Edward Streeter
Edward Streeter was a humorous novelist and bank vice president, best known for his 1949 best-selling novel "Father of the Bride," which sold over seventy thousand copies in its release year and inspired two successful film adaptations. Born in New York City in 1891, Streeter was educated at the Pomfret School and Harvard, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Lampoon. After a brief stint as a reporter and serving in World War I, he embarked on a long career in the banking industry, ultimately retiring as vice president of the Bank of New York in 1956.
Streeter initially gained fame through his "Dere Mable" series of columns, which he wrote during the war and later compiled into a best-selling book. Following his retirement, he published several novels that showcased his keen sense of humor and satirical style, including "Ham Martin, Class of '17," which presents a unique twist on the traditional romantic narrative. He continued to write until his death in 1976, leaving behind a legacy of work that reflects the comedic and cultural sensibilities of his time.
Subject Terms
Edward Streeter
American novelist and journalist.
- Born: August 1, 1891
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: March 31, 1976
- Place of death: New York, New York
Biography
Humorous novelist and bank vice president Edward Streeter is most widely known for his best-selling 1949 novel Father of the Bride, which sold over seventy thousand copies the year of its release and has since been made into two popular movies: one in 1950 featuring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor and a remake in 1991 starring Steve Martin.
Streeter was born in New York City in 1891 and lived there throughout his life. He attended the Pomfret School, editing the school paper and yearbook, and then went to Harvard where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Lampoon. Upon graduation in 1914, he became a reporter for a brief time in Buffalo, New York, before serving in the World War I. He returned to New York City after armistice, working as the assistant vice president of Bankers Trust until 1929, spending a year as a stock broker for Blake Brothers, and then joining the Fifth Avenue Bank, which would become the Bank of New York in 1931. He would spend the remainder of his financial career there, retiring in 1956 as the bank’s vice president. He died in 1976 at his home in New York.
Although Streeter is best remembered for the novels he wrote after his retirement, the Dere Mable series of columns which he began writing for the Buffalo Express while he was stationed with the New York National Guard near the Mexican Border brought him great success. A collection of the columns, Dere Mabel: Love Letters of a Rookie, became a best seller in 1918 while Streeter was in France during the war. During the following two years, there were three sequels: That’s Me All Over, Mable and Same Old Bill, Eh, Mable, in 1919, and As You Were, Bill in 1920.
While he was working in the financial sector, Streeter published the occasional magazine article or story, focusing his efforts on the kind of satire popularized by Streeter’s contemporaries such as Robert Benchley and Ogden Nash. Father of the Bride marked Streeter’s transition to the comic novel, and he produced six more novels over the next twenty years: Skoal Scandinavia (1952), Mr. Hobbs’s Vacation (1954), Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter (1956), Chairman of the Bored (1961), Along the Ridge (1964), and Ham Martin, Class of ’17 (1969).
Of these novels, Ham Martin, Class of ’17 is the most original. It is a comic inversion of the familiar romantic tale of an artist leaving behind a successful business career to become a writer. Ham Martin begins life as a writer, finding success and great enthusiasm from his family, but he becomes inspired by accounting and pursues a successful and lucrative career as a businessman, becoming rich by successfully weathering and exploiting the crash of 1929. Streeter describes Martin’s feelings about the columns of numbers in language reminiscent of the romantic musings of a poet or novelist, but the character is not able to turn his passion for numbers to the service of his writing. His abandonment of his art alienates his family and destroys his marriage—a tidy reversal of the familiar story that Streeter plays to great comic and satirical effect.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Dere Mabel: Love Letters of a Rookie, 1918
That's Me All Over, Mable, 1919
Same Ole Bill, Eh, Mable, 1919
As You Were, Bill, 1920
Daily Except Sunday, 1938
Father of the Bride, 1949
Mr. Hobbs's Vacation, 1954
Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter, 1956
Mr. Robbins Rides Again, 1957
Chairman of the Bored, 1961
Ham Martin, Class of '17, 1969
Nonfiction:
Skoal Scandinavia, 1952
Window on America, 1957
Along the Ridge, 1964
Bibliography
"Edward Streeter, Humorist, Dies at 84." The New York Times, 2 Apr. 1976, www.nytimes.com/1976/04/02/archives/edward-streeter-humorist-dies-at-84.html. Accessed 21 Jun. 2017. An obituary of the author is presented.
Hart, James D., and Phillip W Leininger. "Streeter, Edward (1891–1976)." The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 2004. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195065480.013.4623. Accessed 21 June 2017. This reference entry gives an overview of Streeter's life and career, including his best-known works.
Suter, Scott Hamilton. "Funny and Bright Though Even under Adversary Conditions": The Comic Innocent in Edward Streeter's World War I Humor." Studies in American Humor, vol. 3, no. 21, Jan. 2010, pp. 5–13. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=56636625&site=eds-live. Accessed 21 June 2017. Provides criticism and analysis of Streeter's works, focusing on his "Dere Mable" works in the context of World War I.
Taylor, Welford Dunaway. "Streeter, Edward." Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature, Letter S, p. 1106. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=18743704&site=eds-live. Accessed 21 June 2017. Presents a profile of Streeter as both a popular satirist and novelist and as a successful banker.
Trachtenberg, Stanley. American Humorists, 1800–1950. Gale Research, 1982. This collection includes a biographical profile of Streeter.