LEVINE:

Today is February the 21 st , 1997 and I'm here in Coconut Creek, Florida at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Farley Langer. Mr. Langer came from Poland in 1919 at the age of seven. At the time of this interview he is 86 years of age. And this is Janet Levine for the National Park Service. Okay, if you would say for the tape your birth date and where in Poland you were born.

LANGER:

Born in Kristanopol, [ph] Poland February the 14, 1911.

LEVINE:

Okay. And did you live in Kristanopol until you left for the United States?

LANGER:

Yes, yes. That's right.

LEVINE:

What do you remember about the place itself?

LANGER:

Okay. This — this is the only thing I remember. It was little houses, small little houses and next door to us was a — a fellow by name of — what was that name — Yosel — Mrs. L: Whatever.

LANGER:

Whatever. I forget his name. Anyways, what I remember is it was down a little hill. In the end of the hill there was a well where we picked wa — water. And if I went to Poland, I would look for that spot.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

I know the houses wouldn't be there after — after the war but maybe that spot — and it was a big, empty field in the back. How far it went, I never — I don't know.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm. And what would you do? You'd get water in — in a bucket?

LANGER:

Yeah, in a bucket. That's right. And in the wintertime, if people picked water out, they spilt and — and it would ice up. And before you know it [chuckles], you could kill yourself getting to it. You — you understand what I mean? Because — because as people got the water out, it would spill and it would freeze. It would get higher and higher and higher. And that — I remember that. And that's the only thing I would remember if I went to Poland, except — except one time there was a — I remember when bombs were falling, we used to — the whole town used to run into the woods. All — all — as I said, there was no streets. We used to run into a building — I'm not sure if it was a synagogue or a church -- and they had long benches. And we used to hide under the benches. One day we did it. My kid sister, which you're going to see the pictures right there — my kid sister, Fanny — if I was — must have been about four — she held onto my mother's — and she remembers this.

LEVINE:

Yeah.

LANGER:

She held onto my mother's leg and my mother wanted to get under the bench because my brother and sister — we were under there already. And she was crying. And finally, my mother had to pick her up and throw her under the bench. I remember it as happened today and — and my sister remembers it too. She's two years younger than I am. Of course, she's not here. She's in Boston. She remembers exactly what happened.

LEVINE:

Wow.

LANGER:

And we used to talk about it.

LEVINE:

Do you remember anything else about World War I?

LANGER:

Yes, I remember there was a — there was — when we ca — when we start to come to America, we had the papers. I remember the whole town came. And a horse and wagon picked us up. And the whole town was how — how they wanted to come to America. Do you understand Jewish?

LEVINE:

Not — not really.

LANGER:

They all cried, " Oy, gayn in Amerika. Amerika !" [Going to America]. You know, everybody wanted to come to America. I remember that. And the horse and wagon took us over to the railroad, which was the left-hand side of the building that we used to hide under. Again, I say I don't know if it was a church or a synagogue. All I remember is the long benches. And —

LEVINE:

What was your mother's name?

LANGER:

Rose.

LEVINE:

And do you remember her maiden name?

LANGER:

Kaufman, I think. Was that right? Kaufman? Yeah.

LEVINE:

Kaufman.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And your father's name?

LANGER:

Joseph. Yosel.

LEVINE:

And you had, what? An older sister and —

LANGER:

Yeah, I got the pictures right there. The whole family there.

LEVINE:

Oh, okay.

LANGER:

Can you see it from there?

LEVINE:

I can but when we finish I'll go and look closer.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

But you — you had two sisters and a brother?

LANGER:

Two sisters and a brother. That's right. Right.

LEVINE:

And were you the youngest?

LANGER:

The youngest of the brother. No, my sister, Fanny, was — my father said we were two years apart. So Fanny — so if I'm 86 my sister, Fanny, which is in Boston, she's eighty s-- 84.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm. And the other sister?

LANGER:

She was the oldest. My brother, Abie, was two years older than me so that made him — if he was alive today he would be 88. And my sister, Doris, was two years older than him.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm. I see. And did you have grandparents that you can remember from Poland?

LANGER:

Yes, yes. I remember — I remember my grandfather was a tall, thin man. And — and a couple of times he took me and we went into the woods to cut branches, so — for firewood for the winter. But that only happened a couple of times, I remember.

LEVINE:

And —

LANGER:

And they lived — oh, I got to tell you this. And they lived in a basement so when it rains the water used to come in — no concrete or carpets. They used to put cardboard down, newspaper, anything. And that's how they lived.

LEVINE:

On the earth. They put the —

LANGER:

On the earth, right. Yeah, yeah.

LEVINE:

Yeah? And what was your father doing for work before he left for America?

LANGER:

He — he used to make pelts. You know what pelts are?

LEVINE:

I think so.

LANGER:

It's a — it's a little fur piece. And when he made them they used to go — they used to say he used to walk 50 miles to the market to sell them. In a stetele [small town] Belz. Did you ever hear that?

LEVINE:

Belz?

LANGER:

Yeah, yeah.

LEVINE:

And he would walk — he would go to —

LANGER:

He would walk for 15 miles to the market where they sell it. And [chuckles] this I got to tell you. And the woman — I'll never forget it. My — Sobrulya [ph] — she used to go to market and used to have a long skirt. And they had a — it's so-called, they had a pot to keep themselves warm. Did you ever see that?

LEVINE:

A pot with coals in it?

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Selling whatever she was going to sell.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

But she came to America many years before I because she — she was my mother's sister. And she brought over her son. And bringing over a son, she brought my father.

LEVINE:

Oh.

LANGER:

Because — because the word was around that Russia's going to war and they didn't want to go to war. So Sobrulya, that was my mother's sister — she send us — she send the money to bring my father and her son to America. That's how — that's how they got to America.

LEVINE:

And do you remember when your father went to America?

LANGER:

Exactly, no, I can't remember that. It must have been — must have been, I'd say, five, six years anyways.

LEVINE:

So you — you left in 1919. So he left right probably before the war started.

LANGER:

Oh, yes. Definite. That's why they got out of there. That's why my — my — my sister — my mother's sister, Sobrulya, the funny name. I remember the name Sobrulya — that was her name. She brought them both over here.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. What — I never heard that name either.

LANGER:

I never either. [chuckles]

LEVINE:

Sobrulya?

LANGER:

Sobrulya. Don't ask me how to spell it. That was her name. Sobrulya. [laughter] Mrs. L Sabrina.

LANGER:

Who knows?

LEVINE:

Now — so in other words, you did not know your father until you came to America.

LANGER:

That's right. That's right.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. Uh-hmm. And did your father write? Were you able to get any communication during those war years?

LANGER:

I don't re — I often asked that question too. We had no streets. We had no — we had no mailboxes. We had nothing. I often wonder how we got — we got mail. I don't know.

LEVINE:

Do you know if your father sent money to your mother?

LANGER:

No, no. He — no.

LEVINE:

So how did your mother manage with four children?

LANGER:

Managed to wash floors for people, do odd jobs. If she had a few eggs, she traded for a loaf of bread or something.

LEVINE:

Did she have chickens?

LANGER:

Yes.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Oh, yes.

LEVINE:

And anything else that she either grew or any —

LANGER:

Yeah, she had a little vegetable garden, grew a few things. Potatoes, mainly. That I remember.

LEVINE:

Were you a religious family?

LANGER:

No, I would say not really. No.

LEVINE:

And what about — you lived in a stet l [village]? Is that — was it — where you were living?

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Was it a stetl?

LANGER:

You call it a stetl. I call it a very small town. I don't know.

LEVINE:

Was it all Jews in one area?

LANGER:

Oh, no, no.

LEVINE:

Oh.

LANGER:

There was Polish there.

LEVINE:

There was Polish.

LANGER:

Oh, yeah. There were Polish people there too. Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And did you go to school?

LANGER:

No. No school at all.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Not for — none whatever.

LEVINE:

Your broth — your brother or sisters?

LANGER:

No.

LEVINE:

No.

LANGER:

No school.

LEVINE:

No school.

LANGER:

No.

LEVINE:

And how about the market? Do you remember going to market, what that was like?

LANGER:

No, I can't — no, I don't remember that.

LEVINE:

Okay.

LANGER:

I don't remember market at all.

LEVINE:

Okay.

LANGER:

No. Only thing I remember is going with my grandfather into the woods and we cut little branches. I remember that.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

LANGER:

And when we brought the wood in I remember it was dirt — dirt — was a basement. Dirt, no concrete and she had cardboards and papers all over. That's how they lived.

LEVINE:

Yeah. And where — how did you get your clothing? Do you remember anything about the clothing you had?

LANGER:

No, I don't remember. I don't remember how we got the clothing to take these pictures. Tell you the truth, I don't remember.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

And again, like I say, I — I — I don't really know my right age because we had no birth certificates.

LEVINE:

You were born at home?

LANGER:

Yes.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

So actually, my brothers and sisters, we — none of us knew our age. Matter of fact, my father didn't even know his age because I used to say to him, " Tata [Dad], how old are you?" One day he was 82. Tata, how old are you?" say, a week later. "I'm 84." [chuckles] He didn't even know his age.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. So how did you arrive at the birth date you have?

LANGER:

All right. I'm coming to that. We came to Creature Crocker [ph] School on Bickford [ph] Street. And there was — and they took us into school and there was a — I remember the woman with name Mrs. Goodwin [ph].

LEVINE:

This is in Boston.

LANGER:

In Boston.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

And she — all I had was a paper says Philip — Fishel in Jewish. So she put down Farley and she put down the age. And she did that to all us: my brothers, my sis — all of us.

LEVINE:

She just made up a — a date.

LANGER:

She made — she made — she said, "You're seven years old and your name is Farley." From — from Fishel should have been Philip but she made it Farley.

LEVINE:

And what — do you remember [chuckles] what she g — did she do that with your brothers and sisters?

LANGER:

All — all the same. Now, with my brother was easy because his name was Abie so she — Abish [ph] so she made it Abie -- Abish. Remember that?

LEVINE:

Did she give them all holidays for birth dates? At least, she gave you Valentine's Day.

LANGER:

Just — just — no, she — what she done — it — two years apart.

LEVINE:

I see.

LANGER:

In other words, I — my brother was older, two years, than me and my sister, Fanny, was two years younger than me. And Doris was two years older than Abie and she was the oldest one.

LEVINE:

And did she give them all 2/14? Or she gave them different dates?

LANGER:

Oh, no. Different. Different. Different.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

To me, I — she gave me the 14 th .

LEVINE:

Huh. Okay. Well, do you remember how it happened that the family came to join your father at the particular time that it did? Why you — why you left Poland in 1919 to join your father?

LANGER:

Well, it was right after the First World War.

LEVINE:

So it was that you were able.

LANGER:

He — he — he — he managed to get enough money to — to bring us here, sure.

LEVINE:

What was he doing in the United States while —

LANGER:

He's a —

LEVINE:

— you were there?

LANGER:

He — that I remember exactly. He was a presser. He used to press clothes on the Columbia Clothing Factory in Chinatown. And Boston is a place — you don't know Boston.

LEVINE:

Yes, I do know Boston.

LANGER:

Oh, you — well, with Chinatown it's Essex Street. You know, Washington. Well, you know that part?

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Well, around there there was a Chinese section and my father's factory was there.

LEVINE:

Oh, so he had a fac — he worked in the factory.

LANGER:

Oh, in the — it wasn't his factory. He worked there.

LEVINE:

He worked in the factory.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. So he had been making — m — sewing furs?

LANGER:

No, no.

LEVINE:

No.

LANGER:

No. Europe.

LEVINE:

Europe, yeah.

LANGER:

In Europe, he was making pelts. `

LEVINE:

Pelts, uh-hmm.

LANGER:

I don't know exactly what pelts — [chuckles] to tell you the truth, I — I don't know. I think little pieces of furs or something. What is pelts? Is that what it is?

LEVINE:

Furs. Mrs. L: Animals. [unclear].

LANGER:

Yeah, that's what he did in Europe. In America, he — he was a — he was a presser in a factory. Columbia Clothing. I remember the name. And I remember his boss's name, one of the bosses. Biegelman.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Remember? I think you met one, right?

LEVINE:

So do you remember — what did your mother do? Did she — did she sell the house? I mean, did you have a house?

LANGER:

No, no. That's — I often asked my mother that. Not my — my -- not my mother. My father, mainly. And I used to ask my sister, Doris, "What did they -- we do with that — with that little house?" My brother and sisters — we just walked out. We just packed up and got into the — into the street, dirt street, and waiting for the horse and wagon to come to take us to — to the train.

LEVINE:

Do you remember anything your mother packed to take with her?

LANGER:

Oh, I don't remember that. We — I — let me tell you. It was very little. Very little. Actually, I don't even remember where we got that clothing for the pictures there. Can you see the —

LEVINE:

Yes, I can.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember any foods that your mother made? Do you remember what kind of things you had to eat before you came?

LANGER:

Mainly, my mother did potatoes, a little meat and that's about it. [chuckles] Potatoes and meat, soups.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Of course, it's going back — I'm going back 80 years. It's hard to remember everything.

LEVINE:

Yeah. Do you have any other recollections of life in Poland? Anything else? Did you have another set of grandparents that were around when you were?

LANGER:

No, only that one set.

LEVINE:

One, huh?

LANGER:

He was a tall — I remember he was a tall man. And still, my father was five feet. But he did have — we — he did have a son in New York, which he's — was a tall man also. How come my father was so short — my father was about my height, a little shorter, maybe.

LEVINE:

So when you were leaving, people were —

LANGER:

Oh, envious. When I tell you — I wish I would have — I used to say — my brother used to say to me, "I wish we had a camera to — to — to show — to bring and show people what — how envious they were. "Oy, if I could only get in Amerika. Amerika!" [chuckles] You have no idea —

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

— what it is.

LEVINE:

Do you remember how you felt?

LANGER:

Oh, I felt wonderful to come to America. They used to say, "In America you'll find gold in the streets." [chuckles] Oh, they used to say, "Ah!" That was a long time ago.

LEVINE:

Yeah. And so you — you took this horse and cart to the train.

LANGER:

Yeah, a man took us to the train with the — in a horse and cart. Yeah.

LEVINE:

And the train took you to where?

LANGER:

I think we went — if I'm not mistaken, we — we — we — LeVaff, France.

LEVINE:

LeHavre — LeHavre

LANGER:

France. We — we started from there.

LEVINE:

Okay.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And the Savoie —

LANGER:

Savoie, the name of the ship

LEVINE:

— was the name of the ship.

LANGER:

Yeah, I remember that. Yeah.

LEVINE:

Now, were you examined at all prior to leaving?

LANGER:

No, that I don't remember at all.

LEVINE:

Did you spend much time in — in France at — in the — in the LeHavre?

LANGER:

No, no, no. I — I — no, no. We couldn't afford it.

LEVINE:

So you just arrived there and got on the ship.

LANGER:

And into the boat. And don't ask me where the boat went. Down in the cellar. [chuckles]

LEVINE:

Do you remember the accommodations?

LANGER:

Oh, dear. I hate to tell you that. Dirty. We sleep one on of each other. People throwing up and, ugh, it was terrible. It was terrible. Terrible. It was awful.

LEVINE:

Do you remember anything about the voyage?

LANGER:

Yes, I remember one thing. We — we wasn't allowed to go upstairs. But, as little boys, we used to hear some noises and me and a few more — there's another one that — that got the barbershop. Zwird [ph]. Remember Zwird?. We used to — he — at night some funny noises. We didn't know. But we wasn't allowed to go — but we used to sneak up and we used to hear — we used to see people dressed up — I know now they've nice night g —

LEVINE:

Gown?

LANGER:

— dresses.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Men had — at that time, I didn't know what the name was — like, tuxedos, you know. But we didn't stay long. We were very scared. If we ever got caught, I'd — God knows what they'd do to us. We used to do that. Yeah, once in awhile was a sneak-up.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And — and what would they be doing?

LANGER:

Dancing. Of course, then I didn't know what the hell dancing was but [chuckles] it's a funny experience.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. Mrs. Ü [NOT UNDERSTOOD]

LANGER:

Yeah. Of course — that was so many years ago, who remembers what?

LEVINE:

Oh.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

So do you remember when the ship came into the New York harbor?

LANGER:

I do — I — actually, I remember when — when — when the rumor got around that we're — we're landing in America, you know. And naturally, all runnin'. And we saw buildings and we saw Statue of Liberty. Of course, at that time I didn't know it was the Statue of Liberty. But we saw it and we were so -- very — so happy. Everybody was dancing and jumping around.

LEVINE:

Hmm.

LANGER:

Yeah, I remember that. But I always thought it was Castle Garden. That's what they always said. "You're in Castle Garden."

LEVINE:

Well, when — do you remember the examination part?

LANGER:

Yes, that I do. I remember they examined me and I don't know if it was a doctor or what it was. And he — and he found this here hole in the head, a little hole. I guess he must have asked me. I — I don't know. You know. My — huh? I couldn't talk English. I didn't know. Anyways, I remember he — I — we — we had a tag and he marked something on the tag and he pointed out, "Over there. Over there." Like this picture shows. Did you see this picture? Did I show it to you?

LEVINE:

No, well, [unclear]. Mrs. Ü: Take that phone --

LEVINE:

You got your mike on. When we get finished, you can show me. Okay?

LANGER:

Yeah. And some people — I remember he said, "Over there." Some people, "Over there. Over there." So he put me over there. So I stood there, maybe two, three hours, four hours; I don't remember. And then somebody else looked at it.

LEVINE:

Were you by yourself now?

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Were you separated from your —

LANGER:

I was by myself now, separated from my family, and my brothers and sisters were over there. My mother was over there and they put me over there. So when they — so then — then somebody else looked. And again, over there. And some people over there. [chuckles] Anyways, I think about four or five times they looked at this thing here. And finally, they said, "Over there." So "over there" meant already you were going out. You know?

LEVINE:

You were going to America. You were —

LANGER:

Yeah, it must be.

MRS. L:

He was detained though, three days.

LANGER:

Yeah, I was attained. Yeah, three days it took. Yeah.

LEVINE:

So during those three days, that meant you slept there.

LANGER:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

LEVINE:

And where did you sleep?

LANGER:

Gee, I don't remember. Must — a cot —

LEVINE:

I mean how —

LANGER:

Cot or something.

LEVINE:

Do you remember the conditions or —

LANGER:

Conditions wasn't bad as the — as in the ship.

LEVINE:

In the ship, uh-huh.

LANGER:

Oh, no. [chuckles] We had — they — they — they gave us food to eat, place to sleep.

LEVINE:

Was any of the food new to you?

LANGER:

Yes.

LEVINE:

That you were served?

LANGER:

I — [chuckles] tomatoes and a banana. I didn't know what it was. Oh, another thing I want to tell you. This is really funny. In — in Europe, while we were in Kristanopol, Poland, soldiers — I don't know if it was American soldier or who they were — they had Hershey bars. And they had a big fo — a big — a little machine, like, big as this bag, with a big horn and they used to play it. And as kids, we used to run away. We were afraid. And at one time — I'll never forget — they — they offered — they offered us Hershey bar, chocolate. Well, I didn't know what it was. I — I took it but I wouldn't eat it. Until I saw a soldier eat it, then I ate it. [laughs] Because we never knew — we never knew chocolate bars. Are you kidding?

LEVINE:

So the big — the big round thing —

LANGER:

It was all —

LEVINE:

A Victrola?

LANGER:

Yeah. I don't know what you call it. It had a little machine to wind up.

LEVINE:

Right.

LANGER:

And it had a big horn. You know what I mean? Old fashioned.

LEVINE:

Do you remember — like, the records?

LANGER:

No.

LEVINE:

Music?

LANGER:

No, I — no, I don't remember that.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

No.

LEVINE:

Wow. So — so was there anything else that was new to you, once you got to this country?

LANGER:

I'll tell you what was new. When we started school —

LEVINE:

Wait. Before you talk about that, how about telling — who met you then? Did somebody meet you or did you —

LANGER:

No, no. My father met us in — in Castle Garden.

LEVINE:

He — he came to —

LANGER:

Oh, yes. Yes, sure.

LEVINE:

What was it like to see your father, who you didn't really know?

LANGER:

Well, we were very, very happy; we didn't know. We were very happy.

LEVINE:

Do you remember your impression of your father, your first impression?

LANGER:

Oh, he was very happy that — that — he was afraid I wasn't getting through. They examined me so many times because [chuckles] of this little hole in the head. Sure, my brother used to say, "We were very scared." My sister, Doris, the oldest one, says, "We were very scared." Because they — they got through and — and then they — and me, they st — put in another spot.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. So your father — and then accompanied you —

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

— your mother and the children.

LANGER:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

LEVINE:

To Boston.

LANGER:

To Bos — oh, sure.

LEVINE:

Do you remember the train ride?

LANGER:

No — really, no. It's a — a train, nice-looking train that I saw in Kristanopol, Poland was beautiful compared to what we'd saw.

LEVINE:

And how about the place that your father brought you to?

LANGER:

He brought us to Bickford Street, Jamaica Plain. And then we lived there for a while and then — and then we moved to Bromley [ph] Park. In other words, we first came to this house where Sobrulya lived with his son that she brought to America and my father. And we lived there for — I'm not exactly sure how long. And then we moved to a — an apar — a small apartment on — on Bromley Park, which is not there anymore. It's a housing project there now.

LEVINE:

Oh. Was there anything about the living quarters, the house, that was very different from — from what you had before?

LANGER:

Oh, yes. Very different. First of all, it was bricks. I never saw a brick house in my life. And there was, like, 20 or 25 bricks houses together. You know what I mean?

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

You know —

LEVINE:

In a row.

LANGER:

The row, that's right. Each — each one — each house was maybe as wide as this room here. You know? And there was house after house after house. That I remember.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm. And so you — you started school soon after?

LANGER:

Yeah, we went into school soon after and that's when the teacher started giving us our age and our names.

LEVINE:

And how was school for you?

LANGER:

School was — we — we enjoyed it.

LEVINE:

You — how did — how was learning the language? Can you tell me?

LANGER:

It was hard; it was very hard. It was very — I'll tell you what else happened to — to me and my brother. When — when we were in Europe, my mother always said, "If — if you hear" — first of all, we had no sidewalks. And, "If you hear a soldier or a sergeant walking and his sword would hit the buttons, get away. Get to the other side." So we came to America. [chuckles] This is funny. We came to America. My brother and I, if we saw an usher or a policeman — anybody with a uniform, we'd walk off the sidewalk. Not off far---- just got off the curb. We got off the curb. And somebody reported that to Mrs. Goodman, our teacher. And they — she called us in the office and she asked us, "Why do you walk off? You're liable to get hit by a truck, you do that." And Bickford Street — was a big factory, very — matter of fact, one time was the biggest fac — they claim the biggest factory in America, Queen Quality Shoes. And there's a lot of truck in there. So the teachers asked my brother and me, "Why do you walk off the sidewalk? This is America." So we explained to her that my mother used to say, "If you hear click, click, walk to the other side." Okay. So we explained to her and she said, "This is America. No matter — if you see anybody in a uniform, whether it was an usher or policeman or what, you don't walk — not necessary." I remember that like yesterday.

LEVINE:

Wow, hmm. So did you go to the movies then? Was that something you did?

LANGER:

Who could afford it? [chuckles] My father earning $6 a week.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Nah, we didn't go to movies. We went to the movies when we could afford it. Ah.

LEVINE:

Do you remember what you did for fun when you — after you got to [unclear]?

LANGER:

Yeah, we used to play on the street. In Bickford Street, we used to play Kick the Bar. You know what Kick the Bar is? They — we — the boys used to take a — you know, a — a rubber — from a — from a bicycle, the rubber. And he used to cut pieces like this, which would be this way.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

And they used to put it on the floor and we used to kick it. Instead of using a — now, I know. Instead of using a baseball, we used to kick it. I remember that. And we used to [chuckles] play handball too against, like I told you, all brick buildings. And it — and the end of the building was solid, concrete wall. And we used to play handball against the wall.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. Now, the neighborhood that you were living in, w — were there a lot of immigrant children and families?

LANGER:

Oh, yes. Mostly Jewish and Italians. Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Mostly Jewish and Italian. Yeah.

LEVINE:

Were you called a greenhorn? Do you remember any of that?

LANGER:

Well, we were — we were called greenhorn [laughs] many times. That we were.

LEVINE:

Yeah.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And did — did the Jewish kids get along with the Italians or was there [unclear] —

LANGER:

Ah, sort of. Sometime. It depends. No, it depends. I remember was a — a — a — McGee's house was one. [END OF TAPE 1, SIDE A] [BEGIN TAPE 1, SIDE B]

LANGER:

So Sundays and holidays we used to go to Jamaica Pond, which was beautiful. But we never lo — we never locked the doors. We'd close them but we never had to lock them like they do today. I remember that.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm, uh-hmm.

LANGER:

It was quite a difference, those days, than it is today.

LEVINE:

Yeah, and let's see. What else? What about your mother and father? Were they mostly friendly with other people who had come from Europe?

LANGER:

Oh, yeah. Friendly with everybody. No, we had nice neighbors. We had McGees [ph] in one side, Overess [ph] on the other side, Gusamoris [ph] on the other side. Because, like I say, it was, like, big — it was like, 15, maybe 20, 25 houses together.

LEVINE:

Oh.

LANGER:

No, we — we got along very nicely. Very nice.

LEVINE:

And how about your mother and father's social life? Did they — did they go out at all or what — how did people —

LANGER:

No. We used to go — we used to go — [chuckles] we were talking about that this morning. We used to go to City Point. You — you remember City Point, do you? No. And — and once or twice or three times a year, we used to splurge and we used to take — go to Nantasket [ph] on the boat. You remember that?

MRS. L:

These were beaches -- beaches.

LEVINE:

Yeah.

LANGER:

Yeah, that we could afford it.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Yeah. And were your mother and father interested in becoming citizens?

LANGER:

Oh, yes. My father became a citizen. Sure.

LEVINE:

So they —

LANGER:

I became a citizen. I'll tell you what happened there. When I went up for my citizenship papers the judge says to me, "Mr. Langer, by right, your — Farley is not your legal name. By right, it should have been Philip. Now, what would you like? Would you like to make your name Philip or Farley?" So I says to — "Your Honor. It's been Farley." Matter of fact, [chuckles] I says to — "Everybody calls me Philip — Phil — Phil." I says, "Your Honor, let it go for -- as that, Farley." But — and my family called me [chuckles] — I think Bella's the only on that calls me Farley. That right? Everybody calls me Phil — Philip.

LEVINE:

Huh. And let's see. So you were in grade school and then you picked up the language, I assume. And was there a point where you, as children, knew how to speak better English than your mother?

LANGER:

Well, my mother spoke very little English — mostly Jewish in the house. Very little.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

LANGER:

Very little.

LEVINE:

So how — then what did you do? You stayed in school till how — how long did you stay in?

LANGER:

That's another good point. Me, my brother and my sister, Doris — none of us graduated grammar school. The only one that graduated grammar school, the eighth grade, was my sister, Fanny, the younger one. When I was in the sixth grade I was told that — let me put it this way. If — if you were — if you had little money or your father wasn't earning enough money, my brother got himself a job. My uncle and Sobrulya was opening up a fish store in Geneva Avenue, Dorchester, and he was going to work there. And my sister, Doris, through a girlfriend, Ethel Shapiro, was working in a shoe factory and she got in. So we got up a little bit. And I found out — when I was in the sixth grade, I found out that Plant [ph] Shoe Factory across the street where we lived — you could go in there and Continuation School. In other words, you work four hours and four hours you go to school. So I had to see the principal of the school — was — his name was Gates. And he said, "What reason do you want to go and work in the factory?" I says, "Financially, we need money." And my father wanted to buy a little house there. The house that we lived in, he wanted to buy because we only had one and a half rooms. So he figured, "If we have — if we buy the house, it's three floors. We'll take first, second and third — the second floor." So he says to me, "Would you want to go in the Plant Shoe Factory as an odd shoe boy?" They called them — I says, "Yes." He says, "You'll go to school four hours and four hours you work. And the foreman on your floor will tell you what to do. But you have to go to see Mr. Silvas [ph]. He's the assistant principal of the school. He makes all arrangements." So I did.

LEVINE:

And what was that called again? What did you say?

LANGER:

Co — Continuation School.

LEVINE:

You said ou — the job was an ou —

LANGER:

'odd' shoe boy.

LEVINE:

'Odd'?

LANGER:

'Odd' shoe boy. 'Odd' shoe boy means this. Tell you what. For instance, there was a line of — of racks, big racks. And — and you did something on a shoe. My job was to take — when you're through with a rack, my job was to take your rack and push it into the next one. And — and then keep going that way. You understand?

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

I wasn't the only one. There was a lot you — you understand what I mean?

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm, uh-hmm.

LANGER:

In other words, some — some people would stitch. When you get through stitching this rack, our job was to push the rack. That's what they call 'odd' shoe boy. And many times — many — they had one — one fac — shoe store on Tremont [PP] Street, Boston. They called it Queen Quality Shoe. And that's what this factory was manufacturing. So many times, when the shoe store ran out of sizes or colors they would call the factory. And it was up to the shoe — 'odd' shoe boys to — to go down to the office. They'd give you a 10-cent carfare and you'd bring the shoes to Queen Quality Shoe on Tremont Street. Now, to begin with, I didn't know how — how to go so they sent somebody along with you to show you the rope. Take the streetcar to Dudley Street. And from Dudley Street we took the elevator to Essex Street. Remember those, Dor — Rosalind?

ROSALIND:

What?

LANGER:

Essex Street.

ROSALIND:

Sure.

LANGER:

And on Essex Street we got off and we walked to Tremont Street with a bundle of shoes and we brought it into the shoe store. And then we took the streetcar back home. That was a nickel each way, by the way. Then we — when — that — that could happen two or three times a week. Sometimes I would go and if it was a big load, there would be two or three boys go. And that was part of the job. And the other part of the job was to sweep up the floor after lunch, clean up the sinks and — and bring the garbage downstairs in the factory where there was men burning it up and was —

LEVINE:

And then you went to school too?

LANGER:

Yeah, went to school. Yeah, four hours.

LEVINE:

Did you go to regular public school?

LANGER:

Only up to the sixth grade.

LEVINE:

But — but when you started working in the factory?

LANGER:

Well, it was four hours of schooling in the factory. In the factory.

LEVINE:

Oh, in the factory.

LANGER:

In the factory. That's what they called Continuation School. Matter of fact, this was a big factory. They had barber shops there, bowling alleys, restaurants. It was a big factory, one of the biggest — they claim was the biggest in — in the United States.

LEVINE:

And then what did you learn in the factory school?

LANGER:

Same thing as you learn in the regular school. Then I went — I went to a — a couple of years I went to trade school when I was already older. I knew how to get around.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm. So how long did the Continuation School last?

LANGER:

I was there about six years and then I had a — [chuckles] I had a paper job too. I — I used to sell newspapers six o'clock in the morning. I had a few customers.

LEVINE:

And you delivered them?

LANGER:

Delivered the papers, yeah. And then another time we used to go — there was a family by the name of Blooms. And we used to — he — they were, oh, about my age, my brother's age. And we used to go to Mass Avenue and Hunting — you don't — you wouldn't know Mass Avenue.

LEVINE:

Yeah, I know Mass —

LANGER:

Mass Avenue, Huntington . Those days there was street cars open. Do you ever remember? And we used to sell newspapers, hop the streetcar, sell the newspapers, hop it down and grab another streetcar. You remember those?

LEVINE:

I don't remember but —

LANGER:

Open — open streetcars.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Like, there were boards and when the — and when the streetcar'd stop, could be two or three [unclear] — two or three or four streetcars together. And we used to get on the — on — on it and we used to sell newspapers. That's how we made some money. Matter of fact, [chuckles] the first time I went I remember my mother gave me a quarter. I came home. I must have — didn't — [unclear] change. I came home with less money than I had. [laughs] I'll never forget that. And the Broome's boy used to say, "You mustn't give the wrong change." In those days, it was two cents a paper. "Telegram," "Boston Globe," "Transcrip". Yeah, those were the days. Of course, that's when I was much younger than I am today. [chuckles]

LEVINE:

So — so you did that for about six years?

LANGER:

Yeah, about six years.

LEVINE:

Almost six?

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

And than you went to trade school?

LANGER:

Went to trade school two years.

LEVINE:

What trade?

LANGER:

I took up painting. And —

LEVINE:

Why did you decide to do painting?

LANGER:

I really don't know why I decided painting but I — I got a job with a man by the name of Olson. And he lived on Minda [ph] Street. And I worked for him quite a long time. But the trouble was with him, in the summertime he was very busy but in the wintertime there was many, many weeks he didn't have no work. So I found another job that I was told by — by a friend of mine they had — that to go to ask a Mr. Balen [ph]. He had buildings. He had a small building in Kingston Street Town. He had a building in Cardmon [ph] Square. And the main two buildings he had was Lillian [ph] Street, Cambridge. So I got a job there.

MRS. L:

[unclear].

LANGER:

I remember. Sure. Look, for 15 years I worked for Balen. And — and this Mr. Balen was a kind of elderly man. He had a son going to become a lawyer. And when he died, the son took over. But he didn't practice law because he had enough property to take care of. And I worked for him for 15 years. Matter of fact, the truth — I'll tell you something. This Eddy Balen said — used to say to — many times said to me, "You know, Farley. I was surprised when the will was read that my father didn't leave something for you in the will. He liked you so much." He did. And the reason why he liked me so much — I'll tell you something. [chuckles] He had a little building in King Street, Cambridge. You know, that's in town.

LEVINE:

Yeah.

LANGER:

You — you're —

LEVINE:

I lived in Cambridge [unclear].

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

A small building. They used to make ties, cheap — I remember working gloves. And he used to take me — for instance, if — if they needed, like, a faucet fixed or a window was broken — so Mr. Balen — that Mr. B — oh, before he died

LEVINE:

Balen, uh-hmm.

LANGER:

He used to take me and we used to run into Kingston Street, do the little job. On the same transfer, he'd go to Dorchester. I'd go to Jamaica Plain on the same transfer. [laughs] He was a shrewdy. I'll never forget it. And I used to tell that to his son when he became a lawyer. I says, "I used to do that with your father. We'd run into Kingston Street, do a little job." And if we didn't finish, we'd go check — the next day we'd do the same thing, after putting eight hours of work in — in — in the buildings. He had a lot of — a lot of apartments. He had one building with over a hundred apartments and one was about 60 apartments. So he kept us year round.

LEVINE:

So you were doing other things besides painting. You were doing —

LANGER:

Yeah, and — and when we work for — for Mr. Balen, we did a lot of other things. If — before — before — before we finished the apartment we washed the floor, shellac it or varnish it, see that all the faucets wasn't leaking, see that the toilet bowls was leak — was good. If they needed — if they needed, we would put in new balls. See that the refrigerator was in shape. But if anything was broken that we couldn't fix, we reported into the office and he would have men either put a new refrigerator in or a new faucet.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Yeah, we used to do odd jobs too, besides painting.

LEVINE:

And how did you — how did you like that work?

LANGER:

Good. All right. Now, come the next step.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

We — we — we used to buy — and I've got the pictures; I can show you — we used to buy our paint and supplies from Columbia Hardware. His name was Sam Cagnel [ph] and he was an old man. And he always used — and I used to pick up the paint or — or I used to give him the order, what to send to Lillian Street, Cambridge. And he always said that, "One of these days I'm going to" — he was a sick man and an old man. And he used to say, "I'm going to retire. I'm — the doctor said I should move to California." And one day I said to my — my boss, Eddy Bailey [ph] — he was al — Mr. Bailey was dead already. Now, I'm talking to the lawyer.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

And I says, "Eddy, some day when Cag — Mr. Cagnel moves away, I would like to buy that store." My wife was working in Nizeness [ph]. Did you ever hear of Nizeness? Like a — like a K-Mart or a — or a W. Woolworths. She was working and she was earning very little money. And we accumulate some money. When the man — when he was ready to go to California — this was after 15 years I worked for him. And Eddy and I were like this. Matter of fact, when I go to Boston I call him up and talk to him. He still lives. He's two years older than I am. Matter of fact, one year I couldn't go there so my wife called him up. Remember Eddy? And so when we — when we decided to buy the store, he was a lawyer so he was — he — he worked for both of us, as a lawyer for him and a lawyer — no charge.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

He did that for us.

LEVINE:

So you bought the store yourself or with Eddy?

LANGER:

I bought — no, I — no, no. Eddy was a lawyer.

LEVINE:

Right, uh-huh.

LANGER:

He was the owner. I bought the store. My wife and I, we bought the store.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

And we were in business over 40 years.

LEVINE:

Wow! And what was the name of the store?

LANGER:

And we changed it. Columbia — Columbia Hardware.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

But when the housing project came, took all the stores, about 30 or 40 stores in a row — we had a drugstore, hardware store and so forth. And they took all the homes there and made a housing project. And what a mess they have now. [chuckles] Yeah. So I had to move. So I bought a house across the street. Every — everything — the prices went way up. I bought a house across the street from — from where I was. And I had a contractor — by then, I knew contractors — what I can do with the — I've got a contractor that lifted the house up and put two stores, a hardware store and a drugstore. I've got the pictures if you want to see them. I can show them to you. Yeah.

LEVINE:

Hmm. Well, how did you meet your wife?

LANGER:

All right. My wife worked for Nizeness. My sisters — my sister, Bella, and my sister, Fanny, and many more girls all worked in Nizeness and were very friendly. So my wife used to come — she had no father. She just had a mother and a sister and her sister was — lived in New York. So she used to come to my house with — with my sisters and have lunch. That's how I met my wife, Esther. Yeah.

LEVINE:

And your wife's maiden name?

LANGER:

Es — Esther.

LEVINE:

Yeah, but her maiden name before you married.

LANGER:

Oh, what the heck was her maiden name? You know, I forgot. What was her — do you remember?

MRS. L:

I have it down. I have it down in the book.

LANGER:

Esther —

LEVINE:

This is your wife, right?

LANGER:

Yeah. This is my wife now, yeah.

LEVINE:

Oh, oh. Okay.

LANGER:

Yeah. I forgot her last name. Esther —

MRS. L:

Whatever.

LANGER:

I — you know, I forgot. [chuckles] It's so many years ago, I forgot.

MRS. L:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. So — so then you — you stayed in the — with the store for 40 years.

LANGER:

Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And —

LANGER:

Until I moved here.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

LANGER:

Yeah.

MRS. L:

Things happened between.

LANGER:

A lot of things happened in between too. She died. She had cancer. A lot of trouble.

LEVINE:

Hmm.

LANGER:

A lot of trouble. She had trouble on her left leg. Is that still on?

LEVINE:

Oh, yeah.

LANGER:

She had a sister by name of Lillian in New York. Believe it or not, the sister, Lillian, died of cancer in the left leg on the knee just like my wife.

LEVINE:

Wow.

LANGER:

Unbelievable.

LEVINE:

Did you have children?

LANGER:

Yes.

LEVINE:

And their names?

LANGER:

That's one of them right there, my daughter.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Yeah, and a boy. The boy isn't — matter of fact, he's in Florida right now. He's a — he's in business in Boston. Locks.

LEVINE:

Oh.

LANGER:

He's in Florida right now.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

LANGER:

[unclear].

LEVINE:

And what are your children's names?

LANGER:

Gail Langer and Robert Lang.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm. And what — when you think back over your life and you think about coming here as a seven-year-old and — and living out your life in this country, how — do you think immigrating to this country made a difference in the kind of person you were or the way you saw things or —

LANGER:

Oh, yes. Yes, it certainly did.

LEVINE:

In what ways do you think [unclear]?

LANGER:

Yeah, give an example —

MRS. L:

Weiner.

LANGER:

Weiner. I couldn't think of the name. Esther Weiner.

MRS. L:

Weiner was the maiden name of your first wife. Okay.

LANGER:

You know, I'm going to give you an example. Like I said to you —

MRS. L:

May I interrupt? Rebecca Weiner. Birthday, March 18, 1881. Arrived Ellis Island, November 1907. Must have been her mother.

LANGER:

Yeah, the mother. Yeah. The mother. Her mother lived with me when we got married. Their father got killed. He — I never knew this of the father. Their father was a ragman. On one of the streets, either Commonwealth Avenue or Beacon Street, a truck hit the — his — his horse and wagon. Those days, they — horse and wagon collect, you know, garbage and different things. And he got killed. I never knew him.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

So you were saying how — how coming here as an immigrant affected the way you saw the world on [unclear] things.

LANGER:

Oh, yeah. Definite. Definite way.

LEVINE:

In what ways do you think that was true?

LANGER:

And then the opportunities we had here. Here I was a greenhorn. I became a painter. I worked for Mr. Olson and I worked in a shoe factory as 'odd' shoe boy. And I delivered shoes to the — to the — to the Queen Quality Shoe on Tremont Street. I learned how to go by the streetcar, a streetcar, then Eggleston Square, in Eggleson Square pick up the train. One stop to Eggleson Square — no, to — not Eggleson Square — to — what was the first after Dudley Street?

MRS. L:

[unclear].

LANGER:

Yeah.

MRS. L:

[unclear] I don't even know myself [unclear].

LANGER:

Yeah, [chuckles] and how to walk from — from — from — oh, Essex Street was the name. Essex Street. I got off at Essex Street and from Essex Street I had to walk with the bundles of shoes to Tremont Street. Of course, before I did that they used to send somebody to teach you how — the ropes, you know. And — and believe it or not, even my brother — take my brother — he worked — he worked for my Uncle Morris on Tremont Street and — in the fish store. And somehow, he got in a terrible accident. He was driving a Model T Ford years ago. And believe it or not, he got in a terrible accident around where Governor Curley lived on Jamaica Way. And since then, he would not drive a car again, gave up his license. He wouldn't touch a car.

LEVINE:

Hmm.

LANGER:

Yeah.

MRS. L:

Never got married.

LANGER:

Never — he never got married, my brother. No.

LEVINE:

But, so you felt the opportunity was there in this —

LANGER:

Oh, yeah. Again, I want to bring out — take my brother, for instance. He worked for a grocery store in Wynass [ph]. Years ago, it wasn't supermarket. Remember, years ago —

LEVINE:

Right.

LANGER:

— there was a little store here, a little — well, he worked for a chain in Wy — a big chain but had small stores. He worked in Somerville, Mass. He worked there under a fellow by the name of Mo Miller. He was the assistant manager. And be — and I used to work — go in there and help him out sometimes on Saturdays. And before you knew it, the company gave my brother a — made him a manager on corner — Warren Street and Gaskin Street. He became a manager without having a high school — without having a grammar school education. And I became in the hardware business without a college education.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm, uh-hmm.

LANGER:

That's right.

MRS. L:

And a successful one.

LANGER:

That's right. For greenhorns, we were. And my brother was what they used to call them, the workaholic. He worked — matter of fact, he was telling me one day, one of the owners from M. Weiner [ph] Company lived not too far from where — his store in Mazen [ph] Court with an expensive apartment house. And he used to say to my brother, "You're — you — although you got the — one of the smallest stores, but you're the best manager we ever had." Yeah. Oh, yeah.

LEVINE:

What do you — ?

LANGER:

What I'm saying, the opportunity was there. And I worked myself up and I got into the hardware store, after 15 years, of course.

LEVINE:

What do you feel most proud of or most satisfied that you — you've done over your life?

LANGER:

Becoming a businessman, to tell you the truth. And my brother felt the same way. But I made one terrible mistake.

LEVINE:

What's that?

LANGER:

I know my wife isn't going to like this, what I'm going to tell you. I —

MRS. L:

[sentence unclear].

LANGER:

The biggest mistake I made, and I admit it — it was nobody's fault — my own. I retired too soon. If I would have stayed in my store another five or six years, I would have been much better off because in those five or six years things went way up. When I sold out, things were very low. Matter of fact, I sold to the Small Business Administration — bought me out. Bill to get all.

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm, uh-hmm.

LANGER:

And they —

MRS. L:

[sentence unclear].

LANGER:

And they gave it — and they gave it — in those days, they gave — the Small Business Administration gave it to the colored people to run.

LEVINE:

Oh.

LANGER:

Instead of keeping them on the welfare, they gave — and a fellow by the name of Lodge took over my store. And that was the biggest mistake I made.

MRS. L:

[unclear] this is on tape.

LANGER:

That's all right. I don't mind. It's that I made the biggest mistake. If I would have stayed there another five, six years I would have come out smelling like a rose.

MRS. L:

You had twenty-six happy years down there.

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

How did you meet your wife? This wife?

LANGER:

Oh, okay. I'll tell you how. Like I told you, I was in the hardware business and I handled — I handled — I was a Terrain [ph] dealer. Terrain is made in Massachusetts. I don't know if you ever heard of it.

LEVINE:

Terrain Paint?

LANGER:

Terrain Paint, yeah. And — and Mr. Bloom [ph] was about, let's say, six miles away from me. He was a Terrain dealer and we got together. When he ran short of a certain color or what, I'd call him. He'd call me. I'd say, "Yeah, I got it." And if I ran short, he'd have it. You know, so —

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

— we got to be very friendly. Okay. That was the father. Then when the father died, they were sitting shiva [period of grieving]. Oh, by the way, by that time my wife died from cancer. And I had — Gail was only a little kid and I had Bobby, my son. And one — and one day Mr. Bloom said to me, "You know." He says, "I know somebody would — nice girl for you." And when — I went — when I went up to sit shiva my wife was there but I didn't know that. [chuckles] Did you know I was there?

MRS. L:

[unclear].

LANGER:

I didn't know. So the next morning Mr. Bloom says to me, "You know, the woman I want you to meet was there." But I met so much people. Do you understand? I — [chuckles] [unclear]. And they kept telling me —

MRS. L:

Mr. Bloom happens to be the father of my sister-in-law, my brother's wife.

LANGER:

Yeah.

MRS. L:

That's how I happened to be there too [unclear].

LANGER:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

I see. And what is your wife's name?

LANGER:

Esther.

LEVINE:

No, this one.

LANGER:

Oh, Charlotte.

LEVINE:

Charlotte. And — and maiden name?

LANGER:

Rosenkrantz.

LEVINE:

Okay. And let's see. Is there anything else you can think of about coming to this country and living your life in this country and —

LANGER:

Oh, I could tell you big stories of that. It was terrific when we got to — just — just because of the people — the people. You — you don't beli — you wouldn't believe that so many people in the street. You don't understand Jewish, do you? No — how many people in the street, " Oy, gayn in Amerika . Oh, you're" — they all want to come to America. Oh, I got to tell you one thing too. When we — when we were in America already —

LEVINE:

Uh-hmm.

LANGER:

Ah —

LEVINE:

Go ahead.

LANGER:

When we were in America and if — and naturally, like I told you, my father was only $6 a week. And — and my mother says, "Well, actually we're not much better off here than we were in Europe because we're not" — we — my brother didn't get a job yet. I didn't go to Continuation School or nothing. My sister, Doris, didn't work. And my mother always said — always, "Remember one thing. You're in America and you're free. " She always said that. Yeah. That she alw — but the opportunity was here. Not only because of my brother became a manager in the Weiner store. I became in the hardware business. Everybody — all the kids — I remember all the — the Samonis [ph] were going to college. And I remember Mr. — Mr. McGee that lived next door to us in Bromley Park — his kids were — was going to college. You know, it was different. In Europe, we didn't even know a thing like that. We didn't go to school. The opportunity was a hundred percent; let's face it.

LEVINE:

I think that's a perfect place to end where — right near the end of the tape.

LANGER:

Yeah.

MRS. L:

Right.

LEVINE:

I want to thank you.

LANGER:

Okay, thank you.

LEVINE:

You were really interesting [unclear]. [chuckles]

LANGER:

And if you want to see the picture, get up.

LEVINE:

Yeah, we'll come —

LANGER:

Take a look.

LEVINE:

Let me just finish. This is Janet Levine for the National Park Service and I've been speaking with Farley Langer, born Fishel Langer —

LANGER:

Fishel Langer, that's right. Langer.

LEVINE:

— Langer, who came on the Savoie at the age of seven in 1919.

LANGER:

In 1919, right.

LEVINE:

Okay, I want to thank you.

LANGER:

Yeah, you're welcome.

LEVINE:

Signing off.

LANGER:

You want to come — [END OF INTERVIEW]