Workday Wednesday: Going into the Antiques Business

Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 - 1963)
Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 - 1987)

Having amassed a sizable amount of furniture and antiques during her European travels to add to her already large collections, my grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, now needed a place to put them.

Invitation to and newspaper
article about the grand opening
of Chatham Galleries.  Note that
Schiavon is misspelled "Chiavon."

As much a lover of a good find as she was of the thrill of the hunt, my grandmother was a familiar face at antique stores and estate and second-hand sales both in Chicago and near the family summer cottage in Big Blue Lake, Michigan.  She developed a passion for exquisite European antiques - not the kind one finds in an old farmhouse, but the type one would have in a fine home.  She had a large assortment of porcelain, including Dresden, Meissen, Limoges, Sevres, Haviland, Capodimonte, Belleek, among others.

My grandmother, Alice Schiavon at left, with her older sister, Benita
(McGinnis) McCormick, at the grand opening of Chatham Galleries,
September 29, 1951, Chicago, Illinois.  The bronze dog with puppies was
one of the pieces brought back from Europe the year before.  It was a
 favorite piece of my grandmother's - perhaps this is why it was never sold.

Her doll collection already took up considerable space in the family home at 8200 St. Lawrence Avenue..  A November 11, 1945 article in the Chicago Daily Tribune noted that the dolls took over the entire basement, at one time numbering 3,600.  It was no surprise, then, that Alice needed more room to house her treasures.

My grandfather, Ralph Schiavon, always supported Alice in her shopping expeditions.  He understood that his wife was not content to be home cooking and cleaning but needed to be busy with her collections and projects.  So when she suggested opening a gallery, he was happy to help her get started and gave her the funds she needed.  He agreed with her that it would be a good opportunity for their daughter, Joan (my mother) to spend more time with her in a common endeavor; moreover, he liked the idea of my mother learning the ins and outs of running a business.

My mother holds a french antique couple from the early
1800s in this article on the Chicago Antiques Exposition
and Hobby Fair, published in the Chicago Daily Tribune.

When Alice and Joan returned from their European adventure in the fall of 1950, they set to work to plan their business, scouting locations, contacting vendors, evaluating inventory, and arranging displays.   Nearly one full year later, on Saturday, September 29, 1951, they opened The Chatham Galleries at 8231 Cottage Grove Avenue, on Chicago's South Side, stocking not only antiques but also fine art, gifts, and greeting cards.

Interestingly, the name of the building it occupied was the Aranoff Building - a slightly different spelling than that of Abraham Aronoff of New York, who had been a constant companion of my mother and grandmother's during their recent tour of Europe.

My mother, Joan Schiavon (right), age 23 here, proudly greets her
 sister-in-law (and my godmother) Angelina (Ciliberto) Schiavon,
 just before the store'sgrand opening.  I do not know the identity of
the  young man in the center; could he be Angelina's brother, Joe Ciliberto?

My mother's college friend, Margaret Yu, sent best wishes and hearty encouragement to the mother-daughter team. She recalled that in her own hometown of Hong Kong, the Chinese invited all their friends and family to visit on frequent occasions when they opened a new business.

The idea was that when passers-by looked in the store and saw a crowd gathered, they would go inside, too, because they wanted to be part of whatever was going on.

This seemed like good advice, and before long family, friends, and even some of my grandfather's business associates were filling Chatham Galleries during several open house events.

The store became a popular fixture in the neighborhood, and Alice and Joan began to see their share of business.  My mother would later laughingly say, however, that my grandmother was her own best customer.

Copyright ©  2012  Linda Huesca Tully

Did you know, or are you a member of the Schiavon/Schiavone, Ciliberto, or McCormick families?  Do you remember Chatham Galleries?  If so, share your memories and comments below.

Travel Tuesday: Homeward Bound on the Queen Elizabeth

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 - 1987)
Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 - 1963)

From Cherbourg to New York aboard the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, September 29 - October 4, 1950

On Friday, September 29, 1950, my mother and my grandmother, Joan and Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, boarded the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth at Cherbourg, France, bound for New York City.  They had been away for six weeks, traveling extensively through nine European countries including England, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, and France.  

"Mother and I in dining room with 'Dreamboat,' our waiter,
October 3, 1950,"  Joan Schiavon wrote on the back of this
photograph, adding,  "Very, very English, I say!"

It had been an exciting trip, filled with fascinating people, new experiences, and places that seemed exotic to two midwestern women.   

My grandmother came home with eight trunks, loaded with exquisite antiques, collectible dolls, porcelain figurines, and other fine collectibles.  Other pieces, including some furnishings too big to carry home, would make their way to Chicago on container ship, intended for the new fine art and antique gallery my grandmother would open.  Most of them, however, would eventually make their way to her home, where they would live quite happily with her and my grandfather, surrounding them with their history and graceful elegance for the rest of their lives.  

List of Incoming Passengers on the Cunard llne
R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth from Cherbourg, France,
 to New York, shows Cabin class passengers Alice
 and Joan Schiavon, ages 53 and 22, on lines 19
and 20. Note that my grandmother's name is 
penciled in erroneously as "Auceg" Schiavon.

Though my mother brought back her own souvenirs, she returned a new person, confident, mature and sophisticated.  Having the opportunity to connect her new experiences to her family's Italian and Irish heritage and values,  she gained a new appreciation for her parents and discovered the value of opening herself to new experiences.  

Art and history came alive for her in Europe, renewing her sense of wonder in a world she had thought of as old and boring until now.  She learned how to adapt to new situations, and found that a smile and a sense of humor were her best tools, even when she didn't speak the language.  

Though she may not have realized it at the time, she also learned a considerable amount about porcelain and silver, which became enduring passions for her.

Most of all, I think she realized that she was an interesting and attractive lady with a lot to offer the world through her sweetness, intelligence, quick wit, and earnestness.

From left to right, Abe Aronoff, my mother and Grandmother, Joan and
 Alice Schiavon, and unknown woman.  In the foreground is Sylvia Gianorio,
 a friend my mother made on the Queen Elizabeth.  I believe Sylvia is the same
person  who later married a man named Herman Lehnert and moved to
Alaska.  She and my mother corresponded for many years.

Abraham Aronoff returned to New York on the Queen Elizabeth, too.  As far as I know, he and my mother did not see each other again.  She would always be grateful for his gallant company and gentlemanly treatment toward her and Alice.  In later years, whenever she reminisced about her European trip, she recalled that he was a kind and decent person.

My grandfather, Ralph Schiavon, met Alice and Joan at New York Harbor on Wednesday, October 4, 1950.  They ran up to him and threw their arms around him, nearly knocking him down in their excitement to see him after so long.  Neither one of them could stop talking. 

He could not believe how much older his daughter looked.  He laughed when he saw all of Alice's trunks - and her big smile.   Thank God for porters, he must have thought.  Then after some time to rest and recover, it was off to Grand Central Train Station and home to Chicago.

Copyright ©  2012  Linda Huesca Tully

Did you know Ralph, Alice, and Joan Schiavon, or any of the people in this story? Are you a member of the Schiavon/Schiavone, Huesca, or Gianorio, Lehnert, or Aronoff families?  If so, share your memories and comments below.

Matrilineal Monday: Falling in Love with Europe

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 - 1987)
Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 - 1963)

European Tour - August 15 - October 4, 1950

Though my mother initially had not wanted to go to Europe, she was soon mesmerized by the fascinating people and whirlwind activities on board the luxury oceanliner H.M.S. Queen Mary as it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Europe.

Joan Schiavon and a young Italian admirer on board the H.M.S. Queen Mary,
August, 1950.

While my grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon quickly made friends with a number of couples, my mother soon found she had no shortage of dinner and movie escorts. 

Among these was Abraham Aronoff.  From what I recall my mother telling me, they met on board the Queen Mary, but he appears in several pictures with her, not just on the ship but in Switzerland and Italy, too.  It is not clear whether he just happened to be on the same tour as the Schiavon women or if he rearranged his itinerary to be with them.  In any case, while my grandmother enjoyed having him around, my mother was not interested in anything beyond a friendship.  

Abraham Aronoff and my mother,
Rhone Glacier, Interlaken, Switzerland
September 2, 1950

From what I have been able to find out about Mr. Aronoff, he was from New York.  The passenger manifest on the return Cunard ship R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth notes that he was 40 years old and resided at 1664 Davidson Avenue in the Bronx.  I was able to find him in the 1940 U.S. Census, where he lived with his Russian-born parents and a brother.  His occupation was listed as a post office clerk.  

(Coincidentally, shortly after my mother and grandmother returned to Chicago, they opened an antiques gallery on Chatham Avenue in the "Aranoff Building.")  

After the Queen Mary docked in Southampton, England, Joan and Alice took the train to London, where they stayed for about a week, going to the theater, haggling over silver on Portobello Road, and visiting Buckingham Palace (where my mother did her best to make the Queen's Guard crack a grin).

They continued on to Ireland, stopping to kiss the Blarney Stone, and to Dresden, Germany via Belgium and the Netherlands.  After witnessing the rebuilding that was going on in postwar London, my mother was shocked at the tragic destruction she saw in Dresden, which was bombed heavily during World War II.  They did not stay there long but left after about a day for Switzerland, visiting Geneva, Lucerne, Berne, and Interlaken.  As you can see from the photos, Abraham Aronoff was there, too.

Mother and daughter were highly impressed by the cleanliness of the Swiss.  It was their honesty, however, that left the greatest impression on my mother, who forgot her purse on a park bench in Lucerne and returned some time later to find it, still on the bench, untouched.   

Alice and Joan Schiavon,
Rhone Glacier, Interlaken

I love these photos of them.  Note the formality of their dress, even on the Rhone Glacier at 8,000 feet high!  In today's world, most people would never dream of dressing in skirts and heels but would have bundled up in down jackets, jeans, and sturdy hiking shoes.  The board underneath their feet does not look all that secure, either, does it?

From Interlaken, the intrepid trio traveled by train to Italy. They rode on a gondola under the Via degli Schiavone, laughed at the surprisingly small Leaning Tower of Pisa, and marveled at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  They rubbed their hands for good luck across the now well-worn bronze foot of Jesus in the Pieta (today sheltered behind glass) in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, prayed in the Catacombs, and marveled at the beauty of the Appian Way on their way down south to Naples.  

During their numerous stops throughout the Continent, my grandmother searched out the best places to buy exquisite antiques, porcelain, and silver, eager to bring them back to Chicago, where she planned to open an art and antiques gallery.  She had excellent taste and seemed to have an innate sense of knowing what to buy. She made sure my mother paid attention so she, too, would learn to appreciate their history and beauty.

Abraham Aranoff with my mother and
grandmother, Rhone Glacier.

Of all the places they visited, I think my mother loved Italy the most.  It meant a lot to her to be in the land of her father's birth, and though she could not speak Italian, she appreciated the grand history and culture and religious influence there.  Her only disappointment was that while they visited Naples, near my grandfather's birthplace of San Sossio, they never actually made it to that small mountain village, most likely because it was not an easy place to reach.

Toward the end of September, my mother and grandmother spent a few days the south coast of France, visiting Nice and Monte Carlo, Monaco, before heading to Paris.  Their last stop was at Cherbourg, France, where they boarded the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth for the trip home the United States.

My mother, Joan Schiavon, back row,
with the ubiquitous Abe Aranoff,
Naples, September 17, 1950.

With their trunks brimming with carefully packed antiques, Irish Belleek tableware, German Dresden figurines, and French Meissen and Limoges dishes, tour books, and souvenir postcards, it was a surprise that there was anything left in Europe after they returned to America.  

My mother left her heart there, though.  After all her youthful protests against going across the pond to Europe, she was not ashamed to admit that she hated to leave, and she vowed to return one day.   

It would be her only trip there. Many years later, her daughters - my sisters and I - would travel to Europe at various times, retracing her footsteps in some of the old places and exploring new ones she had long dreamed of visiting.  She may not have made it back in her lifetime, but she was definitely there with us in spirit.

Copyright ©  2012  Linda Huesca Tully