In his hometown of Rochester, NY, Albert enjoyed watching the trains at the city depot from afar to sketch in his drawing pad. Besides trains, he enjoyed drawing caricatures of friends, family, and people in his neighborhood. For the majority of Albert's career, he designed and illustrated ads for local Rochester food, fashion, and real estate businesses at the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester's daily newspaper.

Brooklyn, NY, was Norman's residence for his formative years. His father, Harry, owned one of New York City's first radio shops, but died when Norman was seven. Once Harry passed away, the family was in need of money; Norman began working a series of odd jobs, including handing out fliers in Times Square during the late 1930's. After serving in World War II, Norman worked in advertising (at the art department of Esquire Magazine) and later in television (producer and artist for the NBC game show Concentration). In 2014, Norman's work was featured in Steven Heller and Rick Landers' book, Raw Data: Infographic Designers' Sketchbooks.

It's unusual to have two grandparents who made careers using the same skills, but it's part of my family's history. Looking through their artwork and hearing stories from other relatives, it's continually fascinating to observe their similarities and differences in personality. To me, a mostly Philadelphia, PA suburbs-raised fellow, my grandfathers each serve as archetypes of upstate and downstate New Yorkers.