Cool regional columns from the 1950s

 Note:  This was originally published in The Armenian Weekly.

There was a time when there were no cell phones, internet or social media, which make communication so easy today. There were telephones (we call them landlines today), and each house had one phone number and one phone that everyone used. Long distance calls were a luxury most folks only used when really good or really bad news had to be communicated, and even then, the calls were brief.

This era began around the 1930s and 40s when most people got their first home telephones. It ended between 2004, when Facebook launched, and 2007, which marked the debut of the first iPhone. Interpersonal communication also took a leap forward after 1984 when the U.S. deregulated phone services. Soon after, service providers started offering unlimited long distance service.

Before then, how did people know when friends and acquaintances had weddings, births, graduations and deaths in their family? They sent letters and telegrams and posted such news in newspapers for their communities. The Hairenik Weekly served that role for its subscribers from its founding and continued to do so when it was renamed The Armenian Weekly. The first generation of Armenians born in this country started to graduate from high school and college, get married and have children during the first 25 years of The Hairenik Weekly. 

With the founding of the AYF, Armenian youth got to be lifelong friends with Armenians across the country. They would meet and bond at national events like the annual convention and AYF Olympics and various regional events like AYF Bowling. This generation wanted to keep in touch and stay aware of the comings and goings of their friends and acquaintances. After graduating from high school and college, they began writing for the Weekly and were given columns to report on local events of note. The heyday of this phenomenon seems to have been the 1950s. 

The longest-running of these columns were not written by AYFers but set the standard for all that followed. One was called “The Bostonian: Viewing the Hub of the Universe.” It is not clear who wrote this column as it had no byline. Perhaps it was the long-serving Weekly editor James Mandalian or his successor James Tashjian. Another was “This and That from New York” by Levon Keshishian. I believe Keshishian’s column, spanning from the 1940s to at least the 1970s, had the longest run of any column in the Weekly’s history. The first two regional columns covered news from the two most vibrant centers of Armenian life at the time. Let’s look at some of these columns from five issues from the years 1954-56.

“As the nation goes, so does Maine,” written by Anthony Mezoian, was published in the September 30, 1955 issue of the Weekly. There were Armenian communities in Maine and New Hampshire, a part of our history that is barely known or remembered these days. The first paragraph announced the marriage of my father’s first cousin. Here are two excerpts: 

Pauline Helenian [actually Kelenian] of Rye, New Hampshire and Airman Martin Quirk were recently married. He is stationed at Lockbourne Air Base, Columbus, Ohio… Ray and Alice Mougalian recently entertained the famed movie stars Betty [Bette] Davis and her husband Gary Merrill. Twelve attended the cocktail party and all Armenian “feed” which consisted of everything from shish-kebab to bourmah.

I would have loved to see a quote from Bette Davis and a group photo of this event, but none of the columns I read included photos.

From the Midwest, there was a column “On Wisconsin,” by Var Bagdasarian, which opened with the famed Drum Corp from Racine.

Imagine going to a bake sale and being able to buy paghlava, kata, lahmahjou and all the other wonderful Armenian delicacies. That is just what happened at the Gas and Electric Co., of Racine on Friday, August 14. The Drum Corps decided to repeat the Bake Sale idea, which was such a tremendous success, last year. They were equally fortunate this time too.  The people just “ate it up.” The food was donated by the Drum Corps parents and friends to help finance the trip to Washington D.C. Pretty nice of those women, wouldn’t you say — to take time out of their household duties for this project?  The proceeds were all clear profit, and must have been high because our Corps DID go to the Olympics. Oh, what a time they had, too. Hope you got to see them. 

It would be great if someone would write the story of the Racine Drum Corps. Maybe there already is one in the archives just waiting to be rediscovered.

Next up is the “West Coast Wire” by none other than Richard Hovannisian. While this was before he became an international spokesman for Armenians, we see a hint of what was to come from this great Armenian.

We had the great honor and privilege of visiting Unger Simon Vratzian for a couple of hours while he was in San Francisco visiting at the Karageozian home. It is difficult to explain the awe and pride of being in the presence of such a great man — a man who was an integral part of the Independent Armenian Republic serving as prime-minister. He was instrumental in the February 18 revolt against communism. His wealth of knowledge and wisdom can be found in no history book. He lives with the living hope and determination that Armenia will again be free. It is the duty of every Armenian youth to strive to make this living hope a living realization.

The same words could be used to describe Professor Hovannisian. He most definitely was a “wealth of knowledge and wisdom” and actually got to see a free and independent Armenia.

The next two columns are related. First, from “The Bostonian”: 

Had the distinct pleasure of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell and Rose Kehetian, and Mitch’s dad Kaspar, during their recent visit to Boston, and it was most refreshing to chat with such a wonderful family group devoted so thoroughly to the cause of Armenian liberation. Though they have come through a period in which dear members of their families have passed away, the closely-knit three have retained their natural ebullience. 

This same issue of the Weekly contained Mitchell Kehetian’s column, “Motor City News.” Kehetian had an illustrious career in Detroit. He was a reporter for the Detroit Times when he wrote this column for the Weekly then an editor at the Macomb Daily.

Mr. and Mrs. Zakar Manoogian announced the marriage of their daughter, Stella, to Jack Tian, son of Mrs. Anoosh Tufenkjian. The ceremony, performed by the Rev. S. Papakhian, took place at the St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, after which a reception was held. Stella is an active member of the Detroit Moorad-Zavarian chapter. The couple honeymooned by taking a tour through Michigan. The newlyweds are making their home at 4055 Ida., Detroit.

It is not unusual that Kehetian wrote one column and was mentioned in another. As another point of connectivity, Ned Apigian just penned a wonderful article about Jack (Hagop) Tian and his brother Haigus, “A story of two Detroit brothers in war,” published on June 29, 2024.

We go back to the East Coast for “The Philadelphia Story” by Iris Pilbosian. In this column, she shares this tidbit about Dick Keshgegian, who was a pillar of the Philadelphia community. 

A hearty hello and welcome home to Dickie Keshgegian, just recently discharged by Uncle Sam, after spending many months in Korea. We can’t help mentioning that beautiful, new Oldsmobile, a “small” gift from mom and dad Keshgegian. Seriously, though, Dick, the Phila. “Sebouh” chapter extends a sincere “Welcome Home” to one of its favorite members.

The last stop in this September 30, 1954 issue of the Weekly is Washington, D.C. Anne Atanosian wrote this “DC Dateline” column about Dr. Sarkis Balassanian. He was from Argentina and attended the World Congress of Cardiologists in the nation’s capital on September 10-19, 1954. In describing Dr. Balassanian’s path to becoming an eminent cardiologist, she spoke to the spirit of the survivor generation and their children.

Reaching Argentina as a young boy with his parents, young Sarkis worked very hard to achieve his education, an education which found his yearnings leaning toward medicine. As any one of us who have listened to the stories of the early struggles of our refugee parents, we can appreciate that it is only through the most diligent kind of self deprivation that any progress can be made in a strange land. But this progress was made through perseverance which is so common a trait among our people.

There were more examples of local reporting in the December 29, 1955 Hairenik Weekly, including two columns from Chicago. The first was the “Windy City Wire” by Diane Nazarian.  Here are three updates from her column.

On November 25 little Becky Jan Sahagian celebrated her first birthday. Becky is the lovely daughter of John and Lucille Sahagian.

On December 5 the Museum of Science and Industry presented a program featuring the Armenian Christmas celebration. AYFers in the presentation were June Der Matoian, Charles Serejian, Violet Allikian, and Ara Bedrosian.

December 10 was the day of our colossal Hye Bar at the Sheridan Plaza Hotel. The Arziv [Ardziv] Band from Detroit was at its best and the crowd loved them!  Everyone danced and had a wonderful time until the wee hours.

My connections to people mentioned in these articles continue to surprise me, even though I know our community is small and tight knit. We got to know John and Lucille in 1990, the year we relocated to Connecticut. They lived in Fairfield, and we all were members of the Armenian Church of the Holy Ascension in Trumbull. I also grew up listening to the Ardziv Band. When I began to play, we always invited Simon Javizian, the leader of Ardziv, to join us on clarinet and sing a song or two. One of my ouds used to belong to their talented oud player, Harry Bakaian.  You can hear him playing it at the beginning of Kaleh Kaleh from their Traveling for Kef album.

Hazel Tatson in “The Voice of the Chicago” reported on the Chicago chapter wanting to start a local newspaper:

The Ararat AYF Chapter, recognizing this need, set forth to work out plans for organizing a paper that would fill the requirements of a small Armenian community. The AYF felt that such a newspaper would not only serve as a source of news, but it would better the youth and the parental organizations, it would bring the voice of the church closer to the community, and mainly it would support, preserve, and maintain the Armenian culture.

What a wonderful and noble idea. I wonder if the paper ever came to fruition. It would be interesting to review a few copies.

Of course, there was a column from Providence. The “Providence Press” was written by Rosalie Kolligian. She announced the birth of her nephew in this particular column:

Mr. and Mrs. John Varadian of Providence are proud parents of a new baby, their second son. He was born on December 9, 1955. Mrs. Varadian is the former Sylvia Kolligian of Providence. Congratulations Sis and Jay.

The name of the newborn was not mentioned in the article. I asked Mike Varadian, who related that it was his cousin Stephen Jay. Sadly, Stephan passed away on September 20, 2000, a few months shy of his 50th birthday. He had battled brain cancer for 22 months. His obituary was in the October 7, 2000 Armenian Weekly.

There were three examples in the September 29, 1955 Weekly of regional columns. Levon Keshishian’s “This and That from New York” talked about the passing of two noted Armenians:  Dr. K. Seropian in New York and Dicran Bagdassarian in Tehran. Keshishian wrote about how he and his friend Dr. Seropian would discuss “Armenian politics, literature and international affairs” as well as their shared passion for stamp collecting. He had this to say about Bagdassarian: 

I had read his articles and books and had become an admirer of this revolutionary of this generation. He was a sincere man and very impressive. There are men you admire before you see them. Many disappoint you when you meet them, somehow you say to yourself, “I wish I had not come to know the man.” Dicran Bagdassarian was not of these, you liked him more. 

There were also two columns from Wisconsin in the 1950s. The second of these was “Racine News” by Corrine DerGarabedian. In one column was this tidbit:

At a recent Chicago meeting for members, two from Chicago and two from Racine volunteered to go to Waukegan and see how their chapter is getting along. The Racine representatives, Mary Madasian and Sonia Gelenian, reported that everything is running smoothly. We wish the Waukegan chapter all the luck in the future.

On the other side of the state of New York was Alice Arutunjian who wrote a column, “News and Views From Niagara Falls.” 

I am proud to announce that young Ned Apigian, 17, a Shant Committee member was awarded a $20 honorable mention award for a drawing in the mechanical drawing division in the Ford Motor Co’s. ninth annual industrial arts awards competition. Ned is working this summer and will start his last year at the Trott Vocational School in Niagara Falls.

We now have a beautiful bow of connections between the “The Bostonian” mentioning Mitchell Kehetian, Mitchell Kehetian’s “Motor City News” mentioning Jack Tian, Ned Apigian’s recent article about Jack Tian and this mention of Ned in the “News and Views From Niagara Falls.” 

Lastly, in the May 10, 1955 Weekly, I came across “Nutmeg Newsettes: Connecticut Capers” by Mary Kaprealian in which she mourns the loss of a beloved community member, presumably a genocide survivor.

It is with a heart full of sorrow that we start this report on activities and events in Connecticut. During the interim between this and our first column, the Hartford-New Britain area suffered a tragic loss at the sudden death of Mrs. Rose (Kalajian) Boornazian on April 23 at the age of 52. Mrs. Boornazian passed away suddenly as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage, as closely as we can ascertain. Her loss is mourned… not only by her family… but by both communities, as well. Our own friendship with her stems from the writer’s early childhood.

It would take an issue-by-issue investigation to learn when these columns began and ended and how frequently they ran. Clearly, they were popular in the 1950s. The artwork and masthead for each of these columns were unique. Some were clearly hand drawn and all of them used fonts we don’t see much of these days. These columns were, from my perspective, the social media of that era and another example of the treasure trove that is the Hairenik Archives.