Two Portraits of Great Grandfather

Filling in with some background information during a letter-writing hiatus from December 20, 1949 to January 5, 1950, as June enjoys Christmas break at home (with frequent dates with Art)…

My next free night I really have to do some work on my great grandfather.  I wonder if that last sentence sounded strange to you?  I mean work on his portrait.

                                                                  Art Price

                                                                  Letter to June Anderson, Dec. 15, 1949

There are two versions of this painting.

Art was unsatisfied with his first attempt at a portrait of his great grandfather George J. Werner.  He was working from a photograph of his ancestor in his Civil War uniform, posed after the war as is indicated by the Grand Army of the Republic insignia on his cap.  This is the first version of Art’s painting.

Portrait of George J. Werner, oil painting by Art Price.

Then Art tried again.  This time he painted his great grandfather against a landscape typical of the backgrounds found in some of his other paintings.

Portrait of George J. Werner, oil painting by Art Price.

Art’s great grandfather George J. Werner was born in Baden, Germany in the early to mid-1840s.  While still a boy, he and his family immigrated to the United States.  He would have been in his late teens or early twenties and probably living in New York City when the Civil War broke out.

George Werner entered the army in a brigade composed entirely of German immigrants living in New York.  He started in Company E, 20^th New York Volunteer Infantry, in September 1862.  His service in the Army of the Potomac placed him at important battles in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.  He was slightly wounded by gunshot on his right side near Cold Harbor, Virginia in July 1864.  Promoted to the rank of Sergeant, he continued his service and was present at Appomattox Courthouse at the conclusion of the war on April 9, 1865.  His service continued a few months longer, and he was honorably discharged on June 24, 1865.

After the war, records indicate that George Werner married Emma Baldwin, and he worked as a hatter in a felt hat factory and later as a letter carrier in Orange, New Jersey.  George and Emma had two sons, Herbert and Edwin.  Herbert was Art’s grandfather;  Ada Belle (Art’s mother) was his daughter.

© 2010 Lee Price

Nice Weather for Dating



Draft newsletter cover for the
Southampton V.F.W. by Art Price.

There was no white Christmas for Southampton and Riverhead in 1949 and, in fact, there hadn’t been any significant snow accumulations yet that year.  It was probably cold enough to snow, with the temperature in the low 30s for Christmas morning, but there was no snow reported.

The day after Christmas was one of the warmest on record.  The temperature reached 54 degrees that afternoon.  The nighttime temperature only dropped to the low 40s.

The weather remained warm but clouds moved in on Tuesday (December 27, 1949) and it rained

                                                                                     most of the day.

And that was as bad as the weather got over Christmas break in 1949.  The rain passed by the next day, the sun came back out, and the pleasant, unseasonably mild, weather returned.  It was nice weather for dating and frequent trips back and forth between Southampton and Riverhead.

The snow shovels remained untouched in the Price's garage on Cooper Street.  Some years you get lucky.

Thanks to Weather Underground for their excellent historic weather data!

© 2010 Lee Price

Christmas Art

When this entry was first posted, we were uncertain
who painted this.  Since then, Diane M. Martin Anderson
has shared that she remembers this as a paint-by-numbers
painting done by June's mother, Maud Anderson.
This sounds right to me.



Draft newsletter for Southampton United
Methodist Church by Art Price.



Christmas cartoon by Art Price.

© 2010 Lee Price

Christmas Candlelight Service, 1949

“I was very surprised when you invited me to the Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve.  I thought you would be ushering in Southampton and I wouldn’t see you that night.”

                                                               June Anderson

                                                               Letter to Art Price, Dec. 19, 1949

Draft of newsletter design for the
Southampton United Methodist Church
by Art Price.

Art and his parents were very busy with activities at the church throughout the year but especially at Christmas.  One of the letters refers to how Art helped his father put up the two huge Christmas trees that dominated the front of the sanctuary during the Advent season.

The Southampton United Methodist Church had one Christmas Eve service, beginning at 11 p.m. and ending at midnight.  In the 1940s, you’d dress up for the service.  Men would be in suits and women in dresses.  Art would have picked June up at her house in Riverhead that evening and brought her to Southampton.  They would have sat with his parents in the pews on the left side, near the front.

Candles were handed out at the beginning of the service.  At the Christmas Eve service, there was more singing than usual – nearly all of the traditional Christmas carols.  The Christmas story was read from the Gospel of Luke.  The minister’s sermon was kept blessedly short.

Near the end of the service, the ushers came forward to light their candles from the Christ candle at the altar.  Then they proceeded back through the church, pew by pew, lighting the first candle in each row.  Down the pew, each candle would light the next until the church was filled with shimmering candles.  The main lights were turned off and the congregation sang “Silent Night” in a church glittering with candlelight.  Then, still in candlelit darkness, the organist tolled twelve notes signifying midnight.  There was a moment of silence and then the service ended with a rousing “Joy to the World.”

June and Art would have blown out their candles before venturing out into the cold December night.  He still had to return June to Riverhead for Christmas at home with the family, probably not getting home himself until well after 1 a.m.

(Tomorrow – Christmas art.)

© 2010 Lee Price

The Most Romantic Blog on the Internet

Filling in with some background information during a letter-writing hiatus from December 20, 1949 to January 5, 1950, as June enjoys Christmas break at home (with frequent dates with Art)…

June and Art.

While there is a break in the love letters from December 20, 1949 to January 5, 1950, there’s no break in the romance.  June and Art spent Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve together, probably visited together on Christmas and New Year’s Day, and doubtless went on dates whenever possible.

To recap:  June and Art’s romance began in May 1949, ripened that summer, and the love letters started when June left for school in New York City in late September.  June temporarily withdrew from school in October when her appendix burst.  She returned to school and the correspondence resumed in early November.  Within the past month, their love has been noticeably deepening as evidenced by exchanges such as these:

November 30, 1949

June to Art:

“Tomorrow I am going to walk into this room and there – lo and behold!  A great big fat letter from a real nice guy named Art.  And you know what?  It’s so anxious to be read it just jumps right in my arms.  I can daydream, can’t I?  Only tomorrow I hope it will be fact instead of fiction.  Remember, I miss you.  Please make my dream come true.”

December 5, 1949

June to Art:

“How I enjoyed yesterday!  Walking through Central Park, down Fifth Avenue, the ice show, Times Square – even walking in the rain.  I only hope you had half as good a time.”

December 9, 1949

Art to June:

“Keep in out of this cold weather and don’t walk in the rain without me.”

December 10, 1949

June to Art:

“I’m going to miss you tomorrow.  Even the Museum of Natural History isn’t as nice as you.”

December 16, 1949

Art to June:

“Six long days and five even longer evenings till you’re in my arms again.  I didn’t know I could miss anyone this much.  I’m almost glad I hadn’t met you while I was in the Navy.  I probably would have gone over the hill.”

December 15, 1949

Art to June:

“Only seven days left.  I miss you.  I don’t think I’ll send kisses.  I’m saving them for delivery in person.”

December 18, 1949

June to Art:

“I’m very eager to receive that special delivery in person.  Missing you.”

(Tomorrow – the candlelight Christmas Eve service.)

© 2010 Lee Price

Christmas Songs on the Radio, 1949

Filling in with some background information during a letter-writing hiatus from December 20, 1949 to January 5, 1950, as June enjoys Christmas break at home (with frequent dates with Art)…

Cartoon drawing by Art Price.

In their letters, June and Art frequently refer to the radio playing in the background, sometimes with old-time radio shows and often with music.  As Christmas neared, there would have been plenty of Christmas songs on the radio.

The huge Christmas hit of 1949 was “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” by Gene Autry, the famous singing cowboy.  This was something of a follow-up to Autry’s first major Christmas song, “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane),” which was a top 10 hit of the 1947 Christmas season.  “Rudolph” was even bigger, a number one smash hit that sold over 2.5 million copies.  It would have dominated radio airplay during the week before Christmas 1949, 61 years ago.

These are some of the other popular Christmas songs that would have been in the air at the time:  “White Christmas,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” “The Christmas Song,” “Blue Christmas” (Ernest Tubb version, not Elvis yet), “Sleigh Ride,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” along with traditional songs like “Jingle Bells” and, of course, all the Christmas carols.

They would not have heard the following (all written and performed after 1949):  “Frosty the Snowman,” “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” “We Need a Little Christmas,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “Feliz Navidad,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and that one where the dogs bark “Jingle Bells.”

(Tomorrow – a romantic recap.)

© 2010 Lee Price

A Visit to the Frick

Filling in with some background information during a letter-writing hiatus from December 20, 1949 to January 5, 1950, as June enjoys Christmas break at home (and frequent dates with Art)…

As planned, June’s mother arrived in the city on Tuesday, December 20.  She traveled on the Long Island Rail Road to Penn Station in New York City, where June would have met her at a station packed with Christmas travelers.

Maud (June’s mother) was a small-town Southern girl from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  After her marriage to Theodore Anderson, the young couple briefly lived in New York City.  Maud retained very fond memories of her young married life in the city.  After forgetting her mother’s birthday (!), June felt she owed her mother a good time in the city and she hoped to make the visit as special as possible.

June planned to take her mother out for some last minute Christmas shopping and also a visit to June’s favorite museum, The Frick Collection at Fifth Avenue and 70th Street.  A private mansion converted into an Old Masters art museum, The Frick Collection is an elegant, tranquil oasis in the heart of the city.  Escaping from the bustle of the Christmas crowds, June and her mother would have enjoyed time with masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Holbein, Titian, El Greco, and many other legendary European masters.
 

The Boucher Room, decorated with large oil panels by François Boucher,
at The Frick Collection in New York City (early 1950s).
Image courtesy of The Frick Collection/
Frick Art Reference Library Archives.

(Tomorrow – Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.)

© 2010 Lee Price