1930 SCRAPBOOK/PHOTO ALBUM of a JEWISH BABY BOOK - BIRTH TO AGE 5, ST LOUIS MO
Item #578
9 x 12” book for recording information about a baby from their birth up to age 5. The cover is a textured silver-green cloth with a blue oval exclaiming the title. This particular baby book contains information about Henry Adler Sosland, born December 14th, 1932. His mother has written amusing facts and anecdotes about the first 5 years of Henry’s life, and has pasted in around 73 black and white photos depicting his growth. Photos measure between 1.5 x 1.5” and 5 x 7” and are glued to the pages. Throughout the album there are also birthday cards and telegrams addressed to Henry from family. The inside front cover holds several loose progress reports from Public Schools, Kansas City, Missouri covering Henry’s classes from 3rd to 7th grade. There are also a couple of progress reports for Nancy Sosland, likely Henry’s sister, an envelope with poems written by Henry and Nancy for their mother, and a couple of letters. The loose items date up to 1951. Henry went to Harvard College and later seems to have become a rabbi at the New City Jewish Center in New York. There are also 2 negatives.
Example book entries:
Four Years Old - A Summary of Accomplishments
Henry Adler dresses himself completely, even to lacing his shoes and making bed. When he’s dressed and not until then does he leave his room in the mornings. Brushes teeth alone and can also wash his hands thoroly. Draws and paints nicely. Delivers messages perfectly and intelligently. Likes attention and is jealous if his sister gets more; is still a baby at times; that is, is given to whining occasionally when things don’t go his way.
A Short Sketch of Personal Characteristics
Has a good sense of humor, splendid memory, and is exceptionally neat. On the afternoon of his birthday, he wore a new suit which he was able to wear every afternoon that week without laundering. Answers the phone, recognizes voices, and is able to converse coherently with anyone at the other end. His weight is about 37 pounds with his suit on.
Expects to be an aviator when he grows up, and also says he wants to be “like Roosevelt.”
Further Notes - Travels
When he was six months old, we took Henry Adler to Kansas City Together with Lizzie, a nurse we had. On May 30, 1933, we moved here from Chattanooga, joining Ben who had been here for two months. At 1½ yrs., I took H.A. back home where we spent a month. Later that summer, we went to Troutdale-In-The-Pines, Colorado where we spent several weeks. The following year - in September, Ben, H.A. and I, went home again for a visit leaving Nancy Sue, 6 months old, at home with the nurse. That has been the extent of Henry Adler’s travels up to five years—and pretty extensive, at that!
Example letter:
Letter from Sosland family to Henry (November 15th, 1949)
My Dear Pal:
. . . .If such a thing is possible I at times feel that I have all our problems such as you write about figured out….
I learned a long time ago that the things that come easy always seem to get away from you just as quickly…. Come easy and go easy… The things you work for with all the toil and sweat that you can get to-gether seem to stick to YOU…. Dollars sweated for and worked for from early morning till late at nite are kept with far more care than those that just seem to come to you from the thing air…. You wonder at times how you could grab onto all that easy money…
Now you are going thru the same thing only yours isn’t dollars… Yours is education that will be a part of you for the rest of your life….This stuff that you are learning now and taking every ounce of grey matter splitting your sides at nite studying and doing all the research and everything else to get a top grade… Thats knowledge that will stick to your ribs… You will always thank the High Master for bringing you up the hard way. This is education that you can say to yourself that you are proud of … Now thats my answer to your troubles.
I have a little more though on the subject that I can pass on you YOU….Things gained easily are not the things that you are proud of… These orders that I go after and work and scheme and run my feet off trying to get the customer to give me are those that I am always deep in my heart the proudest of putting over… While I might have mentioned only lightly that order for two million envelopes yesterday… But getting that business has heaps of history… I have used all the energy at my command.. I have always been willing to run every kind of errand and over the years I have built for myself a real closeness with those folks that I am now cashing in on… Thats the way I feel about you at HARVARD.. You are building something even though time and again you have set backs.. YOU are BUILDING… You can count your future at this great school in a few experiences… You have to push and pull and sweat and work.. Use up some of that nite oil going over the problems….
Whats the U L T I M A T E of all of this….. Thats what counts…. You will be able to stand up with the best of them when times are such in business and socially wherethings involving life are being talked about.. H I S T O R Y, E N G L I S H, E C O N O M I C S, and many other problems that you have taken time and energy to build up for yourself in your mind and body in this great endeaver at C O L L E G E… It must be worth while.. Millions of men and women have preceded you.. I can well imagine what you might think of all of this when your four years of school are over and now Henry A Sosland steps into the life of a young editor, salesman, businessman, or whatever you decide for yourself.. Think of how proud you will be of yourself and your family to have provided you with the stuff that it takes to make the great hurdle and you can answer the questions and you can earn an excellent living and You can get the proper recognition for all of this work… That my BOY is the sure fire answer to all your problems…. I don’t have all the stuff that you will have and you might as well know that many times I have wished that I had of gotten more education…. Thats the Answer…….
Right now you are doing the very thing that a housewife does in the fall when you start to make preserves and put up tomatoes and pickles and other things.. You are storing these things to eat…
Right now you are storing away food.. Yours is education.. You will make a plenty good use of all this later.. Don’t you fail to keep in mind that you want the finest Q U A L I T Y… Thats why you are straining at the bit in going over your books to be sure to make the best preserves (education) the best is what you should strive for and thats what makes me happy to see you fighting for L E A D E R S H I P. Nothing but the best.. You are on the ladder of life taking step by step trying to master the situation…. YOU WILL…. Thats the answer to it all….. You can look back now when you as a little tot were afraid to go to school… You worked thru that and just right now look back at Bryant… I recall how you began to gain confidence in yourself in Mrs. Brown’s room at Bryant.. She helped you more than any other teacher…. YOU are going thru the very same thing… Only it isn’t Mrs. Brown.. Its not Bryant… Its Harvard….. You just make your mind up to knuckle down and give the school work everything you have got… The answer will be a great VICTORY for Henry and thats coming surely as nite comes after day…
I am sure I have given you all the answers… Just you keep right on doing what you are doing now… YOU will win.. You have to win…
Your kind of fighting spirit wins every time…
Your work now will be a reward of which you will be mighty proud when you are my age and you have children of your own and you can sit down and write like I am and tell your kiddies what a fight you had mastering this COLLEGE Grind… I made it… But its work. I am grabbing my information right out of the thin air.. You will have had the real experience yourself. You will have been thru it all… Thats the answer and the reward…
The Road to life has many brickbats and rough spots.. A fellow is sometimes apt to get his dobber down.. His thinking department… But the guy that makes the best job of IT all is the fighter that says not me I never give up….. thats the answer to your letter that you sent me to-day…
Life never seems to smooth out perfectly for any of us… But there is a heap of JOY in winning the battle.. Your winning because you are fighting…
Just keep doing more of the same… I know you are winning...
With all of our love and grandest good best wishes for YOU…
Don’t worry..
Just you keep trying….
and remember we are betting on you to W I N
Mother Dear
Nancy Sue
Brenda Fay
Susie Smith
and
Dad.
Price: $295.00