My Nana was born June 2, 1891, at 34 Monroe, Hoboken of a Prussian mother and a Westphalian father, the 2nd daughter in a family of many sons. She began working at 6 alongside her 8 year old sister Olga in P. Lorillard factory on Henderson, hand rolling tobacco in cigarette papers. Little fingers worked quickly as they laughed, giggled, sang, chattered away mocking the adult supervision to lighten the intensity of the child labor conditions ! She had equivalent of 2nd grade education, spelled phonetically, pencilled pages of legible stories and wrote me a double-sided letter in pencil every week of my life until she died. Sadly, I never saved one yet I remember those stories as if it were yesterday ! She made my clothes, taught me my prayers, how to sew, play cards and hugged me a lot. My only sibling arrived when I was 9, it was she who several years later nicknamed me “Goody Two Shoes” which I suspect wasn’t all flattery, what do you think ? My parents were just kids themselves, I think we matured at the same rate and time like birds of a feather ( the follow up ) that flock together ! My dad used to say that I was born “all grown up”, perhaps !
Sincerely, Claire B.
Claire V. Bogdanos 