putterings 451 < 451a > 452 index
Esther Vandeveer: writings, sorted; and about
So far, finding little about Esther Vandeveer. Actual name? years? (unlikely 1897-1983); possibly lived in Virginia? — ancestry.com
Generally conservative tales, aware of but not receptive to then-contemporary social trends. Instances of the word “theory/theorizing” tend to be countered by common sense and ripe maturity.
Quite a few stories are found in newspapers, trade journals; some of these pieces were syndicated by the American Press Associates and others.
This page is a start at a listing.
- Esther Vandeveer, “Alec Tilton’s Find”
The Barre Daily Times (Vermont, November 27, 1909) : 3
via LoC Chronicling America : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19091127.htm
Rather like “His One Useful Act” (of June 1914) — a desk, a lost letter (in this case, a marriage certificate), a fortune regained and a marriage sealed.
- Esther Vandeveer, “A Dream that Faded”
Bluefield Evening Leader (Bluefield, West Virginia; May 28, 1910) : 4
via Virginia Chronicle / Library of Virginia : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19100528.htm
- Esther Vandeveer, “A Pawned Watch; It Was at the Bottom of a Plot
Nyack Evening Star (August 29, 1911) : 7
Hudson River Valley Heritage / Historical Newspapers : linkillegible scan
- Esther Vandeveer, “An Abortive Attempt”
The Lexington Gazette 109:27 (2 July 1913) : 7
via Virginia Chronicle / Library of Virginia : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19130702.htm
young man and young woman, brought together by their conspiring mothers at a boring rustic retreat, instead break unsophisticated others’ hearts (leading to one suicide (as in “His Chef d’Oeuvre” of 23 May 1916). Both make their separate get-aways, separate (and conventional) lives, and separate (undangerous) marriages. not sure what the moral of the story is.
note —
36 results (some duplications) for Esther Vandeveer at
Virginia Chronicle / Library of Virginia : link (20240724) - Esther Vandeveer. “A Child Match; Great Efforts Were Made to Bring the Couple Together.”
The International Confectioner (January 1914) : 75-76
NYPL copy/scan (via google books) : link
same (via hathitrust) : link - Esther Vandeveer, “A Brave Fool”
The Lexington Gazette 110:3 (January 21, 1914) : 7
via Virginia Chronicle / Library of Virginia : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19140121.htm
George, a city man of some wealth and pointless leisure, is in the countryside on doctor’s orders for a recuperation. He ponders his uneventful life while on a walk. Danger intrudes, averted by a sharp and skilled young woman on horseback; George, misunderstanding the situation, worsens it considerably. All turns out well in the end, with a happy match.
- Esther Vandeveer. “His One Useful Act; Puttering Turned Out to Be of Value” in Magazine Section, The International Confectioner (June 1914) : 75-76
NYPL copy/scan (via google books) : link
same (via hathitrust) : linktranscription at : 451
- Esther Vandeveer. “A Matrimonial Theorist; His theories did not work in practice.”
Eastern Shore Herald (Eastville, Northampton County, Va.,) 36:2 (October 17, 1914)
via Library of Virginia / Virginia Chronicle : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19141017.htm
- Esther Vandeveer. “His Chef d’Oeuvre; It gained him a reputation which profited him not.”
The Richmond Virginian 7:115 (23 May 1916) : 2
Virginia Chronicle / Library of Virginia : link
same story (minus subtitle, but a clearer scan) at Locomotive Engineers’ Journal 50:10 (October 1916) : 864-867
via google books : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19160523.htm
- Esther Vandeveer. “Their United Influence; A Story for Labor Day”
The News-Herald (Ravena, New York; August 18, 1916) : 2
NYS Historic Newspapers : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19160818.htm
a labor/management romance fantasy, combinining a Horatio Algeresque rise in station, a lot of trust in a patriarchal figure; two women, one a wealthy heiress with sympathy for workers, but no understanting; the other, a young woman who is trusted by both that general manager and her fellow workers.
The story ends with (1) the business saved (miraculously and without explanation, from predator competitors who would form a trust and fire the workers); and (2) with a marriage (like other of Vandeveer’s fairytales).
Bryan hands Mary Boyd a package of bank bills, with which she is to relieve distress amongst the strikers’ families, without letting on where the money came from. And apparently she gets away with it. One fantasy after another.
I sense a petite bourgeoisie aversion to hardcore labor activism and strikes. Happy endings involve marriage and fortune. What happens ten years after this story ends? Will the marriage remain happy? will the Pollard Manufacturing company continue to prosper, or even exist?
- Esther Vandeveer. “Andy Miller, Desperado”
The Livingston Chronicle (Livingston, Merced County, California) 9:28 (March 30, 1917)
U California microform (via hathitrust) : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19170330.htm
- Esther Vandeveer. “The Origin of Love”
The Meeker Herald (Meeker, Colorado) 32:38 (April 28, 1917) : 2
via Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19170428.htm
another story dismissive of “theorizing,” and involving a couple, a field and a bull (as in “A Brave Fool,” 19140121).
- Esther Vandeveer. “An Exile’s Return”
Eastern Shore Herald (Eastville, Northampton County, Va.,) 38:23 (28 July 1917)
via Library of Virginia / Virginia Chronicle : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19170728.htm
noble German, encountered by a woman artist in the Catskills, where he was hiking, returns to Germany to restore his honor. difference between American and (fading) German mentality.
- Esther Vandeveer. “My Other Self”
Rockridge County News (Lexington, Virginia) 38:23 (September 20 1917)
via Library of Virginia / Virginia Chronicle : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19170920.htm
a doppelganger crime mystery, brief and quickly resolved; might be the seed of a 1950’s radio/television drama.
- Esther Vandeveer. “A Race at the Aero Club”
Alamosa Journal (Alamosa County, Colorado) 32:38 (October 4, 1917) : 2
via Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19171004.htm
another woman’s wiles story; she gets her man.
- Esther Vandeveer. “Church Politics.”
Five Mile Beach weekly journal (Wildwood, New Jersey; April 5, 1918) : 6
via LoC / Chronicling America : linktranscription at : vandeveer_19180405.htm
lively daughter meddles (in unspecified, left-to-the-imagination ways, to save her father’s curate).
2 August 2024