My Boardwalk Empire Connection
Most times when you get together with family for the holidays, the same stories get recycled, mostly favorite tales about the people we love who aren’t around anymore. However, sometimes some family history that was never revealed shows up to astonish us.
Such was the case this past Thanksgiving when I found out that my family had a direct link to the true tale of Boardwalk Empire.
First a little bit of back-story is in order. My parents Barbara Helm and Harry Hoffman were both only children from divorced parents who were brought up by their mothers. As a result I never knew my biological grandfathers.
From what little I knew, that was for the best. When my mother tried to reconnect with her father Harry Helm when she was 15 (he was remarried with a new family), he came to the door, said he didn’t have a daughter and slammed the door in her face.
On my dad’s side of the family, I knew even less about Frank Hoffman, except that he was not around when my dad grew up in the Chelsea section of Atlantic City.
Last weekend I asked my mom if my dad knew Nucky Johnson, since he grew up in Atlantic City when Nucky was still in charge of the town; my dad was born in 1924. Well that question led to a fascinating fact. She told me that my dad didn’t know him, but my grandfather Frank Hoffman did.
Apparently my grandmother Anna was not happy when her husband started working for Nucky Johnson. My mom doesn’t know what Frank Hoffman was doing for Nucky, but you can be sure it was illegal. My grandmother took her three-year-old son (my dad Harry) and walked away from the marriage in 1927. Since that was still during Prohibition, Frank Hoffman might have been doing something in the booze trade with Nucky.
This news has made me want to try and find out more about the grandfather I never met.
Tags: Boardwalk Empire
November 30th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Fascinating! Crazy how life works, eh? Please post a follow-up with your findings – looking forward to hearing more !!
December 6th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Hi there,
My name is Asher I work at the Museum of the American Gangster here in NYC. I am wondering if your Grandfather was the same Frank Hoffmann who at one time owned the building we now inhabit at 80 st. marks place in the East Village. It was once called Scheib’s place and before that was a speakeasie that was run by scheib but the real owner was Frank Hoffmann the Bavarian gangster and also bootlegger at times. It is possible this is the same person. If you wish to visit our website please do at. http://museumoftheamericangangster.org. or contact us through our email there. Maybe we can shed some light on the mystery because we have been trying to find information on Frank Hoffmann for some time. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Asher Sarnoff
Museum of the American Gangster.
NYC.
December 9th, 2011 at 8:58 am
A short PS. Today’s task is to have Asher, a wonderful researcher, and like me, a poor speller, write Hoffman and Speakeasy 100 times on the museum blackboard.
As seen in the next post, this is more than likely not our Frank Hoffman, though every story about prohibition is a gem, and an important part of the history of this nation.
Best wishes, and a now legal toast to Frank and his family,
Lorcan
PPS: Anyone have a cheap blackboard for sale or loan to the museum? =)
July 14th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
I WAS HARRY HOFFMAN.S COUSIN, HIS MOTHER WAS MY MOTHER,S SISTER,,,FRANK HAD PALSY FOR MOST OF HIS LATE LIFE AND LIVED IN A ROOM AT BROADWAY AND KAIGHN AVE,, IN CAMDEN NJ, MUCH OF HARRYS CLOTHES WERE PASSED TO ME AS IT WAS DEPRESSION YEARS,, WE STAYED WITH ANN WHEN WE WENT TO THE BEACH IN ATLANTIC CITY… TRIP FROM CAMDEN BY TRAIN THEN 50 CENTS,,I KNOW HARRY SENIOR DIED AT AGE 50 WHICH WAS ASHOCK AS HE WAS A GREAT SWIMMER AND WAS IN GREAT SHAPE,,,, I HEARD HIS SON WAS KILLED ON A BIKE IN THE CITY,,, LOST CONTACT SINCE,, EUGENE, I NOW LIVE IN AUSTRALIA..