Interview of Jean Kent

Interview Team: BJ Chapman, Julien Malebranch, and Christal Judge

Faculty Facilitator: Ms. McDuffie

Date of Interview: March 10, 2006

Jean Kent (Kiralfy) was born on September 11, 1929 in the old City Hospital in Columbus. Her parents, Victor James Kiralfy and Raye Cohen Kiralfy, operated Kiralfy’s, a ladies apparel store located on Broadway, a fixture in Columbus retail for many decades. The family lived at 1672 Forest Avenue, right behind Columbus High School. She attended Wynnton Grammar School (she rode her bicycle) and Columbus High School. She reminded us that in those days, school consisted of seven years of grammar school, and four years of high school, for a total of eleven years, compared to the twelve years today. One of the big memories of Wynnton was the time that Eleanor Roosevelt came to her school enroute to Warm Springs—she talked to all the schoolchildren in the courtyard behind the school. Although her mother worked at the store downtown, she could arrange her schedule and was always at home in the afternoon when Jean came home from school.

She was an active child, enjoying swimming, bicycling, and horseback riding, and participating in all the sports in high school. She took dancing lessons twice a week, which were offered on the second floor of the Merchants and Mechanics Bank on Broadway. Afterwards, she would go to the Orangebowl, a restaurant next to the Greyhound Bus Station, to get a drink and a sandwich for a dime. She also remembers that her family sometimes ate at the S&S Cafeteria downtown. On Saturdays, movies at the Grand were the big event—kids could spend an afternoon at the movies, again for a dime. During the summers, since there were no public swimming pools in Columbus, her mother would take her and friends to the Fort Benning Officers Club, where the Kiralfy’s were civilian members. Jean recalls that the concession stand at the pool sold frozen Milky Way bars, which were a real treat. Her favorite bands during the war years were the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey and Harry James.

Sunday, December 7, 1941, found the Kiralfy’s planning their anniversary party, which happened to fall on that day. Needless to say, when the news of the bombing of Pearl harbor was received, the party was cancelled. Wartime Columbus brought back a patchwork of memories for Mrs. Kent. She recalls that her father’s business was affected, sometimes in major ways—for example, nylon stockings were no longer available. One day a traveling salesman came to the store selling certain bulk items. Her father, not sure what he was purchasing, agreed, since some items were difficult to get. When the items arrived, he found to his dismay that he had received dozens of pairs of children’s underwear, which he could not sell in his store. Luckily, across the street was a kiddie store, which agreed to take them off his hands.

War bond drives were a big event in Columbus. At school, the children would buy war bond stamps at 10 cents apiece. Once a stamp book was filled, it could be turned in for a $25 war bond. Mrs. Kent remembers that Bette Davis, a famous movie star, came to Columbus to spend time with her boyfriend, who was training at Fort Benning. During her stay, she made an appearance at one of the city’s war bond rallies. Rationing of gas hit the family by curtailing trips to West Point, Georgia, to visit her mother’s family. Meat rationing meant that the family ate more fish—tuna fish and salmon croquettes became substitutes. Transportation around town was usually by bus. Jean’s parents allowed her to use the bus at an early age—it would end its run at the transfer station on the median of Broadway, which happened to be across the street from her parent’s store.

Jean’s parents were protective of her as a young girl. She was not allowed to come downtown by herself on paydays because of the large volume of soldiers who would be on the streets that day. During the Christmas holidays, Broadway was always nicely decorated with lights and other decorations. Jean’s mother would bring her downtown and park in front of their store on Broadway—from the safety of the car, they enjoyed the bright lights and hustle and bustle of Christmas time. On weekends, Jean’s mother sometimes worked at the USO Club on 9 th Street. Jean would accompany her, and helped her serve refreshments and play checkers and other games with the soldiers. She was not allowed to leave the building.

Jean’s parents were members of the Harmony Club in Columbus, which was located at that time in a big antebellum mansion near 5 th Avenue and 12 th Street. On Sunday’s, the club would host “Tea Dances” for the soldiers. Although she was too young to dance with the soldiers, she did help her mother with the refreshments. She also recalls knitting scarves for the Red Cross, and her mother would host events called “Bundles for Britain Parties” to collect clothing to send to England. Her father was a member of the Georgia Guard during the war, and Jean recalls that after one training session, he brought home gas masks that they had been training with. She also has memories of tending a Victory Garden at their home, but doesn’t recall that it was overly productive.

Since Jean’s father was a civilian member of the Fort Benning Officers’ Club, the family was able to attend many social functions and dances at the club. She always enjoyed the formal evening attire of the officers and their wives, who always seemed to dress so formally compared to normal Columbus civilians. She remembers the glittering uniforms of the officers, and the elegant long dresses of their wives. Phenix City was off limits to her as a girl, but she does admit that she went there on dates when she was older—“everybody knew its reputation”.

Mrs. Kent recalls her relief and happiness that came with the Japanese surrender and the end of the war. When she was older, she did date soldiers from Fort Benning. One of these young men was a returning navy veteran, Gerald Kent, who went on to attend college on the GI Bill and later asked her to be his wife.