An Immigrant's Tale - 3

By my reckoning, this tiny bottle of Bayer Aspirin (measuring about 2.25 inches in height, is from 1943.  Which makes it nearly 80 years old.  The box is crumbling and so are the aspirin inside.  And the cotton ball that had been carefully left in the jar has long turned yellow with age.  And now, here is the story...

My husband's uncle (Willy A. Fargnoli) was still in high school in December of 1941 when he had an auto accident.  The accident took place at 80th Street and 90th Road in Woodhaven, Queens, NY.  Although we do not know the full extent of his injuries, we know that he was in the hospital (Queen's General Hospital) for a little over a month after the accident.  And the belief is that he sustained a head injury that resulted in the doctors having to drill or cut his skull to relieve pressure. Not much else is known other than that he continued to suffer severe headaches. 

When he finally joined the Army in summer of 1943, we was (we believe) passed over for an opportunity to learn to fly because of this injury.  Instead, he worked on aircraft, which he - by all accounts - loved.  

This tiny bottle was in a big metal tool box that he left at home when he joined the Army, which is how we know roughly how old the bottle is.  The box is starting to disintegrate so this photo may be the best record we will have of it in years to come.  If you zoom in, you can read the instructions on the bottle and even see the remaining tablets inside.  What a treasure.

My husband has finished going through all of the letters and they are in binders in date order now.  We learned that there may be another bunch of letters that some cousins have so hopefully we can add them to this project.  And I will continue to records selected bits here on Blip.

Be safe, be kind, eat chocolate.

xo
Debbi

PS:  and thanks Carol_dunham for hosting Tiny Tuesday this month and giving me the perfect opportunity to blip this little trreasure.