How Not to See New York

Manhattan skyline at sunset. Photo credit: Pixabay

Found such an unusual article authored by Youmans and appearing in the 5 Dec. 1934 edition of the Berkeley Daily Gazette, page 4. It's a jam-packed, rather cheeky imagined itinerary for a hypothetical trip to New York, a location which, in the end, she advises the aging and contemplative against visiting. Not sure why the write-up's in a California newspaper (since she was located in Ohio)—though she did stay with a friend for a year in Cali, between 1927-1928, following the death of her husband and marriage of her only son, so perhaps there's a connection there. Also not sure why she's writing about what to see, if she'd never been!

Manhattan Tour

From Pataskala, Ohio, comes the following prescription for the ideal New York visit. Eleanor Youmans sends it:

“Having been to Atlantic City, but never to New York, I suspect I’d spend the first hour riding miles in a taxi to reach a hotel three blocks from the station.

“The first half day, I’d made inquiries as to what has been done with the Poe cottage that stood
at Fordham. And the afternoon, going to the various places to which I had been mistakenly direct. Incidentally, you might tell us: What has become of the Poe cottage?

Poe Cottage, Bronx, New York. Photo credit: JHSmithArch

“Having seen greater New York and the water front, the Brooklyn and Washington bridges, Central Park, Broadway, Forty-Second Street, and the Goddess of Liberty, while hunting for the Poe cottage—I’d spend my second and third days in the Metropolitan Museum art Gallery. The fourth day, if possible, I’d visit Radio City music hall, the Capital Theater, and the Theater Guild. In the evening, I’d go to Madison Square Garden, to see the Canadian Mounties ride.

Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo credit: Arad

“The fifth day—a farewell ride up Broadway on top of a bus, in the morning. A matinee performance of the Phil Harmonic, and that night, to the Metropolitan opera, to hear Richard Crooks and Rosa Ponselle in—was it?—‘Peter Ibbettson.’ Between times, a stroll up Fifth Avenue, to peer into shop windows. But no time wasted going inside. We have shops, at home, stuffed with New York and Paris goods.

The Metropolitan Opera. Photo credit: NARA

“No night clubs—‘My New York,’ and a lively imagination is sufficient for them. No visit to the Empire State tower—pictures show more than I could see on a smoky winter day. I’d be taken to my train in an ambu’ance, likely, after such a whirl. And, it would be a relief to return to the Welsh hills country, in Central Ohio. New York attracts youth. It is the place for sharp, brilliant work. When you come to write your 1200 page novel, try the meditative hills.”

Welsh Hills of Licking County, Ohio. Photo credit: GranvilleNative

Researching an All-But-Forgotten Life

I've been planning to research and write about Youmans for years, but it was a random internet search for her name during a break in the fall semester last year that made me realize that I actually had the tools to do the research at my fingertips. Her name was indexed in The FictionMags Index created by a private user. Till then, I never knew she wrote anything but children's books. A door into an essentially forgotten life was opened.

Beginning with WorldCat, I compiled a complete list of her novels (and their reprints) and the volumes of Book Review Digest at the university library showed me where to find most of the book reviews listed on this site. What we didn't have in hard copy in the library I've requested via Interlibrary Loan over the past six months. A couple of the reviews were in works so obscure it took several months for the ILL office to track down copies (when most typically take a week). My mother gave me several of Youmans's books, inscribed to her, and I've managed to build a complete library of her novels from online used and antiquarian book sellers. The Pataskala Public Library once owned a collection of her works, but donated them to the Granville Historical Society.

Love Memorial Library at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Photo credit: David Keyzer

Neither the Ohio Historical Society, nor the Licking County Historical Society have any information pertaining to Youmans. The West Licking County Historical Society—which covers Pataskala—has published a small amount of information on her, of course, and has been a vital source as I gather material. I plan to visit with some of its members this summer to compile more information. Of especially tremendous insight has been one of Eleanor's friends, who has been kind enough to correspond with me over the last few months, sharing with me her time and valuable memories. The Ohioana Library has a small file on her work, and has been very helpful. The Cartoon Library and Museum at The Ohio State University may have some information as well, since they have the Will Rannells papers, and I will be visiting their repository this summer.

July 16, 1914 Cover of Life Magazine, featuring artwork by Will Rannells.

Because Youmans is one of my relatives (my first cousin, three times removed) I had some insight into her life through genealogical records. In fact, I was able to connect with her great-nephew (my third cousin, once removed) through a genealogical society. He has graciously shared with me some of Eleanor's letters, family histories she authored, a few photos, and even an unpublished short story she wrote for her sister's children.

By extension, a free trial on ancestry.com allowed me to search out newspaper articles on her in a local paper, the Newark Advocate. If only archives of the Pataskala Standard were accessible online! The Pataskala Public Library holds a collection of the newspaper on microfiche. Their machines only allow you to view the articles, however, and not print them. For a while, my mother was serving as my research assistant, scouring the old papers for information on Youmans as I'm now living out-of-state. Eventually, I plan to pay a visit to the Ohio Historical Society where they have a more complete microfiche collection of The Standard and viewers that enable printing.

Pataskala Public Library. Photo credit: Kids Linked

A 1937 Newark Advocate article explains that Youmans got her start when a friend asked her to write copy for Cat Courier, the monthly newsletter of the Cat Fanciers' Association. A magazine in England apparently copied the stories, and "the idea looked too good to discard." There seem to be only three places in the world that have copies of Cat Courier dated during the decades when Youmans would have written for them—New York Public Library, Maryland's National Agriculture Library, and the Jean Baker Rose Memorial Library at the CFA headquarters in New Jersey. Since I don't know specific issues of page numbers, and these newsletters don't include indexes or tables of contents, the only real way for me to find her stories will be to actually flip through the newsletters by hand. Some day! And I would love to figure out which English magazine copied the stories.

New York Public Library. Photo credit: PFHLai

The recent acquisition of digitized texts by Google and now available through Google News has sniffed out even more references to her titles. Periodic internet searches have lead me to online auctions of works containing her stories, including Child Life magazine and a "safety reader" that contextualizes Skitter Cat (a white Persian) and Major (an Airedale) in light of teaching children how to keep pets safe. On my next trip to Minneapolis I plan to peruse the main library's collection of Child Life to see if she published in any other issues.

August 1935 Cover of Child Life Magazine

The mother lode of Eleanor Youmans related library holdings is retained by the Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington. They house the manuscript collection of her Indianapolis based publisher—Bobbs-Merrill, containing approximately 700 pages of correspondence, biographical data, readers' reports, and promotional material pertaining to Youmans. Some day, some day!

Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington. Photo credit: Vmenkov