..inte: Jeanette Lantin ..intr: Bobi Kurn ..da: 1988 ..cp: 1989.001.090 Max Lantin’s store in Globe, ca. 1910. Sign on the side of the building reads, "Max Lantin Clothier Outfitters For All Mankind." ..ca: ..ftxt: An Interview with Jeanette Lantin February 4, 1988 Transcriptionist: Carol Ruttan Interviewer: Bobbi Kurn Arizona Jewish Historical Society Log For Jeanette Lantin Interview Pages 1 Introductions Jeanette Lantin 1 Parents Rose/Sam Goldstein 1 Husband Philip Lantin 1 Children Linda Pappas Lois Scheiner Mickey Freedman 1 Childhood in Brooklyn 2 Brother-in-law Leo Ross 2 Sister Gladys Ross 2 Brother Hy Grant 3 Train Golden State 4 Grants Men's Store Hy Grant 4 Boston Store 4 Diamonds/Dillards Mollie Fried 5 Younger sister Edith Ross Gladys Chiate 5 Played games Sylvia Chiate 5 Sam's Cigar Store 6 Salesman Murry Tyant 6 October 25, 1946 6 Met husband-to-be Phil 6 Flame Restaurant 6 To Globe 6- 7 Wedding Rabbi Krohn Ross Family 7 Globe 8 Globe Hospital 8 Clothing store Mr. Lantin (1944 bought out) 10 Friends in Ray, Arizona Terri Morris Mildred Morris Abe Morris Rabbi Plotkin Linda Ely Dick Ely Rabbi Tutnauer Mickey 13 Husband Harvard Military School 15 Grandmother Mrs. Lantin 15 Town of (city) Solomon Governor Babbitt 16 Valley National Bank Lillie Solomon max Lantin I.E. Solomon Anna Freudenthal 18 16th Street & McDowell Early Phoenix 18 Boston Store 18 Walgreens 18 Goldwaters 23 Friends of her parents Ganz Rose and Al 24-33 Globe 33 One Jewish family in Globe Jeanette Lantin Interview This is Bobbi Kurn with the Jewish Historical Society. I'm in the home of Jeanette Lantin. Today is February 4, 1988. We want to thank you for allowing myself and Helen Kaplan to come into your home and find out about you. LANTIN: My pleasure. KURN: It's very sweet of you, and I've been looking forward to it. Basically, we want to find out about you and your life and growing up. So let me, first of all, just put in some facts here. Your name is Jeanette Lantin. You live at 2531 East Marshall in Phoenix, Arizona. You were born February 12th in 1909. You have a birthday coming up. You were born in Brooklyn, New York. You came to Arizona in 1939; came to Phoenix from New York. Your parents' names were Rose and Sam Goldstein and husband's name Philip. Children are Linda Pappas, Lois Scheiner and Mickey Freedman. You went to high school back east and you're a housewife. I've got the basic facts out of the way. Okay. Let's go way back. Born in Brooklyn. Tell me a little bit about that. LANTIN: We were a family of four children. My father and mother were wonderful parents. We had a good life. We moved to a few different areas in Brooklyn as my father prospered. We were a very close family. When one sister married she started traveling and eventually landed in Phoenix, which was over 60 years ago. That's how the family became interested and thought about it. They came out to live permanently 60 years ago. They were here before that and he had a job here. KURN: Who's that? LANTIN: Leo Ross. KURN: Your brother-in-law? LANTIN: Yes, and my sister, Gladys. Eventually, my brother came out, Hy Grant, with his wife and son. My dad had a little heart attack and we weren't going to tell them, but it seems like even 3,000 miles away word got to them. They were very shocked and immediately insisted that we come here to live. So that's how we made our trek. My brother-in-law came and drove us across country. We came to Phoenix -- of course, I had visited there twice so I knew what to expect, but it was quite different from, you know -- my father loved the opera and music and he just loved the sunsets. So it was a very happy time for him. KURN: Can you describe the trip to Phoenix. LANTIN: Yes. It was very interesting. There were five of us in the car. The most outstanding part of the trip was when we stopped at the Grand Canyon. I had been there with Gladys and Leo at one of the visits I made here. When my dad walked over to the end of that canyon he almost fainted from the beautiful view. He was very, very touched. In fact, all the years that he was here whenever there was a sunset he always went out and all the girls would call him -- when I was already gone -- to tell him to go look at the sunset. I wasn't in Phoenix very long when I was invited to go to Florida to visit a cousin of mine. I went and it was only supposed to be for a few weeks, and it ended up seven months. So it was a long visit. They wanted to adopt me and have me stay there, which was ridiculous. But I came home. KURN: How did you travel in those days? LANTIN: By train. KURN: Golden State? LANTIN: Uh-huh. But one trip that I took to Phoenix when I came back, I came back on a bus. It was horrible. It was the time when they had that movie and everybody was thinking how wonderful it was to go by bus, but it was terrible. When I returned to Phoenix it wasn't very much longer that I met one of our friends who was a salesman and he said he had somebody to introduce me to. KURN: How old were you at this point? LANTIN: I was 32. KURN: Had you already lived here for awhile? LANTIN: Well, see, it was a very short time because I was here shortly when I went to Florida. I was there so long and then I came back. Actually, I don't think it was more than -- it was not quite two years. KURN: You came here in 1939 with your family? LANTIN: Uh-huh. KURN: And then did you work for awhile? LANTIN: Yes. KURN: What did you do during those two years? LANTIN: My sister-in-law worked in this place and they sent out mailings and things. It was all to [army] bases. I worked there for several months and I met a lot of the Jewish people here. KURN: How did you meet them? LANTIN: Well, we were downtown and worked and when you walked up the street you said hello to everybody. Then we opened a store on Washington Street. That was after I returned. KURN: Let's go back to the two years that you were here. Do you remember the name of the store you worked at? LANTIN: The name of the store that we opened was called Grants. it was a men's store. KURN: And you opened it right away? LANTIN: No. It was about a year later. KURN: Who opened it? LANTIN: My brother and my father. My brother worked for the Boston Store -- and he has plenty of stories to tell -- which later became Diamonds. KURN: Which later became -- LANTIN: Diamonds, and now is Dillards. That was right across the street from where our store was. KURN: That was your brother, Hy? LANTIN: Uh-huh. KURN: H - ? LANTIN: H - y. We would go to lunch -- it was Mollie Fried and Beannie. They ran the shoe store -- I'll think of it -- Anyhow, all the girls would get together for lunch. KURN: Was this after you came back from Florida? LANTIN: Yes. KURN: Okay. Why did you come back? LANTIN: Because I thought it was ridiculous to stay there. As I say, we were a very close family and I wouldn't think of hurting my mother and dad's feelings. As I say, I worked. I have a younger sister and she was single too. KURN: Her name is? LANTIN: Edith Ross. KURN: We started to play mah jong with the women. Of course, it was so long ago. There are so many years since then that I really don't remember all the people that I met at the time. Over the years, of course, when I'd come down I'd hear the names. KURN: Tell me about those games. LANTIN: Well, they were always thrilled to have somebody to play with. one of ones that we played with was Gladys Chiate and Sylvia said I played with her but I don't think so. I think she came after I was married. KURN: Sylvia? LANTIN: Chiate. There were so many others. My sister knows the names. I can't remember the names. KURN: And were they basically married women? LANTIN: Yes. We had one or two single friends too. KURN: How did you meet each other? LANTIN: I don't remember. My sister, of course, lived here and I just can't remember how we met. As I say, we'd go to Walgreens on Washington - that was one of our -- I don't know what you call it -- a hangout. Then there was Sam's. It was called Sam's Cigar Store, I believe. He served sandwiches and the Jewish crowd all met there. We'd see each other and I guess people would call and say, "I have a date for you" or "somebody's coming into town" or something like that. Then one day I was in the beauty parlor and my sister called and she said, "Get extra beautiful because Murry ... " -- he was a salesman from California, but anyhow -- "he has a date for you. This young man's coming down from Globe." This was in October. KURN: Of what year? LANTIN: October 25, 1940. I met Phil and he spent the weekend at a hotel and we went to the Flame that evening and we danced. Anyhow, we went to dinner and I think my sister and brother-in-law went and several of us. Then Phil asked if he could see me the next day and he stayed and had lunch with me on Monday. I was working at the time. Then he wrote me a letter and came back in two weeks and we were engaged. We went up to his home in Globe. That was something, to come into this town of Miami. I looked up and saw these little cabins or little shacks on the top of the hill and I said, "Don't they fall off?" And he said, "They've been there for 40 years and I'm sure they'll be there for another 40 years." Which they were. He was very handy - he fixed the hors d'oeuvres and had helped with the turkey. When he came down that weekend -- it was December 6, the weekend of Pearl Harbor -- and he gave me my engagement ring. We were married January 4. KURN: Where were you married at? LANTIN: We decided not to have a wedding, but to go away. That was some elopement because my father helped take the _____________ (?) Out. But my mother did say, "Now, when you go to California, will you be married by the rabbi?" And Phil said, "Yes." I think we were gone a week or ten days. When I said, "Did you make a promise to my mother?", he said, "Oh, she won't remember. I said, "Okay, it's fine with me." When we came home one of the first things she asked was, "Did you get married by a rabbi?" And he said, "No." She said, "Do you mind if I call a rabbi now?" And she called Rabbi Krohn and he came to the house. They called all the family and, I think, my brother-in-law's family, the Rosses, and we had the wedding at home. I told him he was really hooked because he was married twice. KURN: Why do you think she felt that way? LANTIN: My father wasn't religious, but my mother was a little more religious. I think she just felt that she wanted me to be married by a rabbi. They were crazy about my husband. Then we went to Globe and lived with his family -- they had a big home -- which wasn't easy. It was hard because I'd meet people and everybody knew Phil, so there was no problem they all knew me, but it was hard for me to remember names. When I'd go downtown I'd say, 'oh, I met ___ and I could never remember the name, and it was always a standing joke between Phil and myself. Eventually, we bought our own home, which was very hard to find especially during the war. We were fortunate that it was completely furnished. This lady sold it with the furniture. We were very comfortable there for eight years and we had our three children there. We went to the Globe Hospital, at that time. The acoustics were wonderful you heard everybody having their children and whatever. We have three lovely girls. Phil and his father had a clothing store. It was 1944 and somebody came in and bought them out. So they were out of that business and then Mr. Lantin passed away shortly after, which was a terrible shock because he was a very strong man. I guess he had a heart attack and they just didn't recognize it. Phil kind of went into real estate. He -- KURN: Sold the store? LANTIN: They sold the store before Mr. Lantin passed away. Then he'd start picking up a piece of property down here, you know here and there, mostly in Phoenix. He started a subdivision between Globe and Miami, he and a partner. He had 185 lots; it was very big and very slow in getting started. Eventually, they picked up more property, as much as they could in the area. It was very successful. We had lovely homes there. We built a home. For my tenth anniversary that was my gift. We went to California and bought all new furniture. So it was all new stuff. Our life there was wonderful. The mine was there and we were very friendly with all the people - a lot of the executives and a lot of the other people. We never had any deference to our religion or anything. The children never had anybody say anything and they never knew they were any different than any of the others. When they were small whoever was their friend they went to Sunday School with them. Phil always said, "They'll never learn anything bad, if they go." So they went to several different churches. Down a hill from our home there was a lot and my husband and his partner gave it to a church and they started a church. 25 years later they had Phil and I to a dinner. It was an anniversary or something and we knew a lot of the people that went there. They invited us and they honored Phil, saying how generous he was. When we built our home, I'll never forget, because one of the traveling preachers, one of the main men, came to our home and asked if he could bless it. We thought that was very lovely. He and the young preacher did. At that time Mrs. Lantin was ill in the hospital and I happened to mention it to them and they said, 'Do you think it would be all right if we went?" They came down and Lillie remembered that they blessed her. She thought it was very nice. So these are all the lovely things I've had, and our children grew up and it was wonderful living in a small town. We knew exactly who they went with and what they were doing. I was quite active as home room mother, then treasurer of the PTA. We tried to keep active. Phil was a member of the Lions Club and he became a Mason. Life was busy and it was a partying town. We had a country club and there wasn't one weekend that we didn't have someplace to go and a big party. of course, we reciprocated and I'd have 16 or 20 for dinner in my home. It was a busy life and it was fun time. Phil would walk down the main street in Globe and everybody knew him. He would stop to visit with everybody. He loved to visit. The girls grew up and the three of them eventually went to the U of A. Linda learned then that she was Jewish, because she was rushed for every sorority and learned that she was only available to the Jewish sorority, which was fine. She eventually became president of it. They learned a lot about their Jewish life through the girls there. So it was a very wonderful time in life. I must tell you one experience or two that I forgot. The girls were Girl Scouts and they went up to camp at Graham mountains - it's up at Safford. They were having breakfast and one girl came over to them and said, "Now you're Jewish and you're eating bacon. How come that girl over there is Jewish and she says she can't do it?" Someone just said, "Well, some don't." Anyhow, they got to know this girl, who was Terri Morris. When the girls came back they told us of the incident and they had met other girls from Ray. They said, "Can we go over to see them?" They contacted them and we drove them over. As soon as we arrived at this girl's home they were going to see, they said, "Oh, there's a message that you must go over to see the Morrises." So we said okay and we went over. Mildred was very, very gracious and had us for a snack and we became friendly. My husband and Abe were very strong conservatives and they believed their politics were the same. of course, Abe was a bachelor and a little older, like Phil was. When he met Mildred she came from a kosher home and she kept a kosher home in Ray, Arizona. They had us for a seder and of course we had them to dinners and a few parties we had. It was very sad that as soon as he retired that he passed away, because he was a very dear friend of my husband's. KURN: How far was it between Ray and -- LANTIN: It was about 50 miles. It was real close to Superior. So these are little incidents that happened. Then, of course, Lois and Terri were the same age and they met again at the U of A. So we saw the Morrises when we'd go to Mom & Pop's Day and things like that. Terri lives here, of course, and they're still friendly. In fact, they belong to the same Havarah. So, there are pleasant memories. We came to Phoenix two or three times a week. We came down because of Phil's mother -- and my mother was still alive. So we'd come down and we would take Lillie out to lunch or dinner. Usually we'd leave in the morning around 8:00 when the children went to school and we would try to be back at 3:00 when they were coming home, until they were older and we felt we could maybe stay a little later. Phil amassed quite a bit of property down here. We'd come down for business also. When Linda graduated she met this young man who was from Wisconsin and he converted to Judaism and we had a lovely wedding down here. Rabbi Plotkin performed the ceremony. Lois came home and said, -- they were 11 months apart -- "We want to get married too." I said, "Oh, I can't think of another wedding this close." Because we had to do everything down here - the reception was here and everything. So my husband said, "Would you take the money that we spent, we'll give you the same amount and you go to Europe or something?* She talked it over with Steve and he said sure. They were married six months later. They were married in Globe and the rabbi from the synagogue -- KURN: Tutnauer? LANTIN: Tutnauer came up and performed the ceremony. The four uncles held the Chupe. of course, we just had the family because it was quite a few. So there were no friends invited. They went to Europe and, of course, Lois has a kosher home now, which is amazing with the background that she was brought up in. Mickey is married to a young attorney. They've been married 11 years now. They have two darling children. They all belong to the temple and one belongs to the synagogue, so they 're all in Judaism. I think it's wonderful. KURN: Linda's Lillie? Okay. Linda's husband's name? LANTIN: Linda was divorced. KURN: Right. Her first husband's last name was? LANTIN: Ely. E-l-y. KURN: Okay. Husband Dick? LANTIN: Uh-huh. And her husband, Bill, now is wonderful and the children are good to him. They had a bat mitzvah and a bar mitzvah. He got up and gave a wonderful talk on his son. The children are very well adjusted. Lois has three lovely girls. one of them is going to Pomona this year. Mickey has two little ones, which I have thoroughly enjoyed because they were born while I lived down here. It will be nine years in April that we moved down. It was Phil's idea, because I thought if I ever suggested it and he wasn't happy it wouldn't be very good. But he wanted me to be near the girls just in case, and he enjoyed their families. We're a very, very close family. They're my blessings. KURN: Was he born here? LANTIN: He was conceived in Globe and his mother went to Los Angeles to visit her family and had him there. He missed out. But he spent all his young years here in Globe. Then the family sent him to military school in California. He went to Harvard Military School. It was a wonderful experience for him. His folks moved over there at the time. He did go to Los Angeles High School and graduated from there. He took a post-graduate course and stayed there until he was 21. Then the business in Globe was doing very poorly with the management they had, so he went back and took over. He was there until we moved down here. KURN: That was the clothing store that they had? LANTIN: Yes. During the building of the dam his father also had a store at the foot of the dam. It was about 40 miles, I think, from Globe. He would go by horse and buggy over there. KURN: Every day? LANTIN: I imagine he stayed there a few days at a time. KURN: What kind of a store was that? LANTIN: It was a general store for the people that worked there. KURN: What kinds of things did they sell there, do you know? LANTIN: I imagine mostly clothing. Phil would tell stories about his dad going over there and the hours that it took to get over and back in those days. The road was even bad when we lived there and, of course, the road from Phoenix to Globe was just one curving road from Superior on until they redid it. During the time that we lived in Globe they redid it and, of course, they made it much better. KURN: Was it a dirt road originally? LANTIN: Originally it was, but by the time we came up it was paved. It was two lanes. KURN: How long would it take you to get from Globe to Phoenix? LANTIN: When we went up it might have been about two and a half hours. KURN: Really? LANTIN: Maybe more, until they fixed it. Then we did it -- it was 80 miles. KURN: What kind of car did you have? LANTIN: Phil had a two-seater -- I can't remember the name of it. KURN: Of course they don't go as fast as our cars today. LANTIN: No. We put the children in the back when we came down, when we had the two. By the time we had the third I think he had bought another car. We'd go to California in the summertime. KURN: In the car? LANTIN: Uh-huh. We always took Mrs. Lantin with us. Then she stopped going by herself and one day she said she'd like Linda to come over and so Linda went on the train, which was quite an experience. It was 1955 because we bought a new car. We kept telling her we had a surprise for her and she couldn't imagine what it was and then we showed up with the new car. KURN: Why would you go to California? LANTIN: Because it was cool. And, of course, they had family there and Mrs. Lantin used to go there in the summertime. Her mother and father, after they left Solomon, they went there. KURN: Solomon is a city? LANTIN: Yes. It was named for Phil's grandfather. It's a town. At that time it was the -- KURN: Is it still there? LANTIN: Oh, yes. KURN: And it was named after your husband's family? LANTIN: Uh-huh. And they started the Valley National Bank there. KURN: His family? LANTIN: Uh-huh. He had a store and people would come in and would ask him if he'd put the money in his safe and as he started doing that, he thought, well -- because, you know, they were afraid of being robbed by the Indians and things like that -- of course Phil knew a lot of stories about his grandfather, the Indians and things. Then they had a hotel because she was such a wonderful cook, the grandmother, that when salesmen came through she would invite them for meals and stuff so they decided they may as well build a hotel. It did burn down. We went there and Phil found a brick that was part of it. They built the 200th Valley Bank there and had a replica of the original Solomon store. It was very nice. We were honored and the governor at that time was Babbitt - he was there. The girls that were home came and some of the relatives came. So the family has been here for a long, long time. One other thing in that family when Lillie was in love with a Gentile they took her away to Europe. Mr. Solomon would not allow any intermarriage in the family. They had five children and every one was married in the religion. He was not too religious a man, but this was his belief. And it may have been Anna. She was a very strong person, the grandmother. KURN: So these were the parents of your in-laws? LANTIN: My mother-in-law. KURN: Oh, this was your mother-in-law and her husband. LANTIN: Yes. KURN: About what year would it have been when they built the bank? LANTIN: Oh, it was in the 1860's or 70's and the valley Bank kind of took it over and it became -- they have a book that they put out and they have it in the book. KURN: We should get that. LANTIN: I have one. KURN: What was your mother-in-law's name? LANTIN: Lillie Solomon. L-i-1-1-i-e. KURN: And your father-in-law? LANTIN: Max Lantin. KURN: Okay. I guess I I m confused. The Solomon family belongs to --- LANTIN: My mother-in-law. KURN: Oh, your mother-in-law was a Solomon. LANTIN: Uh-huh. KURN: Okay. So she was Lillie Solomon. LANTIN: Right. KURN: So this was her family, her parents that started the bank? LANTIN: Yes. And she was born in Solomonville. KURN: What was it called? LANTIN: It was called Solomonville when they started it and they changed it to Solomon. They have a marker on the highway telling about it. Lillie was one of a twin and they were born in Solomonville. KURN: And her parents' names were? LANTIN: I.E. Solomon - I think it was Isadore E. Solomon. KURN: Okay, Isadore Solomon. LANTIN: And she was a Freudenthal, Anna. F-r-e-u-d-e-n-t-h-a-I and that family started pecan growing. KURN: In? LANTIN: In New Mexico. Lordsburg? Not Roswell. I think it was Lordsburg. KURN: What I'd like to get a visual picture of is what Phoenix looked like when you first came here with your mom and dad and you were here for two years. That would have been 1939. LANTIN: We have pictures when I was engaged in our backyard. KURN: Do you remember much about what Phoenix looked like, the size, the buildings, the people? LANTIN: My brother lived on 16th Street and McDowell and we'd say it was out in the country. KURN: Come on. LANTIN: Absolutely. So that's how it was then. We rented a house on 15th Avenue and Latham. They're still standing there. KURN: What was considered the city then? LANTIN: Well, there was Washington Street - that was the main hub. KURN: In what way? LANTIN: Because they had all the stores there. KURN: Between what and what, approximately? LANTIN: I think it was 2nd Street -- I think that's where the Boston Store was. And then Korrick's was on the same corner where they are now - Central and Washington. Then across from that was - which is still there - was the Walgreens. Goldwaters was on Adams. KURN: Were there homes on Washington or this was all businesses? LANTIN: They were all businesses at that times, you know, little stores. KURN: So it would go on Washington from 2nd Street to the Avenues? LANTIN: I think Newberry's was there. And I think that's as far -- maybe a few little stores further up, but it was just those few blocks. Then on Adams I know my brother-in-law had his store and there was a furniture store. KURN: Where did people live? LANTIN: They lived in the outlying areas, but there weren't that many people, like now, you know. Actually, my sister moved to Moreland and that was even out in the country. I think they bought it all up for the freeway now. But it didn't go much beyond McDowell. McDowell was way out in the country. KURN: Were there blacks in Phoenix in those days? LANTIN: I don't remember hardly any. KURN: Or Mexicans? LANTIN: There were Mexicans. I think there were some blacks, because my brother-in-law had a credit store and the Mexicans and the blacks would come in. Phil's grandfather -- there were a lot of Mexicans in Solomon when he was there. In fact, one of them had a store there and when they left they bought the safe. I had a letter from him the other day after he saw Phil's name in the obituary column and he said that he'd found some letters - he lives in Tempe now - and any time if we wanted to come see him he would be glad -- Phil did try to buy the safe from him but he wouldn't sell it. KURN: How come? LANTIN: It was many years ago. He just didn't want to. He was stubborn. KURN: Why were people coming to Phoenix in the 30's? LANTIN: Well, my brother-in-law came here. He was working for a credit store and they had stores all over the country and they sent him here. When he came here he stayed here for awhile and was sent to Michigan, in Lansing and different places where they had stores. Then his father had a factory and he closed it up and he said, "Let's go into business together." Of all the places Leo traveled, he totaled it up and he thought Phoenix had the best outlook. KURN: As far as financial success? LANTIN: As far as growing - the best potential. So they came to Phoenix and opened up and they did very, very well. KURN: Your brother and your father? LANTIN: And his father. KURN: Oh -- LANTIN: My brother-in-law. KURN: Leo was your brother-in-law. How did you all feel about coming out West? LANTIN: I had visited here a couple times and I thought it was very nice. When we decided to come I did say to my mother -I worked for I. Miller's in New York KURN: That's a shoe store? LANTIN: Yes. And I said to my mother, I said, "Why don't you go and I'11 come later." She said, "Okay, the whole deal's off." She said, "Either you girls come with us or we don't go at all." So we just couldn't do that, because my father needed the relaxation. of course, when I told the people I worked with I was going - "Oh, you're going to be with the cowboys and Indians?" And people still talk that way which is amazing. KURN: But New York was so big and had so many people LANTIN: And I came to the small -- and not only did I come to Phoenix but then I went to Globe. I must say when I first looked at it I thought oh, good God, I'll never be able to be happy here. Although, because I had stars in my eyes and because I was a bride -- as the years went on I just loved it. I played in a bridge club for over 25 years and Philip played poker and we had husband and wife poker parties. We joined the country club and eventually started playing golf. They had a pool and the girls learned to swim and they had things for the children. Then they had big golf tournaments every year for the whole state. Eventually, I joined a women's group and we traveled to Coolidge and other different places. It was very nice. We came to Phoenix several times to clubs down here. So, it was a wonderful life. KURN: Do you think your parents adjusted to Phoenix after being in New York? LANTIN: Yes. My father loved it. My mother did, too. She played poker with some of the women and made lots of friends. My father passed away and Edith and Lou went to live with my mother so she wasn't alone. KURN: Edith and Lou? LANTIN: That was my youngest sister. KURN: Did your parents join any congregation when they lived here? LANTIN: My mother used to go to the synagogue. KURN: Beth Israel or Beth El? Rabbi Krohn's? LANTIN: I think it was Rabbi Krohn. I know my sisters belonged to the temple. KURN: Beth Israel? LANTIN: Beth Israel, yes. I don't know if my mother went there or to the -- you see, I wasn't living here then. KURN: Right. LANTIN: Of course, she tried to buy kosher meat at first. KURN: Your mom did? LANTIN: Yes. KURN: How come? LANTIN: Well, that's all she bought when she lived -- she didn't ever have bacon in the house. But she didn't keep two sets of dishes. But when she came here she said, "Oh, I've got to buy the kosher meat." My sister said, "Mom, it's foolish because it's so expensive." She really wasn't that religious, so she eventually started buying chicken and meat, but for many years she went to the kosher butcher. KURN: Did you feel like you grew up in a Jewish home? LANTIN: Oh, yes. My father's brother, who was really almost old enough to be his father, was a very religious man. KURN: In New York. LANTIN: In New York. And he'd come to visit and, of course, we lived in a Jewish neighborhood. KURN: In New York. LANTIN: Yes. KURN: But not in Phoenix? LANTIN: No. They did not have any Jewish neighborhoods in Phoenix. KURN: They did not? LANTIN: No. People just lived in different areas. of course, there was such a small area that I guess you almost -- but I don't think we even had any Jewish neighbors when we moved to Latham. KURN: The street of Latham on the street? LANTIN: Yes. But later on I know when the folks lived somewhere the Ganzes were our next-door neighbor and I know they Rose and Al. KURN: How do you spell the last name? LANTIN: G-a-n-z. They're still friends of the family. KURN: When they played poker was it with Jewish people? LANTIN: Oh, yes. They went with all the Jewish people. My mother still had a Jewish accent and we all speak Jewish in the family. of course, we used to talk English to her, but we learned Jewish. I still remember all the words. KURN: Do you? Lucky you. Did you teach it to your children? LANTIN: No. KURN: My parents didn't either. LANTIN: Whenever I didn't want them to know something, and of course Phil didn't know one word, so he was brought up -- he was never even bar mitzvahed. So he wasn't religious at all. KURN: So you sort of carried the religious feeling? LANTIN: Yes. And they came down to see the grandparents or they would come up to see us. We came down very often. We'd bring the children down on a Sunday and they would visit with the family. We've lots of pictures of the family. KURN: We'd love to see them. Did your mother celebrate any of the Jewish holidays when you would come down, like Passover or Hanukkah? LANTIN: No. We would exchange gifts. My father -- I think one time he had a seder because he had a bad experience when he was a boy and just decided that he wasn't going to. He sang in the choir in New York and traveled around, but he saw too much of what went on. KURN: Anti-Semitism? LANTIN: Well, not that so much as among the Jews even. Some Rabbi 's would eat on -- KURN: Yom Kippur. LANTIN: Yom Kippur and he didn't think that was right. KURN: Did you celebrate any of the Jewish holidays in Globe? LANTIN: Well, I made a few seders and had one gentile friend, which it was something for them to see. There was one Jewish couple that were there and we invited them. Mostly on Thanksgiving we'd have single teachers and people that didn't have any relatives they'd come to our home. There was a big rivalry between Globe and Miami, you know the schools. Of course, we transferred them to Miami schools after we moved to our home. We always laughed, we said, if they won they ate and if they didn't win they would not celebrate. The girls had a good life. They went back for their 20th reunion. Mickey came back and said, "The kids asked for you and daddy", because we always had parties. We had a big home and the girls were told they could have anybody they wanted. And they would have a whole bunch of kids come to the house and have big parties. All the kids said how kind your parents were to us which made us feel happy. KURN: What was Globe like? LANTIN: It was very small. KURN: About how small? LANTIN: Well, it's still about -- maybe they have less now -between about - the two towns - you see, Globe and Miami were six miles apart -- I think there was maybe 12,000. There was less, I think, when I came. Globe was the capital of the county. KURN: They had everything you needed there, or were there things you had to come to Phoenix for? LANTIN: They had about everything. of course, it was during the war and we couldn't find a lot of things, like refrigerators and stuff like that. But they were having a shortage down here too at the time. But they had everything. Of course, when we came down here we'd go to the bigger grocery stores and stock up. Although, eventually, they had Safeway and Bayless. We got everything we needed there. KURN: Movie houses? LANTIN: They had two movie houses at the time. KURN: And a hospital. LANTIN: Yes. of course, the mine had their own hospital. It was quite an experience because they had housing for their workers, which was almost like a socialized it was socialized medicine, because they had their own hospital and their own doctors. They had a plan, you know, and the workers paid such minimal rentals. KURN: For the houses? LANTIN: For the housing. It was really very interesting. KURN: Adequate housing for the mine people? LANTIN: Oh, yes. For the area it was very nice. In fact, after they made an open pit, they took the homes and moved them down to another area. KURN: Really? LANTIN: Uh-huh. And they were still in good condition. As the years went on, they built more expensive homes for the people that worked in high offices. They lived around the country club. KURN: The mine had a country club? LANTIN: Yes. They had a country club and dues were $3.00 a month. They gave them every benefit that they could. KURN: Do you think the mine people lived better than the non-mine people? LANTIN: Oh, I wouldn't say that. KURN: Not necessarily? LANTIN: No. They had company stores at the time where they bought their groceries. of course, we never went there. Then at the end of the year they got money back if they made money. It was supposed to be cooperative or something. It was a very interesting area. KURN: Did you socialize with the mine people? LANTIN: Oh. only, mostly. KURN: Were you part of this? LANTIN: No. KURN: So how come you associated with the mine people? LANTIN: Well, we'd meet them at parties and one of 'our very best friends that I still -- they moved to the state of Washington -- I hear from them all the time. We were very close. I still hear from other people who were with the mine, because they're retired now. And of course the mine well, in fact wasn't as prosperous in the last few years because the price of copper was down. KURN: What percentage of the town was mine people? LANTIN: Oh, I would say about 70 percent or more. You see, it was really a mining area. Some of them didn't live in the company houses; they lived in their own homes. When we started the subdivision that's where a lot of the people bought lots and built homes. So it was a different life. It was very interesting. There were, of course, lots of Mexican people. KURN: Oh, there were? LANTIN: Oh, yes, definitely. KURN Did they mix among everybody, or did they kind of stay by themselves? LANTIN: Well, we allowed the children to invite them to their parties. Many of them are in the State House here. Lots of them are supervisors and they did very well. They went to Miami High School, a lot of them, where the girls graduated from. A lot of the parents would call me and say, "What do you do? Your girls are always so well-mannered and we want them to be friends with my children." It was a compliment. I didn't know what to tell them. I didn't do anything different than the way I was brought up. I tried to be home when they came home. KURN: Talking about Globe, Arizona in the 60's and 70's - of your girls' growing up. Just curious to know what did teenagers or young children do? LANTIN: Well, as youngsters they belonged to the Girl Scouts and they were very active in that. Then they took dancing. One of the teachers gave it and we had recitals. They were in the marching band, a few of them. KURN: In school? In elementary school? LANTIN: That was in high school. They were leaders. Linda was president of her class. They were all up there. We had parties for the kids. They had parties. They had dances at school every week. Of course, the football games they went to. of course, we'd go because they were in the band. They had a very active life. Of course, when they went away to school they were very busy and did very well. They all went into teaching - they all had degrees. They've all taught and still at it. Linda is back teaching and loves it. KURN: Lois is teaching at Hebrew High School. LANTIN: Lois is teaching. Mickey never taught but she went right into high school counseling. She still has parents call her and she helps them out you know. other children come and want advice about how to get in colleges and she helps them. These children are very appreciative. KURN: When they were growing up did they date the fellows in their class? LANTIN: Yes. We allowed them to date and they went steady and the boys were very serious about them, especially Linda and Lois. Of course, they knew that we weren't very excited about that, because we wanted them to go away to school. And they did and met new people and dates. They were very busy and very active. KURN: Did your daughters ever come to Phoenix to date or to go to parties or activities? LANTIN: After Linda became interested in this one young man, I said, "Why don't you go to Phoenix and stay there awhile." One summer they came down here and went to summer school. But, of course, by that time she wasn't interested in anybody else. KURN: So their whole life really was in Globe and Miami? LANTIN: Uh-huh. KURN: They really didn't have a need for any other -- LANTIN: No. And of course they went away when they went to school. KURN: College? LANTIN: Uh-huh. That was a whole new life too. Linda met Dick and Lois met Steve there. They got married right out of -- you know, we always told them they had to graduate before they got married but we were a little lenient. It was about six months before she graduated that Linda got married. Lois got married the year she graduated. KURN: When they were dating the non-Jewish boys in Globe, do you think that concerned you that they weren't Jewish or you just wanted them -- LANTIN: Well, no. We knew the boys and we knew there was not going to be anything -- we hoped it wouldn't be anything serious. The boys were very serious, but the girls realized that they had a whole new life to go to. Neither one of them ever came back to Globe to live, because they married. Mickey came down here, because her first job was down here and so she lived down here. She'd come home, of course, for weekends and we'd come down and see her. She was the only one that didn't get married right out of school. She was my baby and, of course, it made it nice that one of them was around for us. Although the other girls have always been very close. KURN: Was there a central area in Globe where the kids would gather when they were young? LANTIN: No, not really. A lot of the activities took place at school, you know, the dances. of course, they had church dances, but when they were in their elementary years we allowed them -- they went to some of the church dances. Most of their activities were in high school. KURN: Was this where you were playing poker -- that you had a group of poker and bridge? LANTIN: Those were just people that we knew. We played in the homes. The bridge we played at night because we all had small children. Then I was president of the Junior Women's Club there. Then I belonged to the Women's Club. It was very active and we took care of poor families. We were kept busy all the time - I was and the children. There were activities, and I'm sure there were more they did that they would remember more than I can. KURN: Did you ever think you'd rather be in a bigger city, because it was so different than New York? LANTIN: Well, it was strange but I just went up there and I fit right in and made all these friends. of course, at first we lived in Globe and there weren't too many mining people. So I met a different group entirely. KURN: How would you describe them? LANTIN: Well, they were business people. Some of their husbands worked in the mine. I joined a Junior Women's Club, so I met some of the younger women. I had played bridge in New York and it was years since I had played. But then they were all learning and we would get together. of course, they all had small children which was very good for me because I didn't know anything about children. They would give me pointers about this and that. We'd have showers for each other when we had children. It was a small group and we met in different homes. We lived in that house for eight years. When we moved over to the Southern home - it was between the two towns - the children changed schools. It's amazing how some of the parents you become friendly with, as my girls are doing now with their children's friends. It was a different life and we started to play golf at the country club and met different people. It was a very busy life. KURN: Was it really? LANTIN: Uh-huh. There wasn't a weekend that there wasn't one or two parties. So when we came down here my husband said, "That's it; let's forget all the partying." It was very nice. They were a nice group of people. They all had families. We kept up over the years, even though everybody dispersed, we kept in touch. They all send Christmas cards. over the last few years I've noticed they're sending me Hanukkah cards. KURN: How come? LANTIN: They realize more, I guess. This year, I think, I got about three nice Hanukkah cards from real close friends. KURN: Has Miami shrunk in size? LANTIN: Oh, yes. Well, it never was too big and it's just sad. I mean, that town really has gone down. Everything was boarded up. Even Globe -- you see, the mines were very, very bad. Copper was down to about 60 cents and usually it's a dollar and up. So they had to let a lot of people go. Phil would say, "Let's take a ride to Globe." He'd look at the town and he'd get tears in his eyes. I'd say, "Do you want to go see this one or that one?* He says, "I just can't stand it.' So we'd go to our favorite Mexican restaurant and have lunch and go home. It broke his heart to see the town go down that badly. KURN: This is after you moved to Phoenix? LANTIN: Yes. We just happened to be fortunate there too, because we were able to sell our home. It was just before everything broke up there. It was the manager of one of the mines that bought our home, because they did a lot of entertaining and our home was large. Then Phil had a building there which he sold. So we really didn't .have anything left up there when we left, which was really good because everything was down. I don't think it has returned yet. KURN: Do you think it will? LANTIN: I doubt it will ever be like it was, but they're trying to get tourists. It's got a good climate. It's about ten degrees cooler than it is here at all times. It's about 3,500 feet. Some of our friends stayed there and retired there. They have their homes there. Now, even if they want to leave they can't sell them. So it's hard. KURN: Now, you said there was one Jewish couple there in Globe while you were there? LANTIN: Yes, there was this couple running the store. It was a jewelry store and it was strange because a cousin of mine called and it was her niece. So, of course, I tried to introduce her around. She was young and she had two children. Another couple came up since we were there and they called us. There's nothing I can tell you because there's no other Jewish people because this younger couple had already left. They had a printing store. For all I know they're still there. But I know that they were very Jewish minded and they did bring their son down here for lessons, so he could have a bar mitzvah. But we weren't friendly with them. KURN: Do you remember any of their names, the young couple? LANTIN: I don't remember. They divorced. She called me a' few times, but she went back to Texas to live with her mother. That was the one that was related through marriage. KURN: Did you miss the Jewish atmosphere at all? LANTIN: Well, I can't say I did. I was never really into it. In New York I worked. Then I had some friends who weren't in my neighborhood and we went to see plays every week. In those days you weren't afraid to come home alone on the subway at 12:00 at night like you would be now. Then I dated and I was dating someone at the time I left, but it was nothing that I couldn't live without. But I only went with Jewish people. of course, at I. Miller's it was a gentile firm. The people that owned it were Jewish, but I was at the Fifth Avenue office which was mostly -- a few Jewish men worked there. Ava Gardner's sister worked with me. of course, they were Jewish (?). It was a busy life and by the time you went on the subway to New York and came back your evening was over. As I say, we'd go to a show and stay in town and meet for dinner; that was mostly girls. KURN: Did the war years affect the people in Globe? LANTIN: Well, of course there was a shortage of many things. But, of course, I walked right into it so I didn't know what they had before. We went right into the war. I knew my husband ten weeks when we got married. But we both said we're old enough to know what we want, and we had 45 wonderful years. KURN: The fruit of your labors -- I know your girls and they're wonderful. LANTIN: We've been fortunate. KURN: This was interesting. I think this is important for us to get a feel for life in Phoenix and Globe in the 30's and 40's and 50's. I think it's nice to be able to go back and have this information. So, we thank you. Is there anything else you wanted to add? LANTIN: No. I can't think of anything. KURN: If you think of anything, call me. LANTIN: Okay. KURN: Thank you again for sharing. [end of transcript]