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WWII-era Novelist & Home Front Re-enactor

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The Big Apple's Story - #5

Cat T. Gardiner

2 min

The Big Apple's Story - #5

June's Photo Story comes to a close today with a spotlight on the women who rode New York City's subterranean transit lines. Step aside Miss America because The Big Apple had its own version of beauty queens from 1941 - 1976 - without the bathing suit category! * * * M I S S S U B W A Y S * * * What began as a simple publicity gimmick in a collaboration between the New York Subways Advertising Co. and an established modeling agency, Miss Subways was a monthly contest launc

The Big Apple's Story - #4

Cat T. Gardiner

2 min

The Big Apple's Story - #4

This is a little-known piece of The Big Apple's history ... and it sadly calls to mind the city and nation's greatest of all horrors and tragedies on American soil: 9/11. Thankfully this accidental plane crash into the Empire State's iconic namesake did not bring the mighty skyscraper down, nor suffer such a loss of life. New York's most identifiable symbol, still stands on its bedrock foundation as a testimony of architectural marvel and the skilled labor of 3,500 immigrant

The Big Apple's Story - #3

Cat T. Gardiner

2 min

The Big Apple's Story - #3

I have to admit, I'm sweet on young Frank Sinatra. His voice, particularly in the early years of his career does things to me, takes me far away. Those 1940 session recordings with Tommy Dorsey and The Pied Pipers w/ Jo Stafford are my go-to romance songs. * * * F R A N K S I N A T R A * * * The date was December 30, 1942 and the singer known then as "The Voice" hit the stage for his first solo concert at the Paramount Theater, a massive movie palace located at 43rd Stre

The Big Apple's Story - #2

Cat T. Gardiner

1 min

The Big Apple's Story - #2

* * * T H E CA M E L M A N * * * One of thee most visited R&R destinations for our WWII service members was Times Square, otherwise known as The Great White Way (nickname for Broadway, one of the first streets to be fully illuminated by electric light.) Overlooking the hustle and bustle was one of the most iconic images: The Camel Cigarette Man. The Camel Man blew smoke rings around the clock for decades from a billboard mounted on the Claridge Hotel on Broadway between

The Big Apple's Story - June Photo Project

Cat T. Gardiner

2 min

The Big Apple's Story - June Photo Project

Hi-di-ho, friends! It's summertime and also time for my next 1940s Experience Photo Project. One Photo at a Time. Although, a little late for its beginning, this month I'll be taking a sentimental journey back to my beloved city: The Big Apple. New York City's five boroughs (and its surroundings) were the wartime heartbeat of American activity from ship construction, troop em/debarkation, military R&R, and even spy activities! I'll be featuring places, events, and landmarks d

Going Home

Cat T. Gardiner

9 min

Going Home

Hi-di-ho, my friends! Well, settle in because I have a story for you. There are stories and then there are stories that must be shared. Today, February 9, is an important day for a Gold Star family from Lake City, South Carolina, but, I think, for many years the significance faded for four reasons: It was too painful for a young soldier's parents to discuss; the passage of time; the death of those who knew the story, and lastly the loss of the mementos explaining why that dat

Welcome Autumn - Summer Recap

Cat T. Gardiner

4 min

Welcome Autumn - Summer Recap

Hi-di-ho, friends! I hope this post finds you happy and healthy and ready to embrace the crazy holiday season ahead. It comes so fast! So before my writing life begins again in October and the treadmill is on its speed setting, I want to catch you up on my 1940s Experience. What a crazy summer! Between making last-minute final preparations for my much-anticipated trip to Ohio for D-Day Conneaut, I finished writing a long-awaited Contemporary Romance novel that I had been work

His Soldier's Story - #4

Cat T. Gardiner

2 min

His Soldier's Story - #4

* * * James Williams, Jr. * * * Dear friend Angela and I would like to share with you her grandfather's service story. And in the next couple of days we'll hear about her uncle's service, too!. And in a few months when The 1940s Experience launches SHE-SOLDIER STORIES photo project, we'll hear about her aunt! What an incredible family Angela has and now I have a greater understanding of her devotion to our veterans in her own life. This dreamy West Virginian sailor was only 1

His Soldier's Story - #3

Cat T. Gardiner

1 min

His Soldier's Story - #3

* * * Charles Stuckie * * * Mr. Cat's 94 year-old patient Jean, shared these fantastic photos of her handsome husband! They were carefully preserved in laminate so that the fading and wearing passage of time would not persevere over one man's valiant military history. The native born Floridian, Charlie was only 21 years old when he married the pretty waitress from Pittsburgh in October of 1945 and went on to work in his father's plumbing business. But prior to settling down i

His Soldier's Story - #2

Cat T. Gardiner

1 min

His Soldier's Story - #2

* * * Brothers * * * Edmund and Ernest Bosia Mr. Cat's 96 year-old patient, Edmund, proudly displays this photograph of him (R) and his younger brother, Ernest (L) before being shipped off to the European Theater. Sons of Italian immigrants, the Bostonian handsome brothers were only 16 months apart in age and called up to fight within three months of each other - one to the Army Air Forces and the other to Army infantry (under Patton's Third.) With distinct pride for his brot