Arthur Francis Hanan                          1902 -1998 rin 25
Gertrude Marie Linnea Anderson      1905 -1986 rin 26
FGR 9

Gertrude & Arthur about 1930
PHOT0038p19

Introduction

The story of Gertrude and Arthur Hanan was told to David Onan III on November 20, 1982. It is the only record in which they participated. It was retyped in June 2005 by David Onan II.

Here is their story as they told it to David Onan III:

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Arthur grew up in New York city. He was the youngest of six children. Two of his brothers, Toby and Harold, died at a young age. Their births had immediately preceded Arthur’s, and their deaths left Arthur much younger than the four remaining children. When Arthur was born, his father, John, was 47. His mother, Jennie, was 44. Arthur remembers the family lived at 540 East 173 rd Street when he was born. About 1917 the family moved to 615 East 79 th Street.

Arthur’s oldest brother, Albert, was 18 when Arthur was born. Albert is responsible for changing the family name from Hanau to Hanan. Albert is supposed to have changed it for business purposes. All John’s children adopted Hanan as their last name. Albert was a business man in road construction. When Albert died he was President of the Detroit Paving Company.

Gertrude was the oldest daughter in a family of 6 children. Her parents were Swedish immigrants, Frans and Ingeborg, who had lived in the United States about 5 years when Gertrude was born. Before her birth they lived in South Manchester, CT. At the time Gertrude was born the family had moved to an area of New York City on 65 th street, by the East River. As Gertrude grew older she learned to speak Swedish as well as English. Today Gertrude’s Swedish is rusty, but she can still translate letters from her relative in Sweden.

Arthur was employed by many different film companies before he was married. His first employment was with the Westinghouse Church & Kerr Company, on 37 Wall street. After this job, Arthur began working with motion pictures. It was the early 1920’s and the moving picture industry was rapidly expanding. Arthur’s interests were in the laboratory processing involved in motion picture making. These processes included developing, printing, film exposure, splicing, editing and later on, sound tracks and color. Arthur’s apprenticeship in the motion picture industry began with the Biograph Company, then to Evan’s Film Company, and the Crystal Film Company . By now, Arthur wanted to open his own film laboratory, which he did. It was called Pioneer Film Laboratory. This did not work out, so he went to work for Paramount Pictures. Arthur worked at Paramount until 1928. He resigned at the time of his marriage. Hs supervisor would not give him time off for his wedding and honeymoon. Soon after he left Paramount, he went to work for Fox Film Company (in the early ‘30’s the became 20 th Century Fox). Arthur settled down with Fox Film. His work was interesting. Developments in photography kept the work challenging, and working on a motion picture that became a success game him satisfaction. In his last years with 20 th Century he worked for a division called Color by DeLuxe. He was involved with instructional work and laboratory work. Arthur spent 40 years with Fox Film. [And all he got was a crummy watch] He retired in 1968.

Gertrude was 17 when she first met Arthur. They met at a party. Five years later, August 11, 1928, they were married. They did not have the money for a fancy wedding, so the wedding was in the rectory of a church. Reverend Ohman performed the marriage. Gertrude’s brother and sister , Arthur Clarence and Margaret, were best man and maid of honor. They spent their honeymoon in the Greenville area of the Catskill mountains in New York. When they returned they move in with Arthur’s parents, John and Jennie, at 580 West 172 nd street. Gertrude worked for a year after their marriage for the Gotham Silk Hosiery Company.

In 1930, their first child was born, Donald Albert. At this time they lived at 2905 Grand Concourse, in New York City. Next they moved to 2895 Grand Concourse. By August 1933 they were living in a two family home, occupying the lower half. The house owned by Mr. and Mrs. Schmier and located at East 197 th was the home for seven years. Janemarie and Nancy Joan were born there. About 1940 the Hanans moved to 3978 Amundson Avenue in the Bronx. This was their last residence in New York before moving to Minnesota.

For enjoyment Arthur would play sand-lot baseball. He also collected artifacts made of copper, brass, bronze and pewter. He did not collect them for speculation, although the values of these items have appreciated many times their original value.

Gertrude collected antique dolls. These dolls are made with bisque or china heads, and papier-mâché bodies. At one time her collection included over 100 dolls. Each one is beautifully dressed in formal clothing. The oldest doll is over 100 years old.

During vacation the family frequently visited Greenville, New York. As the children grew older they would rent a house at Smithtown, Long Island on the Long Island Sound.

When Arthur retired in 1968 they decided to move to Minnesota. On November 15 they moved to 185 Meadow Lane North, Golden Valley. Gertrude is active in antique doll clubs in the Minneapolis area. Arthur has been active in volunteer work. He worked for the Minneapolis Public Library viewing donated films. He would examine them to see if their condition was acceptable for viewing. Presently Arthur is active with the Courage Center of Minneapolis and Little Brothers of the Elderly.

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Grand-daughter Karen Onan Amundson remembers her grandparents:

RECALLING GERTRUDE AND ARTHUR HANAN…

Many, many fond memories. Here are just some quick thoughts.

To David and I, they were Mimi and Papa. Papa always carried hard candies in his pockets. I remember peppermint, but also butterscotch. Papa was fun and said silly things like, "Hay is for horses" when I’d say "Hey". He called me "Karina" and "Sweets". He was a fine Grandfather, always offering his hand to hold. He had cool stuff too. Lots of stuff to look at. He collected.

Mimi loved to cook. She always had good treats. Her peppermint meringue cookies with chocolate chips were my favorite. She’d color them green or red, never leaving them just white. She would chew her cheek and made a clicking noise. Mimi was nice, but truly practical. Except, it seemed, when it came to purchasing antiques. If a cat were to step foot in their home – well, that would mean Disaster! There were no open spaces – even the couches and chairs were covered in books and magazines and statues – and dolls and magazines, lots of magazines! And dolls, even a room with dolls on the wall paper and filled with dolls posed to be at a tea party. Many eyes, I got kind of creeped out.

Mimi could play piano. The way a person could play and you could sing along. She didn’t need sheet music, but I do believe that she could read music. Papa loved HMS Pinafore "He polished up the handle so carefully that now he is the leader of the Queen’s Navy". A favorite. He like to sing, "Ka Ka Ka Katie (or Karen), beautiful Katie (or Karen) you’re the only g,g,g girl that I adore, when the ma, ma, ma, moon shines out ‘ore the ca, cow shed, I’ll be waiting at the ki, ki, ki, kitchen door". I can hear him.

I remember the blue light in the parlor of the duplex on Amundson Avenue (which I have hung in our stairway in our home in Mora). Cinnamon Hearts in an apothecary jar (which I also have). The sound of the roughed glass on glass of the lid of the apothecary jar opening and sugar cubes to chew on…

Warm Memories.

Love,

Karen.

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The following are memories of David Onan II, son-in-law to the Hanans

Arthur was a great fan of baseball. Particularly the New York Giants. When they moved to California he was like a man without a country. He adopted the Minnesota Twins when he moved. Sitting next to him at a ballgame was an education in the strategy of the game. He would lean over and point out what kind of play the defensive or offensive team was trying to execute. To him it was more than just hitting the ball. But, he did like his team to win!

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Collecting antiques was no trivial pursuit for the Hanans. They collected hundreds of pieces over their life time. Since they lived in New York, they had an antique buyers paradise at hand. They knew their merchandise. Much of what they bought was in poor condition; either dirty or needed repair. Their efforts made it more valuable.

  The Hanan kitchen at 185 Meadow Lane, Golden Valley, MN

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The dolls were perhaps the major collection of the Hanans. Most were bought the same way as other antiques. They were bits and pieces and needed re-stringing. Gertrude found old Christening dresses to fit some and made dresses for others. They were all carefully cleaned and ironed. Hair was also extra. Her collection was admired by the Twin City doll club.

The Doll Room	One live child in this picture                  phot0262w

The Hanan picture album

phot0038 p1a       Gertrude	phot0038p17b                      Arthur

phot0038p9 Brighton Beach                       Gertrude & Arthur

phot0038 misc a           Gertrude	phot0079           Gertrude with siblings

Children

phot0040p7                        Arthur Hanan family

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Most of their last years were spent in Minnesota. Arthur returned to live with his daughter in New Jersey in the mid 1990’s. He is buried with Gertrude in the Onan family plot at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

phot0039                Their 50th 1978	phot0150                        1981

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Epilogue

In January 2008 I was doing some additional research in preparation for this web page. A Google search of Philip Hanau turned up two references in the New York Times for 1908 concerning the 60^th wedding anniversary of Philip and Maria Hanau, Arthur Hanan’s grandfather and grandmother. Included with a wealth of family relationship information was the fact that the couple was married in a Synagogue in London, England. This made them Jewish.

Confirmation by telephone of the fact that Arthur’s father and mother, John and Jennie, are buried in a Jewish cemetery in Paramus, NJ meant that they were Jewish. This leaves no doubt that Arthur was Jewish.

Arthur never acknowledged being Jewish. The time and place and industry he lived in must have made this fact either a disadvantage or shameful. I do not have that story. I do know that I am angry that he failed to tell this to his grown, responsible children.

A search of the city of New York, all boroughs, failed to turn up a marriage certificate for Arthur and Gertrude. Using the story told to David Onan III, it has been so far impossible to find the church, probably Scandinavian Lutheran, which they would have been married in. Pastor Ohman is found only as an "acting pastor". I don’t have feet on the street to follow this further.

Arthur’s Jewishness and Gertrude’s well established Swedish background brings up a lot of questions. What did they tell each other? What did they expect to accomplish by maintaining the secret between themselves for their life-time? There must be a story somewhere. But for now it is irrelevant.

The following links to the above referenced New York Times articles are to PDF files.

Link to CLIP0025   Read read announcement of 75th anniversary gathering
Link to CLIP0026   Read report of anniversary gathering

David W. Onan II
March 23, 2008