ww2letterproject

Pre-1920

Abe’s mother, Anna Wing, was born December 8, 1899, near Rush Run Lake in southwestern Ohio where her family had lived since the early 1800s. Anna was the second youngest of nine children born to Evanna Shauer, born 1867, and Henry “Val” Wing born 1864.

Abe’s father, William Banis, was born July 4, 1885, near Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles southwest of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of four children. He worked for the railroad, a job that took him from Pennsylvania to southwestern Ohio.

Victor Banis (Abe’s younger brother) once asked his father, William, how he met his mother, Anna. William told Victor that “ …he had been walking down a country road and saw her, and she was so pretty he just threw over his shoulder and carried her off. He laughed when he told the story, but it might have been true. She was tiny and certainly pretty enough.”

William Banis and Anna Wing were married June 8, 1918. She was 18; he, 32. They lived near Anna’s family. Their first child, a girl, Evanna (Eva) was born in 1919.

Photo anna
Photo William
Photo marriage certificate

1920-1929: The Roaring Twenties

The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. The 18th and 19th amendments to the US Constitution were passed. Women won the right to vote; the manufacture of alcohol was banned (Prohibition).

For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929. Many Americans had money to spend on consumer goods. Sears Roebuck opened its first retail store in Chicago. Coco Chanel created the famous and iconic “Chanel No. 5” perfume. Macy’s held its first Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Americans bought radios. The first commercial radio station in the U.S., Pittsburgh’s KDKA, hit the airwaves in 1920; by the end of the decade, there were radios in more than 12 million households. People went to the movies. By the end of the decade, three-quarters of Americans were visiting a movie theater every week. Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse appeared for the first time in “Steamboat Willie.”
American author F. Scott Fitzgerald published “The Great Gatsby.”

The economy of automobiles was born. Cars were mass produced. The Ford Model T cost just $260 in 1924. In 1929 there was one car on the road for every five Americans. Service stations and motels sprang up to meet drivers’ needs. Route 66, a major U.S. road running from Chicago to Los Angeles, opened.

There were advances in medicine. Insulin was mass-produced for the treatment of diabetes. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin and introduced the world to antibiotics.

It was a decade for great achievements and discoveries. Lindbergh flew “The Spirit of St. Louis” nonstop and solo from New York City to Paris. Howard Carter opened King Tutankhamun’s Tomb.

For most Americans the 20s were a decade of growth, opportunity and good times. WWI had ended and happy days are here again. The unemployment rate was 3%. The future looked bright and promising.

Large photo of Abe ca 25

In 1921, William and Anna Banis gave birth to their first boy, William (Bill). Within a few months Anna was pregnant again.

“I was born the third child of William and Anna Banis …on the 12th day of August, 1922, in the town of Collinsville.” ─Abe

Collinsville is a small village in southwestern Ohio.

Photo of map w collinsville hamilton etc

Shortly after Abe was born, the family moved from Collinsville to Hamilton, Ohio. In Hamilton, Abe’s sister, Lorena (May) was born in 1923.

In the spring of 1924, the family moved again, this time going north to the small Ohio village of Seven Mile. Abe’s oldest sister Eva remembered the trip, “We rode in a car, but a truck moved everything.” Arriving at their destination, “Mother looked around with absolute horror, no flowers no grass just trees, mud and us.” But before long, “Mother turned it into a happy home with flowers and a garden. We all liked each other and had great times.”

Photo of eva old
Photo of eva young inset (1925). Use the following as a caption “Daddy cut my hair”

Anna was pregnant again, and in 1924, Abe’s younger sister, Ruth was born.

Abe’s maternal grandparents lived in West Elkton, Ohio, about 15 miles north. Nearby was Rush Run Lake, (the birthplace of Abe’s mother) where many family gatherings were held.

(wing group photo )

Inset Abe enlarged

As Eva recalled, “The most thrilling picnics were in Rush Run… There were games and wading in the water and climbing the hills.” Most of the gatherings ended with music. Some of the Wing family played musical instruments. Abe’s maternal uncle Harold (called Russ) played the banjo and guitar. Russ later formed a band, “The Wing Rocky Mountain Express.” The band played throughout the region and performed on local radio programs.

Photo of wing band

Nearly 80 years later when asked about such gatherings, Abe’s sister, Ruth, would instantly smile and recall those gatherings with fondness, “We would all sing gospel and hillbilly tunes.” Every 4th of July there was a party. Eva recalled, “We celebrated Daddy’s birthday. Friends and family and lots of fun and food. It was so much fun.”

In the 1920s, Abe’s father found work at the Ford Motor plant in Hamilton, Ohio. It was a huge plant with 1500 employees working in three full shifts. The plant manufactured tractor and Model T parts until 1927, when it began making parts for the recently introduced Model A Ford motor car.

Photo postcard photo assembly line

Photo postcard of plant

By 1926 Ford had established the 40-hour-work week with minimum pay of $5 per day or an annual rate of about $1200. It was good pay.

In 1928;
• Median cost of a new home – $4,250
• Men’s worsted wool suit – $21.50
• Women’s leather handbag – $2.98
• Ivory soap, 12 cakes – $.43
• First-class stamp – $.02

In 1927, Abe’s brother, Robert (Dick) was born, and the family grew to eight.

Abe began attending school in the fall of 1928(?) joining his older sister Eva and older brother Bill on the morning school bus ride. When school ended for the year, Abe played in the hills, streams and woods with his brothers, sister and his many cousins who lived nearby.

Photo abe in woods

As that summer of 1929 ended life was good. Dad had a good paying job. The family was settled, having lived in the same house for several years. Grandpa and Grandma Wing lived nearby, and Abe was looking forward to those “most thrilling picnics” with the family and the great food and the great music.

A few months later, in fall of 1929, the stock market collapsed. Life for Abe and his family would undergo a dramatic change.