I believe this to be Antonina Golka.
The only notation on this picture is a number from the developing company. The number matches the next picture of her husband, Karl Golka. On the back of Karl's picture is the date July 11, 1938. There's no name to identify either picture. This is all on assumption and comparison to other pictures.
According to the 1940 Immigration application for a "green card" Antonina had several aliases:
Antonina Gesicka (interpreted as Kesicka, and later on became Kesicki)
Antonia Michalski (1st marriage and the surname of Helen and Harriet, her daughters from the first marriage)
Antonina Golka (2nd marriage to Karl Golka)
And then there was the name she used when she traveled to the United States:
Karl Golka 
It appears to be an older man and since this picture was in the same envelope as Antonina's picture, I can only assume that this must be her husband, Karl Golka (Karl was also spelled with a "C").
There's no identity to the little girl. Since these pictures were in the same envelope with other 1938 pictures, they may all have been taken in New Jersey -- probably the town of Linden.
What a beautiful picture of a mother and child. Could this be Helena (Helen) Michalska(i) - aka Helen Ruminska(i) with her first born child? The back of the picture has only a date: May 1924 Could this baby be Frank Ruminski?Helen is the daughter of Antonina Golka. Also, Helen is the older sister to Harriet Michalska(i). In 1904 Antonina brought Helen (age 11) and Harriet (age 6) to the United States from Lipno (Polka Providence) Poland/Russia
The Romanoska(i) family were talented musicians. They had a Polka band and played many a "gig" throughout the Linden, New Jersey area.John Romanoski purchased the Linden Accordian Shop and not long after renamed it Roman Accordian Shop. The Romanoski name was shortened to Roman. The back of this picture had only the year: 1938
Okay, so these 2 pictures keep me guessing. Since I found them in the same envelope as the 1938 & 1945-46 pictures, I'm going to guess it's either the Ruminski family or Romanoski family and that the location is in New Jersey. The date on the back of both pictures is April 1, 1945.
Here's the first of many, many pictures of Helen! Helen was the best communicator through letters that gives a great deal of information about the Michalski/ Romanoski/ Lasicki side of the family. The back of the picture has Helen and George's name with the date: October 9, 1943
I think it's too early to be Florence with 2 children. Could this be Harriet Sobozenski-Tokar with her 2 children Richard and Frankie?Hmmm....
Florence with her Father 
The back of this picture is identified as Florence with her father, Kazimir Ruminski.
The date is April 21, 1946. Probably very close to the Easter season. Florence is the daughter of Helen Ruminski and Kazimir Ruminski. Florence has a brother, Frank Ruminski and sister, Helen (DeNault).
Florence with Great Grandmother 
This picture is identified as Florence with her great grandmother. I believe that this might be Antonina Golka with Florence. The picture is dated April 21, 1946
2 comments:
Hello and thank you for posting those pictures on your web page. My name is John Romanoski, born in 1939, and I am the youngest son of John Romanoski, who was the owner of the Linden Accordion Shop in Linden. That picture was probably taken in around 1933 or so, as the shop looks pretty new. My father didn't purchase the shop, he established it in around 1931. In addition to teaching, he also did expert accordion repairs, and led a polka band, playing "gigs" in NJ, NY, and PA. He continued operations there until 1950, when he had to take a couple of years off for health reasons. He allowed all his students to be taken over by Ted Pulaski, one of his instructors. In around 1953, we moved to West Curtis Street in Linden, where he started Roman's Accordion Studio and taught until his death in 1977.
I have some old photos that I can email to you, if you'd like. I'll spend some time going through your photos and see if I can identify some folks in other pics.
Again, thank you for posting those pictures - the one of my father in front of the store is one I had never seen. Is there any way you can post the picture's file so I can download it and get a print made?
Also, can you explain the connection of the family names above to the Romanoski family?
Thank you,
John Romanoski
Thank you so much, John, for leaving your message. I would really appreciate it if you'd send me an email with contact info so we can exchange other information. Please email me at carolagus@aol.com. Just to fill in a couple of blanks, my father, Richard Lasicki is the son of Harriet (Judwiga) and Joe Lasicki. Joe's sister married Kasimir (I think). First cousin was the Schzepanski (not sure of spelling)and Ruminski's who eventually moved to New Mexico in the late 1950s or early 1960s. After my father and his brother, Walter, passed away, I had the privilege to sort through a ton of family artifacts. It's a shame that they never shared the memories of these old pictures. There's a ton more pictures I hope to some day get on this blog.
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