The Early Years II

Along with many other ex-G.I.s I began college in September, 1945. And, along with many other ex-G.I.s, I was anxious to complete college and get on with my life. I took as many courses as possible and amassed enough credits to earn a Bachelors degree by February, 1948. A recession had taken hold and the market was flooded with recent college graduates. I managed to land a job with the United States Department of Agriculture. The ANNUAL salary was $1,050.00. That equates to $20.19 per week. I was based in Washington, D.C. and field trips were included in the job. When based in Washington, I got up at six o’clock in the morning, took a street car to Camden Station, a train to Washington and a bus to work and got there 8:30. I didn’t get home until 6:30 P.M. Momma and I became engaged in March, 1948 and she was not happy with the arrangement. Field trips consisted working in various cities for a two week period. We wrote to each other daily while I was away. The Department paid for transportation and gave us $6.00 per diem. The $6.00 paid for food, lodging, laundry and anything else we needed. I traveled with a partner and we could not make it on $6.00 per day each. The hotel room at the Times Square Hotel in New York was $12.00 per day. There went the six bucks. Between the travel expenses and the commuting expenses, nothing was left of my salary and I started digging into my savings. I was fortunate to live at home. By August, 1948 I was ready to leave the job. But with the recession, not much was available. Momma and I talked about it and because I had another year of college eligibility under the G.I. bill, we decided that I should go back for a year of graduate work. The wedding was scheduled for September 12, 1948 and we would live with Momma’s parents Samuel Zelig and Esther Hoffman in a three bedroom row house on Park Heights Terrace. There was room in that there was only Momma’s 18 year old brother, Bernard (Buddy) living there. I began college when we got back from the honeymoon. We received a stipend of $105.00 per month, $80.00 of which went for room and board. We made do and when Momma needed a winter coat, she worked for a credit company and we bought a good winter coat.

I finished the year of college in May, 1949 and Risa was born in June, 1949. Jobs were scarce and I took a job with Wearever Pots and Pans selling door-to-door. It did not work out. We looked and looked, talked and talked. We finally came up with the idea of a grocery store. I knew how to cut meat from working in supermarkets before I went into the Army and had a degree in business. We enlisted the four parents and finally found a suitable store for sale at 238 South Stricker Street with living quarters behind and above the store. My parents loaned us $5,000.00 and by late August, we were budding grocery magnates and Kenmar Food Market was born. We moved on September 12, 1949. We took Risa’s carriage, her necessities and blankets for us. The first night, we slept on the blankets on the floor. The next day, I went out and bought a spring and mattress. To store clothes and other possessions, we used orange crates. Momma was 22 years old, I was 24. We had a kitchen behind the store and four rooms on the second floor. The front room was a cavernous room which we used to hang clothes to dry. There were no Pampers so we washed Risa’s diapers and hung them to dry in the second floor front room. The first thing we bought was a front loading Bendix washer. It had a round glass door and we parked Risa in front. She watched the clothes go round and round and was fascinated. We had no refrigerator so we kept the perishables in the refrigerated display cases in the store. In May, 1950, we received a life insurance dividend check, enough to buy an Admiral refrigerator to use in the kitchen. Eureka, what luxury!! My parents contributed the unused, hideous green kitchen set from their basement. We began our family life.