The middle class usually employed at least one woman for household help, but this was more a necessity than luxury, as stoves had to be taken care of and wood and coal brought from the cellar. Also it was the time before washing machines, vacuum cleaners and refrigerators were available. Twice yearly the apartment had to be cleaned from top to bottom. My parents also employed a cook and as long as the four children were growing up, a governess.

Great luxury was evident in some parties. These affairs brought many persons to a house, costumes were elegant and a great deal of expensive food was served. After World War I such parties were rare and I cannot remember that my parents ever gave one.

Father married in 1904. The couple moved to Gleisbuehlstrasse 13, ie. father remained In the house which Grand‐Uncle Ernst had built and Grandfather Friedrich Tuchmann had bought. When father married a third floor was added.

The house was always fully occupied. Dr. Metzger lived in the lowest floor. He was perhaps the ideal tenant as he never wanted his apartment painted or decorated though he lived in it for over ten years. He always asked us children if we had already learned the "wet" letters, by which he meant the sibillants such as s, z etc.

When another tenant, Uncle Max Strauss, wanted to move in the apartment, Dr. Metzger refused to move out and it took a court order to get him to vacate.

After Grandfather Friedrich Tuchmann's death in 1916 his apartment was occupied by my mother's parents.

When Father emigrated to the United States in 1938 he had lived in the house for 34 years. The house was completely destroyed in 1942 during a bomber attack in World War II. About 1948 Father was able to sell the land for Marks 50,000.00. This of course made him feel very happy about his Investment, having lost most of his other assets to the Third Reich.

In 1916 Father was drafted for duty in World War I. and served first in Bayreuth, Bavaria, and later in Belgium as a Sergeant.

When he returned in 1918 two events changed the business fundamentally. First the 1917 revolution in Russia deprived the firm of all the many profitable customers there. Second, even more serious, the runaway inflation of 1922 ‐ 1923 had made grave inroads on the firm's capital.

In the beginning of inflation no one could make anything of the fact that prices rose sharply every month, then every day and finally every hour. No one had ever lived through such conditions and when people finally understood what was going on, it was much too late to do anything about it. I remember Father discussing the situation with a neighbour. The neighbour was certain that conditions would be corrected because "otherwise all the officials in Munich and Berlin would be utter fools and knaves." However he conceded that there would be heavy losses and felt sorry for the young people who had to start again. On this point father was of a different opinion. He felt that the young people were receiving such valuable experience from which they could benefit all their lives. I am afraid, in the light of present inflationary conditions all over the world, Father was too optimistic.

Despite these heavy losses the business could still be carried on but it was necessary to borrow from the banks. Many banks were eager to lend and it was possible to be so independent as to even refuse the submission of a balance sheet or a loan which was not as large as requested. However, this condition could change at any tine. The partners followed a most conservative and cautious course. They still could extend credit to breweries, but they strictly refrained from buying stocks from customers, as such a policy could lead to heavy losses. During a bank crisis the banks generally asked for repayment in a very insistent manner, but S. Tuchmann & Soehne could pay back more than requested and even waived protection which was availiable through foreign exchange balances. I believe this was their "finest hour", as many competitors experienced great difficulties at that time.