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One day at work he grew irritated at a
telephone operator who had intended to call a manufacturer.
The angry art editor let loose a fusillade of harsh words.
“Please excuse me,” the distressed
operator said in a sweet, melodious voice.
Albert was suddenly contrite about his
temper. He was quick to anger but could put it behind just as
fast. He wanted to apologize to the hapless operator in
person. He asked where she worked.
The face-to-face apology was delivered
a few hours later. When he saw the pretty blonde-haired
19-year-old, Albert was instantly captivated. Her name was
Ruth Brown. Her co-workers playfully called her “Brownie.”
Perhaps it was her ready smile or her mischievous blue eyes or her
air of anticipating good and exciting things but Albert knew he
wanted to see more of Ruth.
He began visiting the telephone
switchboard regularly. Just a couple of weeks after meeting
the lovely lady, he offered to help her get a job as a reader and
copyist at {Motor Boating}. It sounded like a step up to Ruth
and she eagerly accepted.
The two were soon dating regularly.
Ruth was flattered by the older, sophisticated man’s attentions.
However, his repeated passes distressed her. She was a virgin
and planned to remain one until her wedding night.
For his part, Albert was frustrated at
his inability to get the inexperienced young woman to succumb.
Contraception in that era was fallible, and an unmarried woman’s
pregnancy could ruin her stature. Ruth remained resistant to
Albert’s overtures. She was, in her own words, “a
self-respecting girl.”
Eventually, Albert proposed marriage.
Yes, was Ruth’s reply.
But Ruth had one request. The
name Schneider sounded so “Germanic.” Could he change the
name to something that sounded “more American, like Snyder”?
He agreed and Albert became a Snyder, as did Ruth.
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