Sepia Saturday 672 and Happy Tuesday. An update on the A-toZ Challenge 2021 theme Endwell-My Early Teen Years.
Genealogists often talk about hitting a brick wall when researching an ancestor’s history — or breaking through a brick wall when a crucial family history detail is discovered.
So, imagine my surprise when fellow blogger Alana (of Ramblin’ with AM) sent word through Molly’s Canopy that I could get a piece of my own personal brick wall from my teen years:
Oct. 21, 2022. Molly, this comment [is about] your 2021 A to Z series on growing up in Endwell, N.Y. I live in the Triple Cities. You may already know this, but the IBM Country Club is going to be torn down in the next few weeks. Broome County et al. is working to put together a “Get a Brick” day for people seeking to keep a piece of the historic Crocker Homestead. Just FYI.
Memento of my hometown’s heyday
Wow, the demolition of the IBM Country Club would mark the end of an era – the final symbolic cap on the boom days of a company founded in Endicott, N.Y., in 1920 and the major area employer during my teens in the 1960s.
The country club also had local history at its core. It was constructed around the original Crocker Homestead, built in 1799, after IBM purchased the property in 1931. The company added swimming pools, recreation rooms and beautifully manicured grounds.
My dad worked at GE, so I had mixed feelings as a teen about the IBM Country Club since I could only go as a guest. Still, I could not pass up a chance to get a landmark brick — a tangible memento of my hometown’s heyday. So, I responded to Alana right away:
Oct. 26, 2022. Thanks so much for getting in touch about the free IBM Country Club bricks! I see there will be a “Get a Brick” day organized at some point. Can you please let me know if you see more about it? I’d love to have a brick when the time comes.
A glittering yet inaccessible jewel
In a blog series on Endwell: My Early Teen Years, which Alana referenced, I wrote a post on the IBM Country Club and the great divide about social divisions that emerged during my teens. One of the biggest divides was between those who had or didn’t have an IBM Country Club membership.
To non-members like me, the country club existed behind a brick wall where it seemed like a glittering yet inaccessible jewel. As it turned out, the jewel was not genuine
When IBM pulled out of Endicott during the de-industrialization wave of the 1980s, support for the country club went with it. By the 1990s, the IBM Country Club had closed its doors for good and, without a buyer, remained vacant and vandalized for years.
Lacking preservation funds to at least save the Crocker Homestead, the decision was made to demolish the entire facility to make way for housing. And that’s how I came into possession of an IBM Country Club brick — a bittersweet token of Endwell’s disappearing halcyon days.
How do you mail a brick?
Alana got back in touch once the IBM “Get a Brick” day was announced — and she got there in time to rescue a few bricks.
Nov. 17, 2022. I found out about the IBM Country Club brick giveaway – an hour after it started!…So my husband and I ran up there, got a brick for each of us and one for you (if you still want it)…Each brick weighs around five pounds. They are a bit fragile – I got clay dust all over my coat just handling it. So I don’t know how fragile it is or what would be involved in mailing it to you.
She also emailed me a newsclip about the brick giveaway and said a steady stream of nostalgic folks had turned out for it. Of course, I responded immediately!
Nov. 17, 2022. Wow! Thanks for getting this for me. Yes, I still want it 🙂 My sister recently retired from the Post Office. Let me consult with her about the best way to ship this and get back to you. Of course, I will pay whatever costs are involved once we figure this out. Will email again soon. So excited!
My sister Amy provided expert instructions on how to pack and mail the brick. She recommended sending it after the holiday season — and on New Year’s Eve my IBM Country Club brick arrived! I emailed Alana to let her know before posting a check for the costs.
Dec. 31, 2022. Wanted to let you know that the IBM brick has arrived, and in perfect condition! Excellent packing — and USPS did well, too, as the box was in mint condition, too…This has been a fun experience, and I can’t thank you enough for letting me know about the brick giveaway, getting a brick for me and sending it along.
Ancestral brick collection
My IBM Country Club brick now sits proudly in its display stand — where it conjures up all sorts of memories of my Endwell, N.Y., hometown whenever I look at it.
It joins my other ancestral brick, which was manufactured at my maternal great-great grandfather Andrew Stoutner’s brick works in Gloversville, N.Y.
And while the IBM brick doesn’t have the same ancestral connection, it’s still part of my own history — and that makes it family. Heartfelt thanks to Alana for reaching out and making it happen! Please stop by and visit her at Ramblin’ with AM.
Up next: Molly’s Canopy is on a break for the next month. Meanwhile, please visit the intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday and at Happy Tuesday, using the link below.
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Intriguing post ~ once had our names etched into a brick at an art center that was housed in an old building ~ now ~ trying to minimize ‘stuff’ ~
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Thanks so much! Luckily, I only have the two bricks, so no de-cluttering issue…yet 🙂
Now, I love todays & yesterdays of the same place. Thank you so much for sharing! Have a wonderful day!
Agree! It’s nostalgia at its finest.
What a fun story and a fantastic momento!
Thanks so much, Laura!
What a great story!
IBM was a big part of my childhood. My dad was a computer programmer. He worked for Hercules and his first job was setting up the first IBM computers at established Hercules plants.
When that was done, he spent the rest of his career as the computer guy at the plant in Louisiana, MO. For the first couple of decades, that was always on IBM computers.
What an interesting IBM connection. I often felt that IBM was everywhere during my teen years. And in many places, they constructed country clubs similar to the one in my hometown.
How fun. Having a piece of your history is a good thing.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. ♥
It sure is, Sandee. Thanks for stopping by!
What an amazing family history story. The country club looked an amazing place with its white facade and pristine manicured lawn – plus that swimming pool! Not quite a brick, but I have a presentation trowel that was given to my great grandfather when he laid the foundation stone for a new church. It is silver, inscribed with the occasion and the date and now sits in its lovely leather box lined with purple satin. A tangible reminder of my great grandfather.
That is a lovely memento, Susan. Every family history artifact is so meaningful because it connects us to our heritage and our ancestors.
Woah, how random was that, a “Get a Brick Day’ shortly after your post and the fact that someone who had read your blog knew about it and thought of you, then was able to get one for you! You never know what you may come across! How fun to have that memento for your childhood! 🙂
So true, Diane! The honor goes to Alana for getting in touch. I am gratified to be part of such a supportive blogging community.
What a story! I’m in awe of you and your special brick. We weren’t part of the country club set when I was a girl, but I get the significance for you and love it.
Thanks, Ally! We weren’t in the country club set, either — and spent weekends at a small camp on a nearby lake. Yet I envied the social network that the country club created for those who could go.
That’s very cool, Molly! Kind of makes me want to go lurking around the town where I grew up to grab some artifacts!
You should! You never know what you might find 🙂
Now you have not only a brick (in an appropriate display case) but a story to share with family and friends for years and years! Great post.
Thanks, Marian. I plan to share it with classmates, too, since they also remember our town and the country club in their heyday.
This was terrific story, Molly! I checked out the photos of the country club through its last decaying years. The vandalism is understandable if sad, but basically it’s the same inevitable destruction that happened to ancient cities. And it was probably the work of ancient teenagers then too,
I laughed at your display case to showcase this relic of your history. My family collected hundreds of similar things like bricks, stones, chunks of wood, or flowers to remember a place and time. I’ve inherited it all of course and have my own little talismans too. I’ve been slowing chucking stuff out but every so often I’ll discover a small “precious” artifact that only I know came from my parents. grandparents. etc. and I can’t bring myself to trash it. So back into a shoebox it goes. A personal memento saved to remind me of where I came from.
Given your family travels, you must have talismans from so many locations! I have way fewer — with the advantage that I can display those I do have. Your reference to the decline ancient cities puts the IBM Country Club’s demise into perspective. Change is our only constant, so important to grab those mementos when we can.
I like the way you displayed your brick. And it’s wonderful that you have one of your ancestral bricks too!
Reading this made me wish I had a brick made on the plantation in Athens Tennessee that my ancestors were enslaved on. Brick making was one of the main occupations and there are still buildings standing in the area made from those bricks.
Perhaps there is still a chance, Kristin. Often buildings keep some bricks around in case repairs are needed. Might be worth investigating.
What a great story of surviving memories saved by a brick! Glad that you included how country clubs were so eletist back then…and maybe still are. I have eaten at one, and know the local one here also has a restaurant open to the public. But I sure never attempted to join one in my younger days!
Yes, it was the exclusivity that bothered me. My friends from IBM families saw it differently — a chance to have a recreation facility their family could never have otherwise afforded. A shame the company didn’t pay for a public facility instead so everyone could have gone to it.
This is a great post. I like how Alana reached out to you. What a great example of bloggers as part of a community.
I agree, Susan. It’s a wonderful, supportive community that I’m happy to be part of.
It’s interesting, the physical things that bring back memories (especially childhood memories). These items may not be valuable but they mean so much to us. I’m happy I was able to get you the brick. You wrote a beautiful post, and I thank you for the shoutout.
You are part of this story, too. It couldn’t have happened without you! So grateful.
Funny how something like a lone brick can really mean something, and you’ve done a nice job of displaying it. In 1964 my family put in a foundation for a cabin to be built at our beloved Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, before the cabin could be built, the state put a moratorium on new building. They bought the lot and the foundation just sat there slowly crumbling over the years. Luckily, one summer my sister decided to take parts of the crumbling foundation and we were each given a piece of it. That piece has followed me around sitting in a special place in the gardens of three different houses and every time I see it, I remember that summer we worked so hard to create that foundation. 🙂 It’s a good thing Sis decided to do what she did when she did it, though. By the following summer the old foundation was gone – demolished so the lot looked unblemished again.
That’s a great story! These days we deal so much with online research and data when researching family and other history, so that it’s nice to have something solid and tangible as a childhood memento.