He bought Hattie a ranch in New Jersey so they wouldn't have too far to travel. That way she could have animals, flowers or whatever she wanted to make her happy, but she wouldn't be too far from the shop in New York City. Naming it "The Four Winds Ranch" After a perfume Hattie created.
Sunrise, Sunset
I read that Hattie used to be up with the sunrise daily making phone call after phone call wondering and worrying what was happening at her various shops. So her husband figured they needed a vacation home.
Finally Together
Hattie finally married John Zanft on August 22nd 1928. She was forty-one years old and he was forty-four years old.
Hattie spoke lovingly about her husband John Zanft who she stated she first met and fell in love with when she was a sixteen year old girl working at Macy's Department Store and how he used to come into the store, just to see her. He got to where he memorized her work schedule.
Her friend told her, "He really loves you, it's obvious because he is hanging around the women's department."
Her future husband, John was nineteen years old at the time and was seriously considering enlisting in the army. (which he eventually did)
Hattie continued, "I just loved him so much."
Hattie and John had a difficult courtship though, and fought to be together, because Hattie's family wanted her to marry someone else. Even though she was in love with John and they were dating. Hattie felt guilty, because she wanted to honor her father's wishes, as he had recently died.
She told her story to John, and couldn't hold back her tears.
Since he had just enlisted, he was in the army, and was going to be shipped out. He was worried if anything happened to him, Hattie would be alone, so as much as they loved each other they made the heartbreaking decision to break up once and for all or so they thought.
Ferdinand
Hattie was then stuck in what she considered, a loveless, unhappy marriage (Even though her husband treated her well.) She admitted the marriage didn't feel real and she soon discovered that she couldn't endure life with someone she didn't love, so the marriage, that was arranged via her parent's wishes ended in divorce.
Twenty Years
About twenty years later, Hattie was out in Hollywood to assist with some fashion work, and by then John Zanft was working on special assignment for one of the movie studios, either Fox or MGM. I'm guessing it was Fox, but I am not sure.
Well they rekindled the romance they had so long ago, and he proposed to Hattie almost immediately as he wasn't going to lose her again.
Hattie was elated, because she was not only able to reunite with the person, she never stopped loving, but just to know he felt the same about her, and missed her all those years.
So at forty-one years old in 1928. She married the man she loved since she was sixteen years of age.
Hattie and John appreciated each other more because of their long separation.
Hattie added, "The day that I married John was the happiest day of my life."
The marriage lasted, and they were married for twenty-nine years after that initial separation when they were teenagers.
Hattie died at their townhouse in New York City of cancer in 1956, in her husband's arms. She was a month shy of her 70th birthday.
I just love this story, because it's a rarity with celebrity couples that a marriage actually lasts. Especially since Hattie and John worked together and were so young when they first met.
PS. I wish I knew the answer to this one though. I often wonder the type of ring he bought her, if it was a ring created by one of her competitors, and if it was how Hattie felt about that, unfortunately she never mentioned that bit of information in the interview. LOL!!!!!
The answer was a pearl ring encircled with diamonds as Hattie adored pearls.
Love at the Opera
Hattie was asked about her early teenage courtship with John Zanft.
She was asked when she first knew that he loved her and she answered,
"When he bought tickets for us to attend the opera, which I adored and he absolutely hated." adding with a smile, "He knew I could never afford to attend the opera, and he wanted to make me happy..... I fell for him quickly after that and knew I was in love."
Young Love
Hattie in an interview recalled the Friday Night Dances of her youth and how she and John would dance the night away.
"Those dances were so romantic, but once in a while when we tired of dancing, John and I would go outside and look up at the stars and discuss the future."
Fridays
Hattie looked forward to Fridays, and spending time with John.
Hattie worked all week long at Macy's and on Saturdays was the Jewish Sabbath, and Hattie's parents insisted on prayers, Hebrew lessons and a family dinner that night. They were a deeply religious family so they didn't want Hattie going out on Saturday nights unless it was of great importance.
Macy's
Macy's gave Hattie a few dresses, and a few nice things to wear because they wanted her to look her best while working in their store as she was a representive of the store. Therefore Hattie although she was poor always had the most beautiful dresses to wear because of her association with Macy's. Something spectacular to wear to those dances she so loved and to impress John.
John is in Love
John thought that Hattie was beautiful and was certain he loved her. Hattie in turn thought that John was kind hearted and handsome, she however couldn't tell that he loved her and was afraid to say anything, but stated she fell in love with him when he bought them tickets to attend the opera. Hattie knew John loved the dances, but was attending the opera for her benefit.Needless to say they soon started offically dating.
A Poor Girl
Hattie grew up in the most awful slums. She was a rags to riches immigrant girl.
When she met John Zanft, she was working at Macy's as a sales girl. She hadn't begun her fashion training as of yet.
John and Hattie soon found themselves falling in love, as they talked during her breaks and her lunchtime.
The first time John asked her out on an evening date, her friends thought she would be thrilled but when John left Hattie begun crying. Her friends were concerned and asked her what was wrong.
She confessed that she felt like that if John ever saw that she lived in the slums and that she was a poor girl, he wouldn't love her anymore.
John's family was far from rich but they were better off than Hattie's. So she used to meet John places she didn't want him picking her up. John thought this was strange, but did what Hattie wanted. Till one night he was concerned about her, followed her home, and found out where her family resided.
He told Hattie, what he had done, he wanted her to know that it didn't matter to him that he loved her, and thought she was foolish thinking he would change his mind about her. In fact he admired her work ethic and how she took care of her family.
Austrians
I wrote to a few places in Austria for more information about Hattie and her culture.They told me "Austrians in General but especially Jewish-Austrian's as Hattie was are a very prideful people, and they don't want to be seen as failure's and maybe that is why certain situations in her life bothered Hattie the way they did.
American Girl
Hattie was a typical teenager in a lot of ways, and wanted to fit in and adapt to the American Way of Life.
In the beginning, Young Henrietta socialized with other immigrant teens because they had something in common and could share experiences, thus she had found some moral support from other young people who had to leave everything they knew and start over in America.
As time went on though Henrietta couldn't help but notice the cultural differences between her Austrian/Jewish culture and the of the American culture. Especially when it came to dating.
In the Austrian-Jewish Culture, Most teens didn't date as the marriages were arranged from early on by the parents. More so in the case of daughters then with sons.
Parents didn't worry as much about their sons, but the daughters had to have a husband who could take care of them, The way that this could be made a certainity was to have the girl's parents choose her husband for her, so dating was practically unheard of.
Hattie was caught between two cultures, and because she was out in the working world she was meeting people and begun to go out on dates. As her friends, Americans and Immigrants alike would set her up and persuade her to go on dates. She dated quite a bit as a young girl, probably much to her father's dismay who didn't understand the American culture or way of thinking. He was shocked that his daughter was caught up in the dating scene.
Although Hattie socialized and dated she really wasn't serious about anyone. That was until two years later when she met John. Then according to Hattie her dating days were over. She had found the man she wanted to marry, The love of her life. (and he just happened to be an American.)
New Ways of Thinking
Hattie's generation was the first generation to rebel against the old way of thinking and they wanted to become Americans.
Hattie Carnegie's parents, Isaac Kanengeiser (Carnegie) and Helen Kranzer-Kanengeiser (Carnegie) had an arranged marriage. Arranged marriages were a way to ensure that cultural and religious beliefs were passed on to future children.
Isaac and Helen (Henna)
Hattie always believed that her parents grew to really love one another for a number of factors. As her mother was heartbroken and inconsolable when Hattie's father died. Hattie's father was always talking about how beautiful he thought her mother was. The couple had seven children within their union.
You will marry???
Arrangements were common practice in the culture, and Little Henrietta was well aware from an early age that her parents were going to select who she would ultimately walk down the aisle with. Henrietta knew nothing about courtship, dating or falling in love. Young girls didn't concern themselves with such matters of the heart, it was the parents decision to select a suitable spouse.
Henrietta wouldn't have thought twice about this had the family not emigrated to America. Henrietta like so many immigrants before and after her suffered culture shock from the west. Being a teenager is never easy, but Henrietta was a teenager in a new land.
Henrietta's parents even though they held certain cultural beliefs. Neither one of them wished for her to marry at an extremely young age. In fact, Even though they begun to set up the arrangement and select her future husband when she was around thirteen years of age which was customary. They did NOT rush the marriage, Henrietta didn't marry Ferdinand till she was Twenty-two years old.
Another difference, Most families did NOT permit the couple to meet till the wedding day to ensure they would go through with the arrangement. The Kanengeiser's didn't think that was right, so they permitted meetings between Henrietta and Ferdinand. They actually encouraged them hoping that they might just fall in love, so there would be no objections to the marriage.
Ferdinand Fleischman was aware that Hattie loved John Zanft.
When they divorced, Ferdinand fell in love and married someone else. Hattie was happy for him.
John Zanft was an American (by birth) Therefore he would have been disqualified from being considered a suitable husband by a matchmaker and possibly her parents because even though John was Jewish, which was required by her parents. He was NOT Austrian, so they would have felt that Henrietta would lose her appreciation for being Austrian and her cultural values and traditions would not be passed to future generations.
Cultural Clashes
John did NOT understand Henrietta's culture. (nor did his friends who ridiculed him for dating a little Austrian girl.)
Henrietta's friends on the other hand were most supportive and played matchmaker for her and John. At the exact same time, Henrietta's parents were playing matchmaker for her and Ferdinand.
It didn't take long for Henrietta to realize she loved John. She wanted so much to spend time with him, that her friends covered for Henrietta while she dated John.
Despite being in love, Cultural differences and stress caused them to have several fights and disagreements.
The Kanengeiser family (Including Henrietta's father knew and actually liked John) Henrietta although she kept their romantic relationship a secret, she introduced him to her family as a friend.)
Helen (Hattie's mother) was very happy when John and her daughter were eventually united in marriage in 1928.
Helen was more leninent than Isaac (and actually encouraged her daughter to date as a way to meet friends.)
When the younger girls were old enough to date, Hattie's mother did not push the issue of arrangements, her ideas about marriage were changing as she now felt the girls should be permitted to marry for love, so when they fell in love and married she offered her blessing.
Mr. Carnegie
When Major John Zanft and Hattie Carnegie were married in 1928. He was always in her shadow, but never resented that fact.
It was John who encouraged Hattie to expand her business beyond clothing and hats, to accessories and jewelry.
He was a loyal husband who offered her advice and assisted her with making her business even more successful. John never took credit for her success, but Hattie was always offering him praise and never failed to mention how much she loved and appreciated her husband in various interviews.
More about Ferdinand
A little bit about Ferdinand Fleischman- Hattie Carnegie's first husband
Ferdinand Fleischman was half English and Half Austrian, and his family emigrated to America around the same time that the Kanengeiser Family did. When Henrietta was around twelve or thirteen years of age, her parents begun the selection process of finding her a future husband.
I do not have any details regarding the selection process in Hattie Carnegie's case, but Ferdinand was chosen.
Family Honor
Hattie's mother Helen told her one afternoon when they were going over to meet yet again with the Fleischman's to remember the family's honor.
Honor was very important to the Kanengeiser family, Hattie's mother wanted her daughter to remember her manners and to be very polite.
She mentioned to Hattie that she should wear one of her beautiful dresses that she wore while working at Macy's, Henrietta chose a pink dress and her mother thought her choice was wonderful because she looked so much like a little lady, so classy.
She told Hattie, that her father would have been so proud of her if he lived to see that moment, that his eldest daughter was discussing her wedding plans,. Hattie didn't really feel the same she felt like she lost her father and now she had lost John as well, but being a loyal daughter. Hattie did what her mother asked and what she figured would make her father happy
They met with the Fleischman's and discussed the wedding plans.
A very unhappy Hattie decided to make the best of the situation, thinking that maybe just maybe she could learn to love Ferdinand and maybe love him almost as much as she did John and was trying to convince herself that it could work out and walked down the aisle if for nothing else but her family's honor.
If Hattie's father had lived her younger sisters would have most likely have had arranged marriages as well.
The Kanengeiser had an old fashioned way of thinking. They had ttwo sons and five daughters. They believed their sons would be okay, and whether they married or not could fend for themselves, but yet they wanted to ensure that their daughters would be taken care of and provided for.
Hattie's father had always felt a lot of guilt, because his beloved Henrietta, His eldest daughter had to take on such responsibility at such a young age.
He used to tell her, "That in a few years, she would be married and her husband would take care of her."
Hattie would always tell her father she wanted to be a businesswoman
Her father thought she was being foolish and that she was just telling him that.
Hattie Carnegie's life reminds me so much of "Fiddler on the Roof" (Ironically, they were Jewish too. )
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Here's a sad Hattie Carnegie story.
When Hattie married her first husband, Although she DID NOT love him and she didn't really want to get married to him in the first place.
She wanted to see if she could make it work out and maybe she could grow to love him because it was important to her parents. She figured at the very least they could become friends.
Hattie told him that she had scheduled to go to some sort of fashion convention/meeting in Paris because she had just opened up her first shop and she wanted to learn how to run a business. She wanted to check out the latest fashions, because it was important to an up and coming fashion editor and businesswoman to know the latest styles.
She said, That she should have some free time and she didn't intend to spend all her time in Europe working, so she asked him to go with her because she thought it would be nice for them to spend some time together, because they were now husband and wife.
All he said in response to her request was, "Have a safe trip, Hattie. I will see you when you get back to New York."
Hattie stated, "I felt so terrible, I was just married three days prior, I was on a ship all alone on the way to Europe. I just cried.....I was heartbroken."
Hattie did state, On a happier note that Although the marriage ended in divorce.
They did end up becoming friends and always respected one another. Yet, that marriage wasn't meant to be and they BOTH agreed that they had made a mistake going through with that marriage.
Loving Friends
Ferdinand did accompany Hattie on several trips to Europe in the future. While conducting research I located a couple travel documents with a passenger list. There was a couple listed. Ferdinand Fleischman and Hattie-Carnegie Fleischman.
Ferdinand Fleischman told Hattie, before their marriage that he also didn't love her, but promised that he would treat her well and would always respect her, because he was going to make a vow to her.
Try, Try, Tried
Although Hattie and Ferdinand tried desperately to make their marriage work it just wasn't meant to be.
Actually it was Hattie who wanted and suggested the divorce first not Ferdinand.
He was very kind to Hattie, and they were friends and companions but in her heart she just couldn't accept the fact that they didn't love each other, the marriage didn't seem real to Hattie. It wasn't the type of marriage that she wanted. She always remembered her courtship with John as the happiest time of her life, she wanted to be with someone she truly loved.
Initially when she brought up the idea of a divorce to Ferdinand. He told her that he had a problem accepting divorce, he didn't want to agree with a divorce, suggested that maybe a temporary seperation would be better for the both for them to think things over. They seperated.
After some needed time apart the couple got back together to try and give the marriage another chance. Ferdinand promised Hattie that he would be more attentive to her, try as they might it still didn't work out. This time they decided a divorce was their only option, as the seperation didn't work either, but Hattie never felt any dislike or bitterness towards Ferdinand and the two remained friends, even after she married John.
HATTIE CARNEGIE AND MAJOR JOHN ZANFT'S
MARRIAGE ANNOUNCEMENT
(Courtesy of the New York Times) August 22nd 1928
I only wish there was a picture as I'm sure Hattie looked
beautiful on their Wedding Day.
Major Zanft and Hattie actually had two ceremonies,
a civil ceremony when they eloped to Philadelphia
and a special marriage ceremony at the synagogue
that the couple attended services at
Temple Emanu-el in New York City
The article has it had appeared in The New York Times on August 22nd 1928
Here is a picture of the synagogue where Hattie and John attended services
and where they were united in marriage
Temple Emanu-el in New York City
Since Wednesday November 19th was the Anniversary of John's death......I thought in memory of him. It would be a nice gesture to add some more information on Hattie and her husband John.
Mystery Solved
I have been doing quite a bit of research on Hattie Carnegie I have come across, Yet another mystery about her.
In many articles it says that Hattie was married three times, and I know that her first marriage was arraigned via her parents and her first love and teenage sweetheart was Major John Zanft whom she married in 1928 and whom she stayed married to for the rest of her life when they reunited after years apart.
I always assumed when Hattie stated she was married three times that she also included, when she renewed her vows with John.
I reread the articles, and Hattie stated, SHE WAS MARRIED THREE TIMES, but the second marriage was even less real than the first one which was arranged. That it was VERY BRIEF and didn't last. The further I have researched this, I came to the conclusion that poor Hattie was very unhappy. She said that she didn't really ever consider this (Mystery Man-A husband.)
I believe he was probably a rebound husband after Hattie's first marriage fell apart she was depressed and was probably lonely. She also mentioned Ferninand Fleischman, her first husband, by name, and stated that he was always good to her even if they weren't meant to be married. They also remained friends much like Lucy and Desi.
Hattie obviously loved John very deeply and always spoke wonderfully about him.
The mystery man was hardly ever mentioned by Hattie at all, just when she said,
"It took me forever to get my Freedom or at least it seemed like it did." This is just my guess, but I believe that particular marriage was probably an annulment because it didn't last long, only a matter of months. I certainly hope this guy didn't mistreat Hattie or was cruel to her in any way, if he was, I will be very sad because Hattie certainly didn't deserve that.
I'm very pleased that she found happiness with John in the end. They are together in Heaven.
As far as I know, Major John Zanft was married only once to his teenage sweetheart Henrietta Kanengeiser (Hattie Carnegie) I have never seen any other marriages documented for John Zanft anywhere except for his marriage to Hattie on August 22nd 1928.
John Zanft had announced to his friends at Fox Theatres that he and Hattie were going to Philadelphia to tie the knot. (Although, They considered the religious ceremony two weeks later that was performed by their Rabbi- THEIR REAL WEDDING DAY!!!!!!)
Their offical anniversary on all the legal documents was August 22nd 1928.
Like his wife Hattie did, John Zanft also practiced Judaism as his religion, but I do not know if he was Jewish when he met Hattie or if he had converted.
Hattie soon found out try as she might, she just couldn't live or ever be happy married to a man she didn't love, so that first marriage was doomed from the beginning. She just didn't share her parents opinion or her cultures outlook upon arraigned marriages.
Hattie was once asked what the main difference between her marriage with John Zanft (The Love of her Life) compared to her marriage was with Ferdinand Fleischman.
Her answer was a simple one, "It's all about love and romance. I actually have (ROMANCE) now."
I think, I can guess what she meant by that particular statement.
Unfortunately Hattie didn't talk much about her first marriage Only that it took her years to desolve the marriage because Ferdinand Fleischman didn't believe in divorce. I know from the research I've done that most arranged marriages the bride's parents offered a dowry.
Brian brought this up to me, considering Hattie's family was dirt poor. I wonder what they offered as a dowry for Hattie.
I don't think we will ever know, because I believe Hattie might have been embrassed by the situation because she only mentioned it very briefly and didn't go into detail of certain aspects of her culture.
Many things she was proud of, but other things she wasn't. She tried despartely in many ways to shed her ethic identity to be more accepted in her new country because she faced severe prejudice. Yet she still always wanted to hold dear to certain traditions of her family and culture.
Hattie and John faced so much prejudice when they begun dating, from her culture and his culture because John was an American who eventually,joined the US Army. Hattie was an immigrant who grew up in severe poverty. The extreme prejudice towards Jewish immigrants didn't help the matter
The cultural divide caused problems (Due to the fact that.) Hattie nor John really understood the others way of life or thinking as well as an early language barrier which was overcome once Hattie spent a few years in the United States. Despite all this John remained loyal to Hattie, because he loved her. Even though people didn't understand their relationship or devotion to one another.
The couple suffered an embattled courtship that postponed but didn't succeed in preventing them from eventually spending their lives together and they had a very happy marriage.
Their New Home
Soon after Hattie Carnegie and Major John Zanft were married in August of 1928, They bought a little townhouse at 1133 Park Avenue. Well, In all actuality it was a tiny mansion. (Seven rooms in total.)
Hattie and her husband never had a family of their own so they felt as if they didn't need a large mansion. It may as well have been just that though as Hattie had it beautifully decorated.
The walls and all the furniture were imported from Paris, France. Hattie adored antiques, and everything was classy and old fashioned. Except for her husband's den which was modern.
The couples, 160 acre "Four Winds Ranch" which was located in Red Bank New Jersey consisted of a 10 room (In Total) country home of which the furnishings were Early American.
The ranch and the ranch home were a gift from Major John Zanft to Hattie on their 15th wedding anniversary, but the furnishings were Hattie's decision. Hattie also showed off her love of antiques when she had the ranch home decorated.
Hattie stated in a 1949 interview that neither home had been redecorated since they moved in and the only thing they changed in regard to decor since that time, were the drapes, the carpets and the arrangement of the furniture.
When asked why she didn't feel the need to redecorate after all those years, Hattie answered, "Once a lady is happy with something why change it."
Gambling
One of Hattie's favorite past times was gambling. Hattie already had a lot of money, so that wasn't the issue. She gambled for the fun of it and also because she had an extreme competitive nature about her and played to "WIN"
Her and her husband John spent a week in Dallas back in 1945, because Hattie was being honored with "The Neiman-Marcus Award" that particular year, so they decided to make a vacation out of it and spend a week in Dallas, Texas where Hattie was being honored.
Some friends of invited them out to "The Hollow Brook Country Club" Hattie and John accepted the invitation since they had a little free time before the banquet and awards ceremony where Hattie was scheduled to make a speech.
It was there that she first saw a slot machine, and being that she loved to gamble, she was compelled to try it.
Her husband tried the slot machine and "Lost" several times. Finally gave up and reminding Hattie of the time and that she should practice her speech, told her.
"
I really think we should go."
Hattie replied, "We can't go, at least until I win what you lost."
She kept playing and playing and losing and losing.
John was getting upset at her by this point and told her.
"Hattie we are really going to be late. This is a big honor for you!!!!"
Hattie explained, "That is when I finally won and I could go to that banquet happy. My husband was afraid we wouldn't get there at all.
I think he was ready to drag me out of there." She said with a laugh, "but I just could not give up."
Friends of Hattie's stated, Gambling was an obsession with her, but she was a good heart and donated all her winning's to charity.
Little Hattie was only 4 feet 9 in tall. John Zanft was over 6 feet tall. LOL!!!!!
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CATTY HATTIE! I think she was temporarily insane.........
Another Hattie Carnegie mystery has been solved.
This mystery involved Hattie’s second husband. I was puzzled as to why she chose to marry this guy. He was emotionally and physically abusive toward her.
Hattie was independent almost from birth, so I could not fathom why she would allow a man to treat her like dirt.
Twelve or so years after her arranged marriage to Ferdinand Flesichman finally concluded in a civil and very peaceful divorce. Hattie was very happy that Ferdinand didn’t contest the divorce, nor did he try to fight for a share of the business that Hattie built.
Hattie said Thank you to Ferdinand by showing her appreciation, allowing him to keep the apartment they shared and Hattie moved out. Hattie held no bitterness toward Ferdinand and the couple remained friends for the rest of their lives.
However Hattie went through a slight depression after the divorce. Ferdinand was never the love of her life, but they shared a loving and close friendship, a special bond, that grew out of spending so many years as husband and wife so she could not help but miss him. It was also rumored that Hattie had miscarried Ferdinand’s baby very early in their marriage
Hattie also had a love-hate relationship, more hate with this guy from her old neighborhood, a tough creep from the East Side. He was John Zanft’s nemesis. He took an interest in Hattie, but it was mostly just to spite John.
Hattie ignored his advances. She didn’t want anything to do with him, and thought he was a loser, and she would often tell him off. Her comments angered him and he would avoid hitting her simply because she was a woman.
When he found out through the grapevine which was probably the press, about the divorce and realized that Hattie was now a free woman, and had a six figure bank account. He set out to try to win her again. He didn’t have time enough to attempt to date her, because Hattie was called out to Hollywood to assist with the wardrobe department.
Unbeknownst to Hattie, she was about to reunite with her first love out in Hollywood.
John Zanft was now a retired World War I veteran, and was working as a newspaper reporter at the Morning Telegraph in New York, he wrote a daily column that appeared in the entertainment section.
An executive named William Fox appreciated John’s talent for writing and his business sense and give him his first big break when he appointed John as the vice president and general manager of all the Fox Theatres in New York.
John who came from fairly humble beginnings himself, was thrilled that someone recognized his writing ability. His frequent trips to the west coast found him hobnobbing with people of importance such as Samuel Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer.
Anyway, both Hattie and John were going to run into each other. John was aware that Hattie was going to arrive. John instructed to everybody not to mention to Hattie Carnegie that he was in Hollywood because they were old flames and he wanted to surprise her.
Hattie was very startled to see John, he was twenty years older, but she recognized him and gave him a warm greeting and a hug and kiss.
When they wrapped up for the day, they reminisced over dinner and a cup of coffee, and probably a slice of apple pie which was Hattie’s favorite dessert.
A few dates later, the couple was falling back in love with each other. However, John was rekindling the flame at a slower pace than Hattie wanted, and to her it seemed as if he was purposely cutting off the flames oxygen supply.
John was deeply in love with Hattie, he wanted her to be his lady again, but he wanted to take some time to get to know one another again. Many changes had occurred in the past twenty years, and he recalled his heartbreak when he went into the service and instructed Hattie the love of his life to listen to her father, to take his advice, and marry Ferdinand. It broke his heart to utter those words and to kiss her one last time, and to watch as the tears stream from her blue eyes as they said goodbye.
They returned to New York, and John would send her little gifts and flowers, and romance her by taking her to the opera which she loved, and the latest theatrical production which he loved.
John affectionately reassured Hattie that she was his lady, his fashion doll, as he kissed her, and told her that he loved no other woman and he was devoted to her forever.
Hattie’s closest friends, asked her about John. They were surprised when she complained about his so called devotion when John avoided the topic of marriage. He claimed that she was important, but Hattie’s impression was that he simply wanted a lover, not a spouse, Hattie desperately wanted John to fulfill both roles..
All the while the man that she remembered not so fondly from the East Side was trying to court her, and would leave messages with her housekeeper. “Lets get together, and “Are you currently seeing anyone?”
Hattie was annoyed with these messages and almost told Madeline to tell him to stop calling her.
Then she thought of a way to (Show John) and told everyone who would listen. “I’ll show that John Zanft!”
She not only called the man from the East Side, but suggested they elope and quickly. Hattie had lost her mind, and could have probably been considered temporarily insane when she packed a bag.
She called John and announced with anger that she was tired of waiting on him to decide their future, and if he wasn’t going to decide on a commitment to her, she was going to end their romance once and for all. She was marrying the man from the East side.
John blew up at Hattie, and screamed into the receiver that she was out of her mind to marry someone like that.
Hattie hung up on John, and tapped her foot and paced like a caged lioness who was waiting for a kill she would rant and rave that she was upset at John, but each time that phone rang, she announced, . “Don’t let it go!, It’s John!”
Her friends were surprised at the normally confident Hattie’s first sign of insecurity and insanity.. She was testing John’s devotion to her.
John pleaded with her not to get married that she would regret the day. She almost reconsidered, but knew that John just might realize how much they meant to each other, if she married the East Sider. That is exactly what she did.
The honeymoon was almost nonexistent, because this guy was an absolute #@%$ and was emotionally abusive toward Hattie, and a few of their encounters ended in physical abuse.
Hattie would go to John in tears, and he would comfort her, and their encounters were just the opposite loving, fiery and passionate.
Hattie wanted John to be her knight in shining armor. The East Side man found out that Hattie was cheating on him, but he could of cared less, because he only saw green. Her money! He didn’t love Hattie.
They despised each other and ultimately used each other for their own agenda. There was a quick annulment and the marriage was ended a month later, and wasn’t considered legal in the eyes of the law.
After their loving reconciliation John had decided to propose to Hattie and they eloped to Philadelphia. He presented his beautiful bride with a pearl ring encircled with diamonds. Pearls were her favorite, he also gave his bride her trademark three strand pearl necklace to match the ring.
They were married by Magistrate Charles Rooney on August 22, 1928. They honeymooned in Philadelphia, and returned to New York , had a religious ceremony preformed by a rabbi, and settled in a luxury apartment at 1133 Fifth Ave.
I cannot believe this was even allowed to be printed in 1934, but Hattie actually referred to her and John’s bedroom as the playroom.
Hattie and John were happily married for twenty eight years when John lost his beloved Hattie to cancer.
I can’t imagine going through all that just to make somebody jealous, so tiring but than again this was Hattie Carnegie. She was an eccentric
Thank you to Nona, for the New York Times article dated March 31st 1934. You helped me tie up some loose ends and solved a baffling mystery for me about the man from the East Side.
Hattie and John enjoy a ride on a "Rolling Chair" in 1928.
