One day, while cleaning out the basement, I found a small box. It contained carefully-saved items that provided a glimpse back to the year 1938, and into the life of a little girl.
The box held possessions of Helen Hartoebben, 14 years old in 1938, and newly graduated from the 8th grade. In the box was her 8th grade diploma, along with many cards congratulating her on her graduation.
In the same box were books of accordion sheet music dating from a few years later. Now the early 1940s, Helen is a teenager, and she plays the accordion. Further research revealed that her older brother was drafted into the army in 1941, just as the United States was entering World War II. Helen’s sheet music contains many patriotic songs and military marches.
We did more investigating. The 1950 Census shows Helen still living here. She is now 25 years old. Her brother has returned from his service in the Army, and is again living with Helen and their parents here on Sidney street.
Other traces, from online newspaper sites: In 1952, Helen served as an election judge. And as an election judge again in 1956 and in 1960. In each case, the newspaper lists her as living here in our building.
Helen was 36 years old in 1960. That’s the last year we can say for certain that she lived in our building, but we think she was here until the end of her life. Both her parents lived here (and died here). And we know that her brother ended up owning the building and living here his entire life (more on him later). Helen died in 1985. She was 61 years old.
Below are pictures of some of Helen’s things. I think it’s amazing to have this glimpse into her life from so long ago.
Check out the gift tags, graduation tassel, and a cheerful little grad sitting in a basket.
The tag is addressed to “Miss Hartoebben”, from “Mother”. Also found was her diploma. Helen graduated 8th grade from St. Agnes school on June 19th, 1938. There is some confusion about her middle name. The diploma calls her Helen Elizabeth Hartoebben. But the graduation cards, when they use a middle name, are all addressed to Helen Mae (sometimes spelled Helen May). The issue is further complicated by the fact that there was at least one actual Helen Elizabeth Hartoebben out there. But she was born in 1902, which makes her 36 year old and unlikely to be graduating 8th grade in 1938. Our working theory is that the school simply made a mistake on the diploma.
We found a whole pile of cards wishing congratulations to young Helen. My favorite is the one from “Mrs. Mansfield”.
When you open the card, it has a pop-up bear. How cool is that? I get a kick out of the fact that the card is so formal. Maybe Mrs. Mansfield was a teacher or a neighbor. That could be an item for future investigation.
Here’s another interesting one, this one is just from “Sadie”. It was mailed in, but nowhere on the envelope does it mention “St Louis, MO”. It just has the street address and the word “City”. And no return address. Ha. Can you imagine trying to send a letter like that now?
The language in the card is so cumbersome:
“Heartiest Congratulations! May this fine success which your work has earned for you bring you Happiness.”
What a weird sentiment to wish to a little girl.
Here’s a neat owl card from Marie.
Who is Marie? There is a Marie buried in the Hartoebben family plot in Resurrection Cemetery here in St Louis. Is this the same Marie who gave this card to Helen in 1938? An older relative of Helen’s? We haven’t found any record of a Marie Hartoebben living here on Sidney street, but our information is incomplete. So far.
This party invite was in the same box with all of the graduation cards.
There’s no year written on the invite, but June 23rd is only a few days after Helen’s graduation date of June 19th. Maybe this was a friend of Helen’s from school, also just-graduated and having her own party? The address on the card is a house near our building. I’m tempted to contact the people who live there now, and to share this card with them. But maybe that would be weird.
St. Agnes school was located on Wisconsin avenue, just a few short blocks from our building on Sidney. The school closed in the 1970s, and at some point it was converted into apartments.
This map is from 1930, just a handful of years before Helen’s 8th grade graduation. The colors show street materials. Sidney street was paved with brick at the time.
Also found in the same box were books of accordion sheet music. One of the books has Helen’s name on it. Presumably the other books are hers as well.
Inside one of the books is a picture of a group of children posing with their accordions. None of these kids is Helen, but it’s still kind of neat. Are there accordion bands these days? I feel like the accordion is less popular now than it was in 1938.
Many patriotic tunes were in the mix:
There are a lot of hand-written notes throughout, and the pages are heavily-thumbed. Many of the pages are torn and have been mended. These books were well used! One of the books is copyrighted 1941. That’s the year Pearl Harbor was bombed, and the year that the United States entered World War II. It’s also the year Helen’s brother, Louis, was drafted into the army. Helen was 17 years old.
One last mysterious item in the box: this very small picture of a boy. The picture is the size of a small coin. It has been carefully cut out from somewhere, and Helen saved it for her entire life. Who could this boy be? Maybe some boy she liked? A friend or a relative? Or maybe someone else added this to the box later. No way to know.
Helen died in 1985, and is buried in the Hartoebben family plot, along with her parents and her brother Louis. Also sharing the plot is Marie, possibly the same one who gave her the graduation card in 1938. Her oldest brother, Bernard Jr., has space saved for him here, but no year of death is listed.
Leave a Reply