spynotes ::
  February 03, 2006
Calling Mrs. Frumble

I have been delving into another round of archival work this week and have, as usual, found great entertainment in between the newspaper articles I�m actually reading.

Some of the articles beg for more information, but some just speak of an earlier era when just about anything was fair game for a news story in a city paper. The reminder of how things have changed is sometimes striking. There is, for example, the article with the someone alarming headline from 1934, �4 CHILDREN LOST IN PARK.� If such a headline appeared today, you�d know to expect drama, to expect the children were still missing, or worse. But this article merely lists the names, ages and addresses of the children in question (itself a startling bit of detail) who wandered off in Lincoln Park and were subsequently found with no ill effects.

My personal favorite, however, is an article from 1913 that bears the headline, �WOMAN�S HAT FALLS IN LOOP.� The story is pretty much as exciting as it sounds. �Police are seeking the owner of a woman�s black felt Gainsborough hat which fell at the feet of Traffic Policeman Frank McGregor at North State and Washington streets yesterday. It is trimmed with imitation peach blossoms and a large black velvet bow.�

This article is next to a cautionary tale about a woman who abandons her only child in favor of the stage with the stellar headline, �DRESSES DOLL; FORGETS BABY; DANCES AND SINGS ON STAGE.�

Edwin Boone Jr, 2 years and 4 months old, will be the most �adopted� baby in Chicago when he succeeds in being placed finally in a permanent home.

Edwin already is adopted by his grandmother, Mrs. Lillian Cloherty of 1619 West Madison street. She took out adoption papers two months ago in order to have the right of subletting or transferring her grandson to some fond foster parents.

Mrs. Blanche Hubbard Boone, the baby�s mother, signed away her right to her son before Judge Pinckney and the grandmother took possession of the child. The baby�s father, Edwin Boon, acquiesced to the proceedings, glad to have his mother direct the search for a home for the youngster.

Meanwhile the boy�s mother sings and dances in Omaha, untroubled by a mother�s love. Her salary of $18 a week, she says, is entirely too meager to permit her spending a dollar a week for her baby�s keep.

Edwin Boone, the father, who is an electrician and earns �good money� when he works, would like to help out in little Edwin�s board bill with a dollar a week, but at present he is without a job. So the grandmother works in a cleaning shop at 1619 West Madison street to pay the baby�s board. At first she paid $5 a week but in the last few months she has paid $3.50 a week to Mrs. Dora Lecher at 1518 West Madison street.

When Blanche Boone, the mother, sent her baby over to Mrs. Fischer, she sent him with one dress. The baby�s prettiest dress and warmest skirts she kept back for her doll. So, while the days were bleak and cold her large bisque doll sat on a mantel in the parlor, arrayed in warm skirts and a dainty dress, while her own baby was among strangers with one dress.

Allthough the grandmother�s heart breaks for the child, she cannot take him into her own home. Her husband will not permit her.

�He is the brightest child,� declared the grandmother. �I am getting too old. It would be a beautiful thought to leave this world knowing that he was with people who loved him. I would like to find him a good home while I can.

Mrs. Margaretta Brown of the Sunshine band is trying to find a home for the baby.

Who says research isn�t fun?

5 people said it like they meant it

 
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