Chapter 1 - Leahy Court, New Britain, CT 1949-1952

This is my autobiography. I've found it's much easier to write about cars than about myself. I've tried to write it down as I remember it, or as I've been able to find out with research.

I tend to divide my life around where I lived. The Connecticut years started in New Britain, a period I really don’t remember except through what I’ve been told and seen in photographs.  Then there were the Seagraves Road, Coventry, CT years followed by the Dark Ages otherwise known as Bridgeport, and South Street in Coventry, then the turning point of Wall Street and Avery Shores Drive, Coventry.

Connecticut was the first twenty years, March 1949 to July 1969.

Canada came next from July 1969 to December 1990 (Ottawa, Toronto, Ottawa, Pickering, and Toronto again). At the end of 1990, California became my home (South San Francisco, Pacifica, Pleasanton, Tracy) except for four years (December 2010 to September 2014) in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Within each place I lived are the sub-sections of people and where I worked.

New Britain 1949-1952

I was born at 4:58 PM, on March 28, 1949, in New Britain General Hospital, New Britain, Connecticut. Of course I don’t remember being born at all. I do remember some of my first few years, the years we lived in New Britain, or at least I think I do. I could be remembering things I’ve been told.

Yup that's me.

I was the second son (the first, John Edward Hotchkiss, died shortly after birth) and second of three children (after my sister Sandra Jean Hotchkiss and before my brother Douglas John Hotchkiss) of Elaine C. Hotchkiss (nee Clark) and William C. Hotchkiss. We lived at 37A Leahy Court in Army Barracks converted to duplexes for returning G.I.s. Each side had four rooms (two bedrooms, kitchen/dining room, living room) and a bathroom.

This is my family on my Dad's side taken in 1952. Back row from left: Laura Ann Donahue (cousin in her father's arms), Leo Donahue (uncle), Elaine C. Hotchkiss (Mom), William C. Hotchkiss (Dad), Gordon B. Hotchkiss (Grandfather), Gilbert Hotchkiss (uncle). Front row from left: Sandra Hotchkiss (sister), Lucille Hotchkiss (aunt and wife of Gilbert), Bruce Hotchkiss (me), Dorothy Hotchkiss (Grandmother), Gregg Hotchkiss (cousin and Lucille and Gilbert's first), Cyrus J. Hotchkiss (Great-grandfather), Laura Donahue (aunt, wife of Leo and my dad's sister), and Richard Donahue (cousin with his mom). Mom was not happy because dad didn't dress up.

Although my memories are limited I do remember my mom had her upright piano and we had a TV in the living room. It must have been a crowded living room. I remember mom singing “Little Curly Hair In A High Chair” to me (I had curly blond hair):

Little curly hair in a high chair
What's your order for today
Little curly hair in a high chair
I'll do anything you say
When you're near the room seems to brighten
The sun comes streaming through you're eyes
You're the reason they still keep writin'
All those tender lullabies
Hm, there you go
Bangin' with your blocks
Pullin' off your socks
Hm, there you go
Tryin' to make your toes
Touch your baby nose
Heaven's close to your chair and my chair
When you smile the way you do
Little curly hair in a high chair
My day begins and ends with you

I know I did a somersault off the top bunk of a bunk bed but I don’t remember it – my sister told me the story. My sister was my best friend and playmate. Sandy is three years older than I am. There was a field behind the houses with a small wooded area and a hill with a water tank at the top. In the spring the field was full of Black-eyed Susans and Buttercups. Sandy taught me “she loves me, she loves me not” as you pluck off the petals of the Black-eyed Susans and showed me that you could find out if someone liked butter by holding a Buttercup under their chin to see if there was a yellow reflection.

My time in New Britain was idyllic but for some reason I don’t remember much of my dad. I know he worked long hours as a mechanic. I think he worked at a Texaco station. It was near a firehouse, I do remember that. A firehouse with a brass pole to slide down. Dad took us there at least once.

My Uncle Kenny (mom’s younger brother who was in the Navy and saw action in the South Pacific), Aunt Rose, and Cousin Judy lived nearby.

My grandparents on my mom’s side, Frank and Edna Clark, lived at 57 Ridgewood Street. My dad’s parents, Gordon and Dorothy Hotchkiss, lived at 38 Foxon Place. I have fond memories of both houses, probably more of Ridgewood because my grandparents lived there until 1979. My grandfather Hotchkiss died in 1952 and not long after that my grandmother moved to Kensington to live with her father-in-law, my great-grandfather, Cyrus Hotchkiss, on (272?) Corbin Avenue near Doerr’s Pond.

57 Ridgewood Street, New Britain as it is today. 

38 Foxon Place, New Britain as it is today. 

Our car was a 1949 Packard, a huge 4-door sedan. I think dad drove it most of the time; I’m pretty sure we were a one car family. I don’t know how we afforded it. Maybe dad got a lump sum when he left the Army? A Super Eight was just over $2,600 brand new in ’49.

Dad painted our Packard a couple of times trying to get this color. It was close. (This is not our car.)

Pictures of houses are taken from Google Maps.