tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post4859519080439474571..comments2024-03-27T15:59:11.066+00:00Comments on Prometheus in Aspic: Hooptedoodle #294 - 37 Avenue Foch - Memory by ProxyMSFoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-34673960934801107242018-03-03T10:42:24.514+00:002018-03-03T10:42:24.514+00:00Oops, seems I overlooked the crucial detail before...Oops, seems I overlooked the crucial detail before hitting the keyboard. That's never happened before...david in suffolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02945969485547328039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-82080741704419839992018-03-02T22:16:36.921+00:002018-03-02T22:16:36.921+00:00...I should have explained that my paternal grandf......I should have explained that my paternal grandfather would have been 12 in 1891 - this wasn't some form of modern ritual abuse in Lancashire...MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-70903338708351657222018-03-02T15:20:10.527+00:002018-03-02T15:20:10.527+00:00Jim - thanks for reading my stuff! The timelines n...Jim - thanks for reading my stuff! The timelines now make a little more sense, since I have managed to sidestep the Official Histories. I am now very friendly with my mother's half-sister, for example, of whom I knew nothing just 20 years ago. France and the Belgian Congo may be a lot nearer than they used to be, but 80 years is a very long time!<br /><br />I have some plans for cutting down the bulk of the photos. For a start, I recall that we have numerous complete albums of wedding photos of people I don't even recognise. I think I can cut that down to a couple each! Some of the most fascinating of the pics are the oldest. I have a studio photo of my paternal grandfather, as a boy of about 12, I would guess, taken in front of a painted backdrop of (I think) the River Mersey - on top of his school cap you can just see the little clamp they used to hold kids' heads still during a lengthy exposure. Instrument of torture? Point of interest to me is that at 12 he must still have been living near Warrington, with his father - before yet another marriage hit the rocks!<br /><br />Loads of stuff like that. I'll have to set aside some time!MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-10706162884726965452018-03-02T14:49:23.156+00:002018-03-02T14:49:23.156+00:00Thanks for this captivating post, Mr. Foy. I was ...Thanks for this captivating post, Mr. Foy. I was going to make the obvious comment about attaching names, places and dates to you trove of photos in so far as possible and whilst you can, but I see David and you beat me to it. You have probably already done it, but writing down the timelines of the family and its members might help figure out some of the inevitable mysteries. <br /><br />I've a similar challenge awaiting me and am running out of elder informants... <br /><br />JimJiminhohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15163197311165054930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-21426046700580343442018-03-02T11:48:54.833+00:002018-03-02T11:48:54.833+00:00Where the %$%$#%$ did that come from? Hunh! Odd ho...Where the %$%$#%$ did that come from? Hunh! Odd how autocorrect tools are happy to try to avoid technical terms etc but ignore non sequitur inserts.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-87267360462872158012018-03-02T02:05:55.743+00:002018-03-02T02:05:55.743+00:00That's exactly the thing to do. I've actua...That's exactly the thing to do. I've actually done some of that over the last couple of years. Problem now is that showing my mum the photos is not possible, since she cannot see them.<br /><br />You are absolutely right, though.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-29898486487962980552018-03-01T22:27:50.224+00:002018-03-01T22:27:50.224+00:00Speaking from recent experience, if you do only on...Speaking from recent experience, if you do only one thing for future family historians (they will be interested, one day), find those photos and write the names of the subjects (where you know them) on the back! And how about showing them to your mother? It might trigger her memories and give you both an interesting afternoon's chat, at the very least..david in suffolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02945969485547328039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-70943926833700107062018-03-01T19:43:09.363+00:002018-03-01T19:43:09.363+00:00Ross - I'm a bit confused by your comment - di...Ross - I'm a bit confused by your comment - did I just misread it, or did something odd happen with a paste?<br /><br />This digital exploring is quite exciting. I found my great grandmother's old dairy without actually going within 200 miles. One big conundrum is that the young are very busy, and couldn't give a rat's for family history. By the time they (we?) develop an urgent interest they may have missed the chance - the elders have died or else forgotten. No way back.<br /><br />+1 die...?MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-41583646372013385812018-03-01T19:34:01.041+00:002018-03-01T19:34:01.041+00:00My mother tried very hard to teach us our family h...My mother tried very hard to teach us our family history but alas by the time I became interested, it was too late and she had trouble recognizing her daughter let alone remembering details of the past. (to my sister's annoyance she always recognized me.)<br /><br />Interesting thing google maps etc, found one of my father's old school books with his address written in, +1 die of defensive fire if there is an adjacent deployed friend, not itself adjacent to an enemy, who has line of fire to the unit’s melee opponent. looked it up on lines and 90 years later there is still a corner store where my grandmother's shop had been in Montreal.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-41907949359126220182018-03-01T14:51:00.825+00:002018-03-01T14:51:00.825+00:00There is a little more about my grandfather in an ...There is a little more about my grandfather in an ancient post from 2010 - coincidentally also written during a snowstorm! - <br /><br />http://prometheusinaspic.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/hooptedoodle-10-grandpere-et-la.html<br /><br />If anyone's interested. I'm interested to note that my own knowledge of the family history has improved since 2010. Late input from the care home...MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-84700732777443876912018-03-01T14:03:12.930+00:002018-03-01T14:03:12.930+00:00No - he and his new wife (and baby) moved to Leopo...No - he and his new wife (and baby) moved to Leopoldville, which must have been another Lever Bros location - at least part of this was to hide from some very angry relatives - his new wife had been married before as well! After the war was over they moved back to Paris - lived in Puteaux for a while then moved up the street to Neuilly-sur-Seine when he was financially better off. I knew him for a few years when he lived in Neuilly. Nice man - great character and raconteur, lover of good wines and food - especially Flemish and Northern food. Very charming. He and his wife (who was from another emigré English family) used to use oddly quaint pre-war slang - words like 'wizard' and 'ripping'. I think he regarded himself as something of a sophisticate, but he was just another ageing theorist. Shame about the bloody cigarettes.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-30965913236238814122018-03-01T12:50:55.566+00:002018-03-01T12:50:55.566+00:00Did your Grandfather stay in Paris during the war?...Did your Grandfather stay in Paris during the war? Sorry - caught up in the story now!Steve-the-Wargamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07077311120172727690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-20991620926055121012018-03-01T10:52:54.458+00:002018-03-01T10:52:54.458+00:00Good move. And don't get me started on the col...Good move. And don't get me started on the collection of walking aids, which mainly fulfill the function of traffic islands around her flat.<br /><br />My wife Pauline has a priceless resource of a copy of her grandad's wartime diaries. He was a copious diarist and this is a fascinating record of the Home Front and the comings and goings and correspondence of the various service people in his large family, including his future son-in-law, Pauline's Dad, in the RE in N Africa and Italy.Chris Gricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578412472163593374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-11276025676731794932018-03-01T10:46:47.362+00:002018-03-01T10:46:47.362+00:00Following an email exchange yesterday, I have to c...Following an email exchange yesterday, I have to clarify the address. As was pointed out, the Gestapo HQ in Paris were in Avenue Foch, the big, prestigious boulevard which runs between the Place d'Etoile and the Porte Dauphine. Avenue Foch in La Garenne-Colombes is 10 km away, and a different deal altogether. I have a private, unsubstantiated suspicion that, at the outset, my grandfather must have believed that Lever Bros were setting him up in the posh one. That would have been somehow typical of the man.<br /><br />He did well in the end - finished his working career as director of the Paris firm. A classic family irony - he became wealthy long after it was of any interest to my bit of the family! A lifelong smoker, he became very ill and retired to the UK (Bristol), where he had extensive treatment, but died when he was about 70, by which time, I'm delighted to say, most of the family were on speaking terms again. MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-46744391406957920052018-03-01T10:34:57.855+00:002018-03-01T10:34:57.855+00:00Excellent! My mum's hearing aids are something...Excellent! My mum's hearing aids are something of a topic here; when she went into the home she told them some ludicrous tale about how much they were worth, and the management flipped. I had to insure them privately, or else the home didn't want them on the premises. Since these things are small and almost designed to disappear down the toilet, the quoted insurance premium was about half the replacement value, so we didn't bother. I agreed with her that I would look after them for her. She manages well enough without - in fact she can't remember that she used to have them, which is useful in a sad sort of way.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-13112396504359727362018-03-01T10:28:13.774+00:002018-03-01T10:28:13.774+00:00It's like the historian said - you feel that i...It's like the historian said - you feel that it's too precious to lose, but if we record everything no-one will ever have the time to read it. My mum has (somewhere - probably in my house) a vast manila envelope full of ancient family photos - combination of two fairly complicated extended families. To me (and I've been paying attention, and am interested, and aware of the verbal history tradition) about 70% is completely unknown - I don't know who these people are. I am keen to hang onto the envelope anyway, but I know my kids will not care less - this stuff is all scrap someday, unless one of the relatives turns out to be Disraeli or somebody.<br /><br />My father's family have spread like ripples on a pond. There are relatives in Canada, Australia, Indonesia - I see little point in trying to keep track of my cousins' grandchildren. I am interested in where I came from, but everyone else (though I wish them well) can look after their own history!MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-30394122264368685202018-02-28T22:45:17.056+00:002018-02-28T22:45:17.056+00:00Mothers, eh? My old Mum refuses to use her new hea...Mothers, eh? My old Mum refuses to use her new hearing aids because they make everything so loud!Chris Gricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578412472163593374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-298566557394643022018-02-28T22:43:26.641+00:002018-02-28T22:43:26.641+00:00That's lovely stuff, thank you. My Dad recorde...That's lovely stuff, thank you. My Dad recorded his memories of childhood visits to the 'family farm', and this was hugely appreciated by other family members and family history fans, but there was so much more we should have got, and it's too late now. I should have set up a recording device on the phone and had some long talks! Maybe you should be taking notes after your weekly visits.. <br /> david in suffolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02945969485547328039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-54401058633651572642018-02-28T19:57:44.292+00:002018-02-28T19:57:44.292+00:00Prof De Vries - who has been a very active reader ...Prof De Vries - who has been a very active reader recently - emailed to ask why the prayers would be affected by the candles being re-lit. I think I did not describe this adequately - my mum says that, since they preferred Jeanne d'Arc, they transferred a lot of the Virgin Mary's candles to her when they re-lit them. I think the professor agreed that this, indeed, might cause some confusion.<br /><br />Though he may email again after he has thought about it...MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-56464380111013114302018-02-28T19:38:26.113+00:002018-02-28T19:38:26.113+00:00It's tricky.
I tried unsuccessfully to get m...It's tricky. <br /><br />I tried unsuccessfully to get my dad to write down his experiences at Liverpool Docks before and during WW2, but it never happened. I agree with your thoughts about your dad entirely. I spoke to a local Liverpool historian about it, and he was going to come up to Scotland to interview my dad (we'd even got in some bottles of Glenkinchie for inspiration), and then both my dad and the historian died within a few weeks! Bugger. <br /><br />Back to the point... the historian (before he died) said it is vital that the immediate family should understand their own history in some detail - this was always the case in the days when there were traditions of storytelling, but we've lost it with families who travel more, amuse themselves by watching someone else's life on TV and are obsessed with "today". He said eventually there's a limit to how much of the past we can archive - if we try to publish it, we are going to sell about 3 copies! <br /><br />It would be good though. Sad that the people who have the most valuable life memories are frequently the most confused! Also sad that - especially with military experiences - the veterans are often reluctant to talk about it.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-18645503392896501242018-02-28T19:27:25.845+00:002018-02-28T19:27:25.845+00:00Thank you, Richard. I appreciate that very much.Thank you, Richard. I appreciate that very much.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-66962371681701866472018-02-28T19:15:30.805+00:002018-02-28T19:15:30.805+00:00Having started our family it saddens me how many m...Having started our family it saddens me how many memories are lost , my dear departed father fought in the Tank Regt. in the last war and never really talked about , I wish now I'd of enquired more when he was alive .The Good Soldier Svjekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08749564052124659180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-85608491765164036052018-02-28T18:53:53.525+00:002018-02-28T18:53:53.525+00:00Wonderful read, thank youWonderful read, thank youRichard Griffithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05414415954578815473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-12088293800672356282018-02-28T17:02:44.605+00:002018-02-28T17:02:44.605+00:00I think family histories are fascinating things an...I think family histories are fascinating things and yours was no exception.Phil Curranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06828625218031670912noreply@blogger.com