Sandra Hyman FeigenbaumMy
Sandy - A Life in Pictures
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Late '70's, Early '80's |
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June
1977
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 June
1977
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 July
1977, Quebec
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 July
1977
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 July
1977 Quebec
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 July
1977 Quebec
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Sandy
had not wanted to move
from Long Island, but she did it because I was so unhappy.
Unexpectedly, she blossomed. She later told me that it was the best
thing that we could have done for her. On Long Island, she was a housewife and
mother, and she was happy with her life. All her friends were similarly
situated and so were thousands of other Long Island women. You had to
drive for miles and miles to leave the single-family house on a
quarter-acre lot neighborhood, with their strip shopping centers and
occasional malls. Binghamton was different. To our surprise, it was a much more cosmopolitan area, where you didn't have to go far to find people from other backgrounds and in different situations. This was an eye-opener for her, and she wanted to get out of her rut and into the world. She took courses at Binghamton University so that she would be able to teach, but home economics teachers were not in demand, and substitute teaching was not very satisfying. |
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| Shortly
before we left Long Island, Newsday printed an
article about a World War 2 veteran who was importing inexpensive oil
paintings from Italy and selling them. I don't remember why, but we met
him and talked to him about the business. There were only a few retail
stores at the time, but the idea stuck with us and we occasionally
talked about opening a gallery. Nothing came of it, although we thought
it might be a good business for Sandy. When the owner of a gallery in
Stephens Square, in Binghamton, retired and left beautifully decorated
and finished
space ready to move into, we decided to open a store. |
We contacted the importer, bought paintings and supplies, and learned
how to stretch and frame paintings.
In Oct. 1977, the first Sandy's Hang Ups was opened. This is a May 1992
picture. |
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Sandy
loved being in business
and she loved dealing with customers. Who knew that a home economics
teacher could sell so well? She did well enough so that she was able to
hire a staff so that she could occasionally lunch with her
friends and be home when Lisa
came home from school. The drawback was that she had to work 6 days a
week. She finally decided to take Mondays off, and usually did. As opportunities arose, we expanded to the Oakdale Mall, Endicott, Arnot Mall and North Syracuse. In 1981, I sold my copy center and devoted full time to the galleries. |
 April,
1978
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 January
1979
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 June,
1979
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 May
1982, Lisa's
bat mitzvah party.
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 July
1982. The
Hague. We took a package tour of Holland, Belgium, Paris and London.
She really enjoyed Paris.
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 July
1982 Cafe de la Paix, Paris
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 July
1982 the Right Bank, Paris
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