Saturday, January 11, 2014

March 12, 1960 High Pillows, Strong Glasses, Scattering Birds and Church Women


 
Dear Mother & Daddy,

"We are snowed in again.  All of us are so tired of it but it keeps coming.  I'm almost afraid to drive anywhere for fear I'll get stuck.  The snow plows clean a strip down the middle of the street but it really doesn't leave room to park anywhere.  I drove to the railroad station to get B Wed. and got stuck in the middle of the parking lot.  I just sat there and B drove it out when he got there.  People get stuck anywhere they have to stop.

Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 2, 1960

Bob & I spent Wed. morning at the eye clinic.  He has to have stronger glasses and they called today to tell us they are ready.  We'll have to go get them tomorrow.

I still have my birthday money and I don't think I'll buy a pillow.  I didn't realize they were so high.  They are $3 or $4 a piece and I thought they were about 98¢.  I'll do without before I pay that.

We are going to Sorensen's for supper tomorrow night.  They are having 12 people, I think.  Edna doesn't do the work but has a woman come in to cook and serve. 

Bonnie's birthday with the 49ers

I would like to have seen the flock of red birds, too.  We saw 7 one time in our front yard and that looked like a lot.  We put bread out for the birds but the sparrows and squirrels get most of it.  Once in a while the crows come.  There are two of them and they really make the other birds scatter.

I'm glad you sent Beulah's letter to me.  I wrote to her this week and I sure hope she is better.  We saw the pictures of M.U. dormitories but Charlotte wasn't in them.  We both examined every picture.  I didn't think to save the articles and put the paper in the garbage.  We have been buying the Sunday Post to follow the piano ads but we couldn't get to St. Louis anyway with the snow and I think we have some place to go every Saturday between now and May.

I have some church women here Monday night and would sure like to get the walk cleaned but I don't see any chance of doing it.

We are all fine and hope you are.  Don't shovel too much snow.  It will melt sometime and that kind of work is too hard on you when you aren't used to it.  Bob has shoveled all winter.  We all took a turn at it Wed. and shoveled three times.  The snow is way ahead of us though and lots of people walk in the streets."

                          Lots of love,

                                Bonnie

NOTES:  According to the National Weather Service historical data, March of 1960 held the record for snow in central Illinois.  As I recall, snow had accumulated over time to nearly 3 feet deep in parts of the the yard with a thin layer of ice on top.  We enjoyed breaking through it with a yardstick in order to measure it each day.

4 comments:

  1. Ann are the red birds Bonnie talks about Red Cardinals? My Paternal Grandmother who was born on the Isle of Wight absolutely adored Red Cardinals. When I was a child there was a porcelain vase which hung on the wall and there were 2 beautifully coloured Red Cardinals done in a 3D effect being that they stood out from the actual vase. Nanny often waxed lyrical about her beloved Red Cardinals. She also loved Yellow Canaries and my Grandfather built her a proper walk in aviary where you didn't have to duck your head to get inside. After you were inside you opened another door to the aviary proper. Nanny had many canaries and would often while away a couple of hours chatting to them and feeding them. It usually fell to Grampa and my Dad and 3 Uncles to do the actual cleaning of the aviary.
    Gosh isn't it strange something one reads will bring back memories from 50 years ago. Different aromas can also transport one back many years.

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  2. Yes, she was referring to cardinals and loved watching the birds.

    Do you know whatever became of your grandmother's vase? Sometimes an object will come to my mind and I'll wonder for a long time whatever happened to it. It is really neat that your grandmother had a real aviary! Were the canaries wild or how did she get them? What wonderful memories! That must have been something to see as a kid.

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  3. Actually I do know what happened to Nanny's vase. Nanny was not a well woman and with all her health problems she died in her mid 60's just 2 months before my first marriage. My Grampa died 20 years later and would you believe during his funeral someone came to their home with a large truck (no-one ever locked doors in those days) and virtually cleaned out the whole house along with the Red Cardinal vase. When the relatives got back everyone was quite stunned. One of my Uncles is a painter and he had a couple of self portraits which also were stolen. My cousin Ivan and his wife Mia were walking past an antique shop some years ago and would you believe he spotted one his father's self portraits! Ivan threatened to call the Police so the owners gave him the portrait. To my knowledge nothing else that was stolen that funeral day has been found.

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  4. That is an incredible thing to have happened to your family! I'm glad that at least one portrait was recovered and perhaps other things will surface some place and be discovered by family members. I can only imagine what your family felt like to discover such a loss of possessions. Such a sad thing!

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