The "Family" at Sears

It must be in the family blood -- two cousins, Joseph R. Sullivan and Catherine T. McIntyre, modeled for Sears Roebuck newspaper advertisements.  The ads appeared nearly three decades apart.

Joe is Helen Sullivan's second cousin once removed and Cathy is Helen's granddaughter.

September 19, 1939, Newspaper Unknown but most likely Chicago Daily News or Sun Times.

Joseph R. Sullivan

Either from Sunday, May 14, 1967 in the Chicago Sun-Times or the Chicago Daily News, Tuesday, May 16, 1967

Catherine T. McIntyre

Joe and Cathy are third cousins, once removed.

1939 Ad, courtesy of Joseph R. Sullivan
1967 Ad, courtesy of Helen M. McIntyre

Happy 100th Birthday, Dad

Happy Birthday Dad –

It is hard to believe you were born 100 years ago today.  A lot has happened with the family since you left us in 1995 so I thought I’d take this opportunity to give you a quick update.

You now have six beautiful great granddaughters.  Mom had the opportunity to meet them all, she can tell you about each one.  Their mothers have all turned into lovely young women and great moms themselves, each with a kind and loving husband and a fine extended family.  Each granddaughter still lives in the Chicago metropolitan area allowing all of us to get together on holidays or for special events.

Remember how you used to take your three granddaughters down to the beach when they came to visit?  Well the six great granddaughters enjoy the beach as much as their Moms did.   When all of the families were here this past Thanksgiving, a highlight of the visit was a walk along the lake.  Despite the cool temperatures, they spent quite a bit of time trekking through the sand and taking photos of each other with their cell phones.  Perhaps you saw the pictures posted on Facebook?

Your two children have also had a few changes in their lives, both marrying wonderful spouses. 

Do you recall how we all enjoyed Mom making her great pork and beef chop suey with sides of steaming rice, jiggly green Jell-O with cherries and crispy croissants for special occasions?  She left me the recipe for her “Irish” chop suey so I might just make up a batch in celebration of your centennial.

Have a great birthday and give Mom a hug from us all.

Love,

Elaine

P.S.: I found this photo in Mom’s album, you can show it to your friends who remember you when!

Larry McIntyre, c1937, Laramie and Washington, Chicago

Helen May Sullivan, Pedigree

Helen May Sullivan's pedigree chart takes her ancestry back to the early 1800s.  All of her known ancestors were born in Ireland.  They came from counties Cavan, Limerick and Wexford to the U.S., specifically Chicago and Evanston, Illinois.  Her ancestors immigrated in the mid-1850s, shortly after the Great Irish Famine.

Click on pedigree image to enlarge.

Source: The Master Genealogy database, Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin, printed February 19, 2012.

Young and In Love, 1937

 

This photo was taken the summer before Helen and Larry were married.  Although it is not noted, it looks like they might be at North Avenue beach in Chicago.   Doesn't Larry look like someone out of a rock band?  Perhaps one of the New Kids on the Block -- Joey McIntyre??  And, Helen looks like a long-legged model.

The Family Car, 1947

When we lived at 338 N. Pine, Larry, Sr. had an old 2-seater car with a rumble seat.  It is believed that this car is a 1934 Pontiac, three window coupe.   Larry, Jr. and Elaine would ride in the open-air seat while Helen and Larry Sr. were inside.  Sometimes we would get rained on while we were riding around.  Looking at it today, it certainly is a magnificent looking automobile!

For those of you who don't know what a rumble seat was, Wikipedia offers the following explanation:

A rumble seat is an upholstered exterior seat which hinges or otherwise opens out from the rear deck of a pre-World War II automobile, and seats one or more passengers.  Roadster, Coupe and Cabriolet auto body styles were offered with either a luggage compartment or a rumble seat in the deck. Models equipped with a rumble seat were often referred to as a sport coupe or sport roadster. 

In America, this type of seating became largely obsolete in the mid-1930s when cars became too fast and streamlined for the comfort of passengers in such a seat. Their popularity was further diminished by frequent injuries, including decapitation that sometimes occurred in accidents. Rumble seat passengers were essentially seated out in the elements, and received little or no protection from the regular passenger compartment top.  It is possible that the last American-built cars with a rumble seat were the 1939 Ford and 1939 Dodge and Plymouth.  Prior to World War I, a single, center-mounted rumble seat was sometimes referred to as a mother-in-law seat.

I wonder if putting children in a rumble seat today would be considered "child abuse?"  The times were certainly much more simple in the 1940s.

Photo courtesy Elaine Beaudoin from the photo collection of Helen McIntyre.

Thorndale Beach South Fire, Winter, 1968

Within the first year that Helen, Larry and Elaine McIntyre had  moved into their Thorndale Beach South condo, there were several fires.  One of the fires required everyone to evacuate the building.  I remember, sometime in the early A.M. there was a loud knock on the apartment door and someone yelled that we had to get out immediately.  We grabbed warm coats and boots and walked down 18 flights holding cloths to our face so we didn't inhale the smoke.   It was really very scary walking down with all the smoke in the stairwells.

I also remember it was VERY cold outside.  We were directed into the lobby of the building next door,  where we stood, worried that our new home was in flames.  As it turned out, the fire was in the garbage chute and well contained, but the smoke had spread throughout the building.

To read the article, click on image to enlarge.

The undated article is from a Chicago paper, most likely the Chicago Tribune.

18 N. Latrobe, Burns Down, c1970s

Helen Sullivan McIntyre's parents, Al and Nell, bought 18 N. Latrobe in the 1910s.  Nell Sullivan died there in 1966.  This is how I remember the house.  There was a big tree in front and on the porch were flower pots constructed by Al Sullivan.

Sometime in the late 1970s, about 10 years after Helen and Larry moved from Latrobe to Sheridan Road, 18 N. was burned out.

About a year after the fire, the building was torn down.

As of 2010, no new structure has been built on the site.

All photos from the collection of Helen Sullivan McIntyre