Sunday, July 28, 2013

The Blank Family 7-25-2013

Marjorie Blank was born in 1932. She lived in a stone house that her father built on Maple Avenue, now converted into a jewelry store. It was a "small country town" at the time. There were only a few stores in Vienna proper (including the Vienna Inn, formerly Feezers, and Doc Bradfield's pharmacy.) She remembers riding the W&OD train to her grandparents' farm at Clarks Crossing.
Marjorie attended Strayer University where she learned how to type. This led to a clerk job at the Pentagon. Marjorie's husband, Richard Blank, was a Navy sailor. They met at a dance in Washington, D.C. and were married in 1953. They moved to Vienna soon after. Richard eventually became a Town employee, working as the Town printer as well as in Public Works. They had four children; their only daughter, Jan Clarke, also joined the interview, offering a multi-generational view on Vienna.
Jan also remembers how "sleepy" Vienna was. As teenagers, though, she and her friends made their own fun--chatting at Pizza Fair, swimming in Lake Audubon, and of course shopping at the newly-opened Tyson's Corner Mall. She relates how different daily life was back then compared to now.
The family also shares fond memories of town activities, including the Fire Department Carnival and Vienna's 75th Anniversary in 1965.



Marjorie's Childhood


Vienna During Marjorie's Childhood--Sanitary, Doc Bradford's (Bradfield's), Faulkner's


Learning to Type and Working at the Pentagon


Daily Life in "The Sleepy Little Town"


The Bookmobile


The Fire Department Carnival


Telephone Party Lines


Jan's Childhood in Vienna


Current and Former Vienna Businesses and Restaurants


Vienna's 75th Anniversary and the Bicentennial

Tyson's Corner Mall

Vienna Development: The Beltway, Route 66, Yeonas Building Company


 Feelings About Vienna



Interviewers Caroline Gardiner and Virginia Harness