Todd Klein's Blog, page 211

IRA SCHNAPP: His Life, Work and Family, Part 4

Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, photo at left © FInn Andreen

In January of 1935, the first issue of NEW FUN: THE BIG COMIC MAGAZINE, published by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, blazed a trail by becoming the first comic book to contain new material. Previous efforts had simply reprinted newspaper comic strips. Nicholson was a former military man and world adventurer turned pulp writer, and he had good ideas, but was not a savvy businessman. After launching two titles with mixed success, he wanted to add a third, but needed funding. He turned to pulp publisher Harry Donenfeld who agreed to lend him the money for the launch of DETECTIVE COMICS, but only under a new imprint co-owned by Donenfeld’s partner Jack Liebowitz.

Image © DC Comics

By the time a fourth title, ACTION COMICS, was launched, Nicholson had been pushed out of the business, and National Comics (also known as Detective Comics Inc.) was the sole property of Donenfeld and Liebowitz, who were happy to enjoy the huge success and profits of their featured characters Superman and Batman. A more detailed exploration of the early years of DC comics can be found in my article HERE, and other places.

SUPERMAN 1, 2 and 4 covers, image © DC Comics

In 1940, Harry and Jack had a logo problem they turned to Ira Schnapp to solve. I believe Ira was already working on their pulp magazines, as described in Part 3 of this article, and it makes sense they would bring in Ira. Joe Shuster, the artist co-creator of Superman, along with writer Jerry Siegel, was doing covers for the new SUPERMAN comic featuring all stories about the hit character who initially appeared in the first issue of the company’s ACTION COMICS in 1938. The covers and art were produced by Shuster in his studio in Cleveland, and he’d designed a logo for the book and character, but instead of designing it once and then making photographic copies for later issues, as was the usual practice, Joe was redrawing the logo on almost every cover. The basic idea was sound, but the versions were inconsistent, see above.

SUPERMAN 6 cover, dated Sept.-Oct. 1940, image © DC Comics

Donenfeld and Liebowitz must have brought in Ira Schnapp to give them his best professional version, and Ira did a tremendous job. It first appeared on SUPERMAN #6 cover-dated Sept.-Oct. 1940, and probably went on sale in July, 1940, as comics and magazines were post-dated in hopes of getting a longer shelf-life. That means Ira probably did his version of the logo in the spring of 1940. It was exactly what the book and character needed, and remained the standard Superman logo until a redesign in 1983, a very long time for any logo! Many people, including myself, feel it’s one of the best comic book logos of all time. Ira took elements from all the Shuster versions, standardized the width and shapes of the letters, made the telescoping consistent, and used true three-point perspective, which Shuster’s work only guessed at.

Images © DC Comics. Superwoman is unused, created to trademark the name. Superman, Inc. was the licensing company for the character. Supermen of America was the fan club, and Superboy first appeared with this logo in MORE FUN COMICS #101 dated Jan.-Feb. 1945.

This was the beginning of Ira Schnapp’s long association with the company now known as DC Comics. He went on to do lots more work for National Comics, including variations on the Superman logo, above. He did other logos for them in the 1940s, more and more as the decade went on. My guesses about which logos from that decade Ira did are in an article beginning HERE. He also began lettering comic book stories and newspaper strips for the company. Ira told a young fan—now comics historian—Michael Uslan, that the SUPERMAN logo was the first one he worked on for the company, and that he didn’t do their earlier logos like ACTION COMICS and DETECTIVE COMICS. My guesses about who might have designed the early DC logos are in THIS article.

Superman Sunday newspaper strip dated Dec. 10th, 1944, image © DC Comics

I’m still searching for the earliest Ira Schnapp story lettering that I can identify. I think the 1944 Superman Sunday newspaper strip, above, is lettered by Ira, but it’s hard to be sure. No credits for lettering were given or recorded at the time, so that makes it difficult, and there were others working in a similar style. Marty Schnapp remembers his father often working on the lettering at home, and he thinks Ira was lettering comics beginning in the early 1940s.

Presto Pete story from ANIMAL ANTICS #17 dated Nov.-Dec. 1948, image © DC Comics

I’m gradually going through scans of early DC Comics looking for Ira’s story lettering, and have already found hundreds of examples, some in super-hero stories featuring Superman, Batman, Superboy and others, but many more in the humor titles. A typical example is above. I hope to cover this topic in a later article. Ira’s story lettering in the comics seems to begin in late 1945, is more common in 1946, and increases in volume from 1947 on, at least in the issues I’ve checked so far. More research is needed.

One more document found by Alex Jay has some interesting information about Ira, his World War Two draft card from 1942, above. Ira was likely too old to be called into service, though he gives his birth date as Oct. 10, 1895 rather than a year earlier, as we believe it to be, but that still put him at 46 years old. His place of birth is Sassow, with an interesting way of writing the double S. All the writing on this card except his signature is printing rather than script, perhaps reflecting the work he did every day. After “Name and Address of Person Who Will Always Know Your Address,” Ira has given his brother-in-law George Iger.

Most interesting of all, under employer, he’s written Self, and for employer address he gives 442 West 42nd Street, which is between 9th and 10th Avenues. This could have been a studio or workshop, perhaps a shared space with other artists. Marty does not remember his father having a studio, but Ira must have spent some time there, and it was convenient to mid-town Manhattan where many of his employers were. Alex Jay has found period advertisements for that address for businesses making electric signs, picture frames and metal doors. There was a sign company, Baum & Arnold, at that address, and it’s possible Ira could have shared space with them or worked with them. It sounds like a noisy neighborhood, but Alex suggests this might have been where Ira did his show card lettering, some of which was described as very large, and not work he’d have room for at home. Today it’s part of the revitalized theater district, and the building Ira worked in is long gone. I see what looks like a parking garage there today.

Theresa (Terry) Schnapp, photo courtesy of Martin Schnapp. Out of focus, but Marty says it’s expressive of her personality.

At home, Ira and Beatrice’s daughter Terry went to college at New York University, and left home soon after, probably around 1944. Marty reports that she moved to Greenwich Village, which she loved. She never married. Terry tried acting, and according to Marty had small successes, like appearances on “The Howdy Doody Show,” produced at Rockefeller Center in New York, but was not able to make a career of it, and mostly did amateur acting. She made a living teaching English to Spanish students. When Marty finished High School in June of 1947, he went to the City College of New York. After graduation in June of 1951, his uncle Sam Schnapp got him his first job at the New York City division of the May Company department stores, in the buying office, and Marty was in retail clothing for the rest of his life. More on that later.

The Grand Central Palace, Lexington Avenue between 46th and 47th Streets, New York. 480 Lexington was a side entrance for businesses on the upper floors.

Some time around 1948-49, I believe Ira took a staff position with National Comics in their offices on the 9th floor at 480 Lexington Avenue, above, and began working there every day doing logos, cover lettering, and house ads, as well as story pages, when he had time. His work in all those areas takes a jump in quantity around then and I know from conversations with fellow letterer Gaspar Saladino that Ira was on staff at the end of 1949 when Gaspar began work at National.

In a floor plan of the offices drawn by Gaspar, Ira’s desk can be seen at right in the Production Room. The boss, Irwin (son of Harry) Donenfeld’s office, was nearby, and and Ira’s relative Jay Emmett sat in the office to the left of the one at upper left here, with Jay’s uncle Jack Liebowitz and Harry Donenfeld’s offices in another wing of the 9th floor. You can read more about those offices and personnel in THIS article.

Ira Schnapp at the National Comics offices, photo courtesy of Martin Schnapp.

Here’s the Holy Grail of my research, not only the first photo of Ira Schnapp I’ve ever seen, but an excellent example of the man at work! I believe it was taken some time between 1954 and 1960 in the 480 Lexington Avenue offices Production Room, though with Ira’s desk in a different spot than the floor plan above. He’s wearing a tie and short sleeves, suggesting a warmer time of year, and I think he’s holding a pencil, while two of his ink pens sit in inkwells behind him. On his drawing board is what looks like a story page he’s working on, with lettered pages behind him. In the background is another production artist who I believe to be a young Morris Waldinger. Morris started at the company around 1954, and his youth here, plus the appearance of Ira’s age are what bring me to the dates given. Ira would have been 59 in the summer of 1954, and early 60s looks about right for his age here. Incidentally, Marty Schnapp told me that Ira’s hair stayed dark until nearly the end of his life. It would be wonderful if we could identify the pages he’s working on, or the items on the wall in the back, but there’s not enough detail. I’m still thrilled to have finally found this image after years of searching! A larger copy can be seen HERE, but the original photo is quite small, about 3 by 2 inches, and this is the most detail I could get from it.

Through the 1950s and much of the 1960s, and a move to another building at 575 Lexington Avenue, Ira created a house style for the company that was instantly recognizable to me a child. His house ads, advertisements for the company’s current and new titles that ran in all of them, were particularly fascinating to me, and made me want to buy all those great-looking comics. Ira drew on his knowledge of show card lettering and favorite styles from the Art Deco movement to fashion a look for all the comics that was very appealing to kids.

Image © DC Comics

The house ad above convinced me to get a subscription to the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA comic, the first and only one I ever bought. I was disappointed when I started receiving the comics by mail and found they were folded in half, but I still loved reading them.

INFERIOR FIVE #2 page 1, May-June 1967, original art scan courtesy of Mark Evanier, © DC Comics

Millions of comics fans in the 1950s and 1960s knew and loved the work of Ira Schnapp, but never knew his name. At the time, very few comics had any creator credits. Editors got a credit on the indicia page of each comic, though sometimes the person doing the actual editing did not, only his boss. Sometimes an artist got away with signing his name on the first page of a story, and once in a while a writer with credits in other fields was given a by-line, but letterers and colorists never got credit, at least at DC Comics, until credits for all the creators began to appear sporadically in the mid to late 1960s. I’ve found Ira Schnapp’s name as letterer only in two comics, INFERIOR FIVE #2, above, and issue 5 of that title. The fabulous work done by Ira on the company’s covers, logos and house ads was never credited.

Theresa Schnapp (wife of Ira’s brother Jack),  and their daughter Selma (Schnapp) Kagle

Among the extended family, Ira’s mother Sadie died in December of 1944. Ira’s oldest brother Jack died in New York on November 20th, 1942 at age 56. He was survived by wife Theresa, daughter Selma (Schnapp) Kagle and son Irving. I recently made contact with a niece of Selma Kagle, who provided the pictures above of Theresa and Selma.

From “The Cleveland Plain Dealer,” May 31st, 1947

Sam Schnapp continued to work as a buyer for the May Company, making frequent trips to New York City. Alex Jay found a social notice in the Nassau Daily Review-Star of July 23, 1945, that Sam’s daughter Dorothy was spending the summer with her aunt and uncle George and Lee Iger. In May, 1947, Sam narrowly escaped a plane crash at La Guardia airport, as reported in the article above.

Sam Schnapp in 1973, Miami, Florida, courtesy of Francis Fellenbaum, Jr.

Sam stayed with the May Company until his retirement in the 1960s. Dorothy married Francis Fellenbaum, and they had three children, Susan, Francis Jr,, and Amy. I’ve recently been in touch with Francis Jr. who remembers his grandfather Sam as being a lot like comedian George Burns. Francis also said of Sam, “He had fantastic penmanship. His calligraphy was exceptional.”

Ira’s brother Joe continued to work at the Tip Toe Inn for the rest of his life.

Fred Iger, date and source unknown

George and Lee’s son (and Ira’s cousin) Fred Iger attended New York University, and enlisted in the army in 1943, at age 19, where he served with the Army Engineering Corps. In June, 1946 he was engaged to Sonia Donenfeld, known as Peachie, daughter of Harry Donenfeld. They were probably married later that year. In 1947 Fred went to work for the American Comics Group co-owned by Ben Sangor and his new father-in-law Harry Donenfeld. Fred would later own the company after Sangor’s death, and also reportedly had been given, with Peachie, a share of the ownership of National Comics, though never worked there as far as we know.

FORBIDDEN WORLDS #114, Sept. 1963, © American Comics Group

The American Comics Group began in 1943, and published the first ongoing horror title, ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN. Their most famous character was Herbie Popnecker, above, a satirical take on super-heroes, who appeared in FORBIDDEN WORLDS in the 1960s. ACG stopped publishing comics in 1967, though their Custom Comics imprint published comics for businesses like Montgomery Ward until the 1980s. By the way, many of the ACG logos were by Ed Hamilton, I see no evidence of Ira Schanpp’s work there.

Fred’s marriage to Sonia ended in divorce after about a year, and he later had a relationship with Arlene Levy after her divorce from Irwin Donenfeld, the son of Harry. Even more complicated, Fred’s sister Toby married Arlene’s brother Irwin Levy. Fred and Sonia had one daughter, Paulette. Sonia later remarried Stanley Mondschein. Irwin and Toby had four children: Seth, Susan, Harriet and Sammy.

Sharlye and Saul Herzfeld were separated probably some time in the 1960s. They had been living in a New York Apartment on 5th Avenue and 68th Street, which Saul gave to Sharlye when they parted. Sharlye lived alone there for many years. Marty Schnapp remembers going over to help her with her accounts and paying bills. Saul divorced Sharlye in 1974.

As for Nina, there were jazz concert reviews by a Nina Naguid in the 1940s in the magazine “Chicago Music Leader,” I don’t know if they were by our Nina. Marty Schnapp mentioned she lived in Spain for a while, he’s not sure when.

Next time we’ll begin with a visit to the DC Comics offices and Ira Schnapp in the 1960s. Previous parts of this article and more you might enjoy can be found on the COMICS CREATION page of my blog.

IRA SCHNAPP: His Life, Work and Family, Part 3

Unknown show card artist in his studio, Virginia, 1926

By the early 1930s, Ira Schnapp was making a living as a freelance letterer and designer, doing show card lettering, as seen above, for movie theaters and probably other clients. There was actually lots of work then for a person skilled in lettering. “Show card” lettering, or large display lettering done on card stock, was used in many businesses from the front windows (“show” windows) to shelves and displays inside. Clothing retailers, grocery stores, every kind of shop used such signs. Much of the advertising seen in magazines and on posters and billboards also used show card lettering.

Image © Hunt Manufacturing Company

A popular book about how to do it, “The Speedball Text Book” by Ross F. George, was first published in 1915, and had gone through 14 editions and dozens of printings by 1941, so clearly there were many artists making a living doing that kind of work, or trying to.

Image © DC Comics, from DETECTIVE COMICS #326, April 1964

Unfortunately, none of Ira Schnapp’s show card lettering survives, as far as we know. We can only infer how it might have looked based on the dozens of varied, stylish and exciting house ads he did for DC Comics later, like the one above.

Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, 1947, photo supplied by Irwin Donenfeld to COMIC BOOK ARTIST magazine, 1998

It was the depression, and I’m sure Ira Schnapp was happy to take any kind of freelance lettering work he could get. Pulp magazines were then a cheap and popular form of escapist entertainment for the masses, and a number were being published by partners Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz starting around 1929. Liebowitz was related by marriage to Ira (more on that soon), and they knew each other through family connections. Ira’s son Marty remembers that, in the 1930s, his family would rent a bungalow for the summer in Edgemere, Queens, near Rockaway Beach, and one summer in the mid ’30s Jack Liebowitz came to stay with them there. Like Ira, Donenfeld and Liebowitz were both born in eastern Europe, Donenfeld in Romania in 1893, and Liebowitz in Ukraine in 1900, and both followed a similar path of emigrating to New York City as children and living on the Lower East Side. Donenfeld began as a clothing salesman and opened his own store, but that business failed, and he joined his brothers in a printing business. Harry ran with a tough crowd, developed mob connections, and reportedly built up the business through them, soon pushing his brothers out and taking control. Before long he was printing pulp magazines for others, and when Liebowitz joined him to handle the bookkeeping end of things in 1929, began printing his own pulps, often of an erotic or “spicy” nature.

HOT STORIES, 1930, an early Donenfeld pulp magazine

Though I have no firm evidence, I believe Ira Schnapp was working for the Donenfeld-Liebowitz pulps doing logo designs and cover lettering at least by 1934. I’ve written extensively about that beginning HERE, trying to identify Ira’s involvement through style clues.

SUPER-DETECTIVE STORIES, May 1934

For instance, this logo and cover lettering certainly looks like the work of Ira Schnapp to me, not to mention foreshadowing the famous SUPERMAN logo he’d be doing for Donenfeld and Liebowitz a few years later. Comics historian Jerry Bails wrote that Ira was working for the pair’s Trojan Publishing pulp magazine company beginning in 1934. He didn’t give a source for that information, but I find it born out in the work. While new cover logos were not called for that often, if Ira was doing the cover lettering for the magazines, that could have supplied him with steady work and income.

Before we continue with Ira’s work, let’s catch up with the rest of his extended family. In the 1930 census, Ira’s parents Max and Sadie have moved to 865 Walton Avenue, the Bronx, near 161st street, close to Yankee Stadium. Max’s occupation is listed as proprietor – retail groceries, and at age 65, he’s still working.

“Mad Men” TV Show set, image © Lionsgate

In 1925, son Joe was again listed as living with them, with the occupation of partner – delicatessen. He was probably working at The Tip Toe Inn on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The Inn was opened in either 1915 or 1918 at Broadway and 80th Street, later moving to 86th. It was one of the earliest classic New York delicatessen restaurants, known for great food and large portions. Joe worked there for many years. Marty Schnapp remembers the entire family dining there together. A 1965 version of the Tip Toe Inn was recreated for the “Mad Men” TV series, above. Joe married Claire Goldstein on June 27th, 1926, and their daughter Norma was born in 1927. Moses (Mo) is living with his parents both times, and continues working as a printer.

In the early 1920s, Lena (Lee) married Morris Iger, who later went by the name George Iger. They lived at 2244 Grand Avenue, the Bronx in the 1925 census, and their son Frederick was less than a year old in then. Fred Iger grew up to have a career in the comics business, which I’ll be covering later. In the 1930 census, George Iger is a restaurant proprietor, and they have a second child, a daughter Toby born that year. George began packaging and selling prepared horseradish as the Arrow Horseradish Company, later the Regis Foods Company. (I’ve been unable to find any photos of these.)

 

From “The Wave” of Rockaway Beach, Sept. 6th 1923

By the summer of 1923, Shirley has become Sharlye, the name she went by the rest of her life. She was the winner of a local beauty contest in Averne, near Rockaway Beach, Queens, as reported in the article above, though her name is misspelled as Sharyle. Note that the previous year’s winner was her cousin Hilda, more on that later. Sharlye married Saul Herzfeld on June 12, 1925, and must have left the family home that year. Saul also spent time at Rockaway Beach, and probably met Sharlye there. Saul and his younger brother Nathan had a very successful business selling rugs as Stephen Rug Mills, though there was no mill, all their rugs were imported. They also invested elsewhere, including Yonkers Race Track. By the 1970s, Saul was described as a multi-millionaire.

The May Company Department Store, Cleveland, OH, 1930s

The youngest daughter Minnie is now Nina (pronounced Nine-ah) in the 1925 census, the name she went by the rest of her life. She married Jacob Naguid on June 24th, 1928. Except for brother Sam Schnapp, all the Schnapp siblings continued to live in the same area of New York City and remained close. Sam and his wife Imogene moved to Cleveland, Ohio some time in the 1920s, where Sam worked for the May Company department store as a clothing buyer. That allowed him to make frequent trips to New York, where he often visited his family. Their daughter Dorothy was born on June 14th, 1926.

The 1930s brought more changes for the Schnapp family, but before we get into those, there are a group of Schnapp cousins living in New York that I’d like to look at more closely. We’ve already met a few, the Israel Schnapp who lived with Max’s family for a while, Joseph Schnapp who, with Israel, vouched for Max on his Naturalization Papers, and Sam Schnapp who lived with the Schwadrons. We’re not sure how these and some other Schnapps are related to Max’s family, but here’s what we know. As you’ll see, there are some interesting comic book connections.

Samuel (Sam) Schnapp, the one who we think lived with the Schwadrons, was born in Sassow, Austria on Sept 6th, 1889. For clarity, I’m going to call him Sam 2. He married Celia Chinitz on June 24th, 1922. Celia was the daughter of Aaron Chinitz, the founder and owner of the Tip Toe Inn, that Jewish deli restaurant where Max’s son Joe worked much of his life. Above are photos of Sam and Celia from a 1922 passport. Celia was born on May 19th, 1902, and tragically died on May 6th, 1928, at the age of 26. We don’t know the cause of death. They had a son, Robert. After Celia’s death, Sam 2 lived with his in-laws and continued to rise in the family restaurant business. He must have known Max’s son Joe well, and was probably his boss. More information about that family is HERE.

Sam 2 had a younger brother named (in various documents) Saul, Solomun, Salomun, or Sol, born in Sassow, Austria in 1892. He arrived in New York in 1912 and was a delicatessen owner by 1917. On June 12th, 1925 he married Faye Liebowitz. Faye was the sister of Jack Liebowitz, the business partner of Harry Donenfeld (beginning in 1929). As described above, Donenfeld and Liebowitz published dozens of pulp magazine titles. I believe Ira Schnapp designed logos and cover lettering for their pulp magazines, at least from 1934, and knew Liebowitz through connections to Ira’s own family. Here’s that connection. On Sam 2’s passport application, his father’s name is given as Wolf Schnapp. We don’t know if  Wolf was the brother of Ira’s father Max, but it seems likely. If so, Jack Liebowitz’ sister Faye was married to Ira’s cousin Sol. There are no records of a Wolf Schnapp in America, so perhaps he stayed in Austria. Austria was one of the countries in Europe visited by Sam 2 and Celia on their 1922 vacation trip.

Jay Emmett (Schnapp) 1970s, Irwin Donenfeld 1950s

Sol Schnapp and his wife Faye (Liebowitz) Schnapp had three children. Daughter Lorayne was born in 1927. Son Jay was born on July 31, 1928. Jay Schnapp later changed his name to Jay Emmett, and began working for his uncle’s comic book business in the late 1940s. Eventually he founded the Licensing Corporation of America, an important division of Warner Communications, then owners of DC Comics. Sol and Faye’s daughter Carol was born in 1934. She married Irwin Donenfeld, the son of Harry Donenfeld, in the 1960s.

Next we have two brothers who are also related to Max, probably his cousins, though possibly his brothers or nephews: Adolph and Joseph Schnapp. Adolph was born in Austria in 1871. He married Rose, born in the 1880s, and they had three children, Herman, Charles and Freda.

Alex Jay and I believe Joseph or Joe Schnapp is the man who vouched for Max on his Naturalization Papers. For clarity, I’ll call him Joe 2. He was born in Czernowitz, Austria on March 18th, 1876. Above is a passport photo from 1920. He married Hanna, and they had five children: Hilda (born April 20, 1905), Irving, Florence, Ruth and Shirley.

“Hilda Schnapp chosen from a host of pretty girls as the Queen of the Arverne Mardi Gras, Aug. 29, 1922.”

Hilda was the 1922 winner of the Arverne Beauty contest in Rockaway Beach. Above is her contest-winner photo from the “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” on Aug. 30th, 1922. Hilda married Nathan Herzfeld in 1927, the brother and business partner of Saul Herzfeld, the man who married Max’s daughter Sharlye. Both Herzfeld brothers spent time in Rockaway Beach, and must have met their brides there. The Herzfelds were in the carpet business under the name Stephen Rug Mills. We know that Hilda Schnapp and Sharlye Schnapp were cousins and must have known each other because of the Sept. 6th, 1923 article in “The Wave,” a local paper of Rockaway Beach, pictured earlier. Depending on how Hilda’s father Joe 2 is related to Max, Hilda and Sharlye were either first or second cousins.

Another cousin, already mentioned, is the other Israel Schnapp. He was born in Austria on August 10th, 1886 and married another Rose. He was still living in Manhattan in 1942, and had his own business, but we don’t know what kind. He had a brother named Abram. We have no other information about them. So, we have three pairs of brothers. They may all be brothers or cousins to each other, we don’t know, but it’s likely all these Schnapp men knew Max’s children, including Ira, and as you can see, there are many business connections.

From “The New York Times,” April 3rd, 1936

On April 2nd, 1936, Max Schnapp died suddenly at home in the Bronx. He was 70. The family took visitors at the home of Saul and Sharlye Herzfeld. Marty Schnapp remembers his grandpa as being retired, so Max did have a few years at the end where he wasn’t working. Afterwards his widow, Sadie, took up residence with George and Lee Iger. By this time, most of the family had relocated to Manhattan’s Morningside Heights and Upper West Side, with Jack and Theresa Schnapp at West 111th Street, Joe and Claire Schnapp on West 81st Street, Ira and Beatrice Schnapp on West 110th Street, George and Lena Iger (with mother Sadie) on West 113th Street, and Saul and Sharlye Herzfeld on Central Park West near 104th Street. Moses (Mo) Schnapp married Bessie Seidman on June 25th, 1933, and they still lived in the Bronx on Sherman Avenue. Bessie was also deaf, and they probably met at the special school.

From “Ralph Ellison: A Biography” by Arnold Rampersad, Vintage Books 2008

Nina Naguid lived further south in Manhattan on Seventh Avenue near 22nd Street according to the 1940 census, and seems to have been separated or divorced from Jack Naguid by then. An interesting entry for 1938 in a biography of African-American writer Ralph Ellison has a Jack and Nina Naguid in a different location, see above. This could be another couple, but it seems possible it’s our Nina. Brother Sam and his family were still in Ohio, but Sam visited New York often through his job as a clothes buyer for the May Company, according to newspaper articles found by Alex Jay.

This period is one that Marty Schnapp remembers fondly. Every Friday night the entire Schnapp family would gather at the home of George and Lee Iger at 113th Street off Broadway where mother/grandmother Sadie Schnapp also lived. “If there was no phone call, that Friday night you went to see Grandma, and if you weren’t there, you were probably dead,” Marty joked. “We all lived on the Upper West Side. I was born and grew up on 110th Street off Riverside, then we moved to 515 West 110th Street. Most of the family lived within that area until Lee and her husband George Iger moved to Cedarhurst [in 1942], and that broke up the Friday nights.” Marty remembers lots of talk and laughter at the family gatherings. The adults would sit together in the living room, while the children played together in another room. Mo and Bess had two children, Lewis and Brenda. They communicated with their deaf parents by sign language. Marty’s sister Terry was about seven years older than him, and he doesn’t remember her coming to the family gatherings very often. When she did, she and Fred Iger, were about the same age and would have played together. Marty remembers playing with Toby Iger, his age. Joe Schnapp’s daughter Norma was very friendly with Toby. Saul and Sharlye adopted a son, Michael, born in 1937. Marty doesn’t remember his aunt Nina being there very often, and does not recall ever meeting her husband Jack. He does remember his uncle Saul entertaining the kids with magic tricks, like pulling coins out of their ears.

515 West 110th Street, New York today, from Google Maps

On his childhood on 110th Street, Marty remembers, “It’s where I lived until I got married. My school, the Bronx High School of Science, was a block away. We were middle class. Growing up, I never felt we were poor. The friends I had at that time, the parents couldn’t move since there was a war on [referring to World War Two], so we all went to public school and high school together. I can’t say my father and mother really knew my friends’ parents, even though we were in the same class. I kept in touch with my two best friends until they passed away.”

With his family grown to four and lots more family nearby, Ira Schnapp continued to find employment as an artist in Manhattan, and some time in the late 1930s, he began work on a personal project that he hoped would become a syndicated feature in newspapers. Titled “Art of the Ages,” each article featured a famous work of art — a painting or sculpture — reproduced in pen, ink and textured shading by Ira, as well as a portrait of the artist. A description of the work, and a brief biography of the artist, we assume written by Ira, fill out each article, and show him to be a good writer and very knowledgeable on the subjects he chose. This project was unknown to comics and art fans until Alex Jay found 24 weekly episodes in the “Toledo Blade” newspaper of Toledo, Ohio in 2012. We’ve found no evidence that the series was printed anywhere else, and there’s no syndication information in the articles, so how it got to this paper is a mystery. The series began in the January 23rd, 1940 issue, and the final one appeared in the July 2nd issue. Art covered runs from ancient Greek sculpture like the Venus de Milo through Renaissance masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Rafael to more modern works. This clearly was a labor of love for Ira, though probably one he didn’t make much, if any, money from, and so was unable to continue. Reproducing famous art for the poor printing in a newspaper was a tough job, and at times Ira’s versions are uneven and hard to understand, but often it’s amazing how much of the original work he’s able to capture in line and shading.

Ira signed his name proudly to some of the art (though modestly small), and I’m sure he was disappointed it did not go further. You can read my own article on this project HERE, and see the entire 24 entries on Alex Jay’s blog HERE. These are the only works to see print with Ira Schnapp’s byline, as far as we know.

Next time we’ll begin with Ira’s entry into the comics business, his 1940 design for the SUPERMAN logo. Other articles you might enjoy can be found on the LOGO LINKS and COMICS CREATION pages of my blog, with other chapters of this article on the latter.

IRA SCHNAPP: His Life, Work and Family, Part 2

Ira Schnapp by Jack Adler, 1960s

We left the family of Max Schnapp, Ira Schnapp’s father, in 1910 in Part 1 of this series, which you can find HERE. New York State did their next census in 1915, and some things have changed by then. The family now lived at 483 West 170th Street in the Bronx, much closer to Moses’ school. (There is a 1960s housing development, The Morris Houses, at that address today.) Jacob is now Jack, Samuel is Sam, Joseph is Joe, and Moses is Murry, so in at least some cases more informal names were recorded. Minnie makes the family roll call this time. Israel (Ira) is still listed under that name, and his age is given as 21. He has an occupation listed: Salesman. Max’s job is Grocery, Sadie’s is Housework, Jack is Grocery, Sam is Salesman. Joe is listed as at school, perhaps college or some further training at age 23. Murry and the girls are all at school. The family has a different servant again, Carrie Kessy (I think), age 20 from Bohemia. A note about that: Max’s family was far from wealthy, but in those days, without the modern appliances we take for granted, housework for a family was a huge task, and immigrant women were willing to take housework jobs in homes in exchange for room and board and modest wages.

Israel/Ira Schnapp’s actual birth date and year is a thorny problem because it varies a lot among all the documents we have, and even Ira himself seems to not be so sure of it. Most sources, aside from Max’s Naturalization Papers, give his birthday as October 10, but the year varies from 1892 through 1895. Ira is always listed as younger than Joseph/Joe, whose birth year is usually 1892 and older than Moses/Mo whose birth year is always 1895, so that leaves only two choices. Family information we have points to 1894 as the most likely birth year, and that’s what I’m going with, though 1893 is also possible.

The next document we have is a very important one because it’s filled out by Ira himself, his World War One draft card dated June 5th, 1917. The Selective Service Act of 1917 resulted in many cards such as these, required from all men between the ages of 21 and 31. This was recently discovered by Alex Jay, misfiled under Schapp, and you can see why if you look closely at the top line. Unfortunately, Ira seems to have been pretty careless or rushed when he wrote here, leading to more uncertainty and errors! Yes, Ira spelled his own last name wrong. It’s correct on the last line, his signature, and all the writing on the front of the card is by the same hand. Ira’s age is 23. His home address is 483 East 170th Street, NY (his parents’ home in the Bronx). He gives his date of birth as September 10th, 1894! Is it possible Ira had a hard time remembering his own birthday? Ira says he’s a naturalized citizen, which would be correct if he was given citizenship under his father’s naturalization. For place of birth, what he wrote looks like Sasilv in the state of Galacia, country of Austria. I’m guessing he meant to write Sasow or Sasiv.

115 East 23rd Street, New York, image from Google Maps

The most puzzling entry for me is after “What is your present trade, occupation or office?” Ira has written something that I can’t decipher, though the first word is probably Letter, and I suspect the second was meant to be Artist, but that’s just my guess, and perhaps wishful thinking. On the other hand, it seems appropriate! For employer he’s written W.T. Slide Co. at 115 East 23rd Street, NY. Above is that building today.

From “The Editor” magazine, June 1917

We haven’t found any record of this company, but we did find a “Novelty Slide Company,” a maker of Stereopticon cards, at the same address in 1918.  Also there in 1917, see above, was the Pathé Exchange, Inc., one of the American offices of the Pathé film company of France. The Pathé Exchange would have distributed or helped distribute their own and other films from Europe in the United States. These were silent films often with hand-lettered title cards, and of course new title cards in English would have been needed for the U.S. market. It’s not hard to guess that the W.T. Slide company was making photographic slides of those title cards, perhaps some lettered by Ira Schnapp, to be filmed and added to the foreign movies. There were other film-related companies in the area, too, and probably other film distributors that might have needed title cards.

Above is a title card from the very popular movie serial “The Perils of Pauline,” 1914, that was produced by a Pathé studio in Fort Lee, NJ and could have used title slides from the W.T. Slide Company, though that’s only a guess. And these cards are probably typeset, rather than hand-lettered.

While much of the American film industry was in Hollywood by this time, the Edison Film Company was still making silent films in their New Jersey studios, like the ones above, and might also have used Ira’s title cards. We have no evidence of this, but it’s possible. These cards look like hand-lettering to me.

Getting back to Ira’s draft card, he’s listed Mother and Father as dependents, and that he’s Single, Caucasian, and had no military service. I think his income was contributing to the family’s livelihood. Whatever that Salesman job was that was listed in the 1915 census, by 1917 he was doing lettering and art again, or still. On the back of the card, the draft registrar describes him as medium height and slender with brown eyes and hair. That’s the only physical description of young Ira we’ve yet found. We don’t know why he wasn’t called up for active service, perhaps they just didn’t get to him. When the war ended in November, 1918, selective service was quickly cut back.

GIRLS’ LOVE STORIES #51, Dec. 1957, logo and lettering by Ira Schnapp, © DC Comics, Inc.

The next major event in Ira Schnapp’s life happened on Sept. 30th, 1918. That’s when he and Beatrice Schwadron were married, as listed in the New York Marriage Index, 1866-1937. The wedding took place in the Bronx, New York, but it doesn’t say specifically where. There were a few Jewish Synagogues in the Bronx at the time, or it could have been held at the home of Beatrice’s parents, perhaps. Ira’s first name is incorrectly spelled as Isereal.

Alex Jay has done a lot of research on Beatrice and her family. I’m only going to give a summary here. Three Schwadrons came to America together in 1901 on a steamship from Hamburg, Germany: mother Rosa, age 30, and two children, Regina, age 5, and Jakob, age 4. Their nationality was Austrian. In the 1905 New York State census, the trio shows up as Rosa Schwadron, age 33, Rebecca (not Regina), age 10, and Jake, age 8. Also in the household is a Sam Schnapp, age 16, the same age as Ira Schnapp’s brother Samuel! He’s listed as a nephew of Rosa, and we believe he is a different Sam, possibly also a cousin of Ira and his siblings. (More on this later.) The family lived at 116 Suffolk Street, New York, a few blocks from the Schnapp home at 86 Ludlow Street. Some time between 1905 and 1910, Rosa Schwadron married a man named Harry Wander, her second marriage, and in the 1910 census, they lived at 81 Ludlow Street, very close to the Schnapp home. In that census, Rebecca is 14, Jacob is 12, and their last name has become Schwander, probably an error by the census-taker. In the 1915 New York census, everyone’s last name was listed as Wander, probably by mistake, but Rebecca has become Beatrice Wander, 19, with the job of a Bookkeeper. At that time they lived on 1516 Charlotte Street in the Bronx, not far from the Schnapp home on 170th Street. So Ira and Beatrice lived close to each other for a number of years in two different parts of New York City, and the families probably knew each other well and may even have been related. By 1917, the draft cards of Beatrice’s brother and step-father show the family had moved a few doors down to 1522 Charlotte Street. Beatrice’s brother Jack used the last name Squadron on his draft card and later his naturalization papers. One could simply take on a new name to seem more American, and many immigrants did. This was easier to manage at the time, I think.

Beatrice’s step-father, Harry Wander, above (later in life), was a pioneer member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and served as Vice President for 33 years until his death in 1951. He was also born in Galacia, Austria, and was a member of the Sasower Society, which could indicate he came from Sassow, though no town of birth is listed for him in census records.

The 1920 federal census, excerpts above, shows Ira and Beatrice now in their own home at 1510 Boston Road, the Bronx, NY, close to the homes of both their families. This was a rented apartment, but that’s true of everywhere Ira had lived in his life, his family were always renters, not home owners. There seems to be a single family home at that address today rather than an apartment building. In this census, Ira’s name is incorrectly given as Irving. The most interesting entry is for Occupation. Ira’s is Artist – Moving Pictures, and he earns wages. This may still have been for the W.T. Slide Company, or some similar job, we don’t know. It’s possible by this time Ira had begun other kinds of graphic design work for movies like main title cards, lobby cards, and posters. Again, much of that work was done in Hollywood, but some may have come from New York for smaller film companies. The fact that he earns wages suggests that Ira was going to an office somewhere, and not yet a self-employed freelance artist, but that’s a guess. If he was still working on 23rd Street in Manhattan, it was a fairly easy commute on the IRT Lexington Avenue subway line.

Ira was not the first son of Max Schnapp to marry and move to his own home. Ira’s oldest brother Jacob (or Jack) married Theresa Glassner on Jan. 26th, 1913. By the 1915 NY State census, they were living at 865 East 172nd Street in the Bronx, not far from Jack’s parents, and they had a daughter, Selma, born in 1914. A son, Irving, was born in 1916. Jack’s occupation is grocer, and it seems likely he worked with or near his father. Samuel (Sam) Schnapp, the second oldest son of Max, married Imogene, born in Iowa, around 1919, and in the 1920 census they are living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Sam is a clothing salesman. Sam was the first child of Max to move away from New York, and he stayed in the mid-west for many years.

Joseph (Joe) Schnapp is not listed in Max’s household in 1920 because he was out of the country. He applied for a passport, photo above, in 1919 stating he was planning to travel to Japan and China to buy for import and sell for export for a period up to three years. We don’t know what items he was buying and selling, his occupation is listed as Manager. He sailed from Seattle on April 18th, 1919.

In the 1920 census, Moses (called Mo by his family) was still living with his parents, but had found work as a printer, after training in that occupation at his special school. He continued to work as a printer for decades. He and his three sisters lived at the family home on East 170th Street, the Bronx. Lena (Lee to her family), 17, is a stenographer. Sarah, 16, has become Shirley, and her occupation is housework. Minnie, 14, is a jewelry maker, showing some artistic talent.

2305 Grand Avenue, the Bronx, NY today, from Google Maps

Back to Ira and Beatrice, on Dec. 12, 1922 their daughter Theresa was born. Theresa was often called Teddy by her family. In the 1925 New York State census, above, Ira, Beatrice and Teddy are living at 2305 Grand Avenue in the Bronx, about 2 miles north and west of their previous apartment, but still fairly close to family. Ira’s occupation is Artist, and he works for wages, so probably not yet self-employed.

Lois Lane #23, Feb. 1961, image © DC Comics. The Lois Lane logo and the large block letters in the caption box are examples of Art Deco style in Ira Schnapp’s work.

We haven’t found anything else about Ira’s family in the 1920s, but in his lettering, we know Ira liked the Art Deco style that began in this decade and flourished in the 1930s and 1940s. It became a favorite influence, and one that he would use often through the rest of his career.

Theresa and Martin Schnapp, 1935 (Terry and Marty ages 13 and 5), photo courtesy of Martin Schnapp.

1455 Sheridan Avenue, the Bronx, NY today, from Google Maps

On March 28th, 1930, Ira and Beatrice’s son Martin was born, known in the family as Marty. The 1930 census shows the family now living at 1455 Sheridan Avenue near 171st Street, and again closer to the homes of both parents. The census information was taken in April, and Marty’s age is given as 1/12th year. Theresa’s age is 7. The family is doing well enough to employ a maid, Josephine Sherman, born in Pennsylvania, age 17. Ira’s occupation is artist – commercial art. He is still listed as working for wages, but at this point I’m guessing he had begun to work as a freelancer for various companies and businesses.

Artist Neal Adams reported to me that Ira said he was doing lettering for movie theater lobbies, including show card lettering promoting specific films, and even huge lobby displays for films like “King Kong” (above) at the March, 1933 premiere in Radio City Music Hall. Artist Murphy Anderson has been quoted as saying, “There were periods in the thirties when practically every movie house in Times Square had Ira Schnapp lettering on display somewhere!”

Next time, more on Ira’s family and freelance work, including a nearly unknown series of newspaper features on classic art. Other articles you might enjoy can be found on the COMICS CREATION and LOGO LINKS pages of my blog.

IRA SCHNAPP: His Life, Work and Family, Part 1

Ira Schnapp, probably late 1950s, photo courtesy of Martin Schnapp

For the past few years I’ve been writing about the life and work of Ira Schnapp on my blog. Ira was first employed by the company now known as DC Comics in 1940, when he redesigned the Superman logo of Joe Shuster, and did it so well that it remained on all the company’s Superman comics and stories until the 1980s. Ira began lettering story pages and newspaper strips for DC, as well as designing more logos, and by the late 1940s, Ira had taken a staff position at the company as the in-house logo, cover lettering and house ad designer, while continuing to letter stories as well.

Image © DC Comics

A small sampling of Ira’s cover logos is above. Millions of comics fans knew his work. Almost single-handed, he set the style for the comics publisher with masterful, appealing graphics, but no readers knew his name or anything about him. As far as I can tell, Ira received only two lettering credits for his page lettering, and none for his other work. Not much has been known or written about Ira Schnapp in the past, but in recent years, interest in him has grown due largely to a pioneering comics history series about Ira on the website “Dial B for Blog.” In the past few months, fellow logo designer Alex Jay and I have been doing new research on Ira. Alex is an excellent investigator in areas like census data and newspaper articles, and has gradually uncovered many details about Ira’s work and family, and that’s the focus of this blog article series. We hope to shed new light on the subject. For instance, until now, there has been no known photograph of Ira Schnapp, but our research has uncovered two, one of which begins this article.

Martin Schnapp at home, Sept. 20th, 2015, photo by Todd Klein

A while back, Alex emailed me a phone number he believed was for Ira Schnapp’s son, Martin, who would be quite old himself by now. It took me a while to get up the nerve to to try cold calling the number. When I did, I reached an answering machine for Marty Schnapp. I left a somewhat incoherent message and my phone number, asking Marty to call me back to talk about his father, Ira, if I had the right person. That evening, he did call back, and it WAS Ira’s son! We talked for a few minutes, then I made an appointment to call him again for a longer conversation, once I could get my notes and questions together, not to mention my nerves. I spoke to Marty and his wife Pam twice in June, and to Marty once in August, about 40 minutes each time and learned a lot about Ira and his family. On Sept. 20th I was able to visit Marty in his New York apartment for another talk, and see a few family photos that are included here. Marty was born in 1930, so his memories begin in that decade. He lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, not far from where he grew up, and is still working at the age of 85. Of course I wanted to know what Ira was like, and what Marty remembered about him, and here’s what he said.

“Ira was dominated by my mother,” Marty told me. “He was a very caring, gentle, nice person. Nobody had a bad word to say about him. Growing up, my mother was the dominant person. My father would go along with it, and he took care of my mother very well.” Marty’s wife Pam added, “He was extremely modest, by the way.”

Marty continued, “Ira did his printing. He worked a lot at home. I remember him sitting at a desk, working at home. That was the lettering. He must have gotten paid by the page. I remember him bringing me back comic books. SUPERMAN, ACTION COMICS, BATMAN, those were the main ones I liked.

“Ira was very quiet at home. Very soft-spoken. I don’t think he had any real hobbies. He did painting and things like that. I don’t recall him ever selling any. He didn’t talk about his work or school. It’s funny how I don’t remember conversations with him. I know he took me to a few Yankee games. I liked sports, my father really didn’t. I have no artistic ability. I was always good at math. I don’t really remember looking over his shoulder at his work. I can’t remember ever sitting down and having a conversation with him.

“I never felt unhappy growing up. I never worried that we wouldn’t have money. I got my little allowance for the movies and such. I got my breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ira took care of the family. When I think back, I can see him worrying at times, but I was either too young or too foolish to pay attention, he never transferred it. In book knowledge, my father was definitely smarter than me. I found that out mostly later than when I was growing up. I might be a better businessman, I’m more outgoing than my father. He was always there if I needed to ask him something, but that was it. I loved him as a son when he was alive, but when he was gone he wasn’t in my memory that often.”

Ira Schnapp by Jack Adler, 1960s

While it was wonderful to meet and talk to Marty, unfortunately he doesn’t know or remember much about his father’s work. Marty said no one in the family had a camera, and they’ve never been very interested in photos. The few images he allowed me to use here are all he’s been able to find among his things. In today’s image-flooded culture that’s hard to imagine, but probably true for many then. Previously, the only image we had of Ira is the above watercolor by co-worker Jack Adler, which Marty said is a very good likeness of his father. Marty related many other things about the Schnapp family, and I’ll be including them in this series as they come up, but let’s start much earlier than that.

Image from Google Maps

The story of the Schnapp family, as far back as we can trace it, begins in the small town now known as Sasiv in Ukraine. The town is also called Cacia, Sasów, Sasov and as the Schnapps knew it, Sassow. Before 1772 it was ruled by Poland and was in the territory of Ruthenia. From 1772 to 1919 it was part of the Austro-Hungarian territory of Galacia. From 1919 to 1945 it was again part of Poland. After occupation by Nazi Germany in World War Two, the area was incorporated into the U.S.S.R. territory of Ukraine, and remains in the now separate nation of Ukraine. As you can see, it was much contested. North of the Carpathian Mountains, and next to the Bug River, it was known from 1638 for its paper mill, and was on an important trade route. The mill grew to be one of the largest in Europe, but was destroyed in World War One.

A Jewish community began to grow in Sassow in the 1700s when some laws were passed favorable to them, in contrast to many other places. By 1764 there were 223 Jews living in the town, and by 1880 there were 1,906. The town’s Jewish population produced candles and ornamental strips for prayer shawls, but during the 1800s, new laws restricting the kinds of jobs Jews could have made life more difficult, and pushed many into poverty. It was from this situation that Jews from all of Galacia, including Sassow, began to emigrate to the United States, and Ira Schnapp’s father Max Schnapp was one of them in 1895.

Ace researcher Alex Jay has found a number of documents relating to the Schnapp family, some not described or seen before as far as we know, and they provide details about the family’s early days in America. Let’s look at them.

Among the earliest documents about the family of Max Schnapp are his Naturalization Papers. Acquiring U.S. citizenship at the time required two documents. The first was a Declaration of Intention, above, often filed by new arrivals soon after reaching the country, but not always. Max Schnapp filed this one on Feb. 18th, 1905, ten years after he arrived. One reason for the delay may be that Max needed to learn English to become a citizen, or at least enough to understand and reply to the clerk filling out the document. (Max’s native language was Yiddish, and he may also have spoken German or Austro-Bavarian.) It states that Max Schnapp of 86 Ludlow Street, City of New York was born in Austria in 1865 and emigrated to the U.S., landing at the port of New York on July 20th, 1895. He swears to renounce all allegiance and fidelity to the Emperor of Austria and the Apostolic King of Hungary (the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire).

The next step was to file the Petition for Naturalization, above, with a district court, using the form provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor – Naturalization Service (fairly new at the time). This took a while for the court to process, and someone had to make sure the residency requirements were met. The form was submitted in 1910, and a Certificate of Naturalization was issued on Aug. 8th, 1911. There are lots of interesting details on this form, but we have to keep in mind that they were dictated to a clerk, and there’s no telling how well Max understood the questions, or how well the clerk understood his answers. So, here we learn:

Max and his family still live at 86 Ludlow Street. He is employed as a grocer. He was born on Dec. 17th, 1865, making him 45 in December, 1910. He emigrated to the U.S. from Liverpool on July 10th, 1895, arriving here July 20th, so a ten day passage by ship. The ship name is hard to read, but it might be “Germaine.” If so, this was a Greek cargo ship that was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Spain in 1916. We don’t know how Max traveled from Sassow to Liverpool, or who might have been with him, but all of his family remained in Sassow. His oldest son Jacob followed in 1898, and the rest of the family in 1900. Probably these emigrations happened once Max was well established at his grocery job and could send for his family.

Max’s wife’s name is Sadie Schnapp. (From another document, her maiden name was Lille, and she was about 42 in 1910.) A list of his eight children with their place and date of birth follows. Many of these dates we believe are wrong (they do not agree with other records), so either Max did not remember them correctly, or the clerk did not hear them correctly. They’re also not listed in birth order, another signal that Max was struggling to remember his family details. Here they are, in birth order for clarity:

Jacob Schnapp born Sassow, Austria Aug. 27 1887 (we believe should be July 25 1886)

Samuel Schnapp born Sassow, Austria Feb. 22 1889 (we believe should be Mar. 18 1890)

Joseph Schnapp born Sassow, Austria Dec. 10 1891 (we believe should be Dec. 10 1892)

Israel (Ira) Schnapp born Sassow, Austria June 7 1893 (we believe should be Oct. 10 1894)

Moses Schnapp born Sassow, Austria Dec. 30 1895

Lena Schnapp born New York City, NY May 15 1902 (we believe should be May 15 1901)

Sara Schnapp born New York City, NY July 4 1903

Minnie Schnapp born New York City, NY May 4 1907 (we believe should be May 5 1907)

Using the birth years we believe are correct, in 1910 Jacob was 24, Samuel was 22, Joseph was 19, Israel (Ira) was 16, Moses was 15, Lena was 8, Sara was 7 and Minnie was 3.

Until 1940, the wife and children (under age 21) of a naturalized citizen also became citizens, and this would apply to Sadie and all the children except the two oldest, Jacob and Samuel. Israel is the person we know as Ira Schnapp, so this document, when processed, would have made him a U.S. citizen.

Also of interest are the two witnesses, both with the last name of Schnapp. We believe they’re related. It was a common practice for immigrants to find work through other family members already in America, and that’s likely what happened with Max when he arrived. Occupation for both witnesses is grocer, as with Max, and they probably worked together, or at least near each other.

Map from Google Maps

First we have Joseph Schnapp residing at 1718 Washington Ave., NY, which is in Brooklyn. Alex has found information on him suggesting he was born in Austria in 1877, making him 33, twelve years younger than Max. It’s likely he is Max’s cousin. It’s certainly not the Joseph who was Max’s son. Next we have another Israel Schnapp residing at 115 Avenue C, NY. A different document says he was Max’s nephew and 23 years old in 1910. Both witnesses have sworn that Max Schnapp has been a resident since July 20, 1898. This may be a clerical error, as Max said he arrived in 1895, or it may mean that’s when they started working together in the grocery business.

Max and Israel lived in lower Manhattan on the East Side, fairly close to each other, and for a while in the same house. It was an area where immigrants from many countries first settled in America, and the center of Jewish culture at the time. Joseph was in Brooklyn, not too far away. It seems likely that their workplace as grocers was nearby, perhaps in the New Jewish Market, shown above in 1900 in a hand-colored photograph. There doesn’t seem to be any building at 86 Ludlow Street, the Schnapp home, today. We don’t know anything about the Schnapps’ family life or schooling, other than the few clues we have from census records. We’ll look at those next. As with other documents we’ll cover here, you have to keep in mind that records were copied down by census takers going from home to home, and there are lots of opportunities for errors to creep in: language difficulties, clerical mistakes, misunderstandings and so on.

In the early 1900s, New York State did their own census in years ending in 5, midway between the national censuses in years ending in 0. The first census we have showing Max Schnapp and his family is the New York one from June, 1905, excerpt above. Their residence is again 86 Ludlow Street. Max’s wife is mistakenly called Sarah rather than Sadie, and Israel is called Isidor. Sara is now Sarah. Moses is not on this census sheet, but on a separate one which I’ll get to in a moment. In addition to the family, their residence includes a servant, Katie Boschner (I think) age 41, from Russia. This census was done before Max gained citizenship, so all the family members are listed as “alien,” except for the two young daughters, Lena and Sarah, who were born in America and are listed as citizens. The occupation listings are as follows: Max’s is Grocery, with a notation that he works on his own account, rather than for wages or salary. This could mean he had his own grocery pushcart, for instance. Max’s wife’s occupation is Housework. Son Jacob, at age 18, is a Salesman (Groceries), most likely with his father. Samuel, at age 16, is a Bookkeeper. Both Jacob and Samuel worked for wages. “Isidor” (Ira) at age 10 (probably actually 11) is “at school.”

Most likely Ira went to New York’s Public School #188 on the Lower East Side, above, not far from his home. This was a very large school with many immigrant children, described in 1900 in THIS New York Times article.

Moses Schnapp is on a different census sheet because he was deaf, and attended school at “The New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb” at Riverside Drive and 163rd Street in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan some distance north and west of the Schnapp home. It’s likely Moses boarded at the school at least some of the year. His census entry, excerpt above, lists Moses as age 10 from Poland (Russia) and a citizen. Moses was not from Poland and not yet a citizen in 1905, though his parents would probably have welcomed that assumption if it helped him get into this special school, but these may simply be misunderstandings by the census taker.

Max Schnapp and his family next show up in the 1910 federal census, excerpt above. Their home is again at 86 Ludlow Street. It lists Max’s age as 45, Sadie as 42, Jacob is 22, Samuel is 20, Joseph is 17, Israel (Ira) is 15, Moses is 14, Lena is 8 and Sarah is 6. The youngest daughter, Minnie, would have been 3 but is not listed. Also here with the family is Israel Schnapp, 23, nephew. This must be the person who acted as a witness on Max’s Naturalization Papers. Also present is Freda Wohn (I think), a servant, age 20. The place of birth listed for the family through Moses is Austria Yiddish, meaning Jewish. For occupations, Max and Jacob are both Retail Merchant – Groceries on their own account, while Samuel is a Salesman – Headwear, meaning hats, and collecting wages. The rest of the family, including Ira, have no occupation listed. Nephew Israel’s occupation is written over twice, but I think it’s Grocer – own store. For education, all the Schnapp children can read and write, and Joseph, Ira, Moses, Lena and Sarah are attending school. Language spoken for the parents is Yiddish, for all the children it’s English.

Photos by Todd Klein, Sept. 2015

Among the many mysteries of Ira Schnapp’s career is what training he might have had in art. In later years, Ira often told stories about work he’d done designing or helping to design very large carved inscriptions on monumental New York buildings like the James A. Farley Post Office (above) on 8th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets. That building was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead and White and constructed from 1908 to 1912, when Ira would have been ages 14-18. I’ve recently done new research on the Farley building and its inscriptions and Ira’s part in it, which you can read HERE. To summarize, I believe what young Ira did was enlarge and perfect the architect’s lettering so that it could be transferred to marble slabs and carved by stone-cutters. I’m guessing he was employed or taken on by the sub-contractor handling that, and he may have done similar work for inscriptions on other buildings like the main New York Public Library and Grand Central Station. How he got such work is unknown, but I’m sure it was exciting to be part of those massive and important projects, and they helped set the teenager on a career working with letters and design. Ira’s son Marty also heard from him that he was proud to have worked on the carvings for the Farley Post Office.

We’ll continue with more about Ira’s work and family next time. Other articles you might enjoy can be found on the COMICS CREATION and LOGO LINKS pages of my blog.

Beginning Tomorrow…

…a new blog series:

IRA SCHNAPP, His Life, Work and Family

Still working on the last section, I think it will run to six parts. As Ira would have put it:

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN 44

Image © DC Comics

Hal Jordan as a wandering space cop is well done in this issue. Landing at a space port on the planet Gallun with a reluctant sidekick in the criminal he’s taken into custody, Trapper, Hal finds everyone hiding from him. The reason soon becomes clear, the spaceport has been taken over by a criminal gang with powers who are preying on any ships who land there. Ships check in, but they don’t check out, as the saying goes. Robert Venditti’s script and art by Billy Tan and Martin Coccolo and others make this an entertaining action thriller that has little to do with Green Lantern power, but lots to do with clever, quick thinking and actions. The villains are creative and entertaining, too.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: TWO RARITIES BY NEIL GAIMAN

Images © Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli and Gahan Wilson

I’m dipping into the large collection of Gaiman rarities now available from Humble Bundle (but not for much longer, so act quickly if you want them). These are two I had some involvement with, only slightly in the second one.

“Sweeney Todd and Other Stories” is a compilation of several printed pieces never before in one place, with the unifying factor (other than Neil Gaiman) of having art by Michael Zulli. “Sweeney Todd” was to be a comics series running in Steve Bissette’s TABOO, but only an introduction (first page above) and the first chapter were produced. I lettered the chapter. In these two parts, a grand plan was outlined, one that reminds me some of what Alan Moore did with Jack the Ripper in FROM HELL (also originating in TABOO). It was to be an exploration of a famous London murder story that arose in early broadsides (predecessors of the pulp magazines in a way). I don’t know the reason why it went no further, but these two parts are well done and worth a read. Also here is the short story “Babycakes,” and a story written by Neil’s daughter Holly Gaiman as a child and illustrated by Zulli.

“A Little Gold Book of Ghastly Stuff” was published by Borderland Press in 2011, and collected a number of then-uncollected stories and articles by Neil. The first entry is the poem, “Before You Read This,” which I commissioned from Neil for the second of my signed prints, You can see that HERE. I knew it had been in print in a book, but didn’t know where. I found it interesting to read again as simply a poem.

“Featherquest” is a long early fantasy story which shows the influence of Lord Dunsany and James Branch Cabell, and probably other fantasy authors. I loved it, though this version is full of typos. Fans of “Stardust” should find it appealing. It has the feel of a fable, a quest story, and a fairy tale of sorts with a good dose of humor.

Several of the other stories have been reprinted elsewhere, including in Neil’s latest short story collection, “Trigger Warnings.” There are awards ceremony speeches, book introductions, and non-fiction articles, all worth reading, and hard to find.

These are only two of over a dozen rare Gaiman works available in the Humble Bundle. I look forward to reading the rest.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: SUPERMAN 43

Image © DC Comics

First Jimmy Olsen learned of Clark Kent’s super identity, then Lois Lane. Now lots of people know, including a high-tech crime boss of the Horde company and a Horde whistle-blower, Condesa, with the potential that soon everyone will know. Superman’s life is out of control, and out of his hands, as waking up in Lois’s bed might suggest, and taking the fight to Horde does not seem to be working out very well! Nicely written by Gene Luen Yang, well illustrated by John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: JUSTICE LEAGUE 43

Image © DC Comics

What an interesting idea to put Batman in Metron’s Mobius Chair! It seems to have made him go all dark and computerish, though he insists he can handle it. His team mates aren’t so sure. Meanwhile, Superman and Lex Luthor are on Apokolips where Superman has a power problem, and Mister Miracle, is trying to help in his own way. The mysterious Myrina Black’s story gets unlocked, but just when things seem to be getting clearer, Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor head for their big showdown, on Earth, of course. Great writing by Geoff Johns, superb art by Jason Fabok, and the top team book at DC continues to be thoroughly entertaining.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: THE SHADOW #13

Image © Condé Nast Publications

My former work-mate Anthony Tollin has been publishing these Shadow pulp magazine stories in handsome trade paperbacks for some years under his Sanctum Productions imprint, and he gave me this one a few years ago. I’ve just gotten around to it.

I’ve read quite a few pulp magazine stories and novels, but nearly all of them in the fantasy and science fiction genres. I’d read some Shadow comics, even lettered a few, but never read any of the original pulp stories by Maxwell Grant from the 1930s and 40s until now. While I did enjoy them, I have to say they certainly are “pulpy,” with mounds of purple prose, melodrama, and unlikely plots.

In the first story from 1933, a group of six men with the same exact face are able to commit crimes that the law doesn’t even notice, but The Shadow does, and he moves against them. The writing in this story dwells on The Shadow’s every move and idiosyncrasy with almost fetishistic fervor, but once he gets into the action, it does have action aplenty. The build-up is rather slow, though.

The second story from 1942 features monsters of a supernatural type, or are they something else nearly as unlikely? Lots of spooky thrills in this one, and the addition of Margo Lane and other Shadow assistants to the plot, as well as The Shadow’s alter ego Lamont Cranston taking a larger role, makes The Shadow more real and less of a cypher. That’s good, because the intricate plot and over-the-top villains and monsters become harder to believe as the story moves on.

This issue also has an excellent feature on The Shadow in comics by Tollin, which I learned a lot from. Very well done, and nicely filled out with art and photos of creators.

This was interesting from a historical perspective, and generally fun, but I don’t see myself searching out more. I do have one other similar book from Tony that I will get to in time. If The Shadow appeals to you in any form, it’s worth giving these original stories a try.

Recommended