Lots of little interesting tidbits in today’s letter. Mark is no longer as keen on riding a horse. The summer band season is winding down for John. School will start in a few weeks. More Kentland citizens are mentioned: Thelma, Boonie, Clara M. and Nick. Krull’s Restaurant was run by Nick Krull and Clara must have been one of his waitresses. The mention of Hubertz is a reminder of that mysterious roll of film. Hubertz was the town photographer and film developer. Many of the family photographs have Hubertz’s stamp on them. Before Roscoe left the states, he send Gladys a couple of rolls of film which had been in Dr. Lentz’s camera. Apparently, the studio in Kentland was not able to develop the film so it had to be sent on to Lafayette. I wonder how much the telephone bill would have been in 1942?
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- August 15, 1942 Envelope
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- August 15, 1942, p. 1
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- August 15, 1942, p. 2-3
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- August 15, 1942, p. 4
Letter transcription:
Kentland Ind
Aug 15 1942
Dear Daddy,
Will dash off a few lines-Have been writing to Aileen and your mother. Just got a letter from both this morning, but didn’t feel like doing much so thought I just as well write as do nothing. Your mother said Dr. R. had a card from you. Boonie said he had and they wrote to you this week. You should get
(page 2) a lot of letters if everybody wrote who said they had or were going to.
Thelma is here this afternoon doing the ironing. She said Clara M. is going to quit working at Nick’s. Maybe I can get her to stay here while I have to be away. I haven’t talked to her so don’t know what her future plans are. I think she would be very capable and congenial with the boys.
Mark is still working on airplanes. Since his ride yesterday he has let up on riding. One thing, Jeanie fell
(page 3) off a pony yesterday-the pony fell and seemed to hurt the horse more than Jeanie-but I think it cooled his enthusiasm some. He hasn’t been so anxious to go to the stables.
Tonight is the last band concert. Also there won’t be any more band practice until after school starts the 27th. I think John is a little glad to get a rest. He told me today he has given up writing his story. I never did read what he had written. When I think of school starting in less than two weeks if makes me feel like summer is about gone (I may not be far from right).
(page 4) John said we hadn’t had any dry spells this summer to give them a vacation from mowing. In fact it has been more for August than ordinarily.
I wrote to Lakeside about returning the half bottle of pills. Haven’t had time to get a reply.
I have to send the small roll of films to Lafayette. Hubertz says he can’t handle small films.
John is waiting to go to town so must finish-telephone bill due today-I haven’t any idea how much it is-do you?
Love Mother
As you “discover” all these fellow citizens in letters, etc. do you document in your own records? In other words, do you stick to the facts of your family members or do you use any means to “re-create” the environment they lived in, such as documenting the town’s other inhabitants who they interacted with?
I love how your wartime letters show that the people’s daily concerns were so similar to the 60s when I grew up and even today–just without the technology.
I have not been doing much to document the town members, but I plan to once I am done with the BU course. I don’t have time for much of anything. My first plan is to create a page on the blog for a “cast of characters”. I have a big assignment due Tuesday and it is definitely taking up my time at present.
So many questions came to mind reading this. “Boonie” is familiar, maybe I will recall the full name of the person. Now we know that Mark rode at the stables, but I don’t know where the heck that would have been. At the town square there was a bandstand, and I guess that would have been where the school band played in the summer. Or maybe there was a town band.I remember those weekly concerts, well before people had access to weekend entertainment at home on TV. People gathered on the law, or remained in their cars, diagonally parked on the west and south sides of the town square. (The band stand was at the south-west corner of the court house square…if you stood on the bandstand and looked straight west, you saw Kenney’s Drug Store. Near the bandstand was the cannon–I guess from WWI). When the band finished playing a number, people in the cars flashed their headlights as applause. Also, it was common to have a cakewalk, on the lawn right to the north of the bandstand. As I recall, when I was growing up, the bandstand had seen better days. Maybe there once had been posts and a canopy on it, but I recall only the base, a structure with low brick walls and a concrete floor. I wonder what it look like today…if it’s even still there.
http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/File%3ANewton%20County%20Courthouse%20P6280084,%20Kentland.jpg/-/en
This shows the front of the courthouse with the cannon. The bandstand would have been out of view to the right.
When I was doing an image search on Google, for “Kentland Indiana courthouse square”, this came up: https://www.google.com/search?q=kentland+Indiana+courthouse+square&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=2mINUc2xKISJ0QGPzoHYDg&biw=1366&bih=643&sei=M2MNUeOfJ-SP0QG3gIE4#imgrc=B3zrjt_h6IbalM%3A%3BctQHdkbZT4F9-M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fgenealogylady.files.wordpress.com%252F2013%252F01%252F1942-07-22-telegram.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fgenealogylady.net%252Ftag%252Fdr-edmund-t-lentz%252F%3B1601%3B1131