Noelle's Blog

Noelle Oral History

This is what she said about herself when she was about 50 or 60 years old.

Dear Babchi,

It has been five years since I wrote to you last.  I miss you alot. I miss you so much I want to go back to Poland to see you. But I certainly do not want to go back on the boat in steerage. It almost made me jump off the boat and swim back home. I am happy I did not though, because I am safe with Ma, Pa, and Emiliae. As soon as we got out of Ellis Island we saw Pa. I was so excited I ran faster than I have ever ran before, almost as fast as a bullet. I hugged him so tight I almost squeezed him to death! I had missed him so much. I missed him so much that I wanted the boat to be a very fast boat. Then we went straight home to Pa’s tenement apartment. We can barely afford our rent. But we can because we all work. I am a garment worker and I make shirtwaists, so does Ma. A shirtwaist is like a shirt but it goes in really tight at the waist. It has big sleeves, a collar, and a thin belt that goes at your waist. They are not very comfortable but I am a girl so when I get to go somewhere fancy (which never really happens) I have to wear one. Emiliae is a newsie and a peddler. When he is done selling newspapers he goes out on the streets and peddles. His voice always hurts after because he yells all the time when he is peddling. Pa is now a butcher and many people go to his shop! School was super scary and nerve-wracking. The teacher was super strict. When we were bad we got hit by rulers! It was cruel! It was so horrible I wanted to go straight back to Poland and live with you. Well, at least I am not in school any more. But it is good I was in school because I learned most of my English there. I still think school is better than sewing all day for minimum wages. I am saving up for night school so I can still learn but make money from working. It will be a perfect thing to do. Now I can speak better English, but don’t worry, I will never forget Poland and Polish traditions. We still do pisanki on Easter! On my way home from work I go and stop to shop from peddlers. It is very busy and loud and crowded. Though it is all of those things it still smells really good. I like to buy fruits and vegetables. Sometimes if I earned extra money I treat myself with some treats or pastries. At the dinner table we talk about many things. We talk about food and how our days were, and what we did in work and school. We talk about home and traditions, I told you we did not forget about Poland! Sometimes we talk about issues at work. The Triangle Shirtwaist Company building had a fire! It was terrible! We talk about the strikes and protests. Well, we all miss you so much! Hope to see you soon!

Love,

Aniela Klopkowana

Dear Journal,

Emiliae just got a job as a newsie. Today was his first day. He told us he learned he should sleep outside of the news sellers to get the newspaper hot off the press. He says he will do this tomorrow. Then he started complaining about this sign. It says “Boys who swear and chew tobacco cannot sleep here.” Emiliae does not swear but he likes to chew tobacco. The sign was for the lodging house that he sleeps in for 6 cents a night. He can’t give away this offer! Ma and I think he should stop chewing at the lodging house. He thought he should do this by smoking cigars instead. Only if his friends buy them though. What I said before was wrong, Emiliae is so mad he starts to swear. We calm him down by, secretly, without pa knowing, we give him one of pa’s cigars. Now we think he is ready. He will overcome that sign.

-Aniela Klopkowana

Dear Journal,

Today when I was in my apartment cleaning the chimney, I heard lots of commotion. I look in the hall and there were so many inspectors in the hall with Wolf, my neighbor arguing with Mrs. Dora Goldfein. They were arguing about roaches in the food. Ewwww! But right now I am more interested with the inspectors. We have not had and inspector in… ever! I want to see what is happening so I creep down the hallway. Wolf Goldstein sees me and say hi. The inspectors go into Wolf’s house and I follow. According to the inspectors in each apartment you need to have: at least one working sink, every room needs a window, no animals are allowed, no piles of rags, you can not keep urine or feces (pee and poop), no wallpaper should be overlapped with old wallpaper, and a chimney needs to connect to every stove and fireplace. Wolf failed everything but the window law and the fireplace and stove rules. I felt bad, but the inspectors explained why the laws were laws. The sink was for heath. So was the windows and the urine and feces and the chimney laws. Then we went to the landlord. He was not there so his wife talked to us about the water closets, the hallway and the entire building. Overall the hallway past, the Toilets failed, and the entire building failed! I live in a failed building. We need to change so many things. I feel ashamed. But really it is not my fault. My apartment is totally up to code. I hope these changes are made soon! See you soon!

~Aniela Klopkowana