the valentines. Mother came and sat down with us, and after a few moments said, "I have a surprise for you all!" And followed with, "You are all going to have a new brother or sister this summer - maybe in July!"

I was in the 8th grade, due to graduate in June, later to start high school in September, and attending the same private high school that Martha attended, North Park Academy on the northwest side of Chicago. Aunt Gertrude had to make my graduation dress as mother was in the final weeks of her pregnancy by then. The graduation was held in the lovely Community House in Sauganash. We did a scene from Little Women in which I played Beth. It went very well, and I saw mother in the front row wearing a wrap around light housedress because she was in the final stage of her pregnancy and would give birth at any time. I saw Florence sitting way in the back at the far left trying to be invisible because she didn't want to be seen next to the "white ladies". This was 1934, and sadly, "par for the course" back then! Just ten days later, mother was rushed to Swedish Covenant hospital, and on July 6th, gave birth to a baby boy!