106th Carnival of Genealogy: Swimsuit Edition

These two handsome gentlemen are Harry Kunze, on the left, and Martin Quinn (Uncle Marty), on the right. They were my great-grandmother Molly Quinn's brother (Marty) and brother-in-law (Harry). Harry was married to Molly's younger sister Helen Quinn. Marty married Elizabeth "Bobbie" Byrnes. My sources (aka my great-uncle, Molly's son) tell me that this picture "was probably taken on Rockaway Beach or some other local beach" - local being local to the NYC area. He estimated it was taken around 1925, which would make Harry Kunze about 26, and Marty about 23. Based on the information they gave in the 1930 census, Harry and Helen would have been married for about a year.

 Of course, my favorite part of this picture is the swimsuits themselves! How cool!

Vacation Stories!

This week, I'm away in Rhode Island, on our annual 4th of July vacation. In my absence, I'll regale you with a family vacation story.

When I sent Uncle Joe the pictures that Maureen sent me from the James Mulvaney family, he called me up, and, among other things, the story of the time they met James on their way out to Breezy Point. A bus from the city would drop people off, and those people would catch rides out to Breezy Point with people heading that way.

There are two versions of this story:

According to Uncle Joe, he was in the car with Nana and Papa, and they saw James and pulled over to give him a ride. Because they were generally catching rides with strangers, he didn't give any thought to whose car he was getting in. He didn't notice who else was in the car until Nana said, "Hello, Jimmy." He was surprised. "Oh! Hello Sister."*

According to Aunt Betty, this event happened when she was in the car with Nana and Papa and a friend of hers. They saw Jimmy and pulled over to give him a ride. He was aware of whose car he was getting into, but when he did, he motioned towards Betty and her friend in the back seat and asked, "So which one's my niece?"


*All of her siblings always called Nana "Sister." She was the baby of the family, and it was the vestiges of having called her "Little Sister" when she was a child.