Who lived in my childhood home in 1940?

April 5th, 2012

The details from the 1940 US Census are available, and after some digging, I was able to find out some information about my childhood home in 1940. This is so cool (in the nerdiest sort of way). My house is in tract 42-2319.

So my address was 145 Eltingville Blvd. In 1940, the value of the house was $5,200. The following people lived in that home:

  • The head of the household was Samuel K. Hansen, aged 52, from Norway. At the time he had been unemployed for 16 weeks, and was seeking work–but was not employed by a Public works. He states his profession was Carpentry, and he worked in building and construction. My house has really, really nice wood, no doubt thanks to Samuel. He earned only $680 in 1939, working 17 weeks. He had a 7th grade education.
  • His wife’s name, I can’t make out–something like Cagnkild. She is 48, and has a 7th grade education, and born in Norway. She was a housewife.
  • A female, aged 23, born in New York, also lived in the house–the name is something like Gudren. She completed all 4 years of HS. She was employed in “stamp collecting,” and worked 52 weeks in 1939. She received $1404 in 1939.
  • A male, Karl, aged 21, born in New York, who completed four years of high school. He was employed as a Deckhand, worked 52 weeks a year, and earned $1200 in 1939.
  • The youngest, Ruth, aged 16, was not employed.

It seems that part of the house was rented out for $38 a month. I think my parents said that one of the bedrooms on the second floor had the piping for a kitchen. I suspect this is where the other family lived. Or, perhaps, they lived in the basement which has a separate door on the side. Two people lived in the rental unit:

  • Claude Smythe – Head of Household, Male, White, Age 32, Married, Attended all four years of High School, From New York, Employed and worked 48 hours per week as a Policeman for the NYPD. He earned $3,600 a year.
  • Marie Smythe, Claude’s wife, was 25 years old, white, and finished two years of highs chool. She was from Wisconsin. She did not work.

This is pretty darn cool.