Millie's Letter

This letter was recently found tucked up in a drawer of an old piece of furniture that my parents had given to my cousin Suzy.  I got a great deal of enjoyment out of reading the letter and thought I'd share it. 

This was written by my grandmother Millie in 1939 to her sister Hannah.  Millie was in Roslyn, where she had grown up, at the time and was around age 19.  Hannah was attending Walla Walla College.

I'm typing this letter exactly as it is written.

Roslyn Washington
June 28, 1939

Dear Hannah,

Thank you so much for your letter.  It came a day late.  Tell me, are you in love?  Or did you just forget to stamp it too?

It's so hot here.  I guess it's about half as hot down there in that bake oven, isn't it?  Mamma said that if you think you'll be too tired at the end of a quarter, you'd better quit now at the half.  It would be a lot better than to ruin your health? Don't you think so?

Next week I guess will be camping.  We'll have to go camping when you come home.  That'd be fun, huh?

Well, papa got his teeth.  He doesn't even look the same.  You'll sure be surprised when you see him.  He's having quite a time with them but I guess they'll be better once he can navigate them around.  We hope so, anyway.

So your beau is 25 yrs old?  You should have sent him a cake with candles on it.  Bet he'd have liked that.  Hope he comes down there for the fourth so you'll have some entertainment.  Anyway, will be thinking of you.

The mines are working fair.  Not less than two days, so that's not too bad.  Clarence gets an extra one each week.

I was just interrupted by a knock on the door.  A nice young man said "I'm fron Davises' and I came to check up on the Hoovers!"  I was going to say "I haven't seen him for sometime" but it struck me that he was talking about vacuum cleaners.  Oh, well.  I guess it's all in living.

I'm reading "Gone With the Wind".  I have 900 more pages left.  That book, it just wears me out packing it around.  I just got it last night.

Old Mrs. Momb (Mum) to hou was buried Friday.  One notice down town said 1 o clock, the other said two.  Mom & Mrs. Toche said they'd go to the funeral - and when they got to the church, the funeral was over.  They said that was the first funeral they'd ever been late too.  I guess the undertaker went by the 1 o'clock sign.  Mom & Toche went by the 2 o'clock one.

We are going down to see Inez's baby today.  She came home from Dallas yesterday.

Dale had his curls cut off and he is strictly a boy now.

Flora moved again yesterday.  She is living in the middle house of those 3-alike below our church.  They had to move out of that other one because the owner wouldn't pay the water for the past 16 months and it was going to be shut off the first of July.  Helen kept the baby up here all day yesterday.  It sure has grown since she put it on the bottle.  And it's a lot better natured, too.

Why I didn't go to Dorcus was because of a surprise party on Mrs. Bergman.  I'll explain when you come home.  It definitely was not L-O-V-E.  I couldn't do justice in explaining it on paper. 

Can't you make any phonograph records to bring home.  I would like to hear you on one of them.

The town is dead as usual.  The only thing that is happening is that Druids' Hall is being torn down.  Pretty soon Roslyn will just be empty lots.  I guess Marco bought it so he could use the lumber for his new (?) house. 

Tootsie got a permanent.

Guess I'll close now.  Did you ever see such a messy letter in all your days?

For further news read the Miner.

Paster Anderson (Big Anderson) just called on Mom.  I guess he thinks she is straying from the flock.  She hasn't gone to his meetings for a coon's age.

Write soon,
Love,
Mildred