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Louie
And Louise
Early Years
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The Twenties
Louise went into labor on Labor Day and on September 2, 1919, she gave birth to their only child, Robert Louis. His birth certificate shows two issue dates, one on November 14, 1932, and a later one on September 25, 1942, both of which show his last name as "Poltevecque,” but Bob later said that he was known by the last name that Louis took, Padbury (after Teresa’s second husband, Bill Padbury), until he started school.
Here, the proud parents hold Bob in thick swaddling clothes during the winter of 1919-1920.
In the summer of 1920, Bob, not yet one, poses with his grandmothers, Anna Krause and Teresa Padbury. Note Bob’s blonde hair. This is the only image in this collection of Anna and Teresa together.
Louise's father Herman Dunker died in 1922. Anna remarried, to the man to the right, Karl Krause.
If you hadn’t already seen many pictures of them, you might not think this was the Poltevecque family. Louie is uncharacteristically informal, Louise’s hair is piled up on her head in a style unlike any other she ever wore, and young Bob, still tow-headed, seems to be threatening the photographer.
Louie and Louise always enjoyed going outdoors for picnics and get-aways. Here they’re seen relaxing on a blanket, Louie wearing a cloth cap in the style of the times.
Louise is seen wearing slacks in this shot, something she never did later in life. She and Bob are also wearing jaunty sailor’s caps, in a shot taken in some rural spot, perhaps on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Note the rustic hand-made bench. Note also that both of Louise's legs are bent.
Back in the city, though, Louie and Louise followed the latest fashions: a pleated dress and heels plus a marcel wave for her, a natty suit for him.
“We had a Bunko club,” Louise recalled half a century later. “We still play every night before bed, one game of Bunko and three games of Solitaire."
Louie smoked as much as five packs of cigarettes a day in his early years. One morning, after chain-smoking the evening before while playing cards with friends, he woke up feeling horrible. “I’m quitting,” he told Louise. And he did, cold turkey. He never smoked another cigarette. Despite the differences in their temperaments, Louie and Louise had a deep and abiding affection for one another.
After Louis Poltevecque, Sr., died when the boys were small, Louie's mother Teresa married the man pictured here, William Padbury (pronounced "pad-berry”). Though Bill and Teresa had no children of their own, Louie used the last name Padbury until his own son Bob started school, at which point Louie and Louise decided to carry on the Poltevecque family name, misspelling and all. Bill Padbury bought a house about 25 miles from Chicago in Westmont, Illinois, where he raised ducks and tended a garden. Note how the vine has grown on the trellis from the picture at left to the picture below, taken the next year.
“A friend of ours, Walter Winters,” Louie reminisced years later, “was in France fighting in the Battle of the Bulge at the end of World War II, and he wrote to my parents to say that he was thinking about sitting in their cherry tree eating cherries.”
Theresa and Bill Padbury welcomed visits from the Poltevecque boys, John on the left and “big” brother Louie on the right. Sitting on the steps is Louie’s son Bob, mugging for the camera much as his own son Rob would do years later. Like many young men of the day, Louie finished only grammar school, opting instead to work and help support the family, doing a number of jobs, including inspecting fruit that came in from around the country on trains.
Theresa Kaspermint Padbury, around 1930
Wherever Louie and Louise went, Bob went along as well. They instilled in him a love of travel, especially car trips, that lasted all his life. Back in those days, though, a car trip was quite a challenge: the trip to Manistique to see Louise’s folks took 20 hours, often required two or three tire changes and repairs, and meant hanging a lantern out the window in the dark, since headlights were rare and poor.
While in Manistique, the Poltevecques undoubtedly visited Louise's mother and step-father, Anna and Karl Kraus. From the looks of their attire, the Krauses were fairly well-off in the Roaring Twenties.
Whether or not her leg wouldn't bend, Louise never learned to drive, so this photo is unusual. Bill and Teresa are along for the "ride" as is Bob, barely visible in the back seat wearing a grin as big as his mother's. Note the car's removable visor and spoked wheels.
Louie's big brother John married a woman named Hazel, who was known for her large hair styles. They had a son named Kenny.
There were many trips out of town to visit Teresa in her little house in the suburbs. Here Bob rides a tricycle and wears a badge of some sort.
Most of the time, though, Louie and Louise spent their days in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties, and dressed accordingly. Here they’re seen with Louise’s sister Emma in front of Chicago’s famed Buckingham Fountain. Note Bob’s short pants: at that time boys wore their pants short until they reached their teens or so.
It turns out that this photograph was taken a few months after the opening of the fountain. In May of 2010, Phil Rogers, a reporter with KMAQ-TV in Chicago, contacted me to ask if the station could use this photo as part of an historical article about the fountain, crossfading this shot with a contemporary one of Mr. Rogers by the fountain.
The best times, though, were family times with Bob, who was shooting up like a weed. “Taking pictures was part of the ritual,” Louie reminisced. “Without the pictures, it wasn’t a picnic.”
Despite the injury to her leg, Louise seems to have enjoyed a full and active life. Here she’s seen in the latest swim fashion on a dock , probably on rural Lake Delavan in southern Wisconsin, one of their favorite get-away spots.
Most of the pictures that survived Louie and Louise were of other people, but once in a while a friend would snap a shot of them, like this one taken in someone’s backyard.
The whole family gathered for picnics and other occasions. Note the classic cars in the background. The people are (l-r): Dorothy Kandlik, Louie, Louise, an unknown boy, Berthie and Bertha Kandlik, Harry Shroeder (Alvina's husband), Frank Kandlik (Bertha's husband), Bob Poltevecque and Virginia Kandlik (absorbed in some game), Bill Dunker, Alvina and one of her children, and Emma Shroeder.