1935 ORIGINAL, UNUSUAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY HAND WRITTEN BY A BRASH BROOKLYNITE WHO CONFIDES IN HIS DIARY PERHAPS TOO MUCH GIVEN HIS UNHAPPINESS AND THE TRAGEDIES THAT BEFALL

Katz Fine Manuscripts Verified independent store

→

On offer is a diary of a man living in the midst of the Great Depression in New York City. Measuring 6 inches by 4 inches, the diary contains 365 pages plus memoranda. It is about 55% complete. The cover, binding and pages are all in good condition. The handwriting is small but neat and readable. The author of the diary was George E. Applegate. He was born in New Mexico in 1913. His father, Morrow Applegate, was a sales representative for auto parts firms. Applegate passed away in 1980 at the age of 67. He had worked for 27 years at Bankers Trust Company in New York and moved to Santa Fe in 1972. He was actively involved in cultural and civic life of the city, and in 1978 with his daughter Nancy purchased the oldest Santa Fe's bookstore Villagra. He was a president and treasurer for 30 years of Gilbert and Sullivan society of New York, and a member of D'Oyly Carte Opera Trust. At the time of writing, he was 21 years old living at home with his parents in New York City. Applegate was working at the Kings County Savings Bank in Brooklyn. The bank is long gone but its 4 story French Second Empire-style building remains, having been designated a New York City landmark and been added to the National Register of Historic Places. His entries are filled with comments about his work and about his new role as a member of a Freemason Lodge. In fact, the year opens with him involved in some controversy at the Lodge: "... Dad phoned Mr. Bowers to have me go to Anglo-Saxon Lodge, which I did. Henry C. Turner installed their officers. Considered the offence" an act of subversion to the principals of Freemasonry".... [Jan 2]; "Expected to work late tonight but had to get home to put on my tux for my first Lodge meeting as an officer. Left bank about 7 and Eppers objected saying I will have to bring tux in and dress there in the future. ..." [Jan3]. He is very close to his grandmother and is quite affected when she passes away: "Rain! Stopped at grandma's on my way home. She's in bed for the first time, quite sick. Was up yesterday. Asked if I got my raise yet and if I had come "for the last look". I couldn't keep smiling, tears came into my eyes instead, when she said she hopes I'll be a fine man. I am a "fine young man." She asked ma, "Did the doctor tell you the time?" "What time mother?" "When I'm going to go" was her reply! I said "goodnight grandma" on leaving and she said, "Goodnight, George, goodnight." Mother staying there again with them. Uncle George and Aunt Ella drove me home, said tonight Anna is improving. I prayed, as I have so often done, that grandma may be spared much suffering, if she actually has cancer, which we all doubt. She has had no pain yet and hasn't lost much weight" [Jan 14]; "Right home for supper, mother not here. To grandma's a little before 8. Met Uncle George and Aunt Ella coming out. "Well, it's all over" they said. "She died at quarter past six." Went upstairs and saw her, her jaw tied up, her hands folded. Had been awake all night last night, had a tough time and knew she was dying. Some of her remarks were heartbreaking. "So many nice things to do but it's too late now." "You're not afraid of death are you?" She kissed mother, Nan and Uncle G. and said, "Goodbye" "forever" she added, to Nan. They sat with her and held her hand right up until the end. Uncle George came back, said Tanta Anna is worse and will not live through the night!.." [Jan 15]; "... Eve. The funeral services……I was alone there for a while, when the others went out to supper. Stood at Grandma's coffin and gazed at her, in an attitude which I shall probably always remember…" [Jan 17]. His maternal grandmother Elizabeth Corlett Craigen, and another family member, Anna Stratmann Thomas, died with one day difference. Elizabeth Craigen was a wife of George J. Craigen, a president of Lennox and Craigen brick companies, and an assistant chief clerk of the New York Tax Department. Anna was a daughter of a surgical instruments importer Ernst Stratmann, a noted resident of Flatbush. George often expresses dislike for his job and is critical of some of his co-workers: "Mulreany phoned, told me the details of the proposed trip. I decided to ask Mr. Klinck, the idea was so wonderful! I did. He said I should ask Schmann's on the quiet. (He has heard nothing further and said I should let dad and Koppff take care of matters). Asked Charlie while down in the vault and received a horribly cold answer. If there was a chance of any one having a Saturday off, he'd ask for himself first! Others haven't had any vacation, etc. Was thoroughly disgusted. After all the hours they make us work in this dump, they act insulted if we want a Saturday morning off! Pouring out. Walked all the way to Lenox Road before getting a trolley so I was thoroughly drenched as well as being some damned disgusted" [Feb 14]. He notes outside events as these entries show: "Shortly after noon word came in that Wiley Post and Will Rogers had both been killed in an airplane crash in Alaska. Will Rogers will probably be remembered as a "typical" American who could poke fun at Statesmen and get away with it. His brief articles in the New York Times and his radio program and movies were always full of good, clean humor and philosophy. ..." [Aug 10]; "War Begins is the daily news headlines today. Now that the Ethiopian rainy season is over, Italy is going ahead with her plans that may upset the entire world before she is finished. The threats of war have been in the air for several months and now it's on. I hope and pray we may never become involved in it ..." [Oct 3]. What George probably never thinks about is that in a few short years, he will be enlisted in the U.S. Army fighting in the largest war ever seen. This is a fine diary of a young man struggling to find his place in the world in the midst of a terrible depression. For social historian, it is an excellent window into the world of a young New Yorker at this time.; Manuscript; 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF; MID-20TH CENTURY; 1930s; GREAT DEPRESSION; NEW YORK; BROOKLYN; UNITED STATES; GEORGE APPLEGATE; KINGS COUNTY SAVINGS BANK; LIFE IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION; WILL ROGERS; ITALIAN INVASION OF ETHIOPIA; ANGLO-SAXON LODGE; ATTITUDE TO DEATH IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICA; FAMILY RELATIONS; YOUNG AMERICANS IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION; BANK EMPLOYEES; GEORGE J CRAIGEN; ELIZABETH CORLETT CRAIGEN; SANTA FE; VILLAGRA BOOKSHOP; GILBERT AND SULLIVAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK; AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNALS, PERSONAL HISTORY, SOCIAL HISTORY, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL Show more