This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt depicts soldiers
writing letters at the encouragement of the sign on the wall, “Remember to
Write That Letter Home!”
Those might have been the same words my grandmother said
to my mother as a 10-year old girl in 1939.
It was summertime, and Momma was visiting with Aunt Velma and Uncle Woody at their home in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Momma always described them as “the fun ones.”
 |
| Mary Eleanor Davis about 1939 |
It was summertime, and Momma was visiting with Aunt Velma and Uncle Woody at their home in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Momma always described them as “the fun ones.”
June 12, 1939
Martinsburg, W. Va.
Dear Grandma,
I’m getting along just fine and I’m coming home Thursday
on #13. I went to four shows so far and
I’m going Wednesday to see “Rose of Washington Square.” We had Woodys Birthday Party Sunday.
With love,
Mary E.
Observations:
- The “Grandma” of this letter was no doubt Momma’s paternal grandmother, Mary Frances Jollett Davis. The letter was among the photos and other memorabilia passed down to me through Violetta and Velma, daughters of Mary Frances. Had the letter been sent to the other grandmother, it probably would not have survived.
- Woody’s birthday was actually the 13th of June, which was on a Tuesday in 1939, so it must have been more convenient to celebrate on the weekend before.
- Momma was traveling by train. She might even have traveled alone on that Thursday, June 15, 1939.
- Momma would be annoyed with herself for leaving out that apostrophe in “Woodys.”
To see who else is writing home, please visit Sepia Saturday.
©
2014, Wendy Mathias. All rights
reserved.
It is so nice to have letters from the past. I wonder how we will be able to reminisce and remember past events with text messages, emails etc. I think we've lost a bit of social history with the new technologies.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day some volunteers will be indexing Facebook.
DeleteNow that is a thought...
DeleteAww, what a sweet letter and you used my favorite picture of Momma when she was little. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI debated between this picture and the one with her arms crossed.
DeleteCute correspondence Can't help but wonder if she wrote this voluntarily or like most children had to be coerced into writing the duty letter.
ReplyDeleteI don't know -- she was close with her grandmother. I imagine she wrote one to her parents too but that letter didn't get saved.
DeleteSuch a sweet letter!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend, friend. ☺
I like how she proofread and inserted a word she had left out.
DeleteGoodness, she was a cute kid, wasn't she? Great letter home...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
DeleteLucky girl to see all those shows, but then I think we already know Velma as a ‘fun one’. I bet your Momma was the apple of her grandma’s eye; she looks a charmer.
ReplyDeleteI thought too that Velma and Woody showed their fun side getting her to all those shows.
DeleteWendy, it must be wonderful to have such letters in your midst. I wish I had something like this.
ReplyDeleteI have only a couple letters but yes, I am glad for them. While you might not have letters from ancestors, YOUR descendants will have plenty of reminders of your contributions to this world.
DeleteSo great you have that charming little letter. I don't know where she got the idea, but after I married, moved away from home, & began to beget children, I wrote copious letters home describing everything going on with me and my family & especially every little thing about the children. Unbeknownst to me, my Mom saved all those letters and years later, gave them back to me & I still have them to pass on to my children, & maybe they'll pass them on to theirs? Email has changed things, of course, as Sally pointed out. But I've started saving emails - printing them out to give back to the authors some day. I started saving them on a thumb drive, but computer technology changes so fast, I decided printing them out was the better way to go!
ReplyDeleteI bet they'll look back at old emails and have a good laugh.
DeleteIt's comforting to know that previous generations were just like us. People don't change, society does.
ReplyDeleteSo true -- I've noticed that in reading the letters on other blogs as well.
DeleteSo charming. To think that a ten year old girl might have been able to travel safely on her own is quite amazing.
ReplyDeleteA friend and I rode to Richmond on the bus by ourselves at about age 12, but 12 is a far cry from 10. But I'm sure I would not have let my girls go by themselves at that age.
DeleteIt was probably similar to unaccompanied children flying these days. Most likely the porter was be paid to look out for them and make sure they got off in the right spot.
DeleteA sweet picture and letter. I looked up the movie, "Rose of Washington Square" It starred Alice Faye and Al Jolson, and included the songs: "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" (sung by Alice Faye); "Ja-Da" and "Vamp" (both sung by Faye); "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody" and "Toot-Toot Tootsie, Goodbye" (both sung by Jolson); "I'm Just Wild About Harry" (Alice Faye); "California, Here I Come" (Al Jolson); and "Mammy" . I don't think I've ever seen it but I sure know the tunes. Did you ever catch your mother humming the melodies?
ReplyDeleteDid Momma hum the tunes? Why, let me refer you to one of my previous Sepia Saturday posts http://jollettetc.blogspot.com/2014/02/sepia-saturday-good-bye-marion.html
DeleteWendy I'm responding with some feedback for our blog pimping exercises. It's a nice looking blog with a host of great features and content.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion is related to your lengthy sidebar. I would suggest that you think about which widgets are really useful to your readers, reorder some, move most important ones to the top, move some to another part of your blog and maybe even delete some.
Cheers, Jill
I'm sure what makes the sidebar so long is the list of labels. But I shall definitely consider how I might rearrange things. Thanks!
DeleteFour shows! Wow - they were the fun ones. So what was the #13 - Train number #13 or the train that left at 1300?
ReplyDeleteWendy I just love the way you've laid out your blog and think it is a really smart idea to have PDFs of descendant charts under each family name. I am thinking I may have to copy your idea on my own blog. May I? I also really like that Follow Me on Feedly badge. It's hard to find room for improvement as per our challenge this weekend. Maybe more colour or pictures? I'ts hard to pinpoint exactly what it is I am after. I find design so very difficult. While I like the background design, I think it is a bit draining or dull. There - I've said it. Don't hate me for it. And feel free to ignore my observations.
That was a train number because she would have said "1:00," not 1300.
DeleteI don't hate you -- because I've been thinking the very same thing! I mentioned to you I'm planning some changes, and one is the color. I had selected this color specifically for its antique or sepia look, but I want something livelier. As for the family tabs, take the idea -- I'm sure I "'stole" it from someone else.
What a treasure to have! And what a blessing that someone thought to save a letter sent by a child. You didn't mention when you first got to see this letter from your mom, but I imagine Mary E.'s children (or grandchildren) would have gotten a kick out of seeing this letter when they were kids, themselves. There is just something so eye opening about realizing one's grown-up mom or dad was once a child, too, "just like me."
ReplyDeleteIf I saw it before Momma passed away, I don't remember. The letter was in a bag or box of photos and "stuff." My mother saved a number of cards from her grandchildren, and she saved my letter to Santa.
DeleteYour adorable mom! She was very lovely with such clear complexion. I was noticing the detail on her dress and wonder if it was made at home and the detail hand-stitched. You probably have no way of knowing that unless your mom said something about the photo. What a treasure to have the letter. It looks like it's in good condition even after all these years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my grandmother sewed, except for maybe basic straight stitching to repair a hem. My great-grandmother sewed, but I never considered whether she ever made clothes. I know she made quilts. But that dress definitely has that home-made look.
DeleteA letter, real letters! This brings back the letters and postcards between my grandmother and myself. She only live about 40 miles away and we saw her often, but still we always wrote each other!
ReplyDeleteThat's great - heck, 40 miles is 40 miles.
DeleteLetters written by children have a particular charm and I am pleased that I kept in my Memories Box postcards that my daughter sent us when she was staying with grandparents for a short break. Lovely to look back on. and perhaps they will become future heirlooms.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about this and I don't think my girls ever wrote to me. When they were in college, we had instant message and email, no letters. However, my mother saved a few things they sent her.
DeleteChildren's letters home are always so short and unsatisfying! When my daughter spent a summer working in Italy, we received a grand total of three short emails. One of them said only: "I get back at like 7 fifty something, dont think you wanna drive that late." We did, however, receive about a 5 minute phone call every three or four days to let us know she was still alive and kicking. But we wanted DETAILS! which were never forthcoming.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, when my daughter studied in Italy, she didn't send any letters either. I got the details with her photos which I put together for her in a scrapbook, beautifully decorated, I might add. HA! I got the story only because I had to keep asking, "What is this?" and "When was this?" and "Where was this?" in order to arrange the pictures in some sensible fashion.
DeleteThe letter is choice but it is your observations that make this post special. Good one.
ReplyDeleteWell thanks.
DeleteSuch a cute thing to do. I got to know about Sepia Saturday from here. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteYou're so welcome. I enjoy participating in Sepia Saturday.
DeleteI love all letters from our ancestors but the ones when they were kids are THE BEST!
ReplyDeleteAren't kid letters so cute?
Delete