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(1924 - 2014)
The Yiddish word meaning “to remember” is “gedenken”
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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Arnold Fine was a former editor of The Jewish Press. In the mid-1960s he started writing a weekly Jewish Press column called, “I Remember When.” He wrote about the benefits of peppermint tea, Long Johns, which became stiff as a board in winter, “der kinder-tsimer” (the nursery), mattresses, Boro Park, Ocean Parkway, Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, newspaper truck drivers, who looked even tougher than the trucks, and “gevald,” how people complained when the Sunday News was raised to five cents!
His humor included topics about breakfast cereal--”di kashe.” “Let me ask you, who cares about what athlete eats what breakfast cereal? How dumb do the manufacturers of breakfast cereal think today’s generation of kids are? Do you think a kid buys a cereal if he knows Tiger Woods eats it? He eats it because his mother puts it down in front of him.”
Fine also worked as a special education teacher in the New York City schools. He was a pioneer in teaching brain-injured children.
He played the “klarnet” (clarinet), saxaphone, and “pyane” (piano).
Late in life, he developed Parkinson’s disease, but got around with the aid of a wheelchair. Fine recently passed away; he was buried at New Montefiore Jewish Cemetery on Long Island. Some people said he was a “Gentleman’s Gentlemen.”
Shown below are clips from some of my favorite Arnold Fine columns, as they appeared in The Jewish Press:
“radyo” (radio)
“In our day, we had singing commercials, especially on WEVD, that carried
mostly Jewish entertainment and news. Can any of us forget the ‘Joe and
Paul’ commercials? How about the ‘Robert Hall’ commercials? Remember
that one? ‘When the prices go up, up, up, Robert Hall’s prices go way, way,
down...” (Nov. 16, 2001, The Jewish Press)
“schlep” (to pull; to drag)
“In the morning it was a ritual. The newspaper trucks would dump a package of newspapers in front of the candy store, and it was up to the
owner to run out, schlep the bundle into the store, cut the rope that bound
the papers together, and then set up the papers on his stand.
By 7:30 in the morning, there was always a group of people waiting patiently for their papers. (Dec. 7, 2001)
“der gretshtrik” (the clothesline)
“In our day, washing clothes was a whole ritual. Mama would get up early
in the morning,fill one of the two sinks we had in the kitchen, place a
‘vash breitel’ in the rub away at the clothes to get them clean. (A
“vash breitel” was a piece of corrugated metal attached to a board over
which Mama rubbed the clothes with soapy water.) Then Mama had to
wring out each garment, especially Papa’s long underwear...There were
no secrets in our day. Everybody knew who wore Long Johns, especially in
the winter (“der vinter”)...
I’ll never forget the winters when Mama hung the underwear (“untervesh”)
on the clothesline, and the temperature dipped to below zero. Those
‘Long Johns’ became stiff as a board.
As the wind blew, the frozen (“farfroyrn”)-stiff ‘Long Johns’ would ‘dance’ on that clothesline like a Radio City chorus line. It was such a funny sight!” (Nov. 9, 2001)
Peppermint (used as a healing agent). The Yiddish word meaning “to heal”
is “heyln.”
“Dr. Ravizky wrote as follows: “Peppermint (Menth Piperita, one of the world’s most well known herbs) has been used as a healing agent from the
beginning of recorded history...The article also claims that peppermint is a
powerful nerve tonic and is helpful for many nervous disorders and symptoms of anxiety, tension, shock, restlessness, depression (“dershlogn”), dizziness, faintness and general malaise.
You know after a little piece of pickled herring and a little glass of Kedem Concord wine, at a Shabbos kiddish, you can get rid of all of the above symptoms, too.
Now here’s what I have to ask a doctor. The author claims the oils in peppermint can reduce the pain caused by neuralgia and tension headaches. When taken before bed, the article says, it will facilitate sleep, even for those who suffer from insomnia.
Listen, my father used to take a little schnapps when he couldn’t fall asleep, and he slept like a baby.
The author claims that peppermint tea can be extremely beneficial to some people and that it is also useful for relieving the pain the inflammation of Crohn’s disease. A further claim is made that it will alleviate spasms and cramps and neutralize gases.
Good grief--if someone has all those problems, they should see a doctor, but quick.”
“ayzkrem” (ice cream)
“When the Bungalow Bar ice cream truck’s tinkle of little bells was heard,
kids ran to their parents whining, ‘Ma-a-a- can I have a fugicle? Please Ma!”
Usually someone’s husband would ask, “Any of you ladies want ah fugicle?”
There were usually few takers, but the wife of this ‘sport’ would give him dirty looks. Later on we could hear her whisper, “All of a sudden you’re a big shot with fugicles? Better you should buy a fan for the apartment.” (Aug. 25, 2000)
“zeyde-bobe” (grandparents)
“Being a grandparent is G-d’s compensation for growing older.” (Nov. 23, 2001)
“skandal” (scandal)
“I wonder how many remember 1959 when they had ‘Payola’ scandals.
This happened when radio disc jockeys admitted to taking money for playing certain songs on the air to increase record sales of a particular
artist.
However, they never had to be paid to play a Perry Como recording because at that time, Perry Como announced that he had just signed a $25-million contract with Kraft Foods.” (Nov. 9, 2001)
“aynmonen” (to collect a debt)
{Newspaper delivery boys had to go around during the afternoon to try and
collect the money the customer owed you.] “Here’s how it worked. As a
delivery boy, you had to buy the papers from the news companies, then you had to collect from many people who would attempt to duck out paying
you.
Sometimes you had to go back four and five times to a house to collect, and when you found someone home, they would ask, ‘Who’s there?’ And if you said, ‘The paper boy,’ they would say, “No one’s home. Come back next week.’
So, after a while, I got smart. When they asked, ‘Who’s there?’ I would say ‘Exterminator!’ When they opened the door I would say, ‘Thirty five cents please, or I won’t have enough money to buy tomorrow’s papers.” (Dec. 7, 2001)
“polirn” (to shine/polish)
“Incidentally, did you know you could shine your shoes with banana peels?
Just rub your leather shoes with the inside of the peels and then buff. It
works great, especially with patent leather shoes. But don’t walk near cats.
They love the smell.” (Sept. 14, 2001)
“nomen” (name)
“Rosenberg was walking down the street when he met another man. ‘Sam
Goldberg’--just look at you! I can’t believe how you’ve changed! You used
to be fat, now you’re skinny. You used to have a full head of hair, and now
you’re bald. I remember when you wore those horn-rimmed eye glasses,
and now no glasses!”
The man turned and snapped, ‘I beg your pardon. I’m not Sam Goldberg. I’m Morris Moscowitz!”
Rosenberg smiled sheepishly, put his hand on the man’s shoulder and replied, “I can’t believe this--you even changed your name!” (Nov. 17, 2000)
“meshugeh” (really crazy)
“Let me tell you something, our generation was a self-starting generation.
We couldn’t afford toys or games so we created our own. Let me ask you
if anybody would have told you in our day they had to spend over $100
for a child’s toy, called Nintendo, you’d swear they were crazy!
Takeh, what ever happened to Johnny-On-A-Pony?” (July 15, 1994)
“papir” (paper)
“And in our day, we valued things. I remember when our teacher wanted
to give us an arithmetic test, the kid who was the paper monitor, was
ordered to count out the sheets of paper carefully. He or she had to make
certain each kid got just one sheet of paper. If this kid accidentally gave
one kid two pieces of paper--it was the end of the paper monitor’s career.
He was fired on the spot.” (Nov. 23, 2001)
“mashin” (machine)
“Remember mimeograph machines? Tell the truth, when was the last time
you saw an operating mimeograph machine? Today, if you need extra
copes, you head for a xerox machine! I’ll never forget when I was in high
school, I became the mimeograph operator for all the teachers. As brilliant
as all of them were, none of them could run a mimeograph machine without
getting ink all over themselves. It’s a new world.” (Nov. 23, 2001)
Note: In 1958, Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe used the mimeograph machine when she was a business teacher at Island Trees High School.
“meditsin” (medicine)
“Incidentally, if you have a problem giving a medication that tastes horrible
to a child, try hiding it in a spoonful of apple sauce. It actually helps the
medicine go down. The kids don’t need ‘a spoonful of sugar’ to make the
medication go down.” (Oct. 5, 2001)
“almone” (widow)
“It seems that a certain lady decided to go to a fortune teller in Coney Island just for laughs. The fortune teller looked into her crystal ball, and
then gravely looked at the woman.
“There’s no easy way to say this,” she said. “I guess I’ll just have to be blunt. My crystal ball tells me you have to prepare yourself to be a widow. Your husband will die a violent and horrible death this year.”
Visibly shaken, the woman took a few deep breaths and composed herself. She simply had to know.
She met the fortune teller’s gaze, steadied her voice, and asked one question. “Will I be acquitted?” (Dec. 1, 2000)
“universal-krom” (department store)
“Remember the department stores that were part of our lives? What
woman shopped any place else other than Klein’s on 14th Street?
And if the woman couldn’t find the dress they were looking for in Klein’s,
they went across the street to Orbach’s. And if they still weren’t satisfied,
they walked down 14th Street to Hearns’ Department store, which is also
gone. If the woman couldn’t find the dress she was looking for in Hearns,
she went back to Orbachs.” (Sept. 29, 2000)
“veter” (weather)
“Here in Brooklyn, we usually get the weather that Pittsburgh had about
two or three days ago. So I can call my sisters who live in Pittsburgh
and ask, “Did it snow two days ago?” If they say, ‘No,” I don’t have to
worry. True, the phone company becomes the beneficiary of that effect,
but at least I get a first-person report.” (Nov. 16, 2001)
“yennems-velt” (AKA “yenne-velt”) - literally “other world.”
Also used in
the context of a place which is really far away or in the “middle of nowhere.”
Remember when Kennedy Airport used to be called? It was Idlewild
Airport, said to be in ‘yennems-velt.’ They changed the name after
President Kennedy was assassinated.
Remember when anybody said they lived in Long Island, we would envision the pony express coming through once a week? In those years it was really the suburbs.” (Sept. 29, 2000) And on Oct. 5, 2001, Arnold Fine wrote, “I want to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Happy and Healthy New Year. May we know only of happy times and simchas over the coming year.”
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