As I mentioned a few posts ago, I found a cache of letters between "the sage of Baltimore" H.L. Mencken and Max Brödel, the first non-physician member of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.
Mencken and Brödel founded the "The Saturday Night Club" an informal group of doctors, lawyers, teachers, musicians, artists, writers and businessmen who were interested in friendship, music, conversation and good food and good beer (even during Prohibition). The above photo is probably from Mencken's house, either on Union Square or on Cathedral Street.
Brödel's daughter, Elsa, who was about 16 in 1927, wrote a personal essay for an assignment for Baltimore's all-girl Bryn Mawr School. It is an incredibly mature and insightful look at at Elsa's parents and their friends. She describes the household getting ready to host the evening at their house on Suffolk Road in Guilford, the arrival of the guests, and finally, her thoughts on each of the guests.
I scanned the relevant essay and the sketch above, which were published in "Max Brödel: The Man Who Put Art into Medicine," written by Ranice W. Crosby and John Cody and published in 1991 by Springer-Verlag, New York.
Hello Meg, I agree that Elsa's essay is quite remarkable, although I not sure whether all of the subjects would have appreciated it. The level of detail reminds sounds like a high school writing class, with the physical details not as deftly handled as the personality ones. There is a fine sense of community; musicales like this are rare these days. Elsa evidently has Theo wrapped around her little finger! My kitchen towels must be washed more often than theirs--they don't seem to contaminate things dried with them. The Brodels could have used an extra supply of your towel creations!
ReplyDelete--Jim
I was really astonished when I read this essay. So mature.
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