Tom's nickname?

December 16, 1963

Dear Daddy,

Well, I've done it again.  Fooled around until your birthday card will be late.  I'm sorry.  Maybe some year I'll be on time.  Hope you had a happy day.

Grandma is right about that east window in the dining room.  We aren't using the dining room as a dining room yet.  It's kind of a mess (paint peeling, bare plaster where some was repaired) so we eat in the living room.  Right now I have my ironing board and my sewing machine in there.  It is the loveliest room to sew in.  You'll never believe the color we're going to paint it -- yellow.  Somehow it just seems the only suitable color.

In our bedroom there are three doors.  One to the bathroom, one to the hall, and one to the living room.  Why they put in that one to the living room I'll never understand.  Anyway it is there but we don't use it and someday will close it up completely.

Daddy I agree with you -- these kids are both pretty smart.  There are some supermarkets in town called Stop 'n Shop.  The day I mailed your package (Dec. 7) we stopped in there to get some groceries.  That was the first time Mary had been there.  Today when we mailed a package to the Bowders we went past it and Mary says, "Stop 'n Shop."  Now I think she was pretty smart to recognize it.

How's the weather?  According to the TV you must be getting quite a bit of snow.  Hope the weather was okay so that the family could get together at Nancy's yesterday.  Thought about all of you all day yesterday.

Yes, Mama, I would very much like to have some oval soup spoons from Betty Crocker.

I like Tom's nickname.  I never knew that Krohn said that about Tom.  But you know -- when you stop to think about it . . . .

No, I never took physics in high school.  I don't think I would ever get through a physics course.  Well Mom, I suppose there are new things since you took it.  That was a long time ago.  Ha!  Ha!  Just teasing.

Doesn't the furnace heat the upstairs?  

Dale is excited about Christmas.  He's trying to be a good boy for Santa Claus.  Mary gets awfully excited when she sees a picture of Santa Claus.

Well, it's time to fix supper.

Love,
Gary, Greta, Dale and Mary

No comment needed re Mom's comment about me being smart.  But more importantly, does anyone know what Tom's nickname was in 1963?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Several little nuggets in here

July 19, 1963

Dear Tom,

Thank you so much for the beautiful birthday card.

Have you found out any more about that coin that might be worth $38?  Is it one of your pennies?  How many pennies do you have now?

We have been having some hot weather again. But last Saturday Gary bought a cooler so now the heat doesn't bother any more.  I really do like that cooler.

We are moving tomorrow.  We are moving closer to Sacramento.  Our new address will be:

Our name
Del Paso Trailer Park
4428 Auburn Boulevard
Sacramento 21, Calif.

I don't know the ZIP Code but will let you know as soon as I find out.  What is the ZIP Code in Winside by the way?

Have you and Daddy done much fishing this summer?  Or have you been too busy at the school house?

These kids are really characters.  Mary is trying to say a few more words.  She says "side" when she wants to go outside, "ba" for bath, "good" when she wants a drink of water, and "hi" but it sounds more like "ha".  When she has been sitting on the potty, the minute I take the tray off she hops up, looks in the pot and says "good girl".  She says that whether she has done anything in the pot or not.

Dale is outside all the time.  Really has fits when I make him take a nap or when it is time to go to bed.  When it is bed time he says, "I never have a chance to play."  Here he's been playing all day long and then says that.  Another of his favorite expressions is "One of these days."  "One of these days buy me this" or "One of these days I'm going to do this", etc.

Mary has learned to shake hands.  She comes up to me, holds out her hand, and says "do-do" (that's Mary for how do you do).  She gets so tickled when we shake hands with her.

Some softball team you have there.  Hope your record has improved a little.  Just one little win, huh?

Have a happy birthday.

Love,
Gary, Greta, Dale & Mary

Let's see . . . I didn't know Tom ever collected pennies, was not aware when zip codes came on the scene, am thinking the school house reference is Tom employed to work on the "new" school maybe, and definitive confirmation that Dale has always been a bit of a con artist (just kidding!).

I found some photos from this time and since the next letter I have skips to December, I'll post them both here.  (Of course, it doesn't hurt that they are both of me being adorable.)  Well, I take that back -- the first one says July 1963, but I have much shorter hair than the other photo which had 1963 written on the back.  So, given a delay in getting negatives developed, the box photo may have been from some time before.  Plus, I'm not really dressed for July weather in that photo.

Normal stuff, I'd say

June 25, 1963

Dear Grandma,

Thank you for the birthday card and my present, the Wayne Heralds.  I really do appreciate it when you send them on to me.

Please excuse this paper.  I am all out of typing paper and this is the only thing I have to write on.

Dale is doing the breakfast dishes.  He took a sudden notion to be Mama's helper.  I decided I better not discourage him now if I want any help later when he is big enough to do some good.  Needless to say, I wash them again after he goes outside.  He misses a lot of egg yolk.  But he is so proud of himself.

Mary is laying on the davenport reading.  She sure looks silly.  Oh now she has got up and is dancing.  She goes around and around until she gets dizzy and falls down. She sure can be a clown and a show-off.

I see on the news that they are having floods in eastern Nebraska.  Are they very bad?

Well I guess I better quit and get to work.  Yesterday I washed the quilts on the kids' beds and all the blankets.  Now today I have the regular wash to do.  And Dale is finished with the dishes and has gone outside.  So now I can do the dishes.  Ha!  Ha!

We sure do have fun.

I'm sending some pictures.  I want them back.  If you folks want any of them, indicate so on the back and I'll get some made for you.

Time to quit.

Love,
Gary, Greta, Dale & Mary

The photo is prior to June of 1963, but Dale looks cute and maybe a bit proud of himself, so it stays.

"She completely amazes me" . . .

June 20, 1963

Dear Dad and Mom, Tom and Grandma,

Well, I've done it again.  Father's Day has come and gone and I still have the card I bought.  Wonder if I'll ever change?  Probably not and I'm sure it would be too much of a shock for you folks if I ever got a card sent on time.  I think I may have got either Jim's birthday card or their anniversary card sent on time.  Don't know for sure how long it takes for a letter to get there.

Goodness I didn't know I had written three letters to you in a week.  Guess I'll have to quit that.  Ha!  Ha!  I just answered the letters you wrote me.

Your courses at summer school sound hard, but the teacher's sound interesting so that helps.  (Sorry about that apostrophe in the teachers.  I'll have to be real careful how I write to you with you in a comp course.) [This was a typed letter, so not so easy to just cross out the errant apostrophe.  MJS]

Is this advanced comp of some kind?  And how come another speech course?  Wasn't the other one enough or have they changed everything around?  Say, while I'm thinking about college courses -- does it cost a dollar to have a transcript sent?

We all had colds over the weekend.  Sure is a heck of a time of the year to have colds.  We're all pretty much done with sneezing and blowing noses.  You never heard so many sneezes as there were around here on Saturday and Sunday.  And to make matters even worse it was so hot over the weekend.  Yesterday it cooled off quite a bit and today seems to be starting out fairly cool.

I got a beautiful birthday card from Bill the same day we got your letter.  I was so mad because he owed us a letter and didn't write a word with the card.  But today I got a letter from him.  He said he had been working at the NCO Club at night as a waiter, so I suppose that keeps him pretty busy.  I guess I'll send Aunt Helen's letter on to him.  I'm sure he'll enjoy reading it.  I sure like it when you send letters from relatives on to me.

By Beverly Davis Hansen do you mean my old teacher?  It certainly is sad.  Carol Topp wrote to me and said that they thought Mrs. Lloyd Schneider might be all right, now.  She had been to Rochester for several operations and they thought they had all of the cancer out.

Did Betty Ann have the baby at home or did she at least make it to the hospital?  Needless to say I like the name Gary Richard.  You hadn't even told me that they were expecting.  Shame on you.

It really amazes me the way Mary likes to be read to.  I keep going on about it in all of the letters I write, but like I say, she completely amazes me.  Her favorite book is one about Woody Woodpecker.  Sometimes she sits on the davenport and "reads" to herself.  She sits there and jabbers and giggles and shakes her head.  The other day she as looking at a magazine.  She saw a picture of some cereal with bananas in it and she was trying to pick up the bananas.  She got so mad and squealed.  What a nut!

I think our bathtub is lower than yours.  Anyway Mary just hops in and out like it were nothing.

Yes, Gary wears a white shirt every day.  A clean white shirt every day.  Except Saturday and Sunday when he doesn't work.

Who are the Dedrickson's that you are going to share the garden with next year?

Say do you suppose you could call Daisy Janke some day?  I recently got a new copy of the towns that have Family Record Plan Studios.  There is a studio in Norfolk that takes pictures for them now.  Maybe Daisy knows it already, I don't know. The name of the studio is Christian Photo, 117 S. 4th.

Dale really likes Sunday School.  He goes around all week singing the songs they sing in Sunday School.  Sometimes the tunes are a little weird, but at least he is trying.  They sing a lot of the same songs that we sang in Winside.  Dale's favorite are Jesus Loves Me and Fishers of Men.

Well, it is real nice and windy and fairly cool so I think I will get some blankets and other bedding washed up.

Hope you had a happy Father's Day, Dad.

Gary got a new necktie and a minnow dipper.

Love, Gary, Greta, Dale and Mary

The photo is from earlier than June of 1963, but I think I look completely amazing here, so I'm using it.

More 1963

March 5, 1963

Dear Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Tom,

Well, I am answering both Grandma's and Mom's letter in one.

I guess I'll start out with some of Dale's latest "bright" remarks.  I may have told you this one already so bear with me.  The other morning he got up and told me that he couldn't breathe very well because he had sinus congestion.

Then day before yesterday Dale and two of his friends came running to the house.  They informed me that they were the Marines and hadn't had anything to eat for three months and that they just had to have some cookies.  Do you think they got some?  Ha!  Ha!

And then the other night -- Mary was pestering Dale.  She was tickling him and following him every place he went.  Finally Dale said, "Mary is such a nuisance and makes me so nervous."

One of the neighbors just had a baby.  Dale is so excited.  He always wants to go and see Philip's baby sister.  Mary got so excited when she saw the baby.

Did I tell you yet that Mary has started taking a few steps on her own?  The other morning Dale was sitting at the table coloring.  Mary was standing by the davenport and she wanted his crayons.  She stood there and yelled for awhile and finally took off on her own.  She took about three steps before she fell.  She really is proud of herself.

We're having some real crazy weather.  Yesterday it was up to 89 and this morning it was snowing.  But it is pretty warm again now.

I'm sure sorry to hear about Uncle Ray.  Is it still that phlebitis that is bothering him?  I think that's what you said he had.

Mary is also starting to climb.  A couple of times she has pushed the hassock over by the davenport.  Climbs up on the hassock and up onto the davenport.

Thank you for Mary's present.  I haven't decided yet as just how to spend it. I'm thinking of patent leather slippers and some of those socks with lace on the cuff.  Do you mind?  She really doesn't need a coat. It is getting pretty warm down here.  She has been wearing a coat and bonnet that Louise gave me when we were home.

Have they found out anything yet about who robbed the bank?

There aren't any special directions for putting that quilt of Dale's together.  But when it is finished please have it about 40 x 80 so it fits the bunk bed. If you want to why don't you just tie it rather than quilt it.

Thanks for sending those Snuffy Smith cartoons.  We used to get them in the paper in Fayetteville, but it isn't in the paper here.  Gary really gets a kick out of them.

I can hardly imagine Bill with a mustache.  We got a letter from him yesterday but he didn't mention any mustache.

I certainly was shocked to hear about Marvin Gunderson.  I feel so sorry for her and Lynn.  Do you know what was the matter with the Troutman baby?

Dale does exercises every day so that he will grow up and then be able to drive the car.  Goodness, I didn't think he would start that this soon.

Mary has gone and lost my hairbrush.  I let her play with it one day and haven't been able to find it since.  I'm afraid that she put it in the wastebasket and it got thrown out.

Well, I better stop and get some supper started.

Love, Gary, Greta, Dale and Mary

I didn't know the bank was robbed.  Now I am wondering if they found out who did it yet.

Switching gears . . . to 1963

Whilst looking in Grandma's trunk for something wholly unrelated, Mom discovered some letters she had written home to Nebraska from, so far as I've ready, Texas and California.  I think they are a bit of a hoot since she talks about Dale and I quite a bit.  Not everyone has timely reporting on their childhood antics.

So, I will leave Grandma be for a bit and do one of these letters per post until I run out.  I think there are a dozen or so.  Off we go . . .

February 15, 1963

Dear Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Tom,

Well yesterday was a lovely day for us -- got letters from you, Bill, and the Bowders.  And it was nice weather-wise, too.  We had snow on Monday.  It was a wet snow and so pretty.  There was snow on the ground until Wednesday noon.  Dale had a grand time playing in the snow until somebody threw a snowball at him.  Then he had had enough.

Glad to hear Geserich said something to Kant about her dirty floors.  Hope she remembers it.  Have you ever asked Geserich if he has a sister named Carol married to a fellow by the name of Neil Edmonds?  Don't know why I think I have to know.  Just curious I guess.

Oh, this Mary.  I think she deliberately torments Dale.  She takes things away from him and then laughs when he hollers.  The two of them are really having a battle right now.

We got a cuckoo clock from Bill, too.  He had written that he was getting a clock for you and one for Nancy and Jim.  I told Gary that if he didn't send us one too I would skin him alive.  I really like it.  Every time it cuckoos Mary's eyes got so big and then she laughs.  Dale thinks we have a pretty smart clock that can say cuckoo like that.  It comes in real handy when I'm putting him down for a nap.  I put him down at about one and tell him that when the clock cuckoos two times he can get up.  Well he lays there real still and listens for it and of course goes to sleep.

I'll bet Dennis Morris is happy about Bob's having a baby.  I remember Sophie saying he wanted to have a nephew or niece here.

I sure do like my pressure cooker.  I haven't cooked any rice in it yet but have used it for a couple of batches of beans.

I made some whole wheat bread last week.  Gosh, what a mess.  It just didn't behave like white bread.  I don't know what I did wrong, but it tasted good anyway.  Was awfully crumbly though.

We used the money from Aunt Nan for several tings.  We bought new plastic and a heavy stapler and recovered the kitchen chairs.  Then Gary made a cupboard in that space above the refrigerator.  (When Dale saw the cupboard he said, "Oh my, that's wonderful.")  We also bought a rubber mat to put in the bathtub.  The rest of the money I'm going to use for such things as a double boiler, rolling pin, flour sifter, etc. as long as the money lasts.

Aunt Addie sent Mary some money for her birthday.  We used it to buy her some new shoes.  The shoes have bells on them.  Dale really thought the bells were something.  The first couple of days he would go up to her and shake her to hear the bells.  Then the morning when it was snowing he grabbed her shoes (she didn't have them on) and went around here shaking the shoes and singing "Jingle Bells."

Gary has just 39 days left in the Army.  It doesn't seem possible that there is so little time left here in Killeen.  It really will be nice to get back to San Antonio.  Gary is going to take a few more days of leave in March shortly before he gets out to go to San Antonio and get a job settled.  When he was down before the didn't get to talk to anyone about the electricians union.  But did find out that he might be able to get into the carpenters' union as an apprentice.  He also looked into a job at Sears.  But nothing is settled by a long ways.

I guess that is all for now.

P.S.  I thought Grandma might enjoy the clipping; Dale started to cut it up.

Not sure what to add here.  I don't know who Geserich is.  Also didn't know that we ever went back to San Antonio after leaving there shortly after I was born.  I guess I never asked, or maybe it didn't happen that way after all.

The photo is obviously before February 1963 but it was the best I could do at the moment.  If ever I needed to quickly lay hands on the Infamous Sucker Fight photos, this is it.  Hopefully I can find them soon.

Everyone loves a good march

June 25, 1932 - Cleaned the downstairs.  Went up to Lautenbaugh's this afternoon and talked to Louise for about an hour.  Ray and I were going to a dance tonite, but we didn't.  It rained all evening so we stayed at home.
June 26, 1932 - To S.S. and church this morning.  Rev. Most asked me if Ray, one of the Brogrens and I would entertain at the next League social.  I guess we will.  Arnold was to come this afternoon, but he didn't stop up, wonder if the roads were too bad.  Myron Walker's birthday.
June 27, 1932 - Mom and I picked over a bushel of cherries from the two trees east of the house.  I slept this afternoon.  This evening we took the cherries up to Stahl's.  Stopped in at Uncle Hans' a few minutes.  Hilda came home with us to help pick the rest of the cherries.

Cherries are great to eat, but I am thinking they are a pain to pick.  But maybe not.  At least they are a different color than the leaves; not like picking peas or green beans (my personal un-favorite) from the garden.

Here is a bit of Winside history, plus some related trivia.  In 1897:

     March 23, Alfred Woodward and Tibbie Lound were married.
     April 8, the band under the direction of Wm. Olmstead is making steady progress.  The band received a new piece recently and the band spends most of its time playing it.  The piece is Sousa's Washington Post March.  Dorr Carroll sold his Tribune recently and is leaving for Gothenburg today.
     June 7, a band stand was ordered erected in the park as per plans and specifications.  The contract was let to W. M. Gue to furnish the lumber and labor for it but must not exceed $100.00 (Mr. Gue, it is claimed, lost quite a little money on this contract as the lumber alone was over $100.00).
     July 3, Saturday celebration went off with a bang at 4 o'clock.  President R. R. Smith was the master of ceremonies and everything went off nicely.  The speaker of the day did not show up so B. W. McKeen was called upon to read the Declaration of Independence.
     July 14, the editor stepped into the post office to get his morning mail and was handed out a cigar and on inquiring as to his willingness to treat, Mr. Mettlen said it was a boy and he would appoint him deputy postmaster later.
     September 11, was the 38th birthday of Charles Reed and his good wife planned and successfully carried out a surprise by inviting in the neighbors.  About 8 o'clock in the evening, the teams drove up in a body.  Those attending were:  Mr. and Mrs. Pickard, Mr. and Mrs. Pryor, Mr. and Mrs. Washburn, Mr. and Mrs. Stephens and their families.  Paul Heyer, J. J. Gildersleeve, G. Shirts, Mr. Rossman, W.R. Olmstead, E. Lindsay, G. H. Lewis and J. Shay.  Mrs. Reed presented her husband with a handsome rocker.
     December 23, Ordinance No. 43 was passed relative to the pound master and his duties.  All stock that is let run at large in the village of Winside will be taken by the pound master and the fees for caring for said stock shall be paid by the respective owners.

I looked up the Washington Post March and discovered it was written for the awards ceremony of a children's essay contest conducted by . . . The Washington Post.  (If you can't sing it in your head at the mention of the title, find it online and you will be humming it for a bit since you likely already know it quite well.)  It was written in 1889, so not only was it new to the band, it was a fairly new creation as well.  I see that the director was invited to the birthday party for Mr. Charles Reed.

That's a photo of the handsome Mr. Sousa above.

Suppose I have a timely photo?

June 22, 1932 - Washed today, and what a beautiful day to wash.  Also washed and finger-waved my hair.  Florence S. came up this evening and we went down town.  We went into the Drug Store to see the new fountain.  Mr. Paulk treated us to an ice cold drink.
June 23, 1932 - Mom is making mulberry jam today.  Arnold came after me about 10 a.m.  We went to their place and then to the grove at Mrs. Martha Jochens' place for the S.S. picnic.  A large crowd was there.  Had baseball games in the p.m.  Everybody, including myself, had a good time.
June 24, 1932 - Cleaned the upstairs.  Ola and family were in this noon.  I took some pictures of the kids and Grussmother and Grussfather.  Went to Rebekah Lodge meeting tonite.  After the business meeting six of us played Pinochle.

My notes say those children are Annabelle and LeeRoy; suppose this is one of the photos Grandma mentions?  She has called LeeRoy a baby previously in 1932, and that is certainly what he is here.  Ola and Dorothea would be around 80 years old each in 1932, so I am thinking I hit the mark with this one.  Who is to argue, right?

Still no mention of Grandpa, but we do have the Rebekah Lodge mentioned, so he is around in spirit at least.

The cold shoulder?

June 19, 1932 - Went to Harry Kahler's today for his birthday (all of us, including Grussmother and Grussfather).  Loretta, Martha, and Florence gave me the brr! shoulder.  Didn't bother me.  Wallace K. and his girl, Gertrude Lueber, and Art Green and Veronica Goeres were down from Osmond.  I stayed with them.  In the p.m. we drove to Winside and Wayne.  Helen Kilmer's birthday.
June 20, 1932 - Worked some more on my rug today.  Cloudy this a.m. so we didn't wash.  Cleared up in p.m.  Ray went out to Ola's.  We shook down two dishpans full of mulberries this evening.  Dora and George came from Butte Sat. and are going back tomorrow.  Louis Brogren birthday.
June 21, 1932 - We canned 13 quarts of mulberry sauce and 2 pints of mulberry jam today.  Clara was here this p.m.  Mom did some sewing for her.  Arnold came tonite.  We went for a little ride east of town and then came back and talked.

Here we have one of Grandma's few mentions of how she's feeling/thinking as opposed to just reporting on her comings and goings.  Spoiler alert - with my next post, we will see that at least Florence and Grandma made up pretty quickly.

Ah, mulberries!  I remember helping hold the sheet while the mulberry tree was shook.  I do not recall Grandma ever canning any mulberry sauce or jam.  I think I would have enjoyed both.

Who is Wallace Newmann?

June 16, 1932 - Rained this a.m. so they had to come in from the field.  They went out again this p.m.  Mom and Ray came out this evening.  They brought some ice and we made ice cream.  Today is Annie and Ola's wedding anniversary.  They've been married six years.  Mrs. Maud Smith's birthday.
June 17, 1932 - Rained last nite.  Edwin came here about 12 o'clock.  He's been in town and couldn't get home because of the rain.  He went home this a.m.  Took a nap with the kids this p.m.  Today Annabelle said to me, "Marian, can't you know nothing?"  Wrote to school kids, Jane, Aunt Nan and Mrs. Smith.
June 18, 1932 - Annie mixed bread this morning and I tended to it.  Also made a cake and pie.  Aunt Lena and Uncle Hans here this p.m.  Went to the dance at Hoskins tonite with Ray.  Had lunch and came home with Wallace Newmann!  Had a real good time at the dance.

Wallace Newmann is an entirely new name for this diary.  And he warranted an exclamation point.  I looked a few entries down the road and I didn't see his name again.  I find that humorous for some silly reason.

I haven't done any Winside history for a time, so here we go with where I left off, 1895:

     June 17, the board voted that Main street, between Weible's store and the Carter store be roped off for the 4th of July, and speakers stand and booths be allowed to be erected in the street and the village marshal be instructed to allow no teams on this street -- allow not to exceed six shades to be erected in the park -- the marshal to be further instructed to wrap all trees in the park to protect them from abrasions and breakage, and allow no other buildings in the park on the 4th of July.
     July 17, Estimate of expense for the ensuing year, $1631.99.  Mill levy was set at eight mills.

And because that wasn't much to read and also because the first item for 1896 made me snicker, I am including 1896 now instead of waiting for a future post:

     January 6, D. J. Cavanaugh was instructed to notify Louis Lorke to run a more orderly saloon or suffer the consequences.
     February 7, it appears by the tax list of the county of Wayne for the year of 1895, that the county clerk apportioned 3 18-100 miles of the C. St. P. M. & O. Railway Co., as subject to taxation in the village of Winside -- whereas in fact there is but 1 11-100 miles -- it is hereby resolved by the Board of County Commissioners, the County Clerk or the County Treasurer is hereby authorized to correct such error and correct the amount of village tax to be paid by the railway be in accordance with the actual amount of mileage there.
     May 4, a saloon license this year, $400.00.
     June 1, a side walk was laid on the north side of the park.
     June 5, Edwards and Bradford Lumber Co., was awarded the contract for dimension lumber for the town at $19.00 per thousand.
     July 6, Estimate of village expenses for the year $1070.00.  Levy for the year of 1896-1897 was made eight mills.
     October 6, the village attorney was instructed to notify the R. R. Co. to enlarge the culvert across the railroad ditch on Whitten street, enough to carry off the water without flooding the street and city park.
     December 7, by an agreement of the town, the town hall rents to the board for $2.00 per month and to the Justice of the Peace for $1.00 per month.

And there you have it.  The photo is of Ola and Annie since their anniversary was mentioned.