. .. .

Louis Tiffany's stained                   W.C. Fields: Bayside resident  
glass: crafted in Queens.                 in the silent movie era.

Bayside History and Other Essays by Joan Brown

Joan Brown's Column from the Bayside Times/Ledger - Index Nov. 1995-April 1996

Copyright 1995/1996 all rights reserved

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Reminiscing on a Winter's Day 1/3/95       Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New  12/20/95

A Short History of the Bayside Yacht Club  11/5/95  

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New

By Joan Brown (12/20/95 January)                         ^Top^
       "Ring out the old, ring in the new,	
        Ring happy bells across the snow;	
        The year is going, let him go;	
        Ring out the false, ring in the new."

When the famous English poet, Tennyson, wrote these words he was inspired by an old tradition associated with the New Year. To show grief for the dying old year in some parts of England today the bells are still muffled to sound out a mournful tune, but on the dot of midnight, the wrappings are removed and the unmuffled bells are rung exultantly to express joy over the coming of a new year, and, hopefully, its promised blessings.

The very first holiday to have its own celebration was the day we now celebrate as New Year's Day. Before people had calendars they were dependent upon certain familiar signs to mark the passing of time: the phases of the moon, the changing seasons , and other natural recurrences they observed regularly in their world.

The Druids greeted the new year in the spring, the Ancient Egyptians saw the time of the overflowing of the Nile which occurred in the middle of June as their new year, the early Romans celebrated in March at the time of the spring equinox, and for thousands of years the Chinese used a lunar calendar to reckon the new year, with the date falling after the winter solstice in February. The Jewish people celebrate their new year according to the ancient Jewish calendar which has been in use for over 5,000 years , the exact date depending on the phases of the moon, but always in the autumn.

The earliest known record of a "New Year's " festival dates from about 2,000 B.C. in Mesopotamia and Babylon. Though the Romans initially celebrated in March the Julian calendar in 46 A.D. established January 1 as the beginning of the New Year.

In Rome the day was dedicated to the god, Janus, who was the ancient deity charged with keeping the gate of heaven, and so became the guardian of gates and doors. He was represented as having two faces, one facing front and one facing back. The doors of his temple were thrown open in times of war, and kept closed in time of peace. Thus Janus has been used as an allusion to represent war and two-facedness by many writers including Milton in Paradise Lost, and by Dante in Paradiso.

In the Western world January 1 has been accepted by most Christian countries as New Year's Day since the time of the Gregorian calendar. During the Middle Ages, March 25,(feast of the Annunciation), was celebrated as New Year's Day. January 1 was restored as New Year's Day by the Gregorian calendar adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in 1582. Over a period of 350 years, many countries followed, with Russia being the last major nation to adopt the practice in 1918.

The superstitions and traditions associated with the New Year in the United States are inherited from the old world and come from many cultures.

The Dutch in New Netherlands initiated the custom of New Year's Day "calling." It was a time when the ladies held a bountiful "Open House." The Dutch tradition was enthusiastically adopted by the English. The custom continued until the end of the 19th century, but waned as the city grew larger, though the "At Home" or "Open House," still is practiced by some families today.

George Washington was introduced to the idea of the "Open House" when he came to New York City for his inauguration, and he and his wife adopted the idea and held New Year's Day receptions. Presidents down through the years continued the custom but in 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt discontinued the practice because standing aggravated his affliction

From our Scottish settlers, Americans, including the Willet family in our area, adopted the superstitious tradition called "first footing." Everyone vied to be the first to enter the house on New Year's Day. It was important to insure good luck to the household that the "first foot" preferably be a dark-haired man. The "first foot" was also obliged to bring a gift. In Scotland the custom was to bring a lump of coal which would be dropped in the fire accompanied by the words, "long may your hearth burn." The "first-footer" also brought a cake and some salt to bring luck to the household.

The Moravian settlers welcomed the New Year with the playing of trombones and trumpets, while the Swedish colonists in Philadelphia continued to observe an old world custom of theirs as they marched in costume parading merrily through the streets.

At about the same time the English settlers revived their practice of dressing in fantastic garb and going about enacting pantomimes or silent plays featuring St. George and the Dragon. The heritage of both these traditions melded together and became the famous Mummer's Parade, a tradition on New Year's Day in Philadelphia.

South Carolina is credited with originating the custom of serving a New Year's Day "good-luck" dish called "Hopping John," a delicious mixture of pork and black-eyed peas.

In the late 19th century (1886), Californians initiated the New Year's Day spectacle we today call "The Tournament of Roses." It began with surreys and horse-drawn buggies decorated with fresh flowers. In the beginning horse racing and chariot racing were the allied sporting events. In 1902 the attraction became intercollegiate football.

At midnight on December 31st when you are saying good-bye to the old year and welcoming the new, remember that our noisy revels hark back to ancient times and to the heathen belief that noise is one way to chase away evil spirits to make room for the good things and promises to come in the ensuing year.

             Happy New Year!

Copyright 1995/96 by Joan Brown. Joan Brown is an historian, free-lance writer, and a member of the Borough President's History Advisory Committee.

A Short History of the Bayside Yacht Club

by Joan Brown   (11/5/95 yacht)                            ^Top^  

Yachting as a sport dates as far back as the 16th and l7th centuries when the Dutch were preeminent in seapower. Our word, "yacht" comes from the Dutch word "jaght." In the beginning yachting with pleasure craft was the province of royalty and the wealthy burghers who sailed the canals and protected waters of Holland. English yachting began with Charles I who was exiled in the lowlands and was introduced to the sport which was then brought to England. The Dutch settlers in New Netherlands and the English who followed participated in yachting in the l7th century as well.

It was not until l813 that the New York Yacht Club was established, the first such club in the United States. Looked upon as mostly social establishments, yacht clubs did, however, serve to establish competitive standards and promoted a competitive sporting event that was given special impetus in the mid-nineteenth century by the America's Cup Races. No one realized the important consequences that would result from Prince Albert of England's sponsorship of a World's Fair in l851 . The Fair was planned to introduce foreign manufactured agricultural implements to British farmers. However, along with other "manufactured products" the United States sent a schooner-rigged yacht , the America. On August 22, 1851 the America won a race and a trophy that was to make yachting history and start a tradition that continues today.

At the turn of the century the only boating facility on Little Neck Bay was the Douglaston Yacht Club, but this was destroyed by a severe storm in 1901. Rather than rebuild, the Douglaston group moved to Manhasset Bay, leaving Bayside with its lovely harbor on Long Island Sound without any yachting or boating facilities. It was this circumstance that led a group of Baysiders to bridge the gap and the Bayside Yacht Club was born.

On July 9th, l902, a handful of men met to discuss the formation of a yacht club on Little Neck Bay and a decision was made to engage temporary quarters. A house which stood opposite the old Crocheron House Hotel was selected and a rental of $8.00 a month was agreed upon. , with dock privileges included. At that first meeting a treasurer was appointed, a membership committee was formed and a committee was named to draft a set of by-laws. Less than three weeks later officers were elected and G. Waldo Smith was appointed the first Commodore of the Bayside Yacht Club.

G. Waldo Smith was born in l831 in Smithtown, a descendant of Col. Richard Smith, patentee and sole owner of the town of Smithtown, L. I., who reportedly established his boundaries by riding a bull for one full day. G. Waldo Smith established a wholesale flour and grain company in Manhattan and retired to Bayside a wealthy man. He purchased a piece of land overlooking Little Neck Bay from the Bradish estate and built a beautiful home. Today the former Smith estate is the site of St. May's Hospital for Children.

During the summer of 1902 the original group of founders moved things along rapidly. The first Regatta was scheduled for August 23rd and a decision was made to incorporate. The Club burgee and flag was also adopted and it was decided to follow the style of the New York Yacht Club caps which were to be purchased at 75 cents and sold to members for one dollar. The Commodore presented the Club with a starting gun for the first Regatta in August and four sloops and seven cat boats were entered. A second Regatta was scheduled for Labor Day. When the Club closed for the season a committee was appointed to negotiate for the purchase of a plot on the shore at the end of Shore Avenue.

During 1903 clambakes and water sports were added to the Club's agenda and the Club was duly incorporated. By 1904 the Club had seventy members . Lockers cost $3.00 and $5.00 , bathhouses cost 10 cents a person, and a telephone was installed for members' use. The minutes for that year also indicate that the Long Island Railroad was petitioned to give later train service on Wednesday and Saturday evenings to accommodate Club members

The busy initial seasons foreshadowed the role that the Club would play in the community and on Long Island. A reading of its first Log Book clearly delineates some of the problems which troubled the early days, but it also reveals the cooperative spirit and organization that brought an idea to reality.

The Bayside Yacht Club was destroyed by fire twice since it first erected a building on the old Bradish estate. The first fire described as "early morning arson" occurred on March 9, l908 and nearly destroyed the entire building. However, the clubhouse was rebuilt and ready for opening day on May 30th. In later years a second fire which started in the kitchen occurred on July 20, l968.

In its heyday about the time of World War I, the Yacht Club had 260 active members and a fleet of 100 boats. Members came from Bayside, Flushing, Jamaica, Douglaston, Great Neck , College Point, Whitestone and Brooklyn. The fleet represented a wide variety of boats: schooners, sloops, yawls, and the famous Star Class racing sailer. Motor boats were also represented in the large fleet in the Bay.

In the 1930's Robert Moses' parkway along the West side of Little Neck Bay changed forever the way things were in Bayside. All property owners along the shore would lose portions of their property , including the riparian rights heretofore enjoyed by the Bayside Yacht Club. Gone also were its private white sand beach and its private pier. The Club had had its own launching facilities right from workshops and garages under the dining room. Fortunately the City did agree to provide a bridge over the new Cross Island Parkway at 28th Avenue, a pier, and launching facilities but these were to be shared with the public. Over the years under City mismanagement boating facilities deteriorated and later still dock and mooring facilities were franchised with varying degrees of success.

In 1958 in keeping with demands of the times the Club installed a swimming pool and l0 years later built a larger Olympic sized pool which opened just one week before the disastrous l968 fire.

In its 91 year history the Bayside Yacht Club survived four wars, a major depression, two hurricanes and the impact of Robert Moses' Belt Parkway. It is understandable that there has been considerable concern about the future of this venerable community institution. Its membership has through the years listed many prestigious and famous personalities a few of which we list below:

W.P. Stevens - Editor of the Registry of American Yachts and author of the "Deed of Gift" establishing possession of the America's Cup, the most famous racing trophy in the world.

Ralph Wilkinson- Music arranger for Glenn Miller

Thomas Lamb - Famed architect of nearly 300 theaters around the world including the Mark Hellinger in Manhattan and the RKO Keith's in Flushing.

Arthur Penn - composer of " Smilin' Through" which became the theme of the movie of the same name .

H.W. Medicus- owner of the baseball club that played in the local area. He was a partner of "Bud" Ebbetts. The team later became the Brooklyn Dodgers and played at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.

I was privileged to read in its entirety the original Log Book of the Bayside Yacht Club. This and other valuable and pertinent material was put at my disposal for this article by my long-time friend, Ed Spacek, former Rear Commodore of the Club, and I wish to thank him for his invaluable help. Recognition should also be given to Walter S. Dayton, Jr. who preserved many materials relating to the history of the Club and presented the original Log Book to the Yacht Club on May 2, l982 on the occasion of its 80th commissioning. "Duke" Dayton's grandfather was one of the first fifty members of the Club and his father was a past Commodore.

Copyright 1995/96 by Joan Brown. Joan Brown is an historian, free-lance writer, and a member of the Borough President's History Advisory Committee.

Reminiscing on a Winter's Day

By Joan Brown                                          ^Top^   (1/3/95 memory)
"This is the truth the poet sings
That sorrow's crown of sorrow is
remembering happier things."

Tennyson - Locksley Hall

Things that really matter are rarely committed to paper, and with that preface I should like to devote this column to some childhood memories that matter a great deal to me . I hope my small effort will cause my readers to relive and recollect and enjoy reminiscing about their own childhood whatever their generation.

In human affairs, the history of childhood which should be of major import has not had the attention which it deserves from historians. The old truth still stands, " the child is father to the man."

Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote so poignantly of childhood in his "Child's Garden of Verses " had a very strong impact on my early life so long ago. How his words still sing to me today! His verses abound with the feelings and emotions of children that are at once universal yet more uniquely attuned to a not too distant past that I knew when I was growing up- a time when most children who lived outside of congested urban areas were so fortunate and were sustained by a simpler country-like atmosphere. They were challenged to employ their ingenuity and imagination and to provide their own entertainment in simpler ways . Not programmed to rely on technically complex man-made products they turned to books and games. Reading was an important pastime.

Though I was born in New York City, we soon moved to New Jersey and it was there that I attended kindergarten. We moved to Queens and settled in Bayside when I was seven years old so I am a long-time resident of this area.

Long Island in the days of my childhood was still an island of small towns, each preserving its special milieu. Every village, town, and neighborhood reflected its own special rhythm, depending on its location, geographical features, and, of course, the sum of its residents whose life stories make up their history

As one gets on in years childhood memories and life's simple pleasures become dearer to the heart and one realizes that each day is a gift.

As I look back on the those less complicated, quieter days when I was growing up so many things come to mind that I shall have to practice a personal and selective memory for the purpose of this column.

Farms existed in Bayside and there was still a blacksmith shop operating here Large tracts of land were evident where now apartments and multi-family dwellings stand. Stores and businesses were family-owned through more than one generation and the merchants knew their customers as neighbors and friends. Parking was never a problem though most people walked to town. The library was housed in a storefront building and was a friendly meeting place for young and old alike. The movie house was small but adequate, and you knew the policeman on the beat . The variety of stores was such that you could purchase most any item you needed on "Bell Avenue" without leaving town and I remember only one or two restaurants, though there might have been more Eating out was not so prevalent in those days and home was the center of a family's entertainment and social life. Despite the proximity of a thriving metropolis, there was a generation or two that relied on the phonograph, the radio, and the movies. Television CD players, tape decks and "boom boxes" were as unknown as computers and video.

So many things come to mind as I think back over my childhood days. I look at a picture of my handsome, young father as he stands beside me as I sit propped up on a brown and white- spotted pony. I am muffled to the ears in scarves, my small body so swathed in warm clothing that only my eyes are peeping out like two brown almonds. From my father's heavy overcoat and way I am bundled up it was probably a cold day in late fall or early spring. But in those days the coming of the man with the pony was a special treat and the time to have a picture taken. Thirty years ago my own daughter enjoyed that unforgettable experience because the man with the pony still came to our town. Where, I wonder is he or his counterpart today?

I remember when I was four years old how delighted I was when we lived in a spacious colonial style house with a large yard in which there were several beautiful pear trees. Back among the trees was an abandoned chicken coop which my father restored and cleaned so that my younger sister and I could crawl inside and pretend to "keep house"- but more important it was a refuge and a place to make-believe and to dream dreams. In the dark, velvety summer evenings under the bright stars and a shining moon I remember, too, the pleasure we had watching the fireflies glow in the dark and then meeting their challenge and capturing them for a few moments in a jar.

The mystery of that light always intrigued me until many years later when my chemist husband explained it to me as he was wont to do about so many things during our life together.

One of my fondest memories is of my own very first reader which my father bought for me before I was old enough to go to school and from which I taught myself to read. Vividly impressed in my memory is its brown cover and the bright red , shiny apples illustrating the letter "A". I remember, too, my pride in mastering and deciphering those first words.

A common sight when I was a child was the organ grinder and his monkey. I could not get enough of watching the antics of that agile little animal as I tossed him the few pennies I had. The last time I saw a "hurdy-gurdy" man with his monkey was in a small village in Provence in the south of France, three summers ago. Like the Carousels I have always enjoyed in Central Park, in European cities and wherever I have found one, I always hope to find an organ grinder and his playful monkey. I wonder if they, too, have completely disappeared.

As I meander through the pages of my young life, other memories come flooding back like the rope and plank swings that my father made for us and which hung on the huge maple tree in our yard. When the swings were put up each year they heralded not only the glories of summer but gave flight to our fancies and provided a source of inspiration for the imagination of my sisters and me as we devised many a scenario for our play time. At harvest time my father would gather corn stalks from our large garden plot and fashion from them wonderful play "huts" which served as props for many a game by the neighborhood children who came from all around to take part in " cops and robbers" or " cowboys and Indians" or even to play "hospital" and care for the aviators who "flew" in our swings.

I remember the school yard at P.S. 130 in the Spring and the chocolate grahams one would buy at recess time for a penny. At holiday time they came in a variety of shapes like bunnies and Christmas trees. Later in the upper grades when adolescent love began to bloom you might receive one as an offering from your current young "swain." In that vein I remember returning to my 8th grade classroom after a long siege with pneumonia( a dangerous disease in those days when there were no antibiotics.) and having my heart turn over when I found a big bunch of pink rambler roses in my inkwell placed there as a welcome back by a young man I very much admired then.

I remember picking blackberries at the old abandoned Willets Mansion which stood across from our house. What adventure it was to explore those wildly overgrown acres and wonder about the life that the house once held. But best of all I remember the fragrance of the jams and jellies as my mother preserved them for the days ahead.

During the Depression years my mother went back to work as a nurse at Lenox Hill Hospital at night while she still managed, on very little sleep, to take care of us and to run the household. I remember that Christmas I received a wardrobe of doll clothes made by her in the spare time she had and material she had on hand including parts of frocks, coats and evening gowns she had worn years before when courted by my father in 1918. The clothes were made for my favorite doll, now a collector's item, named "Patsy Ann" (circa 1930). The wardrobe and the clothes my mother made as a true labor of love are among my most precious possessions today.

Currently there is much discussion about the remake of the classic "Little Women." I received that book as a gift when I was 11 years old and have re-read it so many times. I learned to play "None But the Lonely Heart" on the piano after seeing the first movie and remember my first introduction to Beethoven's "Pathetique" was in the chapter of that book called "Heartbreak" when Jo refused Laurie's proposal and he played that sonata as he watched her walk away in the garden outside of his window. My heart went out to Laurie then and it still does!

There are so many childhood memories that I could recount but these shall serve for now as I resolve to remember in the coming new year that our lives are shaped by the simple pleasures that live on beneath everything we do.

Somewhere recently I read, "life is a sonnet. You're given the form and then must write your own poem." I believe that memories, even the dark ones, help us to achieve this.

Copyright 1995/96 by Joan Brown. Joan Brown is an historian, free-lance writer, and a member of the Borough President's History Advisory Committee.

INDEX OF ARTICLES

by Joan Brown   Copyright 1995, 1996                           ^Top^  
Alphabetic and by date 

"A Merry Little Jingle" 12/5/95                  Merchant and Artisan:
A Builder of Dreams 2/21/96                        The Tiffany Story Pt 1 4/15/96 
A Look At Customs that Greet the New Year 12/95    The Tiffany Story Pt 2 4/16/96 
A Romantic Interlude in Victorian Bayside 11/95    The Tiffany Story Pt 3 4/24/96   
A Short History of the Bays. Yacht Club 11/5/95  Our Heritage From the Dutch 1/17/96
A Vanished Landmark on the Bay 11/8/96           Recalling A Winter Pastime  12/13/95
A Veteran's Day Tribute 11/1/95                  Richard Outcault: a Spokesman for Mischief 11/21/95  
Charles Henry Miller: Artistic                   Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New  12/20/95
   Discoverer of Long Island Pt 1 3/27/96        Sleighing: A Nineteenth Century Winter Sport 12/26/95 
Discoverer of Long Island Pt 2 4/3/96         The Tally-ho: Long Island's Stage Coach(1/4/96 
Eliza and the First Lady  3/13/96                The Wearin' of the Green: History in A Song 3/8/96   
History Teaches Us Civic Pride  1/30/96          The Weather-Vane: A Vanishing Symbol 2/28/96   
Information: Its Role in Coping                  Toys of Yesteryear 11/29/95  
w. Daily Life in Colonial Times 3/20/9         What's in a Name ?" (or Nickname?) 1/23/96 
Looking Back: Fifty Year Ago 1/3/96              Washington's Tour of Long Island 1/30/96

Photo Notes

Excerpted and (C) Copyright 1995, 1996 by Joan Brown from
 "Collected Essays and Columns 1995-1996."

Francis Lewis

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Tiffany Glass in Queens

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W.C. Fields, Bayside Resident

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