a sense of face » fanny zitofsky

daniel and fanny, ca 1927

rebeccafm — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:50:04 +0000

My great-great-grandparents Daniel and Fanny got married, at least in part, because Fanny’s twin sister was a good cook. I’ve written about this story before, but to refresh your memory, Fanny was apparently very bad in the kitchen, while her twin sister, whose name I don’t know, was considerably more gifted culinarily-speaking. When prospective suitor Daniel was invited to their family home for dinner, the nameless twin cooked up a delicious meal and Daniel was left to believe his future bride had cooked it herself. It isn’t hard to believe that they might resort to such tricks, because Daniel was probably quite a catch. I don’t know if he had much to offer in the way of money or material goods (probably not), but he was tall, strong (the story goes that he could pick up a chair with his teeth), and very good-looking (at least if the pictures of him as an older man are anything to go by). Fanny was 5 years older than Daniel, definitely not tall, and possibly not as good looking, though the only photographs I have ever seen of her were taken after she bore 11 children over a span of 20 years, which would make a wreck of anyone’s looks.

Above, they sit surrounded by their children and grandchildren on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. This was probably in the early part of 1927, as my great-grandfather Charlie is pictured without my great-grandmother Rona (they married in November 1927). Daniel and Fanny’s two oldest sons had already died by this time, but it seems that nearly everyone else is pictured (except for, I think, one daughter and her family).

When they started in a rural Polish village 50 years before, I doubt that they ever imagined they would find themselves at a black tie wedding anniversary party in Cleveland, Ohio. They came a very long way, and I hope they were proud of what they were able to accomplish.

Daniel Harris Rosenstein (1860-1938) and Fanny Zitofsky Rosenstein (1855-1932)

the rosenstein family, ca 1923

rebeccafm — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 02:03:57 +0000

: Daniel & Fanny Rosenstein with some of their children and grandchildren, ca 1923?

Happy Thanksgiving!

fanny and daniel, ca 1920

rebeccafm — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:14:19 +0000

Fanny had a twin sister, a girl whose name has been lost to the sands of time. I don’t know if they were identical or fraternal twins, but regardless, they were apparently not identical in the realm of culinary arts. When a prospective husband for Fanny (by the name of Daniel) materialized and was scheduled to the family home for dinner, the nameless twin was pressed into service to cook a delicious meal for which Fanny would be credited. This was a good plan, whoever came up with it: because of this good meal and sisterly kindness, Fanny married Daniel and I am here today, with the full benefit of Daniel’s genes for height and Fanny’s for minor falsehoods.

Fanny and Daniel, my great-great grandparents, came to the United States in the 1880s from a small town in Poland called Rajgrod. In Cleveland, surrounded by a huge extended family transplanted from Poland around the same era, they raised 7 sons and 3 daughters and were pillars of the Jewish community. Though they did not have much money at all, their table was always open to others – as was the rest of their house, where multiple nieces, cousins and sisters lived for periods of time when they needed support. The youngest son, Sidney, was the only child to go to high school and when he earned a degree as a mortician, he and his father went into business as undertakers (the hearse was apparently a very popular vehicle for my great-grandfather Charlie and his other brothers to borrow for dates). The older brothers did not have the benefit of much education at all (though Charlie still wrote a beautiful hand, as my grandmother will point out), but with their native intelligence and street smarts began a family-owned salvage and wrecking company in the 1920s, a company that my father and grandfather still ran throughout my childhood.

Later in their lives, Fanny and Daniel lived pretty comfortably, perhaps helped out by their prosperous sons and sons-in-law. Pictures like this often show them in fancy clothes, surrounded by children and grandchildren. Many of those children and grandchildren were very tall, and all of them impeccably dressed.

Last year, I went to my first family reunion ever, where I was surrounded by the other descendants of Daniel and his 4 siblings. For the first time in my life, in this room of almost complete strangers with whom I shared the intimacy of my genes, I was not tall but simply average. When we took a group picture, I thought of the 1920s and how in this picture, just as then, many of us were very tall and all of us impeccably dressed.

Whether I am the only one with Fanny’s talent for the white lie remains to be seen.

Daniel Harris Rosenstein (1861-1938) and Fanny Zitofsky Rosenstein (1857-1932)