Childhood Remembrances of Charles Ciner’s Daughters

These are a few recollections of Mary (1940-), Dorothy (1943-), and Emily Ciner. (1946-). Our father (1904-1984) was the second son of Emanuel and Dora Ciner and was married to Ruth Berliss Ciner (1911-2003).

Each year at the Christmas holidays, our mother and we visited Ciner Jewelry in New York City. We wore our best dresses, patent-leather shoes and little white socks. We took the train from the suburbs to Grand Central Station and would walk about ten minutes to the big building where Ciner was located.

We first went to the office to say hello to our father and our uncle, Irwin, and until 1959, Emanuel, our grandfather. The office was spartan and neat with papers with intricate drawings of designs on each desk.

We were escorted into the factory. There we walked by everyone and greet them. They said, “They’re Mr. Charles’ girls. They’re so sweet.” Many of the employees had been working there for decades. Most of them had thick European accents. The mold-maker in the first row was an elderly man who had come from Europe.

As we walked along the women gluing in rhinestones, we were so scared one of us would sneeze and everything would go flying.

There was a small enclosure where there was a large machine that made a lot of noise even with the door closed.

Lydia was in charge of organizing the factory. She had a European accent. She ruled the factory with an iron hand. If anyone put something back in the wrong place, they were met with her wrath. We were careful not to touch anything.

Then we were allowed in the showroom. One of the saleswomen, who had been there for years, would open a few of the velvet-lined drawers. We were not allowed to pick up anything. Everything was so beautiful and sparkling. We were presented with little pins—an adorable animal or a sweet little hat.

After the visit, we would see the wonderful Christmas scenes in the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, and Altman’s, and attend the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall with the Radio City Rockettes. It was a special day.

In early December, our father brought home a carton of jewelry. These would be holiday gifts for our teachers, our mother’s hair dresser, manicurist, etc. We would spend hours discussing who should get a pin, a pair of earrings, and even a compact. Of course, we had no idea what any piece cost, but that information factored into who received what piece. We then had to wrap the boxes. My father wrapped each box perfectly and tried in vain to teach us.

When we were 13, many of our classmates celebrated their Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah. We gave each friend a special and much appreciated present. Ciner would make a pair of cufflinks for each boy with his birthdate on a calendar; his birthstone would mark the date. For a girl, Ciner would make charm with her birthdate on a calendar; her birthstone would mark the date. Birthdate charms were Sweet 16 gifts as well.

Our mother never left the house without wearing earrings. These were always clip-on as no one in our family was allowed to have pierced ears. She always wore a pin or necklace that matched the earrings.

Whenever our parents were going out to formal event, we would sit on their bed to watch our mother put on her jewelry. She would put on wonderfully dramatic Ciner necklaces, bracelets and earrings—often a parure or matching set. She would always carry a Ciner compact to retouch her face and lips after dinner.

In the 1950s, our father had told us that Ciner had created a different crown each year for the Miss America Pageant that was held in Atlantic City, NJ. In 1955, on a family trip to Atlantic City, we went to a jewelry store that was close to the famed Traymore Hotel. There we tried on the crown—with great trepidation that it would topple off.

When we were teenagers, we would have fun to going into a department store—like Best & Co., Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman—or an upscale specialty shop, and point out Ciner jewelry to the saleslady. In those years, pieces from several companies would be in a display case and only the store’s name could be seen by customers. The saleslady would be incredulous as she would turn over the tag to see we were correct.

Ciner jewelry always had a special style and panache, and we were so proud of the Ciner name.