The Early Years are broken down into two phases — Phase I is the ‘Going through all the documents in order…’ phase.
Exhibit I The Birth Certificate
Helen was born September, 7, 1903 near Albany, New York. As you will see at the bottom of the document, this is a ‘true copy (photostatio)’ – I cannot find the word ‘photostatio’ even in Google, but the document looks to be an official mimeograph, ordered in 1935, with a raised seal and stamp on the back that says in red “New York State, Received 3 Aug 1904, Department of Health.” .
But Menands, noted above, is in Upstate New York near Albany.
The document says, at the time of her birth, her father, Frank Skinner, from Charlton, New York, was a 31 year old Civil Engineer; and her mother, Gertrude Skinner (nee Bunyan), from Saratoga, New York, was 27. Helen was their first child.
The tiny picture that accompanies the birth certificate at the bottom, which had become unglued, must have been part of a photoshoot that also produced the pictures below, as her shirt and hairdo are the same.
Exhibit II: Baby Photos
A baby book, titled ‘Baby’s Red Letter Days’, also includes a picture from the same photo shoot along with lists detailing milestones and such.
Exhibit III: Baby’s Red Letter Days
A look inside the baby book:
Some of the notes inside include (with punctuation/spelling intact):
- Christmas Has Come – “Went to Ballston to spend the day. Very good girl all day.”
- Side note: It’s hard to be very good all day, even for adults.
- Short Clothes – February 24, 1904 – “our Baby dons short cloths”
- Side note: In the baby book, ‘Short Clothes’ has its own page like the ones above, but with illustrations that look like mini adult clothing.
- Cute Sayings – “At the age of 19 mos Helen exclaims to the astonishment of Dady and Mother, “Oh, my sakes.'”
- Side note: this is adorable, proper and intelligent, all with a hint of theatrics.
The more juicy stuff is housed in the back of the booklet in a section called ‘Mother’s Notes’:
- Feb 15 – First played with rubber ball intelligently
- Side note: my high standards theory, validated
- At 7 1/2 months Helen begins to say da-da-da and ma-ma-ma-ma and ba-ba-ba
- Side note: Google says this would give her an A+, age-wise
- At 8 months Helen can get around on the floor quite well. She does not creep but hitches along
- Side note: hitching, I learned, means kind of crawling but with one foot on the ground that is pulling the body forward, and it’s something that is corrected today
- June 29 – I find my baby standing behind my chair
- Side note: if worth noting it must have been a milestone and/or startling
- Helen begins to be very orderly. At age of 14 1/2 mos she picks up her daddys slippers and shoes and puts them in the closet and shuts the door
- Side note: an astrology minded person would say she was a Virgo through and through
- 18 mos – Helen gets loaf of bread and knife and comes upstairs and says ‘piece’
- Side note: this might also be startling
What was the world like then, outside of Menands, New York? Some highlights: Teddy Roosevelt was president; the Ford Motor Company formed and released the Model A (also known as a horseless carriage); the first silent film was released; and, more apropos to Helen’s future, The Wright Brothers had their first flight on the Kitty Hawk. And refrigeration and electricity were not yet widespread. In other words, it was a long time ago (at least in American terms).
There are two pictures of houses in with the childhood photos.
Phase I, Exhibit III: House Pictures
The back of the picture of states:
The house above was where her father grew up (and many Skinner generations before him). The Van Dam Hotel in Saratoga, Springs, N.Y. mentioned above, still stands, but under a different name.
The other house picture:
The 2nd house was owned by some combination of different branches of her mother’s side of the family, with names such as Mead, Smeallie, Cavert, and Bunyan. The back of the picture (which is actually an unsent postcard), says “Helen Skinner (and later Mary), and Betty Bunyan spent summers on the farm until it was sold in 1918. Grandma Mead moved to Brooklyn and lived with The Skinner Family.”
Phase I, Exhibit IV: People Pictures
This is the only other baby picture of Helen, and it’s a cutey.
Maybe the clothes in the picture above are Short Clothes, even though they are long? That little sweater looks quite sophisticated. I can’t tell what the black thing is to the left of her. I first thought a loom and then perhaps a croquet set stand.
Then jump forward a few years and there are three more pictures. The first one isn’t labeled except for her name, but she looks maybe eight?
I thought the above might be a school uniform, but nixed that idea after some Googling. But what I did find is that it was a sailor dress popular in around 1910, made by the designer Peter Thompson. So she was on trend.
Both of the above pictures were taken at the 2nd house in West Charlton, NY. The cute little girl with the bowl cut is Helen’s sister. Helen is the taller of the older girls (the one not in stripes). The other girl and little boy are their cousins, Betty and George Bunyan. The two women are Grannie Janie and Grandma Mead (one from each side of the family).
Betty looks unhappy in both pictures, but I was assured they were best of friends and partners in crime for decades.
And that was all I had from the childhood years based on chronology. Later I found a trove of additional detail.
Next up: The Early Years, Phase II.
Flying Under the Radar 