There is an area in the City...New York...if you have your own city & don't know which one I'm referring to here...that my dad mentioned a little while ago. It's a place all the way over on the east side. It comprises an area from 40th street to 43rd street between 1st & 2nd Ave (a block away from the river).

Tudor City is a little hidden away (as much as anything can be hidden away in NY) section of Manhattan that seems to be like a world of it's own. It retains some of the charm of the time it was built.

"Completed in 1928, it consisted of 12 apartment buildings containing 3000 housing units & 600 hotel rooms. The design by the architect H. Douglas Ives & his team was based heavily on the Tudor Style, an architectural style prevalent during the Tudor Dynasty. Characteristic for this style is the brickwork & the application of fine intricate stonework."

My parents met & courted here. They both worked in midtown & would meet for lunches in the gardens of Tudor City. I never heard any of these stories until recently. My mother is not one to talk of her childhood much. So much so, that we sometimes wonder if she actually had one. She never brings up stories like this either & I have no idea why. My father, on the other hand...comes from a line of Irish storytellers (just ask him...if you have LOTS of time to spare).



They'd meet in the warm months on lunch breaks from work. They'd sit in the courtyards of Tudor City & eat pretzels brought on the street or my father would glom down a sidewalk hotdog (probably with everything on it) & chat. My mother is reserved & proper (most of the time) & dressed to the nines. She'd never dream of wearing sneakers or even flat shoes to walk faster on her way in those days. Those were the days of skirts & dresses & pantyhose (the word alone makes me itch).

I can picture them...my mom all pretty in the black & white suit with the cropped jacket & knee length skirt (one of the few things she saved from back then...she let me wear it once to a job interview...such a well made pretty suit...we both can't fit into the 24 inch waist anymore...sheesh...can't even image the damn thing ever fit either of us), & my dad in a dark suit with a skinny tie.

Labels: Beauty, NYC