Introduction
Gerald (Gerry) Serrapede passed away in February of 1941 a few weeks before his third birthday. His sister Emily often related that for an entire year after this Josie, their mother, retreated to her bedroom. She got up to prepare meals and do housework but spent the rest of the time resting or sleeping. During this year which spanned the Spring of 1941 to the late winter of 1942, Emily spent many afternoons with her cousins after school.
Emily’s remembrances of the year after Gerry’s death were always vague. None of the anecdotes or stories from that time included her father, her Aunties or her Uncles. Then in late 1942 a happy event happened for the Serrapede family. Emily was now a pre-teen. At 11 years old she was developing a preference for sleeping late and complaining about how crowded the new apartment was getting. Before sharing those later stories it’s important to review the pieces to the story which Uncle Sammy recently shared with me. The bigger picture now emerges and a better understanding of why Josie rested and remained quiet comes to the fore. She needed the time to mourn but also to pray and prepare for the next phase in the family’s life.
Relationship Notes: The Serrapede Family
Josie and Sam Serrapede: Sammy’s parents and EmilyAnn’s maternal Grandparents.
Emily Leatrice Serraede: Sammy’s big sister and EmilyAnn’s Mom.
Gerald (Gerry) Serrapede: Sammy’s older brother and EmilyAnn’s Uncle who passed away in childhood.
“Junior”: Sammy’s nickname growing up. His birth name was Sabbatino, a derivative of his father Sabato’s name. Later he was called Sammy.
What was Josie doing during that year of retreat?
Josie and Sam discussed their grief over losing Gerry with a priest from St. Rosalia’s Church in their neighborhood. The priest comforted them and instructed them that they should go to confession, attend Mass every Sunday and receive the Sacrament of Communion as often as possible. Within a year they would have another baby boy.
Josie spent her time preparing for her pregnancy by getting her strength and health back. The assurance the priest gave to Josie and Sam was fulfilled. On November 20, 1942 Josie gave birth to a healthy baby boy at Doctor’s Hospital in Brooklyn. Josie and Sam named him Sabbatino which is a variation of Sam’s name in Italian, Sabato. Although his birth certificate bears the name of Sabbatino, the new baby was quickly given the American nickname of Junior.
Brooklyn Doctors Hospital
Close-up of the April 14, 1954 edition of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Brooklyn Doctors Hospital was formerly known as Borough Park Maternity Hospital. It was located at 4421 15th Avenue in Boro Park, Brooklyn, NY and was owned by Dr. Philip Mininberg. When he and his family were in Brooklyn they stayed at their house in Prospect Park West.
Dr. Mininberg was the head of Brooklyn Doctors Hosptial from 1923 until his death in 1951. His work was written about in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle many times throughout his career. In 1929 he saved the lives of a set of fraternal twins born prematurely. The boy was born dead but after Dr. Mininberg administered a shot of adrenalin the baby came to life. This was a new technique used to bring patients back from the brink of death. The use of adrenalin in this case was the very first of its kind in Brooklyn.
At the time of Dr. Mininberg’s death in 1951 Brooklyn Doctors Hosptial was valued at $230,000. It was part of the estate left to his wife and three children. In 1966 The Brooklyn Doctors Hospital closed.
Weather and Headline News the Day Junior was born: November 20, 1942
The Weather on November 20, 1942
–The day’s high of 74 degrees F was 22 degrees above average. Just 6 days earlier it had been 32 degrees F.
Headline news from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
–Lt. Helen L. Summers was awarded the Women’s Exposition Medal for her service as an army nurse while stationed on the islands of Bataan and Corregidor. Lt. Summers was from Brooklyn. She and 12 other women in service escaped from Corregidor. After returning to the United States, she had the desire to return to the service, this time working in the Air Evacuation Corps.
–American troops fighting alongside the English and French were making gains against the Germans in the first American ground battle since WWI. General Dwight D. Eisenhower said that although gains were being made and the Axis was in retreat the big fight was yet to come.
–As the numbers of men inducted into the service continued the New York City government was faced with a serious shortage of manpower. Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia’s recommendation was to hire women for the positions which were classed as “non-essential”. This term meant that the positions were not filled by employees who were irreplaceable. It would be easy to find others to fill the positions.
At the movies…a review by the New York Times’ critic Bosley Crother
–Veronica Lake charmed audiences with her slightly unreal beauty in a new film, “I married a Witch”. The New York Times film critic found the film a light, enjoyable story. The plot concerns a gubernatorial candidate in a small New England town falling for an enchanting, mysterious woman who appears in his life on the day he is to be married.
Family Story: The rocking chair
–Emily’s stories reflect more involvement and observation of events in the family once Junior came home from the hospital.–
In 1942 Emily was a pre-teen. She had started to sleep late on Saturday mornings so that she had more energy for going out with her cousins and friends in the afternoon. Sometimes they went to a matinee at the Endicott, a movie theatre on 13th Avenue and 70th Street. After that the group might go to one of the girl’s homes to listen to music on the radio. Other times they liked to walk along 13th Avenue or up and down the side streets where they hoped to meet their school friends. The entire idea of the outing was to see and be seen. The girls also hoped to pick up some interesting news about a schoolmate or the boys they secretly liked.
Back at the apartment, Junior cried a lot. His crib was outside of Emily’s small bedroom. He woke her up every time he cried. Being a healthy baby, Junior cried loudly and often when he first came home. Josie would quickly get up and take Junior into the living room where she had a rocking chair. She did not want him to wake up Sam. Junior liked being rocked and soon this became a nightly routine. He’d cry after being put in his crib for the night and would not get drowsy until he was rocked again. As time went by he’d cry in the middle of the night, too. Josie ended up taking him to the rocking chair several times each night.
The first rocking chair broke for some reason and there was a short space of time before another one was delivered to the apartment. Emily was very glad to see the new rocking chair. She knew Junior would quiet down now that Josie went back to the routine that become well established as the months passed. For a little while things were alright. Emily was able to sleep late on Saturday mornings. Eventually this phase was left behind and then she found something else about Junior which gave her reason to complain. The days of quiet detachment that had followed Gerry’s passing were over.
Discussion with Uncle Sammy Sunday Oct. 2, 2016, 11 – 11:45 a.m.
Uncle Sammy and I looked up the topic of rocking a baby to sleep. Modern studies show that babies get drowsy from a variety of experiences. The cause of the drowsiness becomes part of the routine they associate with bedtime. If a baby is rocked early in his/her infancy, then they want to be rocked every time they are ready for sleep. Josie was following advice that her mother Letizia taught her. From other relatives I learned that Letizia believed that rocking a baby to sleep or carrying the baby while speaking softly and walking around were the best ways to get a baby to sleep. In turn she taught this to Josie who in turn passed the advice onto her sisters. One of Josie’s sisters was also an advocate of rocking her baby to sleep.
We then did a quick search of the Brooklyn Public Library’s archive of The Brookly Daily Eagle. Angelo Patri was a child care expert who wrote a column entitled “Know Your Child” for the newspaper. On Tuesday, July 11, 1933 he focused on the best way a mother could use the features of the new prams to make their baby’s outing pleasant. He details how rocking the baby to sleep in the pram is more harmful than beneficial. Mr. Patri thought that rocking the baby while he/she is in the pram could upset the baby’s digestion or cause him to be fretful when he awoke.
My own Mom disliked rocking chairs very much. She believed a child had to learn how to fall asleep on their own. Mom and Dad would talk to me before I went to bed but did not establish a hard and fast ritual for every night. My earliest memories are of a bath, dinner, some conversation and then being put to bed. I’d also slept in a crib in my own room as a baby. Mom and Dad bought a nightlight that was very comforting. I remember seeing my toys and when the weather was nice I could hear the pigeons cooing in the early evening or the cars coming into the community driveway. These sounds happened at the same time each evening so it reassured me that other families were going to sleep too. The cars coming into the driveway belonged to the fathers who were coming home from work.
Uncle Sammy never had any problems going to sleep as he grew older. As a child he slept on a cot in Josie and Sam’s room. When he was 8 years old he got his own bedroom. Emily got married that year and her little room was quickly claimed by Uncle Sammy as his own. Sometimes he had fears that the Bogey Man was going to jump out from the shadows, a corner, or from under his bed. Josie would leave the door to his room open so he could see the light from her room. Uncle Sammy said there was no concept in the household of a bed time ritual meant to ease the older child to sleep. TV was off-limits after a certain time. When told to go to bed he had to go to bed. And that was that.
Resources
Brooklyn Doctors Hospital
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Newsstand
Brooklyn, NY
“Adrenalin Cheats Death and Aids Police Crime War”
April 18, 1929
page 1 and 19
https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59879747/?terms=Dr.%2BPhilip%
“Dr. Philip Mininberg, owned Brooklyn Doctors Hospital”
Wed., March 21, 1951
page 21
https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53775602/?terms=Doctors%2BHospital
“Widow, 3 children of Dr. Mininberg to share Estate”
Wed., Apr. 14, 1954
page 13
https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53779514/?terms=Dr.%2BPhilip%2BMininberg
Doctors Hospital of Brooklyn
15th Avenue at 45th Street, Brooklyn. Closed approx. 1965.
http://newyork.resiliencesystem.org/sites/default/files/closed_hospitals.txt
List of closed hospitals
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_New_York_City#Closed_hospitals
In the news on November 20, 1942
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Newsstand
Brooklyn, NY
Friday, November 20, 1942
Headlines page 1
http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52872213/
“A.E.F. Defeats Nazis in 1st Tunisia Battle”
page1 and 3.
“Hire Women to replace draftees, Mayor Says”
page 1 and 15.
“13 Women on a Sub Scared Crew But Not Enough to stop rescue”
page 1 and 15.
New York City Weather Archive
Rob Frydlewicz
http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/weather/2012/11/today-in-new-york-weather-history-november-20.html
The New York Times On-line Archive
THE SCREEN: ‘I Married a Witch,’ a Thorne Smith Whimsey, With Fredric March and Veronica Lake as Stars, Arrives at the Capitol
By BOSLEY CROWTHER
Published: November 20, 1942
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802E1DD1738EE3BBC4851DFB7678389659EDE
Other Resources
The Endicott Movie Theatre
Cinema Treasures
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/8357
Note: Good photos capture the details of the theatre that have survived.
Rocking a baby to sleep
The number of articles, opinions and practices are many. Here are two short modern postings you might be interested in along with a link to the 1933 article by Angelo Patri.
“Creating Healthy Sleep Habits”
By the editors of Child magazine
http://www.parents.com/baby/sleep/tips/creating-healthy-sleep-habits/
“How To Help Your Baby To Sleep (Without Rocking”
Elevating child care
Posted by janet on Aug 28th, 2011
http://www.janetlansbury.com/2011/08/how-to-help-your-baby-to-sleep-without-rocking/
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Tuesday, July 11, 1933, page 12
“Know Your Child” by Angelo Patri
THE BABY CARRIAGE
The Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Newsstand
http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59845597/?terms=rocking%2Bbaby%2Bto%2Bsleep
Through The Byzantine Gate 
I am curious as to whether your grandparents became overly protective of Sammy, having lost Gerry, and maybe that’s part of why Josie rocked him to sleep so frequently when he was a baby.
I believe your mother was ahead of her time (or maybe it was the trend by then generally) in believing that babies need to learn to self-comfort and get themselves to sleep. I remember crying while listening to my daughters cry themselves to sleep. It seemed cruel, but after a few nights, they both learned to put themselves to sleep, and all of our lives became less stressful.
Amy, as always your insights are on the mark. You are right that Josie was over-protective during Sammy’s childhood. Once he was a teen she gave him room to make choices and learn from his mistakes. He always had to respect the boundaries she set like curfew and knowing who his friends were and where he was gping. The line of communication was very good. He got into mischief but never rebellion..
Hope your Thanksgivong was good. I will catch up with your blog on Sunday. Today is Uncle Sammy’s retirement party. We are going to Lam bertville Station. I am told the chateaux-like restaurant on the Delaware River is an experience. There is a very scenic setting but I do not think there will be time for sightseeing as I do not drive and will travel with my Aunt. I will post photos and a short update on the event. Talk with you soon.
Enjoy the party, and give hugs to Uncle Sammy—I love reading about him, and I love that you two share this passion for the family history.
I am sure he was doted on! And I am sure his parents—your grandparents—would be thrilled with the work you are doing to honor their lives.
Thank you from my heart 💖 to yours 💝 .