Louise Baas nee Hartmeier was born in 1890, the oldest child of a Swiss mother and West German father. Here she describes stories from her life from her childhood through the 1950's. The interviewer is Gus Bifani, Louise's son-in-law.

Story summaries of Louise Baas' Recollections:

Part One:

Intro - "Hello, how are you?"

Life in Greely (Pike County) PA as a girl (Includes descriptions of the farm and boarding house owned by her parents)

Working in The City as a domestic in 1906

More about life in Greely (Includes descriptions of going to the dances - "I was the only lady in that dance hall that had a creme de menthe. That proved that I was a little bit citified, don't you think so?")

Becoming a sales girl in The City and working at the restaurant on 18th Street (Includes the story about The Flim-Flam Man)


Part Two:

Continuation of working as a sales girl in The City and The Flim-Flam Man

"Now that I'm 85 years old nothing happens, and it's kind of disgusting, you know?" (Discussing the importance of reminiscing to her, and looking back how her experiences shaped how she interacts with others)

Francisca and the Benziger Brothers (How her mother went into business in Einsigler (?) Switzerland at 15 years old and came to America when she was 16)

Francisca's business sense and property purchases (Brick houses on 165th Street in Jamaica Queens)

Traveling (How to get from Greely to NYC)

Back to the houses on 165th Street (owned from 1943-1950)

More traveling (Getting around Long Island) and property investments by Francisca

Hunting and Hassenpfeffer


Part Three:

Hunting and Hassenpfeffer, continued

Gus and the Lumberjacks of Pike County PA

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