Mom; Dorothy Edith Eldridge
"My mother's story"
Evanston, Ill on May 1, 1919 six month old...
My mother Dorothy Edith Eldridge was born in Evanston, Illinois on May 1, 1919. Her family moved back to New Jersey when she was six months old.
..Six month, November, 1919, moving back in Westfield, NJ
Douglass College at Rutgers University
In 1941 She Finally Got a Job!
Her Biggest Break..
Gimbals Department Store..
..and Clark, NJ
They lived in Westfield and then Clark. See the stories on my, Two Mommy & Two Daddy.
When Dorothy was in high school, her parents became so disenchanted with the public school system that she and her mother moved to St. Petersburg, Florida., so Dorothy could finish her senior year of high school there.
Back to Top
New Jersey College for Women
In the fall of 1937 Dorothy entered the New Jersey College for Women (now Douglass College at Rutgers University) to study journalism. However, after her sophomore year she took a summer course in fashion writing at Traphagen School of Design in New York City. She liked it so much she decided to take the full-year journalism course at Traphagen.
Dorothy started looking for a job in 1940. The country was still in the Great Depression and jobs were scarce.
Back to Top
Rahway Record
In 1941 she finally got a job at the Rahway Record newspaper, earning $8 a week!
"I was half the editorial staff," Dorothy recalled. "It was hard work, lots of fun and excellent experience."
Back to Top
The Topic Publishing Co
Her biggest break came the next year when she got a job at The Topic Publishing Co. in New York City. It was there, some four years later, that she "met a handsome, gentle and intelligent young man named William Vermily Toffey III, who recently returned from serving in World War II. They quickly fell in love".
The couple continued to work together until the end of 1949 when Dorothy resigned her position to become a full-time housewife. Of course, she later became a mother.
Back to Top
More Mom..
Mom, Tenafly, NJ, basement, back, sewing machines, new skirt, blouse. And boys, used shirt bottom, etc.
Gimbals Department Store, Route 4 and` Paramus, NJ, average, 1965 to 1970, 5 years. Upstairs, sheets, window, curtain. Off, home, Tenafly.
But mom returned to her journalism a job with a weekly newspaper in Englewood, where she worked from 1972-1979.
Dorothy and Journalism
Eventually, Mom returned to her journalism roots and found a job with a weekly newspaper in Englewood, where she worked from 1972 to 1979. While writing for the paper, my mother had the opportunity to interview young Englewood Cliff native John Travolta, when his first movie, Saturday Night Fever was released.
Shopping, "3", One a Weeks
Mom to shopping, 1961 to 1973, one days a week, three time shopping. Tenafly, two, A&P, and Giants. And west, Bergenfield, PathMark! Summer, mom and 3 boys to shopping, tenafly, tow, and one, Bergenfield.