A Little History and a Good Story
My mother, Evelyn Alice Tiffany was the daughter of Anna and William S. Tiffany. William Tiffany sold insurance for Prudential, owned a dairy farm called Tiffdale, and was the Republican County Chairman of Susquehanna County in rural Pennsylvania. Evelyn graduated from Temple University.
My Father, Dolph Williams Atherton was the son of Ralph Atherton and Grace Williams. Ralph Atherton was a Marine Engineer and Grace was a speech therapist. Dolph attended George Washington but missed graduation by a few credits in Spanish.
Grace and Ralph Atherton had a summer cottage in Brooklyn Pennsylvania. Their son, Dolph, met Evelyn while on vacation with his parents. Dolph had an Auburn boat tailed speedster he won by hustling golf in Florida during his summer vacation from college. Dashing Dolph swept country girl Evelyn off her feet and they were married.
Dolph had a hard time making a living in Brooklyn. His skills as a golf hustler and semi pro singer were in little demand there. He had various jobs as a wedding singer, building barns and silos, and whatever else he could come up with.
William Tiffany (Evelyn’s father) had a friend in California that was in show business. He promised to get Dolph into show business. Dolph was very good looking and had an outstanding voice (he had sung on radio at various radio stations in Maryland and had had a part in opera in the Washington Met.). So Evelyn and Dolph packed up their car (this was in the 1930’s, the depth of the great depression) and drove to California.
During their journey to California, their show business contact died. Big monkey wrench. Dolph eventually found a job as disc jockey, but the pay wasn’t much and they struggled. With so little income they had to share an apartment with another couple. The other couple were nudists. This didn’t bother worldly Dolph but I imagine country girl Evelyn had her druthers.
At any rate, things got hungry in California. Dolph and Evelyn packed up their car and drove back to Brooklyn, Pennsylvania. Evelyn’s father (William Tiffany) helped Dolph and Evelyn finance the purchase of the “Summit Tea Room”, a restaurant in New Milford Pennsylvania. They bought it from Rudy and Viola Glaser, who became lifelong friends and were very much like grandparents to me and my sisters. But that’s another story.
My mother, Evelyn Alice Tiffany was the daughter of Anna and William S. Tiffany. William Tiffany sold insurance for Prudential, owned a dairy farm called Tiffdale, and was the Republican County Chairman of Susquehanna County in rural Pennsylvania. Evelyn graduated from Temple University.
My Father, Dolph Williams Atherton was the son of Ralph Atherton and Grace Williams. Ralph Atherton was a Marine Engineer and Grace was a speech therapist. Dolph attended George Washington but missed graduation by a few credits in Spanish.
Grace and Ralph Atherton had a summer cottage in Brooklyn Pennsylvania. Their son, Dolph, met Evelyn while on vacation with his parents. Dolph had an Auburn boat tailed speedster he won by hustling golf in Florida during his summer vacation from college. Dashing Dolph swept country girl Evelyn off her feet and they were married.
Dolph had a hard time making a living in Brooklyn. His skills as a golf hustler and semi pro singer were in little demand there. He had various jobs as a wedding singer, building barns and silos, and whatever else he could come up with.
William Tiffany (Evelyn’s father) had a friend in California that was in show business. He promised to get Dolph into show business. Dolph was very good looking and had an outstanding voice (he had sung on radio at various radio stations in Maryland and had had a part in opera in the Washington Met.). So Evelyn and Dolph packed up their car (this was in the 1930’s, the depth of the great depression) and drove to California.
During their journey to California, their show business contact died. Big monkey wrench. Dolph eventually found a job as disc jockey, but the pay wasn’t much and they struggled. With so little income they had to share an apartment with another couple. The other couple were nudists. This didn’t bother worldly Dolph but I imagine country girl Evelyn had her druthers.
At any rate, things got hungry in California. Dolph and Evelyn packed up their car and drove back to Brooklyn, Pennsylvania. Evelyn’s father (William Tiffany) helped Dolph and Evelyn finance the purchase of the “Summit Tea Room”, a restaurant in New Milford Pennsylvania. They bought it from Rudy and Viola Glaser, who became lifelong friends and were very much like grandparents to me and my sisters. But that’s another story.
