Hollywood star Carole Landis with fourth husband, Yonkers filmmaker Horace Schmidlapp.
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Member of the Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, December 2nd
December 2, 1933: Marshall-Matheson Company, one of Yonkers oldest stores, closed its doors for the last time. The good news? A new store, Marshall-May, Inc., would open in its place and hire all 150 employees who worked at Marshall-Matheson!
December 2, 1948: Mrs. Ellen Long, the first resident of Cottage Place Gardens, was presented with keys to her new home by Robert Saunders, MHA Director Joseph McCann, William Schlobohm, and other members of the Municipal Housing Authority. The first tenants of the new complex lived in houses torn down for the new homes.
Tuesday, December 3rd
December 3, 1943: Judge Martin Fay reserved his decision on hearing felonious assault charges brought by YPD Patrolman Frank Skowronski against two men wounding each other in a Chicken Island Halloween shotgun duel. Sweeney McIntyre, 73, continued on parole and John Mitchell, 33, returned to jail.
December 3, 1945: C. Ray Cole of Crestwood became Yonkers first million-dollar Victory Bond purchaser! Treasurer of Coleman Holding Corporation, his bond purchase of 1/8 of Yonkers’ quota made him Yonkers’ best customer.
Cole believed it was the “fundamental first duty of all Americans to help.,” continuing, “The greatness of Yonkers comes from the home… I am so happy to… help make sure Yonkers does not fail,” i.e., meeting its quota.
Company total purchases during War Bond drives totaled three million dollars.
Wednesday, December 4th:
December 4, 1945. Habirshaw Cable and Wire Corporation was the first Yonkers large company to hand in its Victory Loan subscription; it purchased $500,000 worth of bonds from the Yonkers War Finance Committee.
Committee Chair Harold Garrity announced he was extremely grateful to Habirshaw for backing the Yonkers drive. He also announced Otis Elevator stook a subscription of $100,000. Yonkers had five more days to meet our Victory Loan quota of eight million dollars.
Thursday, December 5th
December 5, 1907: Aldermen considered the proposal of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society to purchase Manor Hall for $50,000.
December 5, 1945: Thanks to Yonkers Savings Bank and People’s Savings Bank, Yonkers was the first Westchester community… and one of the first in the country… to go “over the top” in our Victory Loan Drive, with a quota of eight million dollars. Both banks purchased two million dollars of the Victory Loan bonds! The smaller Yonkers Savings and Loan Association purchased $400,000.
War Finance Committee Chair Harold Garrity commented, “The people in Yonkers little realize the banks in Yonkers have been the backbone of every War drive. Without their support, it would have been impossible to have achieved the outstanding results Yonkers has attained.”
December 5, 1945: Sandy, a Scottie Terrier owned by Doris Bennett, a Wave stationed in Washington DC, was returned to Yonkers! Sandy was obediently standing, waiting for Doris’ father to finish shopping, when he disappeared. Although the family searched many days, the family never found him. Turns out Sandy was picked up by a crew member of the Toombs when it was in Yonkers three months earlier and brought him to the ship. Sandy had his license tag on, so Ship’s Officer Fonce Kellmas contacted the NYS Agriculture Department who identified who owned Sandy. He wired the Bennetts… but the story leaked, and the AP let the relieved Bennett family know first!
Friday, December 6th
December 6, 1936: Milton Berle opened his radio show with these words. “Good evening, folks. We’re broadcasting tonight from New York City… you know, that suburb of Yonkers!”
December 6, 1945: While attending the annual Yonkers Restaurant Liquor Dealers Association dinner, War Board Chair Harold Garrity announced Yonkers had purchased bonds totaling $12,551,000 in our Victory Bond drive!
He also revealed the total of WWII bonds sold in Yonkers was $142,000,000! While he was speaking, Association members pledged to buy an additional $15,600!
Saturday, December 7th
December 7, 1940: Smith Carpet Shop formed the Alexander Smith Memorial Foundation, dedicated to the founder of the Carpet company. It would not solicit the public but fund the Foundation itself to donate money to “worthy charitable organizations and undertakings in Yonkers.” This was a major change in policy, as Smith previously did not make charitable donations. The Foundation’s seed money was donated by company management.
Foundation fficers were Smith descendant and President William Ewing, VP Alexander Halliday, Treasurer Frank Xavier, Secretary Parker Lattin, and Board Member Fred Klein. Foundation Counsel was former Mayor William Wallin.
December 7, 1957: Herald Statesman classified ad clerk Fawn Brown and fate helped reunite Mrs. Edward Clark with her packages, no doubt saving her family Christmas. Mrs. Kyler Kastberg called an ad into the paper to advertise packages she found. A short time later, Brown received a call from Mrs. Edward Clark to place an ad she lost packages. Brown asked exactly what Clark lost, then called Kastberg to ask exactly what she found… it was a match! Fawn Brown let both women know the mystery was solved, thanks to classified ads… and before an ad appeared in the paper.
Sunday, December 8th:
December 8, 1945: Popular movie star Carole Landis married her fourth husband, Broadway producer and Yonkers filmmaker Horace Schmidlapp. At the time of the wedding, Schmidlapp, a partner in Associated Filmmakers Inc., planned to build a half-million-dollar movie studio on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers. Landis died less than three years later while still legally married to Schmidlapp.
December 8, 1950: Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Crier passed away. Crier served our country twice, once in World War I and then in WW II, when he was appointed commander of the 23rd Internal Security Battalion. At the time he passed, he was Yonkers City Court Bookkeeper and President of the Yonkers NAACP.
Questions or comments on this column? Email YonkersHistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, please visit our website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.
