Tiny Tim's Tiptoe Through the Tulips of Life

Ukulele

 

Tiny Tim

Tiny Tim, known for playing the ukulele and singing songs in a falsetto voice, was regarded by many as a novelty act of the sixties. He has been called eccentric, unique, and bizarre for his style of music and persona.

Butros and Tillie Khaury

Tiny Tim was born as Herbert B. Khaury in New York City on April 12, 1932 to Butros Khaury, a textile worker, and Tillie (Staff) Khaury, a garment worker.

Greenwich Village

Herbert Khaury

He grew up in New York, displaying musical talent at a young age.  When he discovered the music of the early 1900’s, he began performing it.  In 1952, he started singing in falsetto and performing under the name of Larry Love. He made his performing debut at a cabaret called Page 3 in Greenwich Village.  In 1962, he began using the name Tiny Tim after casting aside such names as Darry Dover, Vernon Castle, and Larry Love.  At a height of 6’1” the name drew attention.  He continued to perform in Greenwich Village, building a cult following for his unique musical style.

Tiny Tim on Laugh-In

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

His big break came in 1967 when he appeared on Rowen and Martin’s variety show, Laugh-In.  He sang A Tisket A Tasket and On the Good Ship Lollipop while accompanying himself on a soprano ukulele. On his third visit to the show he sang what was to become his theme song, Tiptoe Through the Tulips.

Sixties Crowd

First Album

Tiny Tim developed a cult following and became a true icon of the sixties.  He released his first album, God Bless Tiny Tim in 1968.  He said the album name was a reference to Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol.”  The album sold over 200,000 copies and reached the Top 20.

For All My Little Friends

In 1969, he recorded a collection of children’s song on the album, For All My Little Friends, which was nominated for a Grammy.

With Vickie Budinger

Married on the Tonight Show

On December 17, 1969, in front of 45 million viewers of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki  - his seventeen-year-old girlfriend, Victoria Mae Budinger. They had one child, in 1971, a daughter named Tulip Victoria.  The couple lived apart for most of their marriage, divorcing eight years later. 

Great American Circus

At the height of his popularity, Tiny Tim performed on the Jackie Gleason and Ed Sullivan shows.  He played in front of 600,000 people at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970.   As quickly as his popularity rose, it began to wane.  His last appearance on the Tonight Show was during the summer of 1979.  During the eighties, he performed with Roy Radin’s Vaudeville Revue, and toured with the Great American Circus for seven months.

Jan and Tim

In 1984, he married again, this time to Jan Alweiss Kaury, known as Miss Jan.  He preferred to live alone, so he and his wife lived in neighboring houses and would visit each other.  They divorced in 1995.

Tiny Tim continued to perform and release albums, his last being Girl in 1996.  He now sang in his normal baritone voice. The only song he continued to sing in falsetto was his signature song, Tiptoe Through the Tulips.

In 1995, Tiny Tim married Susan Marie Gardner, known as Miss Sue.  They lived in Minneapolis.

Before the show with Fred Fallin

In September 1996, Tiny Tim was performing at a ukulele festival in Montague, Massachusetts, when he suffered a heart attack.  He was hospitalized at the local medical center for three weeks.  When released he was told not to perform again. The stress of a live performance would be too risky on his heart.

Woman's Club of Minneapolis

Disregarding doctor’s orders, Tiny Tim took to the stage for a Gala Benefit at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis on November 30, 1996.  He suffered another heart attack on stage and died at the Hennepin County Medical Center. He was 64 years old.

Tiny Tim's Crypt

Lakewood Mausoleum

Tiny Tim was interred in a mausoleum in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was laid to rest with his ukulele and a single tulip.

~ Joy

As an aside – I had the opportunity to meet Tiny Tim and interview him for a radio program in 1985.  He was very polite and cordial, maintaining a wispy, falsetto voice throughout the interview.  And, yes, he brought his ukulele and sang Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Cemetery Responsibilities

Maintained Cemetery

Well Kept Cemetery

It’s a question that can be concerning, even confusing – Just who is responsible for a cemetery’s upkeep?  The answers depend on many factors but the bottom line usually appears to be as follows:

Property Tax Form

Whoever is paying the property taxes on the cemetery ground is the individual, corporation, or entity that is responsible for it.

Digging a Grave

Broken Stone

Traditionally, a cemetery’s responsibilities include the allotment and maintenance of the grounds used for burials, and for grave preparation. The family would be responsible for the care and repair of the tombstones.

Cemetery Owned By Bardstown

Charlotteville Cemetery

A cemetery can be owned by an individual, a corporation, a church, a town, a city, township, county, or state.  And the laws will differ depending on the group or government agency that owns a cemetery. 

Cemetery Owned by Indiana Town

In Indiana, if a township owns a cemetery, it must fence it, keep the ground level, keep the weeds down, and straighten leaning tombstones.  But, if a town, city, or county owns the cemetery, then Indiana has no laws that describe how the cemetery should be maintained or preserved.

Uncared for Cemetery

Church Cemetery

In South Carolina, state laws do not tackle the legal responsibilities for cemetery maintenance.  An active cemetery, one that is still being used for burials, should be maintained by its owners.  If the cemetery is private, such as a church, organization, or family cemetery, the owners should perform maintenance.  But many times these cemeteries are forgotten and abandoned.  Bottom line in South Carolina, the family and descendents are expected to care for the graves of their ancestors.

Cemetery Sign

Michigan tries to establish ownership of its cemeteries.  Historic cemeteries will have a sign posted that names the entity in charge of the property.  If a small cemetery has been abandoned in Michigan, it will become the property of the current landowner.

An Illinois Cemetery

The Illinois Cemetery Care Act states that there are two types of cemeteries in the state, licensed and exempt.  A licensed cemetery is owned by a for-profit group, and falls under the jurisdiction of the State Comptrollers Office.  That means the cemetery owner is responsible for the care of the cemetery, its lots, graves, mausoleums, memorials, and markers.

Exempt Cemetery

An exempt cemetery is one that is owned by a non-profit group.  The Illinois State Comptrollers Office does not have legal jurisdiction over these cemeteries.  However, “a cemetery maintenance district can be established by petitioning the county commission or township clerk for a tax levy to maintain and control the burial site.”  This would place the care of the cemetery upon the county’s government.  This also helps to lessen the abandonment of cemeteries when individuals and groups cannot or do not continue to care for them.

White Bronze Planter

Cemetery with a Lack of Funds

Cemeteries are abandoned or “die” because there is no one left to care for them.  This is usually the case in small family cemeteries and in private, church, or organizational cemeteries. 

Uncared for

Abandoned

A cemetery may also be abandoned because of lack of money.  If an older cemetery has reached capacity and has no perpetual care funds to assist with the maintenance of the grounds and stones, an owner may simply walk away and leave the site unattended, and uncared for.

County Courthouse

County Offices

Where should you go to locate the identity of a cemetery owner?  Many times an inquiry at the local town, village, city, township hall, or country clerks office will produce that name.  The County Recorder of Deeds or the County Assessors Office can also provide a legal description of the property.

 

As Benjamin Franklin so poignantly said, "Show me your burial grounds and I'll show you a measure of the civility of a community."  

It is indeed in our society's best interest to keep our cemeteries well maintained and cared for, for they are the annals of our past and our present, describing just who we were to future generations.

~ Joy




 

~ Joy

The November Pogrom (Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass)

Marching Nazis

Seventy-four years ago tonight, the German Nazi party took their first steps toward instigating the beginning of what was to become the Holocaust. 

SS Raid

Ransacked Jewish Home

On November 9, 1938, the SS, SA storm troopers, and Hitler Youth took to the streets in Germany and Austria, destroying synagogues, desecrating Jewish cemeteries, and damaging Jewish homes and businesses.

The pogrom (a state organized and executed act of terror) was triggered by the assignation of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan. 

Polish Jews Being Expelled

Hershel Grynszpan

Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish Jew living in France, was trying to draw the world’s attention to the Nazi’s treatment of over 12,000 Polish-born Jews.  On October 28, 1938, Hitler had ordered them expelled from Germany within 24 hours.  Grynszpan’s family was part of the expulsion.

German Embassy

Ernst vom Rath

After Grynszpan received a postcard from his sister, detailing their flight from Germany, and Poland’s refusal to allow them entry, he purchased a gun.  On the morning of November 7, Grynszpan went to the Germany Embassy in Paris, and requested to see a

Herschel Grynszpan in Custody

German official.  When he was ushered into the office of Ernst vom Rath, Grynszpan shot him three times.  Grynszpan then waited for the French police to arrive and arrest him. In his pocket he carried a postcard he had written to his parents.  It read, “May God forgive me… I must protest so that the whole world hears my protest, and that I will do.” *

Joseph Goebbels

Broken Shop Windows

On November 9, 1938, vom Rath died of his wounds. Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels saw an opportunity to act against Jewish citizens. Goebbels issued instructions letting party leaders know that they could organize “spontaneous demonstrations” against the Jews in retaliation to vom Rath’s death. 

Damaged Storefront

Hitler Youth

These riots, led by storm troopers, the SS, German police, and Hitler Youth, began about 10:30 P.M. By morning, Nazi officials reported 91 Jews were killed, 1,000 Jews had been arrested, and 25,000 Jewish men - one third of all Jewish men in Germany - had been rounded up and sent to concentration camps, where, according to Nazi figures, more than 1,000 of them later died. 

Marched Through Town

The actual number of those killed is unknown. Some reports state the number could have been close to 1,000. It was reported that 30,000 Jewish men, between the ages of 16 and 60, were arrested and taken to concentration camps.  Over 2,000 died there within the next three months.

Map of Synagogues Destroyed

Official Nazi damage figures released the next day showed that 191 synagogues were demolished, and 815 Jewish businesses were destroyed.

Synagogue Ablaze

Destroyed Synagogue

Actual figures showed that 276 synagogues were set on fire that night, and over 1,670 synagogues were damaged or destroyed. Over 7,500 Jewish businesses and homes were obliterated.  In Vienna, Austria, 95 synagogues or houses of prayer were destroyed.

Burning Synagogue

Desecrated Cemetery

An unknown number of Jewish cemeteries were desecrated and destroyed, most located next to synagogues.  Among those was Schmieheim Cemetery in West Baden, the largest Jewish cemetery in Germany.  According to the United States Consul in Leipzig, the violence and vandalism reigned on the sacred sites and cemeteries were described as “approaching the ghoulish.”  Tombstones were damaged and uprooted.  Graves were dug up and violated.

Looted and Damaged Shop

50 Million Reichmark

On November 12, the Jewish community was fined 1 billion reichmarks for the damages incurred. In addition, another 4 million marks was demanded to repair shop windows.

German Citizens Hurry Past

Although Nazi officials thought that German citizens would take part in the

Jews Marched to Camps

destruction of Jewish synagogues, homes and businesses on November 9th, few did.  Citizens seemed to find it prudent to stand aside, or stay home with their windows closed and doors locked. But Nazi officials did realize that 60-million Germans had shown personal fear, or indifference to the plight of the Jews on the night of the pogrom.  Information worth knowing…

Hermann Goring

On November 12, Hermann Göring spoke at a formal government meeting, stating, “I implore competent agencies to take all measures for the elimination of the Jew from the German economy, and to submit them to me.”

 
The Holocaust had begun.

~ Joy

Hershel Grynszpan

*Herschel Grynszpan was held by the French government until 1940 when the Vichy government turned him over to the Nazis.  He spent time in several prisons and concentrations camps.  Then, sometime after 1942, Grynszpan vanished - without a trace.