FLORINT PAPER MONEY (Hungarian: forint papírpénz)

 

THE GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP CONTINUES TO ADD TO THEIR FREE DATABASES : NEW YORK - NEW YORK CITY - CONNECTICUT

It's been over a decade since I posted on the GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP!  They are still adding to their databases.  So, here's the thing : These are Americans who are posting useful archival data focusing on NEW YORK - NEW  YORK CITY - and CONNECTICUT - and this is what they say:

GERMAN GENEALOGY GROUP - FREE DATABASES

"As a group we are focused on German genealogy; however, our databases encompass ALL nationalities and are always free to search."

A Sampling of the latest additions:

 
SEE WHAT'S NEW/UPDATED:

02/18/2026 Added 22,040 records to the Births database (Manhattan 1872) that were missing from the original index.

01/31/2026 Added 4,965 records to the Baptism database (St Vincent de Paul RC Church, Williamsburg).

01/13/2026 Added 14,588 records to the Births database (Manhattan 1870) that were missing from the original index.

11/11/2025 Gravesend database modified to display the record page numbers for each name searched.

11/11/2025 Added 110 bride and 19 groom records, Kings County, various years

11/11/2025 Added 1,180 bride and 427 groom records, 1869 Kings County

09/15/2025 Added 3,331 records to the Births database (Manhattan 1868 "A" certificates) that were missing from the original index.

09/06/2025 Added 103 brides and 16 grooms; corrected 912 bride & groom records, 1866-1937 Kings County.
.

MY FRIEND TRAVELS BACK TO HUNGARY and WORRIES ABOUT HIS RETURN FLIGHT IN JUNE BEING CANCELLED and a TRUE TRAVEL STORY

The third week in April, my Hungarian-American friend, who I met through genealogy, and who enjoys dual-citizenship, called me from the San Francisco airport. He had promised a call before he left for two months in Hungary and did so after going through customs and awaiting a boarding call. He'd purposely decided to fly Swiss Air - a neutral country. He bought a round trip ticket, but friends in Europe told him they were not sure about the availability of oil - fuel - and that there might be a possibility that the airline would be able to keep its promise of a round trip ticket. What with the wars -  Russia - Iran - etc.

In which case, how would he get home?

We joked about the movie Plains, Trains, and Automobiles. He mentioned Vienna being only 120 miles from Budapest and the industrious Austrians and Germans possibly being better able to obtain plane fuel. We jokingly imaged him rowing a boat across the Atlantic with one paddle.

"I'm going to go, forget my troubles in the United States, and have a good time, and try not to worry," he said. But I could tell he was plenty worried. Because Russia and Hungary were not having a good relationship over the last few months over the war in Ukraine, he said. And also that Orban, in his opinion, had been in power twenty years (not just sixteen) and had done a good job the first three terms. What was Hungary going to be like this visit with the new administration?

But it brought to mind this true story, which took place about twenty five years ago, and which I told him.

I met two sisters at a library. On was employed as a temporary worker and pretty much supporting her immigrant mother and disabled sister. The temp worker had a few weeks with no assignment and - and, as was possible back in that day - told the agency she needed the time off anyway *** The two sisters then had a very inexpensive six week vacation traveling, for which they spent about $3000.

They took the little local community shuttle near their home to the closest train station and arrived at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. From there they took a train that passed through Albuquerque, New Mexico and then went on to Florida. In Fort Lauderdale they got on a cruise ship that had a lot of cabins empty for a cruise and got a deal. The ship sailed the Atlantic to Portugal. From Portugal they traveled to Paris. The only night they had nowhere to sleep was in Paris, but they spent it at an all night café drinking coffee! The best place outside Budapest to be up all night drinking coffee. (They had so much to eat on the cruise, they felt no need to eat.) After finding an affordable B & B near Paris and traveling around Paris and locale, they took the bus that goes through the tunnel under the Channel to England and spent time in London. From there they traveled to Liverpool, where they booked on another inexpensive cruise and sailed the Atlantic to New York City. In New York they got on a train that went to Chicago, and then south, and arrived back in Union station in Los Angeles. Then, once again, the community shuttle home...

Think of how little they spent!

 (*** and returned to find they hadn't dumped her and soon got a decent permanent job from a temp assignment.).

RED POPPIES BLOOM IN HUNGARIAN MAY

 

HUNGARIAN HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN STEREOTYPE : WE LOVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH SPA CULTURE AND ARE NOT SHY ABOUT OUR BODIES

 There is no doubt about it. We do! 

In the United States, if you visit some of the less expensive day spas, or places where you can go in natural surroundings to put clay on yourself, scrub with bristle brushes, float around in the shallows on rafts, submit yourself to the strong fingers of a deep tissue therapist, or simply soak in mineral rich thermal waters, YOU WILL FIND HUNGARIANS and HUNGARIAN-AMERICANS.

That's not to say that no one spends on the expensive day spas. The trouble with them is that these days the expensive ones may also put you on a diet that is too extreme for someone who cares not to loose weight, or they may expect you to hit the gym, which is not the Hungarian-American/Hungarian point of going to a spa.

That has been my experience and so you can't argue with it!

As for the part about not being shy about our bodies, I'm not claiming that we are immodest. Rather, we are practical. We have a body. Everyone does. And very few people are in excellent shape.  And you do not have to be in excellent shape to enjoy feeling good or soaking in thermal waters with other people, some who are friends, some who are not.

Smile!

C 2026 Magyar-American BlogSpot  All Rights Reserved including Internet and International Rights

Want to see what other stereotypes I tackle? Click on the tag below!

APPLE HARVEST IN HUNGARY - USUALLY IN THE SPRING

 

Apple harvest in Hungary occurs in chief growing regions and can be badly affected by drought.
The fruit is grown in the counties of Heves, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Zala, but the most important production area is still Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg count.

PETER MAGYAR IS ELECTED IN LANDSLIDE VICTORY AS NEW PRESIDENT OF HUNGARY AFTER SIXTEEN YEARS OF VIKTOR ORBAN

NPR ORG: WHO IS PETER MAGYAR WHO BEAT VIKTOR ORBAN?

Excerpt: He burst onto the scene as an opposition leader in 2024, rising rapidly to become the leader of the center-right Tisza Party, which won a two-thirds majority in Sunday's parliamentary election. Orbán, who has led Hungary for 16 years, conceded and congratulated Magyar less than three hours after polls closed. ...

In a victory speech delivered to a sea of jubilant supporters on the banks of the Danube River, Magyar reiterated his promises to rebuild Hungary's ties with the European Union and NATO, root out corruption and cronyism and "restore the system of checks and balances." ...

The country has economic incentive to do so: Since 2022, the EU has frozen billions of dollar's worth of funding for the country because it said Orbán was violating key democratic values. Magyar said the country will "never again allow anyone to hold free Hungary captive or to abandon it." ...

1950 CENSUS FINDER - MORSE AND WEINTRAUB : HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN GENEALOGY

STEVE MORSE ORG 1950 CENSUS UNIFIED FINDER 

Of course, this census finder may help anyone of any ethnic or racial identity searching for ancestors who might appear on the United States 1950 Federal census, but those of you who come to MAGYAR-AMERICAN for genealogy, may find this especially helpful.

The 1950 census as it appears on the National Archives site is simply not easy to navigate and yes, in some places the handwriting isn't great so the spellings are not correct. The NARA site used artificial intelligence to interpret the handwritten! Trying to figure our just how a surname is misspelled can be a waste of time and make you feel crazy! 

(I will include this link on my sidebar that is simply full of wonderful links!)

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES 1950 CENSUS START PAGE : https://1950census.archives.gov/

FUN WITH HUNGARICANA #7 : THE LIBRI REGII in HUNGARICANA : WHAT'S INSIDE?

This post continues on the exploration of the Hungariacana databases.

Please note that there are extensive collections that are not uploaded onto databases. ***

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF HUNGARY - HUNGARICANA - DATABASES - LIBRII REGII

Let's start with what "Librii Regii" means. This are Latin for "Royal Books" just as Királyi Könyvek, is Hungarian for "Royal Books" as well. But they are casually referred to as King's Books.

The collection contains 67 volumes of official records from the Hungarian Chancellery, documenting important state documents issued by the Kings of Hungary and Austria-Hungary between years 1527 and 1867. (So that includes Queen Maria Theresa's time on the throne.) Patents of nobility are just part of this collection. There are also wills, the ownership and transfer of ownership of land (a principal aspect of wealth), as well as many other aspects of royal decrees (laws, policies, and rules). *** However, you may need to ask an archivist at the National Archives of Hungary for some help, unless you can make your way through the Latin handwriting.

When you go to the link you will see a number of images (start pages) and the numbers below them indicate the DATES that are covered.

There are some images that are PRESS PRINTED IN LATIN.

There are some images that are handwritten in LATIN.

And there are some of these in HUNGARIAN.

BECAUSE SOME IMPORTANCE WAS GIVEN TO THESE DOCUMENTS, many were made with an attention to readability and neatness - beauty.

I'm going to link to a book of heraldry - family crests - coat of arms.  These are for the TITLED NOBILITY OF AN ERA and this book has over ONE THOUSAND PAGES. THIS BOOK IS FOR THE YEARS 1901- 1909.

HUNGARICANA ARCHIVES : BOOK IMAGE 71.1 KIRALYI KONYVEK  This is the cover image but you can SEE the artistic representations of each coat of arms.  The very first one has a crow holding an envelope in its mouth.  

YOU WILL ALSO SEE THAT THREE GREEN HILLS ARE PRESENT IN MANY OF THESE COAT OF ARMS...

This motif is so common in Hungarian arms, and I've not found a definitive reason why.  I venture that these indicate the Carpathian mountains and the story of how the tribal people who were seeking a homeland followed a White Stag through. Without reading the information given, I cannot say that this also indicates that the original members of the family were part of that adventure.

You will also see arms with swords. These indicate that the person battled or persevered over the Ottoman Turks who were in control of Hungarian lands for centuries - depending on locations - 

LINK TO MAJOR ARPAD HUNGARICANA - ROYAL BOOK - MAJOR ARPAD image 0082

This particular book may be of interest also because there are a good number of GERMAN SURNAMES included, including some who are listed as Medicinae Doctor (M.D.): Literally "Teacher of Medicine".  However, just as we call PhD educated people "Doctor", the use of this term may be honorary.

Interested in learning more about these databases.  See my past posts.  They will all come up if you click on the label  Pro Tip Hungaricana Fun

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR HUNGARIAN SURNAME MEANS? DO YOU PRONOUNCE IT CORRECTLY?

Many people - including me - go for years not knowing what their Hungarian surname translates to.  Sometimes changes in spelling by ancestors makes it a little different. There are versions that are "Germanic" if not German, Slovak, etc.

It is also not uncommon for Americans with Hungarian surnames to go through life with the surname pronounced in some other-that-Hungarian-way.

I would like to hear from you on this subject!

THE DAY BEGINS

via GIPHY

THE NOBLE

 

CROWS MAY BE SMARTER THAN A SEVEN YEAR OLD HUMAN

Excerpt from YouTube station reYOUniverse...

How crows revealed Archimedes' principle. Why crows have been painstakingly taking revenge on a resident of India for many years. What do crows prefer - cash or bank cards? And how come that with a brain the size of a hazelnut crows are smarter than many monkeys? 

***

I like to post pictures of crows and crow information from time to time, not only because I've been fascinated watching these birds, but because they are associated with the Magyars on certain family crests...

***
Varjú (pronounced: vahr-yoo) is Hungarian for the English word crow.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO POST A LINK TO YOUR HUNGARIAN OR HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN CLUB or EVENT PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!

For events, please do so as far from the event than you can!

Thanks!

COAT OF ARMS : THE SWORD : THE TURKS

Many heraldic coat of arms for ancient Hungarian families include a hand with a sword such as in this more fanciful artwork. The icon indicates the family may have risen to noble status through defeating the Turks.