A Syosset Scrapbook 

 Part Three

The VanSise Store c. 1920
Looking south on what is now Berry Hill Road,
the Syosset post office was located there.
Charles Alfred VanSise, Proprietor, was the Syosset Postmaster 1892-1896, 1905-1927 and his daughter Elsie served as "postmistress."
 (image courtesy of Don Karas)

1873

Small town mail, clockwise from top: 
 to Miss O. Burtis before the creation of Nassau County on Jan. 1, 1899;
from Helen Burtis, 1906; 
 to Miss Susan Cagwin, 1908;
Miss Nellie Nowak, 1938;
 Miss Nellie Nowak, 1939 (Penguin Pond);
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Boslet, 1941
Pam Boslet, 1949

Postcard from Postmaster Boslet to his daughter Pamela, July 26, 1950,
apparently to test the new home delivery

More small town mail:
Top left, to Mrs. Arline Romaine from Elise Rademacher in French-occupied Rhineland Pfalpz, Germany, c. 1947;
Top right, First Day Cover marking the Advent of Canadian Citizenship to Miss Barbara Sohies (?) from Ottawa, Canada, July 1947;
Bottom left, to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hicks Seaman, 1954;
Bottom right, to "The Employers at Syosset Postoffice" from Malmö, Sweden, 1955

Very old letter to Miss Burtis, Syosset Vineyears, Queens County.

Postcard marked September 1906 to Oliver Livingston Jones, Jr., Esquire

Postcard to John J. Graham, June 11, 1909, probably on birth of his daughter, Virginia

Postcard to three-year-old Virginia Graham, May 27, 1912, from Aunt Ida

Postcard from Gordon McAuliffe to his parents, June 9, 1938
The card was sent from Orient Point, LI to Syosset; Gordon reported that the trip (a distance of approximately 76 miles) took 2 hrs and 15 minutes.)
(images courtesy of Maureen McAuliffe Smith)

Letter to Beverly Schiess, postmarked August 14, 1940

In front of the Post Office, August 1939
 Postmaster James A. Devine, Mildred Knettel, Gordon McAuliffe
(image courtesy of Diane Oley)

Robert E. Boslet becomes Postmaster
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge;
for a more legible reading, click here:  Text of Articles

Official appointment of Robert Boslet as Postmaster, March 21, 1940
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge;
for a more legible reading, click here:  Text of Certificate

1940s' era Syosset Post Office on Jackson Avenue;
left to right, new Postmaster Robert E. Boslet, Ruth Raplee, Gordon McAuliffe and Mildred Knettel
Notice the World's Fair poster on the right.

Back of postcard to Postmaster Boslet from 1st Assistant Mildred Knettel, 8/7/40
(Mr. Boslet, who had recently been appointed postmaster, was only 25 at the time and was no doubt delighted to be addressed as "The Honorable Postmaster."  
Mildred Knettel did not resign.)

Pre-cancelled stamps, c. 1940s
(image courtesy of Warren Mills)

In front of the Post Office during World War II
 Gordon McAuliffe (with hat) and two unidentified friends
Notice the Savings Bonds poster on the right.

 Postmaster Robert E. Boslet

In front of the post office, c. 1940

Old Syosset PO box door

Syosset Post Office, Christmas 1943
Top row:  Bernard Middendorf, Mildred Knettel, Robert E. Boslet
Front row:  Patricia Montgomery, Mary Wencko, Leone Knettel, Ruth Raplee
(photo courtesy of Mary Wencko Gaida)

Letter of recommendation written by Postmaster Boslet for Mildred Knettel Vanstane,
February 2, 1946
(image courtesy of Diane Oley)

Postmaster's badge, button, Post Office badge and Mr. Zip pin promoting the use of the newly-created ZIP Code (Zoning Improvement Plan), begun on July 1, 1963 

Bob Boslet's post office tie tack, tie bars, and National Association of Postmasters pin

Area postmasters in 1940s
Airmail stamps skyrocket to 5¢!

Syosset P.O. and the Sweet Shop
The post office moved to this new location farther east on Jackson Avenue in 1950 and home delivery of mail was begun.

First Day Cover commemorating the issuance of the
 commemorative postage stamp honoring Sagamore Hill
and signed by John A. McGarr, Oyster Bay postmaster 
September 14, 1953

Copy of letter dated Dec. 3, 1954 to Postmaster Boslet from 
the National Archives and Records Services
answering his request for information regarding the Syosset Post Office
The letter lists all postmasters from 1855 to 1954.

Post Office personnel, 1955
Front row, l. to r., Rein Hakker, Thomas F. Carney, Robert C. Smith, William C. Walsh, Al Feinberg, Harold Cheser, Glenn R. Cook, Daniel J. Morgan.  Standing, George T. Manelski, Raymond G. Leighton, Stanley T. Jozwiak, John Doss, Edith Budd, Vladimir (Archie) Borodavchuk, Robert E. Boslet, Michael J. Turansky, Charles W. Ludlam, John J. Quinn

 One of Syosset's faithful couriers,  c. 1960s 

Left, Postmaster Robert Boslet and Clerk Edith Budd, 1955;
Right, Edith Budd on her retirement pictured with
Vladimir (Archie) Borodavchuk, Robert Boslet, Eddie Lagutski, ?, ?

Hard at work in the P.O., c. 1960; Eddie Lagutski is in the center.

Postmaster Boslet in Long Island Living, December 1, 1960, preparing for the Christmas rush
Entitled "It's Later Than You Think!", 
the caption informed us that "the Post Office is faced with the Herculean task of moving the 'mountains of mail.'"

Behind the P.O., c. 1960

Near Scott's 5&10

FBI Wanted poster from the post office, 1961

New post office under construction in 1961

The post office at
40 Queens St. in 1964 

Flag-raising ceremony dedicating the new post office, Sept. 17, 1961
Left to right, Bruce Chasan, Postmaster Robert Boslet, Congressman  Steven B. Derounian, unidentified scout; 
Excerpt from The Postal Record, November 1961, written by Robert C. Smith

Left to right, Vincent Campanello; James Balletta, chairman of the dedication committee; Postmaster Robert E. Boslet; Harold Cheser, president, and Robert C. Smith,
 secretary, of Branch 4503

First Day Cover commemorating the inauguration
 of the US Postal Service, July 1, 1971

Bicentennial commemorative two dollar Federal Reserve Note
from Syosset Post Office, stamped April 13, 1976
(image courtesy of Warren Mills)

Bob Boslet retires from the U. S. Postal Service, August 20, 1977

Inside the Syosset Post Office, 2004
Left, Russell Engel
Right, Fred Reuther
(image courtesy of David Abbey)

Stanley "Cement" Kwiatkowski, firefighter c. 1960 and c. 1943
(images courtesy of Florence Kwiatkowski Sendrowski)

Fire Department badges
(image at top right, courtesy of Don Karas)

These badges and patch belonged to Reginald J. Greenway. 
(images courtesy of Lois Ann Greenway Helser)

Syosset Fire District sign, 1941

 Members of the Syosset Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, early 40s
Right, Leone Knettel Taylor
(photo on right, courtesy of Diane Oley)

Syosset Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, 1951
From left to right are (front row) unidentified, unidentified, Jenny Jozwiak Smith, unidentified, Ida Pompa, Josephine Kucinski, Florence Marsola, Frances Hendrickson,  Adele Greenway, Rose Golbin, and Ann Rynsky.   From left to right are (second row) Winifred Boslet, Nellie Solnick, Josephine Miron, unidentified, Wilma Jozwiak, Ida Poole, unidentified, Margie Katowski, Marion Miron, Mary Wencko and Joan Puccio. From left to right are (back row) unidentified, ? Nalback, Bridie Murphy, Irene Arominski,  and ? Van Velsor. 
(photo courtesy of the Wencko family)

Left, Captain William Judge and Fireman Eddie Jozwiak, c. 1965
(image courtesy of Patrick Judge);
Right, side view of truck

 
1965
Left, Fire Department Headquarters on Cold Spring Road;
center, Station 2 on Woodbury Road;
Right, Station 3 on South Oyster Bay Road
(images courtesy of Patrick Judge)

Columbia Corrugated Container Corporation Fire, 1965
From Newsday:  "Four days later water is still being poured on this Syosset fire
 which has been raging since Sunday.  It is estimated that firemen may have to
 stay on the job for another two days to completely put it out...  Most of Syosset's
 140 vamps have been at the scene round-the-clock;  some have not been home in days..."
(images courtesy of Patrick Judge)

Images from a Syosset Volunteer Fire Department booklet, 1974

Syosset Fire Department in Nassau County Firemen's Association parade, Mineola, June, 14th, 1947.  Photos by George A. Roussey, 1160 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, 16, N.Y.  Phone: ST 3-8467.
(images courtesy of Mary Wencko Gaida)

The Syosset Tournament Team, The Night Raiders, June 15, 1947 in Mineola
 "I think the dark haired man on the back of the speed wagon is Muzzy Mazola.  Pity the two men who crash landed.  It appears there is 
help from a medical team on the other side of the eight foot barbed wire 
topped fence."  Florence Kwiatkowski Sendrowski
 (images courtesy of Mary Wencko Gaida)

Local fire departments in the Hicksville Labor Day Tournament, c. 1956
Top, C-Ladder runs:  left, East Meadow; Right, Massapequa
Bottom left, the Oyster Bay Rough Riders are about to dig.
Syosset did not run motorized ladders until c. 1974.
(Source of information:  Digger74's Fire Department Racing Forum)

The Syosset Night Raiders in a Hempstead July 4th Tournament
Jim "Mootsie" Thomas is "running nozzle in C-Hose."
(Source of information:  Digger74's Fire Department Racing Forum)

The Syosset Night Raiders bucket team in Hempstead, 1974
(photos by Jeanne Langion Judge)

The Syosset Night Raiders in Hicksville, 1974
left, "B" hose; right, "C" hose
(photos by Patrick Judge)

Left and center, vintage helmets;
 Right, 1st Assistant Chief dress hat 

Fire Department patches

Syosset Fire Department shield 
(image from the Web site of Precision Art, LTD)

Engine 5816 at Syosset FD Headquarters; artwork on side of vehicle
(photos by Patrick Judge)

Syosset fire truck identity plate

Fire station, 2000
(photo by Michael Mark)

Bob Boslet's Civil Defense pin; Boslet scanning the Syosset sky for enemy planes; Boslet's plane spotter ID badge

Left, a Syosset soldier and friends on Jackson Avenue; the man on left is Burleigh Horan; Gordon McAuliffe is in center and Dan Pepe is on right.
Right, Dan off to war

Dan Pepe's grandson Chris Pepe holding John Delin's book, Syosset People and Places, with the picture of Dan Pepe, his grandfather. 
(image courtesy of Elinore Brown)
 

Chris holding Tom Montalbano's book, Syosset, with a picture of Patsy Pepe, his granduncle. Patsy was killed in WWII
(image courtesy of Elinore Brown)

World War II Draftees
Syosset men:  Joseph Hoda, lower left
Henry Curran, middle
Pete Hoda, 2nd middle
(image courtesy of Mary Wencko Gaida)

Ensign George Gay, World War II hero and later a Syosset resident,
at Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital
The headline reads:  "Japanese at Midway SMASHED."
On 4 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, his squadron was wiped out. 
 Gay was the only survivor of the thirty pilots and radiomen in that attack.  
After his death in 1994, Ensign Gay's ashes were scattered, per his will, off Midway.
Ensign Gay was portrayed by Kevin Dobson in the 1979 motion picture hit, Midway.
(image from the Navy Historical Center)

Ensign George Gay

Joseph A. Puccio, BSN. M. 2/c, was cited for halting destruction of his ship, May 21, 1944.
(image courtesy of Mary Wencko Gaida)

Staff Sergeant Joseph M. Miron, 1945
First Newsday carrier boy in Syosset, war hero at 20.
(image courtesy of Mary Wencko Gaida)

Brothers Le Roy and A. H. Budd meeting in the Marshall Islands
while serving in the Pacific campaign 
(image courtesy of Virginia Budd Vail Hofstad)

Left, Vladimir (Archie) Borodavchuk
Right, Winslow "Toots" Sobering, in Africa March 1943
(images courtesy of Diane Oley)

Left, Charlie Garvey, 3/27/44
Right, Oswald "Ozzie" Andreasson, 6/4/44

Master Sergeant James McAuliffe in '40s;
1965 letter from Gen. Wallace M. Green, Commandant of the Marine Corps, to Wilhelmina McAuliffe
expressing regret at her son James' death
(images courtesy of Maureen McAuliffe Smith)

Letter from Raymond Boslet to his mother, Winifred, December 15, 1941
Ray was stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; his family in Syosset did not know for several days if he survived.
Note that the censor removed part of the Hawaiian scene.

Letters from servicemen to Postmaster Boslet from Hawaii, 1941 and 1942 
(his brother, Raymond) and Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma, 1945 (his friend, Herman Bernstein)

Harry D. Wright, War Hero

V-mail 1943-44
All from Stuart V. Hamilton, U.S.N, U.S.S Indiana
Top row:  to his cousin Emma Weeks
Third row:  to his cousin Mabel Greenidge
Second row:  to his aunt May Wicks
Bottom:  to his aunt May Wicks

Wartime ad for the REF Aircraft Corporation

Winter during the war
The REF building (Krebs and Schulz) is in the background

 Employees of the Upholstery Dept., Grumman Plant 12,
Syosset, Christmas 1942
(photo donated by Barry Stark)

Cover of Grumman's 1943 desk calendar

Inside the Syosset Grumman Plant, 1943

WWII defense drive

July 2000

Ration book covers
Top, Arthur and Mabel Wicks Greenidge 
Bottom, May Wicks and Emma Wicks
May Wicks' daughters, Emma (1902-1983) and Mabel (1905-2008)
taught at Syosset Union Free School #12, c. 1920s-40s

Cover of Pam Boslet's ration book 

Ration stamps and red points

The SS Syosset, a tanker built for the Socony Oil Company
Manned by US Naval Armed Guards and Merchant Marines at the
 time of the Japanese surrender, it was active from 1945 to 1971. 
 It arrived at Castellon, Spain in Nov. 1971 for demolition. 
(William F. Hultgren, Military Historian)

July 1936 beside Summers' Field
The young man on the left, Clemes Zglieseky
 (pictured with Sammy Puccio, Sally Anne Lynch and her father, Dan), went down on the USS Juneau with the five Sullivan brothers in 1942.
(photo courtesy of Sally Anne Lynch)

Syosset Roll of Honor, WWII
"Our boys serving our flag on land, sea, and in the air."
Note "Roosevelt, F.D. Jr." in right photo.
(image on right, courtesy of Diane Oley)

Nellie Nowak Boslet and Robin, Oct. 24, 1943

Honor Roll postcard, 1940s
"This is our Honor Roll that is down near the Rail Road station.  I noticed tonight that there were 241 names on it.  So far I think there are about 8 gold stars.  This picture isn't so good because you can't see all the bushes & flowers behind the fence."  Mildred Knettel Vanstane to her husband, Forrest Vanstane, during World War II.
(postcard courtesy of Diane Vanstane Oley)

Hanging the Welcome Home banner;
WWII vet Donald Boslet is on the left.

Welcoming home Syosset's World War II veterans
Nobody did it for them, so they did it themselves.