A professional researcher, Denise Gripp from Iowa, recently discovered this 1932 Newspaper article. I’d been searching for it ever since I read the family history written by Harriette Bredimus. She wrote “…I came in late to the party and greeted Aunt Adelle in French as well as asking her how old she was that day. She came back in French very quickly and scolded me for not reading the papers. It seemed that she had been interviewed by a reporter and her picture was in the paper. She felt that “Petite Harriette”, as I was called to distinguish me from Grandmother, was quite amiss on the latest news. In the newspaper article Aunt Adelle told of her experiences during the Siege of Paris and how there was nothing but black bread – no white flour. The newspaper chap who called upon her spoke French which delighted Aunt Adelle and she told us that she surely liked “dot boy”.”
Here is that long-lost 1932 article from The Des Moines Tribune.
Very amusing and beloved Aunt “Ahdel”
Harriett also wrote: “…At this juncture it interesting to know that the three brothers were all married before coming to America. Uncle Jean married Adele Charlotte Barbelet (our very amusing and beloved Aunt “Ahdel” whom nearly all of us remember) in Paris, and Uncle Nicholas married his wife, Mary, in Alsace. Grandmother and Grandfather had married in Cairo, and it was upon the family’s reunion in Des Moines that the three wives met. Each brother had married a little red-haired woman.”
I am curious about our family’s connection to France and the French language. My father, Robert L. Bredimus, lived in Paris in 1930 and must have had discussions with Aunt Adele about the City of Light. Did they speak in French like Dad’s cousin Harriett always did? Adelle probably missed the French Bread and Bistros. Dad might have tried the rabbit meat, but no more Rats were consumed (I’m sure).
I have also been curious about the accents in the voices of Dad’s grandparents, his uncles, and his aunts. Natives of Luxembourg typically speak French and German as well as their own language. Dad’s grandfather and grandmother (Francois and Henrietta) spoke multiple languages, but they might have favored French. Dad sang French lullabies to me and my siblings. The article mentions that Dad’s uncle John (Jean) spoke French with a heavy Germanic accent causing him to flee Paris just eight days before the Siege. After arriving in Des Moines, did John Bredimus also speak English with a heavy German accent? Dad never mentioned this, but our family recipes include dishes from Germany, Alsace Lorraine, as well as France. Something else to chew on.
