Family Camera History - Part 2

I wrote a previous blog post about my family cameras found in my mother's home after her death, including my personal cameras. I found her first camera, a Kodak Six-Twenty with a film roll still inside. 

I took the camera to a local camera store that still develops film. The clerk had difficulty taking the roll out as the rewind knob was broken. He was determined to release these shots for me.

I was excited when I was called to pick up my developed pictures.

I was disappointed with the result of the 6 prints from the roll of film. But I understood now why the film was trapped inside the camera for over 60 years.

Only 3 prints were recognizable. One of them was a repeat of my brother. These photos were taken between 1952-1954 when my father was stationed in San Diego on the USS ORISKANY as a flyer.

I found some better prints of photos taken around the same time with another camera.

Since I cannot show or ask my mother about these photos, I can only assume that after she finished this roll with only 6 shots available, the rewind knob of the camera broke on her as she was trying to remove the film for development & thus, she put the camera away in a drawer. I am sure my father realized that he needed to buy her a more modern camera to continue taking pictures of their story to share with family & to preserve the story of their family. 


The history of mom's first camera, a Kodak 6-20 lasted her for 15 years. This camera took pictures as they told her story from her teens to her early married life. I am thankful she saved this unusable camera for memory sake.

The USS Austin (LPD-4) & the Apollo Recovery Program

The NASA Apollo moon program is near & dear to my heart even though I had no family personally involved with this amazing project.

The last ship my father, Cdr. Stanley G. Cooper served on was the USS Austin LPD-4  (Landing Platform Dock) from 1 Nov 1965 - 31 Jan 1967 as the Executive Officer. 

In a letter dated 30 July 1966, Stan wrote to his family stating “FLASH - South Atlantic in OCT-NOV for space recovery ship - AUSTIN.” 

In a letter dated 9 Aug 1966, Stan stated, "I am sure we will get involved in training for the capsule recovery techniques. Will be involved in a capsule recovery in the vicinity of the Ascension Islands (South Atlantic-midway between South America & Africa). It appears we will be the primary recovery ship so we ought to draw a little publicity. Maybe a good liberty port in Africa or South America while we are there. The whole trip ought to involve about six weeks in total.” 

This is all my father mentioned in his letters. Of course, he was relating to the Apollo 1 spacecraft planned to take-off the following year, on 21 February 1967.

Apollo 1 crew: Ed White, 'Gus' Grissom & Roger Chaffee

Unfortunately, the Apollo 1 tragedy took place on Friday, January 27, 1967; this manned rocket was determined to be the first low Earth orbital test of the Apollo command & service module with a crew. A cabin fire happened during a launch rehearsal test killing all three astronauts - Command Pilot Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot  Roger B. Chaffee destroying the command module.

On Tuesday morning, 31 January; my mother after kissing her husband goodbye, fixed herself a cup of coffee, sat down to watch the funeral for two of the astronauts Grissom & Chaffe. 

Driving himself with another officer, en route to the USS Austin on the Naval Station Norfolk, they were struck by a military vehicle in the early morning. Commander Cooper was killed after receiving direct contact from the approaching truck. His partner, Lt. Frederick Weisenberger survived the accident. 

My father’s internment was the following week also at Arlington National Cemetery where he was buried only 3 plots away from Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee.

My father would have been very proud of working with the Apollo Recovery Program if he had lived to participate in acquiring the astronauts of the Apollo 12 (Nov 1969) & the Apollo 15 (Aug 1971) aboard the USS Austin along with other participating ships.

Memories of Tokyo Olympics 1964

I was raised in the military lifestyle of the United States Navy. My father’s career of service brought our family all around the world. I am so thankful for this experience.

Cooper Family 1965

My parents, brother & myself were excited to find out that we were to be sent to Japan. My father served on the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5 as the Operations Officer from 1963-1965 stationed in Yokosuka. Our family lived in Negishi Heights Naval Housing in Yokohama. 

Family Photo on the USS Oklahoma City CLG-5.

In a letter to Marty, dated 2 October, Stan types, “I am still working on the Olympic tickets & will try to get the gym finals on the 23rd finalized as soon as possible. Yokosuka reported they have plenty of tickets available on the first-come-first delivered basis. We are trying to communicate with them on my getting four seats for us as I only want to go on a family basis. I do not want any feelings hurt regardless of age.” The ship returned to port in Yokosuka on 14 October. He was not able to get the wanted tickets ahead of time. 

On Sunday, 18 October 1964, the four of us, drove to the Yokohama train station to board the train to Tokyo & purchase tickets for the gymnastics events for that day. Dad was disturbed as he could only purchase tickets for 3 seats together in the same area, which he obtained. 

After discussion with all four of us, my mother contacted by phone our new housekeeper, Teruko-san. It was arranged for her to meet me at the Yokohama train station to bring me to her home as she would watch me until the other three returned to pick me up to take home later in the evening. I remember, my parents, taking me back to the Tokyo train station, buying my train ticket for me to board & ride ALONE to Yokohama. I was eight years old! I am pretty impressed with myself to be able to get to Yokohama & that we found each other. I do remember falling in love with Teruko-san’s dog, a Japanese Spitz named ‘Shirei’ which means white in Japanese.

According to Japanese culture, parents train their children at a young age to be able to go out on their own to complete a task. I recently discovered several current Japanese videos that share about children out on their successful adventures. 

I found these photos, my brother took at the event. 

Three days later, on Wednesday, 21 October, the four of us left again for Tokyo to attend the track & field event. This time my father had 4 tickets in his hand.

I remember this event. I was enthralled by seeing all of the world flags flying in the wind around the stadium, along with the Olympic flame. As I have shared before, we were a family with cameras. My mother just received a new camera, the Kodak Instamatic 300. She took the color shot below. My brother took the black & white pictures at the same event. I am sure my father had his movie camera. I will have to hunt down movies from this time.

I have very special memories of our time in Japan. I plan in sharing more stories of this beautiful country.

The next Olympics are planned for Tokyo in 2020. It is 56 years later since I have been in the Land of the Golden Sun. Recently, I have been dreaming of returning to make more memories!

Stuck in Chesapeake Bay

Eileen, Stan with Martha sailing on a yawl in 1948 on the Chesapeake Bay.

My father, Stanley Gibson Cooper, was a student at the Annapolis Naval Academy from 1945-1949. This was after World War II where he served in the Pacific. During his Sophomore year, he had minor surgery on his nose. He was attracted to his nurse, Ensign Martha Gabuzda. They started dating a few weeks later in the fall of 1947.  

In the winter of 1948, Stan’s sister, Eileen Cooper, took the train from New York City to Annapolis for the weekend to spend time with Stan & meet his fiancé. They attended the school dance with a blind date for Eileen on Saturday evening.

On Sunday, after church, Stan, Martha, Eileen,  her blind date, with another couple took out an Academy large yawl for the afternoon. As they entered the central point of Chesapeake Bay there was no wind. The three midshipmen, who were engineers could not figure out to start the yawl’s engine so they kept rowing about in circles. As the afternoon sailed by, Eileen was panicking as she had to catch the trains back to New York City to be home that evening as she had to report for work the next day! This was a 7-hour ride for her. Fortunately, the Academy missed them, sent out the Coast Guard to their rescue & got them back to land on time. 

Stan was the only one in the family who did not know how to handle the smaller boats like this, that his grandfather, father, brother, nephews who sailed with glee.  He did much better on the larger military ships as he worked under deck or flew jets with taking off & landing them which he loved with glee.

Cooking Old Family Recipes - Pierogies

I have been craving for the past month to make a home-made dish that I can find in the freezer department in the grocery store. Pierogies!

My mother’s parents have a Slovakian heritage. My mother grew up with so many of these delicious meals. Her father, Stephen A. GABUZDA, immigrated to the United States over 100 years ago. He opened his own meat market store & shared the business with his brother who ran the local farm. Her mother, Mary I. SARNA, knew what to do with the goods her husband provided for the family’s meals.

A few years back, my cousin published a family cookbook with our grandmother’s & aunts’ recipes. 

I pulled out “Mom’s (Grandma’s) Pirogi.” Interesting with the many spellings of this dish.

I also found the well-known 1892-1952 The 60th Anniversary Slovak-American Cook Book in my mother’s cookbook collection. (seen above) This cookbook was given to her as a gift from her cousin, Mary Gabuzda, in 1969. I love what cousin Mary wrote in the front cover of the book, "To my dear cousin Martha, A little remembrance with recipes for Slovak Pastries and other dishes you enjoyed at home. With Love, Cousin Mary Gabuzda."  Mary Gabuzda (1903-1976) was the eldest daughter of Joseph Gabuzda. Joseph was the eldest of the 4 Gabuzda siblings who came to America from Austria-Hungary from 1899-1906.

Pirohy was found in the Bread section. This Pirohy recipe also included the cabbage filling. (For anyone who wants to find a copy of this cookbook, there are many sold online.)

I pulled out the prunes to boil & 3 potatoes to peel & boil as I chopped up half of the cabbage & onion.

I browned the cabbage & onions with some butter.

I continued to make & kneed the dough to roll out with my rolling pin. I cut out 9 three-inch squares.

When the potatoes were done I added two slices of American cheese & mashed the cheese in with the potatoes. 

I mashed the pitted prunes. I decided not to add the sugar as requested. 

My mouth is watering the whole time I am smelling these wonderful aromas.

I made nine pirogies of 3 each of the fillings. I decided to fry 5 of them and boil 4 of them. Both fried & boiled tasted great! Loved all 3 fillings. It will be fun to make these again playing with new ingredients.

These can be topped with sour cream, scallion & bacon bits. I did not have these on hand at the time.

Looking at the ones you can buy at the grocery store look better than mine; but,

taste as yummy. 

Next time, I will boil and then fry lightly to get the Mrs. T's look.

As a post-script, I will add what my mother wrote in the back of the Gabuzda Sisters Cookbook. She copied a story of a grandmother teaching her young granddaughter how to make Pirohies. At the end, the granddaughter asks, "Gram'ma, what do pirohies mean to you?"
"Pirohies mean love to me. My mother would spend all afternoon working in the kitchen, rolling out the dough & filling & shaping the pirohies. It means my mother in the kitchen loving her family & continuing a Slovak tradition." 
"Am I a pirohy? Mommy says kids take lots of time." the granddaughter replies.

A comment is added at the end. "Can't you just hear & picture an immigrant woman teaching her daughter or granddaughter in her broken English." She also gives credit to her sister, Marion, for the story.

I share these to inspire my cousins' children to continue on the stories & recipes from the Old Country.

Family Camera History - Part 1

Stan Cooper with his movie camera.      Martha with her Kodak 300 Instamatic.

Photo by Mary Cooper with Kodak 104 Instamatic.

The Cooper family has a burdened total of pictures, negatives, slides, and cameras collected from the past century as stated in that order. I finally have most of them organized in such a way to easily find them. I am still in the process of downloading and organizing the most important ones on my computer.

My mother's book

My father's book

Both of my parents started their own photo scrapbooks at a young age in high school. My father’s included his full baby book with facts & pictures along with a photo book started when my father joined the Navy in 1941. My mother also had a photo album started in her teens with another she kept during her twenties in nursing school along with the hospitals in her nursing career. My mother also created scrapbooks with ephemera to remember. 

Mother's scrapbooks.

I had these albums marked by their size to purchase the proper size acid-free storage box to store them in. I now have them wrapped in acid-free tissue paper stored in several boxes in a cool dry central closet. My mother had them loosely stored in a huge box in the garage which dealt with heat, cold and dampness along with silverfish. Oh, my!

After my parents’ marriage, they both continued to take shots & make albums as their family grew. My father utilized their interest with family movies, which my brother is finding ways to preserve. 

This post will focus on the cameras I remember & discovered as I was combing through my mother’s belongings after her death. 

My first evidence of one of my mother’s camera is this shot of her taken around 1948 when she was a nurse serving at the Annapolis Naval Academy Hospital from 1947 to 1949. 

Lt. JG Martha Gabuzda

Martha Gabuzda is standing in the front with the camera. It looks like the Brownie Reflex Synchro model made from 1940-1952.

What camera did she use in the 1930s for her first photo scrapbook? While I was going through a drawer of labelled family heirlooms, I found this camera. Kodak Six-20 on the backside and Kodak Anastigmat on the lens. I discovered that this model was produced & sold from 1932-1937. So this was my mother’s first camera that she used to take photos through her teen years!  

When you open the photo count, you find the #6 or #9 indicating the number you used or have left. I found a local camera store that took out the roll of film in a dark bag. The clerk had difficulty getting the cartridge out as the rewind/forward wheel had jammed. No wonder mom did not finish the roll. I will share the photos when they are developed into prints.

Undeveloped roll of Kodac 620 film.

Here is Martha in 1938, age16, as a drum majorette for her high school.

I found two Kodak Instamatics in a box with photo supplies including undeveloped film rolls with different types of flashbulbs. They were the 104 and 300. My first camera was the 104. It was sold from 1965-1968. I purchased mine the summer of 1968 before we drove across the country from the east coast to the west coast. Mary had a roll of black & white film, while Martha had a roll of color film. I am grateful for this as I can tell who took the photos during our travelling summer.

Mary holding her first camera waiting for "Ye Old Faithful"
to blow at Yellowstone National Park in 1968.

Photos by Martha Cooper with Kodak Instamatic 300.

At this time, mom had her Instamatic 300 which was sold from 1963-1966. Mother purchased hers while we were stationed in Japan, which I found the receipt for it. The 300 suffered from mold on the front, top, bottom and both sides outer case with nothing on the back. The 104 has mold only on the sides & bottom. Both were stored in faux leather cases.  

Anyone have an idea of how to take the mold off of these cameras?

Mom’s last camera was the FujiFilm Smart Shot. The camera hanging around her neck here in 1988 looks to be a different camera; this Smart Shot also had undeveloped film still in the camera to be looked at, which I am also currently getting developed into prints.

I purchased my second camera in 1983, the Pentax K-1000. I was very interested in learning the aspects of photography at the time. This manual camera was a great mentor for this elementary teacher. I took a class that included the usage of the darkroom. One of my schools had a darkroom on campus for me to use as I was the photographer & editor of the elementary school's yearbook for many years.

I eventually needed an automatic SLR camera to take better photos of students in action. I chose a Ricoh camera. I used the Ricoh until I dropped it during the summer of 2005 visiting family in New York. 

I received my first digital camera for Christmas in 2000 from my brother. It was a large green box camera, the Agfa ePhoto 780C.

I struggled to learn how to use it with my computer.  

I returned to digital cameras with my Canon Powershots. It became easier for me to shoot, download & print my own pictures. I am currently using my second one. I had a silver one from 2005 & a pink one from 2010. It is an SD1400IS.

I bought an iPhone in 2013. I use that for my photos 95% of the time with the pink Canon with the remaining 5%.