A Black Sheep

 I am not sure he was really a Black Sheep but he certainly was a Gray Sheep. Growing up my cousins, my brother and I would hear about my dad's cousin, know to us as Itchky. I remember the comments about him were always unusual. Perhaps I met him once or twice over the years when, as a child, we would celebrate Rosh Hashanah or other holidays with my dad's side of the family. At some point I recall hearing that Itchky moved to California and while I would hear of him from time to time, I do not think I ever saw him in person again. Fast forward to today and my adventure with genealogy. Going through early family pictures I would recognize him and the memories came streaming back.
Isa George Maiman (Itchky) was born in Philadelphia in 1903. He was the son of my grandmother Victoria's sister, Fannie Maiman. Another sister, Jenny Baraff, also lived in Philadelphia at that time and her family remained there. Her brother, Isaac, already lived in Chicago. My grandmother, along with her son and youngest daughter, was the last of the Talmici(Talmage) siblings to arrive in this country. Over the years I recall hearing Itchky stories. Itchky's getting married again was a common one. Itchky stories always had him just on the edge of something not quite legal. It was really kind of exciting to hear about the Black Sheep of the family from time to time..... although we never really knew exactly what he had done.

The years go by, as they seem to do, and WWII has come and gone when the next set of stories began. The stories hinted that he was doing something illegal but no one ever said what. It was always exciting waiting to hear more about what that might be.Oh, they said, Itchky was on the cover of Life magazine for doing something illegal that had to do with gambling, whisper, whisper, whisper. The whispers died down. And soon the whisperers were no longer among us. We know Itchky remained living in California. I believe he stayed in touch with his cousins, married several times and had a daughter. Although I have tried, since I became interested in genealogy. to try and find her. I have not been able to make contact with her.

Again the years go by. At this point, I must tell you I am the oldest living member on both sides of my family. There is no one left to ask about anything. A year or so ago, my brother, Michael, decided he would search for the Life magazine with Itchky on the cover that we had heard rumors about. He said that would be his task in our genealogy project. His search was an interesting one. He was able to locate a book dealer in Knoxville, Tennessee that, in addition to books, was also selling old Life Magazine issues. Mike explained the kind of image he thought was on the cover and that the issue was shortly after WWII, in the middle the 1940s. The dealer searched all he had but was unable to find anything meeting this description. He did, however, give my brother a wonderful suggestion. He sent him to Google. Google had digitized the full collection of Life Magazines and had them on the Google site. Mike took his advice and, low and behold, my brother  did find the issue about which we all had heard. He called the book dealer again. Wonder of wonders, the dealer did, in fact, have the August 19, 1946 issue. And now I have that issue.


No, our cousin was not on the cover. Yes, our cousin's photograph was in the magazine. The article was called Gambling Ship and a full face picture of our cousin, the croupier, was there to be admired by all (p.35, lower left corner). Someone from California had converted a WWII mine layer into a floating gambling ship. The article referred to it as "the first really ingenious use of surplus war property"(p.34). It is a full two page spread that also shows the fashions of the day. So the stories over the years was finally confirmed. He also know he lived in Los Angeles,California the remainder of his life. He died there in July of 1994. It was really exciting for all of us to finally find out that there was truth in one of the stories we remembered.

The issue of Life serves another purpose as well. Images of those years triggers other memories as well, and the articles provide history in full view for some of the younger family members. And the ads, oh the ads. You cannot image the discussions and memories brought back by the different ads among all age groups.  Some remembered the ads. Some could hardly believe them. Searching for Itchky turned out to be more interesting and more family fun than any of us would have guessed. One of the best experiences in looking over this issue was the wealth of ads that are included. We are still familiar with the products but the content of the ads is very different. Just one example will demonstrate what I mean. The ad for Camel cigarettes offered this claim. "According to a recent Nationwide survey: More Doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette."  And that is only one of the many familiar names that are still around. Current family members enjoy Mike's efforts and we know these images will be enjoyed by future generations as well.

Gambling Ship. (1946, August 19). Life, 21(8), 34-35.