The house I lived in until age 9 is in the extreme southeast corner of Yonkers, NY. My grandfather (father’s father), an immigrant from Latvia, built it with a friend (c. 1930). Still occupied in 2020. My parents were both classical string musicians. Mom played weddings, etc., and was in the New York Women’s Symphony Orchestra (1937, conductor, Antonia Brico). Dad toured with bands until I was born in 1947, orchestra fill-in, Broadway sub, and studio work in NYC. My grandfather, or Pop as everyone called him, made and repaired classical music string instruments.

By the looks of some photos, in a 1930s-1940s the band had its fun moments! To me, some of these photos make my parents look like movie stars, and although they were a handsome couple, they both were as far from that fantasy as one can get – appearances being a style of the era.