What did your grandparents do? Mine ran a store

Marie5656

SF VIP
Location
Batavia, NY
My grandfather built this building, and ran a grocery store. There were apartments upstairs. The picture was taken in 1932. My grandparents are in the front, second and third from left. See the two men leaning up against the corner of the building? Man on the right was mi dad. If you see the light colored bar at the top of the building, that had our last name engraved on it. I am also including a advert for the store. Not sure if it was a misprint, of they really did sell 98 pound bags of flour.

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Cool picture, Marie. I'm sure the flour is correct; back in the day all breads, biscuits, cake, etc. were homemade from scratch. (And usually, it was an extended time between shopping trips.)

My grandparents were farmers.
 
Both of my grandmothers were homemakers, mostly.

One worked for about a year on an assembly line during WWII, assembling parts for some kind of airplane radio equipment. She thought it was her duty to do her part for the war effort while my dad was serving in the Navy. The other one taught piano in her home for several years.

One grandpa was a performer in the circus sideshow for a while, then owned a couple of movie theaters and later became a house painter and wallpaper hanger.

The other grandpa was a master welder who worked for the railroad for many years and then was a shop master later at a U.S. Navy shipyard, making propellers.
 
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I don’t know anything about my moms mother except she died of MS when my mom was 9 years old. Her father became a POW for 5 years and apparently was never the same.
My father’s father was a barber and his mother was a housewife. I remember them when I lived in England and she came to stay with us once when I was 8. My mom didn’t like her so we never had a relationship but I wish I knew more about my family than I currently do. It would be nice to learn my family history.
 
Great photo!

My great grandfather had a more modest little country store with a post office in the corner similar to Ike Godsey on the Walton's.

On my father's side of the family, my grandfather was a rural letter carrier and my grandmother owned/operated a farm. On my mother's side of the family, my grandfather was a city fire chief and my grandmother did it all. She was a homemaker, a machinist/toolmaker during WWII and a kitchen worker in a hospital after the war.
 
Wonderful photo Marie... how lovely to have that . :D

Wow, what a great variety of jobs everyone's ancestors did... Jujube..a Circus Sideshow?.. wow!!!

My maternal grandfather was a stone mason, my grandmother I have no idea.. ( I know very little about either one of them)

My Paternal grandfather was a cobbler with his own Shop (store).. in the city centre.... my paternal grandmother gave birth to 16 kids and raised 9 live ones.. so I think she was pretty busy...
 
Never had the pleasure of meeting my grandfathers as they passed away before I made my dramatic appearance....I do know that one grandfather worked for the railroad as the paymaster. He'd travel all over the province with all the cash...He was very popular.... and he also had a gun. Not sure if he ever had a reason to use it .

My other grandfather, who passed away exactly nine months before I arrived, was a stone mason. Some of his work is on the old city hall in Toronto along with other government buildings. As for my grandmothers, one of them was my best friend as I grew up....She was working for the telephone company and, during the war, she was a supervisor at a munitions plant. Grandmother number two was a housewife .
 
My great grandparents on my moms side farmed.My Grandpa was a stationary engineer for Hortons ice cream factory in New York City. He did shift work and took the bus into the city. Back then people didn't get on the bus in work clothes. He would dress with a suit and tie and change once at work. He took care of all the engines and in some cases would climb up on the outside of the building to chip away ice that could cause a problem with the machines.
Once in awhile he would bring home a big container of the fruit they used for making the different flavors of ice cream. He would pack it in dry ice for the bus ride home.
My Grandmother was a homemaker.
I don't know much about my Dads side.
 
My grandparents on my fathers side came over from Poland by way of Ellis Island in 1910. According to the 1930 census they were living in a 900 square foot row house with their 4 kids in Garfield New Jersey and were factory workers. That's all I know about them.
 


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