This is basically a collection of pictures and notes, illustrating the back-and-forth between Cyn and her mother, Carol.
Pictures from Carol: These are very sturdy, matt, and have her comments on the back. The big one was posted earlier, when the pictures were mentioned in a letter. (Nov 1 1950) It is stuck in the scrapbook, so anything written on the back is unavailable.
Carol Alone. Grannie’s writing: “Another of me with Moo cut off- I look rather soft – It’s my hanky I have in my hand and not my teeth as PWV suggested!” Moo & Carol seated. “This was about the best of Muriel – and it’s not good- he made her take off her glasses which was a pity.” Moo & Carol standing- in the shoes Cyn had never seen! “Muriel & self by the variegated hybiscus tree – its leaves are more white than green & the flowers bright red. Moo has her arm around me, & I am looking at a hen going to roost in a tree near by–” “ ‘Noyack’-he couldn’t get in the front steps unfortunately – they are just at the side-” [see pencil marks meant to be steps] “I am sitting at Muriel’s window – my bedroom window is at the right- X”.
Then there is the collection of oddments Cyn mentioned in her letter of November 7th, on three different types and sizes of paper, that she sent by sea, but referring to events she had already mentioned to her mother. (Just in case anyone else needs educating, Cyn was used to having fun from childhood on November 5th, when the English celebrate the failure of Guy Fawkes to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, with fireworks and bonfires that burn a stuffed effigy, ‘the Guy’.) She never mentions Hallowe’en on Oct. 31, which I would have thought would have been an equivalent event in Ann Arbor.
Dearest Mummy,
This isn’t a letter- it is just a collection of funny things to amoose you!
I thought that you would like to know a bit how Til & Lois’s & the Sutherland’s houses look, and you know what fun I get out of drawing plans! They are both lovely houses in their own ways, but Til and Lois’ is in such a beautiful place it is hard to describe it. The prices – wow!- S’s is $25,000 & T & L $23,000 – millionaires needed!
The other funny little things are the place cards & menu I am going to make for dinner on Sat. night! We are having my pal Edie from work & Cec’s Canadian pal Al MacNamara from the Physics Dept. (he is from Sask – very shy – he came to dinner once before) to dinner & to play bridge. I have decided to make it a Guy Fawkes dinner, & altho’ Cec says they won’t know who he is, I’ll educate them! The place card is supposed to be a rocket exploding, & the menu is a gibbet done on my typewriter! I’m going to try and make a tiny “guy” for a centrepiece – wish you were here to help me!
Dinner will be a bit fattening I fear, but we have been wanting an excuse to get a duck!!
Lots & lots of love from
Cyn
This is to give you some idea of what Til & Lois’ house (1 year old) looks like. It is only one story- no attics or cellar – & is made of wood & painted pale yellow outside. The living room is lovely with two huge windows- the front & back- it is panelled in pine & has a natural carpet & oyster-y curtains. The bookshelves are built in & have a green patterned paper at the back & the new furniture is to be in greens & reds. The kitchen is lovely too with the same reddish pine used for counters & cupboards above & the walls are a beige glass tile & so are the bathroom walls. The kitchen curtains are blue check, the bathroom curtains, mat, shower curtain etc. are grey & yellow, & the linoleum yellow. The bedrooms are nice too, but I’m blessed if I can remember the colours! The little study is sweet, with a green carpet, & they are going to get new curtains. The outside is beautiful of course – all the orchard in front, & at the back the most wonderful view of the river– wooded banks- & it forks just opposite them & goes around a big island. Their bank is still full of bushes and scrub, & has to be all cleared, but afterwards I have persuaded Lois to plant daffodils there, & I think it will be heavenly.
This now, is a plan of the Sutherland’s new house. As you can see, it is much bigger, older & more formal. It is white painted wood outside with green tiles, has big basement, & attics. The sitting room is a lovely big room which they need as they entertain so much – the study is the Doc’s & is painted grey (Gunborg did it). The whole kitchen has been remodelled & is elegant! The walls are a pretty soft yellow-the cupboards around the walls are natural wood, well the tops of the counters are a soft pinky red formica (hard linoleum-y stuff) & inside the cupboards are red painted to match. It sounds a bit odd, but it looks very nice indeed. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms – the girls have one each- & a bathroom- then the main bedroom (over the front 1/2 of the sitting room) has a little bathroom with shower only, of its own. All the bedrooms have little balconies (on study roof, porch etc.) – very romantic! Apart from the kitchen which they had done, Gunborg is doing all decorating herself – study, downstairs cloakroom, 2 bathrooms etc. & some is old & needs plastering cracks etc.- a big job.
P.S. Little Mary was writing a letter to her Auntie in England the other day & told her they had a chipmunk in the garden – then wrote “He is a doorable”!! Sweet.
By Sea to the West Indies- posted the first week of November, back is postmarked November 23 0r 28…
It is the premise of this blog that in the twentieth century LETTERS kept a wide-flung family together. Cynthia and the women of the family on the Hazell side did write letters and keep in touch with the day-to-day events of their lives, probably because they had done this in previous generations- the colonial outposts of the empire looked to England and the family was wealthy enough to have the leisure to write at length, and visit, even in different countries. I’m not sure that this was true for farmer families in North America, who moved across the continent in the hopes of a better life for their children, and who lived in a different economic bracket. Elida Eakin was born in Nebraska but must have moved in the 1890s or 1900s, because she and her immediate family lived in Ponoka, Alberta, in Canada, where her first 3 children were born. Her husband, Henry Costain, moved from Prince Edward Island where he had grown up, to the West before World War 1, and married and lived in Ponoka before moving his family to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the 1920s. Elida kept in touch with her immediate family in Ponoka, Henry with his, but the familiarity with the more extended members of his Costain family in P.E.I. was lost- something that wouldn’t have happened if he had continued living there and had bumped into distant cousins as one does in a small community.
I’m sure Elida wrote to and occasionally visited her sisters; my Auntie Merle did the same with her cousins but they were not as close as the Hazells were. The Costain children knew their aunts and uncles who visited occasionally, but not the P.E.I Costains. The families were as large, but it was a different culture; a busier, more hard-working lifestyle; and letters were probably infrequent and concerned with the major events of life, rather than minutia. Also keeping in touch seems to have been the business of the women of the family rather than the men- certainly Cec’s letters indicate this- I doubt he ever wrote much to his aunt or cousins. Both Cyn’s parents were the youngest of 12 children, but on her father’s Ewing side, she seems to have been in touch with only 3 or 4, and a couple of cousins. (There’s a distant Ewing cousin in Australia who visited Cyn and went to Ireland, and sorted out that genealogy- I assume some of Gordon’s generation, or earlier ones, moved to America and Australia- and she gave him the ‘Antique cup and saucer’ listed in her Wedding Present List as coming from Uncle Jim.) When you look at the wedding presents on Cyn’s list, there were gifts from aunts, uncles, and cousins- 9 Hazells, 6 Ewings, 2 Costains, and the 1 Eakin aunt.
So I know very little about the Eakin side of my father’s family, having only met one of his cousins, Evelyn Abbott. This rough sketch is all I know of my grandmother’s family- any corrections welcome!
The Costains emigrated to Canada from the Isle of Man sometime in the first two decades of the nineteenth century and settled in Prince Edward Island. My cousin Sharon Moor did a thoroughly researched family tree that runs to 248 pages in a PDF file that I find hard to navigate- if you know the name of the Costain you are looking for, no problem, but finding his father- I couldn’t.
However: Thomas Costain married Jane Brydson in 1793 in the Isle of Man and they died in P.E.I. John, Paul, Thomas, and Richard Costain were born in the Isle of Man but died in P.E.I. after marrying and having lots of children, so I assume they emigrated as a family, leaving a married sister behind and bringing the unmarried ones with them. John married Isabel Leard, a P.E.I. girl, in 1823, the rest followed suit, and they all proceeded to populate the island.
A generation later, Job Costain married his first cousin Mary Costain in 1877 and they had 7 children, one of whom was my grandfather. So that is where my amateur tree will start.
There was one other son, Stephen Darrell, born to Henry and Elida in 1937 with Down Syndrome, who died in infancy.
Henry Hudson Costain had grown up on a farm in Prince Edward Island, had gone to university but not taken his degree, and went west as a teacher. He married Elida Eakin, a teacher, and they started their family during the First World War. Henry’s brother Harry joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and fought overseas, being seriously wounded in 1918 and not returning to Canada until 1919. Henry and Elida moved from Ponoka, Alberta to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the 1920s and farmed there- perhaps because that was where the provincial university was. Harry moved west also, and lived in Calgary.
Although the Depression was hard even on poultry farmers, Henry’s children were able to go to university- Merle got her B.A. before she married and later became a teacher. Lena became a nurse, and kept working during her marriage. Cecil got his B.Sc. and became involved with the new invention, radar, during the war, and served with the British Navy as a radar officer. His wartime letters home have been posted. He emerged as Lieutenant Commander and went back to the University of Saskatchewan for his M.Sc. and then got a Commonwealth Scholarship that sent him to Cambridge in England for his Ph.D. where he met and married Cynthia.
In 1950, he is still working on his Ph.D but at the University of Michigan, where his professor, Dr. Sutherland, has moved. Once he has his degree, he expects to be working in Ottawa at the National Research Council, and this holiday trip includes some ‘business’ he has to see to in Ottawa. His brother Russell is working in Saskatchewan, and expecting to get married soon, and the youngest Costain, Carman, is still at school-or university- and has classes during the summer with the Air Force Reserve.
Cyn and Cec will meet the first members of the next generation on this 1950 holiday- Merle’s 3 sons and Lee’s baby- and I will attempt the next part of this genealogy once I’ve been born, the brothers are married and all my cousins safely arrived in the 60s!
Here we are in Canada! We arrived here this afternoon, after our usual Costain mad rush at the last minute, and now having got everything organized we are sitting back in our hotel room feeling that we are on our holidays!
You will notice that we postponed our date of leaving, as Cec had some work to finish for Dr. S. and I was just as pleased as it gave me time to do everything I wanted to, instead of every other thing! I finished work on Friday, and since then I’ve washed & ironed all our clothes, mended them (!!!), cleaned the flat thoroughly including scrubbing all the floors, so I feel very virtuous now! I packed my case last night, & got all Cec’s things ready, but this morning what with washing up & cleaning the very last things out of the fridge etc. we had quite a scramble to be ready at 10:30 when Gunborg very kindly came & gave us a lift down to the bus depot. We got the bus into Detroit, which takes about 1 1/2 hrs, then took another bus through the tunnel under the river to Windsor. We had to get here before the banks closed to get our Canadian money, then we went to the Airline Office & payed for our tickets & at last had lunch & we were hungrey! We thought we would go to the pictures tonight to see “Kind Hearts & Coronets” which we missed in England, & then get to bed early, as we have to be ready to get the bus to the Airport at 6:30 a.m.! We go to Toronto, then change planes & arrive at Saskatoon at 3:25- isn’t it incredible, when it would take us nearly 3 days in the train.
I haven’t written to you properly since my Epic, although I did send a sea letter of funny things from Ann Arbor. In that time we got 2 letters from you, & thank you very much honey. I have them with me, & will answer them in this, or if I haven’t time, will answer them in my next from Saskatoon.
We don’t seem to have been doing very much but the time has flown, & of course I have been busy with my chores as usual. We had a grand day in Detroit with the Sutherlands, & I had lovely time. We drove there in their car arriving about noon, & as we hadn’t been able to book tickets for the Ball Game, we went to the stadium & found we’d have to go & get them at 6 in the evening. Gunborg & I were all for having a nice dinner but with having to go so early to the game, we decided instead to have a nice lunch, & we went to a very nice Swedish restaurant we had heard of, called the Stockholm. It was lovely & cool for which we were grateful as it was a sweltering day (I wore my new green suit) & we had an extremely nice lunch- there was a Smorgasbord first (a kind of hors d’oeuvres- all sorts of dishes hot & cold, set out on a big table, & you go & help yourselves) then steak, and I being adventurous had a peculiar dessert that wasn’t very nice, but I didn’t mind!
After lunch we left the S’s to go shopping, & Cec & I went & saw about our re-entry permits for coming back to the U.S. & then to the Airline & arranged about our tickets & paying in Canadian dollars etc. We had arranged to meet the S’s at 4 o’clock, & it was still early, so we went to the great big store, Hudsons, & shop gazed & didn’t buy a thing! We met the S’s, & they shopped a bit more, then we had tea & finally went out to the stadium. We had to queue till 6 o’clock, then dashed in & got tickets & tore up the ramps & got seats!
In no time for seats were all filled (unreserved) & the game didn’t begin until 8:30, so we had a long wait, but it wasn’t dull because all the players were out practising & we had our programs & picked out the ones we knew from the radio broadcast, & it was fun. We ate hotdogs & drank pop, & it didn’t really seem long to wait. The Ball Game was Fun! Detroit was playing the New York Yankees, & they are great rivals, so it was very exciting, & Detroit won! I stood up & yelled & got so excited right at the beginning that Cec was worried my voice wouldn’t last through the game – I had a lovely time & enjoyed it hugely & so did Cec. Gunborg didn’t think it was very thrilling, so we were a little bit disappointed in her! We got back to A.A. about midnight, & I felt very pleased with my nice day.
Jessie Forsyth came that weekend to say goodbye, as she was leaving. We won’t see her in Sask. as her home is in Medicine Hat, but we will see Pete & Lu.
Last week we were busy at the office, & one evening I even did 3 1/2 hrs. of typing at home for one of the men- got paid of course too! Then we suddenly got a card from Joan & Ray Appleyard saying they had been driving out West & were returning to Yale via Ann Arbor & hoped to see us on Thurs. So of course, we were tickled to bits, but they didn’t actually arrive till Friday mid-day. They look just exactly the same (Ray thinner) & had with them a couple Bid & Denis Manon with whom they used to play bridge in Cambridge & used to call the Porkers – I didn’t know them. They had been driving most of the night, & got lost, & the car broke down, so they were in a dirty, sleepy condition when they arrived. We all had lunch in town together, then Cec took Joan & Ray back to the flat while I went back to work. The Manons went to a hotel, but I asked them to dinner & we had quite a successful meal of steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, tossed salad & cantaloupe. We asked the S’s over for a drink afterwards & we had a very nice evening. Joan & Ray slept on our sitting room sofa which pulls out into a double bed, & said they slept very well, then after breakfast set out at about 8 o’clock to collect the Manons & go to Niagara & then back home. They are going to stay in Yale another year – they were both asking for you & sent their love.
We have been to the movie & are back & going to bed now. We didn’t see “Kind Hearts & Coronets” as it was a long way away, but went to see “Stage Fright” instead. It was quite good, but there was a stinker on with it, which we sat through to see the beginning of the other!!
Will write soon again from Saskatoon.
With lots & lots of love from us both
Cyn & Cec
So Cyn and Cec were on holiday starting in Windsor, and there also in Windsor Ontario, was a red-haired 4-year-old boy who would grow up to marry their daughter!
Cyn may have been nervous about meeting her in-laws for the first time, but she also was interested in seeing more of Canada, going West, and then visiting more of Cec’s relatives, as well as their trip to Ottawa where they expected to be living in the future. And I’m sure the Costains liked her- Carman would spend a couple of summers living with them, and when Merle and Dix moved to Ontario in the 60s, the two families became close, and shared quite a few more holidays!
Cyn had close friends to keep in touch with, as well as her mother, and she was so fortunate that Dottie, Nan, Anne and others wrote to tell her about what was going on in their lives and to gossip about what was happening with friends and acquaintances. In her letters to her mother she mentions Joan Cox’s wedding and hopes that she will hear about it soon. The letter telling her survived and is presented here, showing quite a different voice and tone! Anne Winnick was a colleague from Coleridge in Cambridge where Cyn had taught, and since she was still teaching, caught her up with all the gossip from the school as well as the details of the wedding. And she finishes with a personal bombshell, probably why the letter was kept. Anne had married Tadek, who had come to England as a Polish soldier during the war, but has now become a British citizen and got his degree. Joan Cox’s sister also seems to have married a Pole, and they are the hosts at the wedding, with their son as the entertainment, apparently.
Joan Cox married Don Humphris, June 1950.
12 Haskington Grove
Cambridge
25.7.50.
My dear Cyn,
First I must – or rather we must congratulate you both on your wedding anniversary and wish you all joy for many dozens of years to come. Thank you very much for your letter – you let me wait so long that the news piles up and by the time I write I forget it nearly all, anyhow I have such a pile today that I have to spend a shilling on the letter – an email letter would not be enough. By the time you have read it all you will be all out- flat out-exhausted – so you had better find a really comfortable seat & have a glass of something handy & a fan full on- you’ll need it!! Joan’s wedding- Tadek & I both went, it was a glorious day, the best day of the summer so far. Cambridge was even mentioned that day on the B.B.C. for having the highest temps. & the most sunshine. Joan looked very nice indeed in a white lace gown with a train & a little crown & veil – a very pretty frock, no bridesmaids. The groom & all the other gents wore morning suits & looked quite handsome. There were lots of children around and in the church little Stefan Cembrowicz kept on chanting after the parson & when the choir boys kept on kneeling down he called out “we all pop down”! The people were in fits as you can guess. In fact little Stefan was the centre of attraction all day – he is a cute little kid. The reception was held in De Freville Avenue- the house of course – & the garden which looked very nice for a change. The food was excellent & Jerome & Gwen made a good host & hostess- they had about four waitresses from somewhere – plenty of drinks & ice creams- & Stefan running around – once in the nude because his shoulder straps fell off his trousers – you should have seen & heard the dear old ladies – they were afraid to go to the rescue- Tadek had to go to the rescue in the end. When Tadek asked him in Polish where he lived he answered correctly. A telegram from your mother was read out with the others. Edward has some lovely pictures of the wedding in his window-big ones- taken at & in the church & at home. After the wedding they went off in Don’s little car with an assortment of cans & junk tied underneath by the wedding guests. The whole afternoon was really a very enjoyable affair & had a very amusing sequel for me – would you like to hear it – here goes. During the reception I recognized a girl who I thought was a teacher I had seen somewhere & apparently the same went for her because she came up to me & asked me whether she was right in thinking I taught at Coleridge as she was once on the Boys Department etc. & she sent her love to Waddy & Kay Harper. She had come up for the occasion especially from Surrey or Sussex. I gave the message to Waddy but forgot her name it was so funny- Bridie Elmper [?]. After describing her Waddy guessed it & said – “whatever is she doing here – she lives with her husband in Surrey & has no relatives here – the only person she knows lives in Royston where she taught once & on whom she was crazy in spite of being married to a fellow in the army – Don Humphris!!” “Well – that was the fellow who got married” said I- “Good Lord”– said Waddy “he ran around with Bridie even came to Coleridge to take her out when she came here & then met Kay Norman & took her about & the two women had a dreadful row over him & in the end he married someone else who was killed last year by lightning on the Royston golf course”! All this was news to me & I gasped as you can guess especially when Waddy said lots of women were crazy on Don- she apparently even went with the party to a pub now and then because she was very fond of this Bridie. Fancy Bridie coming up to the wedding & tagging her husband along too!! Did you know Don was a widower- do you remember that woman getting killed last year summer- I do. It certainly seemed funny that Waddy should give me the lowdown on this romance. Well so much for Joan.
Marion Knight is getting married in September to a R.A.F. chap from Bassingbourne whom she apparently knew from Blackpool days. She brought him to the school sports & he seemed a jolly nice fellow, not like Marion’s usual types. He is big John, little John is going into a boarding school after Xmas & Wimpole Park of course closes down in Sept. all works out very well!!!
Pearl Cutting is leaving at the end of term- this week & is going to teach in the Open Air School here – she gave in her notice here like Jessie Fisher & had no where to go – but now she has taken this job – I don’t envy her. Jessie Fisher by the way is still in her Naval school, she wrote to Pam the other week that she went to the Ascot races but but does not say whether she was in the Royal Enclosure!!! Pam searched through all the Society Magazines but could find no picture of dear Jessie!!
Do you remember meeting Brenda Brine- the new P.T. in the staff whom you said looked nice – well her life has been one eternal row with Howlett & she has told the office she can’t stick it any longer & is going to walk out at the end of term. I had a letter from your mother the other day saying how happy she was & wanting to know all about Joan’s wedding – I must answer her sometime. I met Ethel Pasquier who came over on a brief visit to England en route to the Continent, she came to Cambridge to see me (or Mrs. Desely who was away) & spent only a couple of hours here. I whisked her around the famous spots & she wrote a few postcards, one to you, gave my two pairs of nylons Marie had sent Mrs. Desely & I, & rushed back to London. She is a sweet little thing- told me of you & Cec & how happy they all are you are back in the States. Ruth & another America friend of hers Mary, were here last week Mon- Wednesday. Ruth is just the same- she came to school one afternoon to see the grand Historical Pageant the kids were giving to the public afternoon & night – you can guess how old Howlett was-Ruth thought she was awful, of course she had quite a lot of information from me first. Pam & Waddy are off to Austria on Sunday but are desperately worried as they have not heard about their passage, ticket, money, passport etc. They went to see about it today & Pam got hers, not Waddy & you ought to have seen Pam, she was more upset than Waddy about it – in the depths of despair & on the verge of tears. Sheila & the other D.Sc. Irene are very good pals now and I am so glad- you ought to hear Sheila tell old Howlett off- she went to her room one night after school & told Howlett she strongly resented her interference in her cookery lessons as had been going on lately. Old H. was so taken aback she began to soft soap Sheila & say how good she is & how grateful H. is to her for everything etc. Her Bob is still going strong – one weekend he comes to her- the other she goes to him – but poor old Sheila is worried lately about her father he has gone to a nursing home for mental trouble & strain – although he & her mother have just spent a long holiday in Norway & Sweden. Well the bigger news is coming up- Rosemary & Bill are still going strong, so strong in fact that Rosemary is going to get married! Not official yet but everyone knows! Bill is just looking for a house & Rosemary for a job in Essex near Saffron Walden where he works! What d’ye know!! She took him to the Pageant the other night- I did not go, I had Ruth etc. here but the others say she would not introduce him – he looked handsome enough with long fair hair plastered down & rather a village type – in fact Sheila says she thinks he smells!!! she could not bear to go near him. Poor Bill- poor Rosemary – but she is terribly excited- she takes him home & she goes to his home & by the things she says to me it is high time they married, if I knew Cec would not read this I would tell you a few juicy tales!! my ears flap and my eyes pop out when I listen!! Well how are you feeling- exhausted yet- well beware here comes the final knockout blow, steady yourself- take the glass in your hand for I am going to have a baby in December yes you read right – I am – Xmas Eve- but no one at school knows yet except Sheila, I dare not to tell old Howlettt I am leaving at the end of September- I shall have to go to the Office in the holiday & tell them the news- I think I shall only ask for a leave of absence now and then they won’t be so mad at me not giving in my notice before. Anyhow I really may have to go back if Tadek does not get a permanent job. Yes – it took us by surprise too – let it be a warning – don’t risk anything- not even once!!!! And to think that Jean Reed is going to all that trouble!! I’m beginning to get a bit bulgy but so far the weather has been cool & I have worn a short jacket, thank goodness only 3 more days of term, no one has noticed yet I think although this is my fifth month- but they soon will- now. Better start knitting old gal – I haven’t yet – in fact I dare not think of it. I have had to go to the hospital for lectures etc. etc. & once went to school only at 3 o’clock after hospital- saying I was not well! Luckily I have been very well- not once sick – so no one can guess. I dreamt you were having one in January – what fun!!! I think I’ll wind up – enough news for one letter & I think it deserves a speedy reply don’t you. Very much love as ever – all best to Cec. Hope you will soon revive after reading this- Anne.
P.S. Keep my baby a secret too.
P.S. Rosemary has had to move digs twice since I last wrote about her new digs – her landladies have told her to go- I wonder why!!!
In the Epic Cyn keeps referring to, she is replying to two months worth of letters from her mother, and since she’s writing it over a 10 day period, some of the events she mentions overlap with her other letters. Carol had left England after 30 years, having separated from her husband now hospitalized with dementia, and gone home to St. Vincent to live with her sister Muriel (Auntie Moo). She had visited other sisters and their children and grandchildren living in the West Indies first, and now is writing to Cyn and Cec, mentioning cousins in the extended Hazell family that Cyn has never heard of, and again referring to the family martial upsets and divorces with ones she is closer to. Carol’s brother Fred is the owner of the family business, Hazells, and hosts a holiday on the island of Bequia which she enjoyed immensely. His 4 daughters, Jean, Brenda, Peggy and Patsy, are frequently mentioned as well.
As their first Wedding Anniversary approached, Cyn and Cec were still getting wedding presents. Hugh Brown, who the Ewings had known during the war when the American Army was stationed in Newcastle, had been great friends with Cyn, had introduced her to his family during her exchange year in Toledo, and now sends her a belated gift they are thrilled with. Although Hugh had left the army when Cyn had last seen him in 1947, it now seems, perhaps because of the Korean War, that he is once more a high-ranking officer. The missing wedding present sent by Cyn’s cousin Brenda from Burma shows up eventually, because it is listed, last, in Cyn’s Wedding 1949 notebook!
A Hazell cousin: Bill Otway’s family.
Saturday. 22nd July.
Dearest Little Mummy,
Here I am beginning right away with my Epic! I have just been inquiring of Cec how much paper he has as I only have 3 sheets & he says how much am I going to write, but I say, oh hundreds as I have hundreds of letters to answer! I have left the dirty dinner dishes in the kitchen & abandoned my ironing & I’m just going on writing till I don’t have another thing to say!
I am beginning now with your letter written on 14th May- ‘way back! You were saying you had just been in St. V. 4 weeks – does it seem ages & ages ago now? You are writing in it of getting “I Capture the Castle” from A. Ettie & how much you enjoyed it. After your recommendation I got it out of the library & both Cec & I loved it & thought it was a gorgeous book, although I don’t think the end was as good as the beginning. It is Dodie Smith’s first book & I remember reading criticisms of it in the Eng. papers, as she is a well-known playwright – do you recall seeing “Autumn Crocus” long, long ago at the Jesmond Playhouse? That was by her & was very well known- it was about a middle-aged school teacher who went for a holiday to Austria & fell in love with the hotel keeper. He was big & handsome & jolly & friendly to everyone, & she didn’t realize that the big, fat cook was his wife, & that he was just nice to all his guests, & she had quite a heartbreak, poor girl! Before I began work, I read quite a bit & one book I meant to tell you about was called “Marmee, the Mother of Little Women”& was a biography of Louisa Alcott’s mother. I was very interested, particularly that L.A.’s father was one of the first great educationalists in this country, but was very idealistic & impractical & for years had no money, as his school in Boston was closed because he accepted a coloured girl as a pupil. It was the Mother who went out to work & kept the home together, & the 4 girls seem to have been very like Little Women except that the real Amy seemed nicer, & was really quite a famous U.S. artist eventually, married a French man (much younger than herself!) & lived in Paris! As I told you, Dottie sent us a Book Club sub. for my birthday & we have had 3 books by now, 2 of which we like immensely. The first one was called “The Kon-Tiki Expedition” & I thought it sounded awful, but it turned out to be a grand adventure story although it is all quite true. It is about 6 Norwegians & Swedes who sail across the Pacific from Peru to the S. Sea Islands on a log raft to prove that the original inhabitants of the islands came from Peru. It is most exciting & very well told. The book we didn’t like much was Rose Macauley’s “The World my Wilderness”, but this month we got “A Town like Alice” by Nevil Shute, which is lovely & if you can get it I am sure you would enjoy it. It is about Malaya a bit, but mostly Australia, & is so interesting & nice. It made us think of Frank of course – he will be in Sidney by now of course, & we mean to write & send him those snaps. I also thought of Mary & Michael Egan & I do hope they’re happy out there – I wrote to Mary & sent her a cable to the ship, & had an A.M. from her from Port Said yesterday. She said she was v. miserable about leaving England & doesn’t even know if they have a home in Perth yet, but she seems quite cheerful now.
To go back to your letter, I loved hearing all about the 2 church “Fairs” you went to- the first one rather low with a loud band & jigging locals, & the other very refined!! Cec wants you to make a family tree with all the relatives on! I told him it would be practically a life’s work, but we do get confused over all the cousins mostly – at least Cec is confused over everyone, & when it comes to your cousins I am confused too! I also keep forgetting the names of Jean & Bren & Peggy’s children- it’s a good thing Patsy hasn’t any to confuse me more!!
I enjoy hearing about all the servants you have to wait on you, & love hearing of having a boy to carry this & one to carry that etc. Doris & Clarice (despite varicose veins!) sound nice & I laughed over the spider in the shower, but shuddered as well! I don’t at all like the sound of the beetles & lizards – we had quite a lot of Maybugs – hard backed flying beetles – earlier & they used to bonk- bonk– against the screens at night, but thank goodness we have screens!
You asked whether we had duty to pay on bringing any of our stuff in (the 8 boxes) but we didn’t although we were doubtful as some of it wasn’t a year old which it is supposed to be. You were saying that you laughed over Mrs. A’s warty teapot – well– some weeks later I invited Mrs. Kaufman up for a glass of sherry & to see the flat as she hadn’t been in since we came. She admired everything – in fact in the bedroom she looked around & said “Well, this looks just the same” then in a depressed voice “but nicer than when we had it”!! I showed her the china & glass cupboard etc. as she kept asking about my “English china” & blow me down, but the only thing she admired was Mrs. A.’s warty teapot!!! She is a funny woman. Her 2 daughters & their husbands came up to see the flat one day & the 2 husbands were much taken with your photograph & admired it.
I was very interested to hear all the domestic details about A. Mil & U. Fred & Joan & Jack. I am sorry about the latter, & feel that A. Trix may have something to do with it as you say. Also about poor Basil Hutchinson & his matrimonial troubles – he does seem to have had a hard time.
I was awfully sorry to know that old cheque had caused so much bother. I hope Kirby finally got it straightened out. I am inclined to think that it would be a good idea to let him look after your Income Tax etc. As you say, it was bad enough before when we were both in England, but now it is so difficult that I think it would be worth letting him take most of the return, to get rid of the worry.
You ask in your letter if I have ever heard from Hugh & got the promised W.P. Well, a while ago I had a short note from him asking if this was our correct address, as he had written to the University & got the letter returned. So I wrote after a while & last week a HUGE parcel arrived, & Cec & I were so excited & rended it open & what do you think it was? A beautiful Sunbeam Mixmaster! We were absolutely & completely overwhelmed, & of course think it is wonderful. We straight away washed it & used it to make waffles & squeezed orange juice on the juicer attachment & had a lovely time. Wasn’t it sweet of him? I wrote & thanked him, but haven’t had a reply – I was wondering if by any chance he would be sent out to Korea.
If you were writing about our budget & food bills etc. – well, since the Korean War the prices have been going up & yesterday at the store steak was $1.10 a lb, & pork chops had gone from about 70¢ to 95¢. Coffee is going up to 87¢ a lb so it doesn’t look too good – I am horrified when I think of my meat bill for the week is $5.00 or more ( i.e. 25/— 30/-) & I used to think Claude & I were being devils if his bill was 7/6 a week! You will be glad to hear that our milk bill is down to $6.00 now, as we have cut out cream for the summer, as I don’t use it in my coffee, & Cec uses the top of the milk, so that I won’t get so fat!! I am trying not to eat so much!
The Sutherlands are wondering about building a house after all now, as building costs are very high. Gunborg has a legacy in Sweden which she is getting over next month & they were going to use that, I presume, but now they think if they can find a decent house they might buy & just keep the “lot” which they can always sell later if they want. The trouble is that they need a bigger house than the usual type (Dr. S. needs a study & the girls are getting big all to share 1 room) so they haven’t had much luck yet.
The Sutherland girls.
I am now on to your letter of 23rd May telling about the new Air Service etc. By the way, the accountant at work, called Arnold, (or Arn usually!) is a keen stamp collector, so your St. V. stamps are going to him at present & he is very pleased. He buys all the new US issues too & has sheets of them. It is such a funny office – everyone calls everyone by their Christian names – the office manager is Don, & Miriam’s boss is Dick & so on. I said it was very “matey” & they all laughed like anything as it was a new expression for them. But I like it & am pleased that I am still there. Don asked me a week ago whether I would be in A. A. long, & when I told him he was quite pleased that I’d be here so long. Then on Monday he told me I was to work in the Field Office for a while (Boss is called Charlie) & the job will probably last 6 months, so if they are willing to let me have my holiday it looks as if I may stay. We plan to go to Sask. on 15th Aug. & fly from Windsor, Canada (just across the river from Detroit) as we can pay our fares in Canadian dollars then. Flying isn’t much more than train, especially as we would have food, berths etc. on train, & as we won’t have so very long, it will save us nearly 6 days travelling. We will stay at Cec’s home, then go to Regina to stay with his older sister Merle, & then fly to Ottawa & Montreal where Cec has business before coming back to A.A. In Montreal we will see his younger sister Lee & Wendy & their new little son. We will probably be away about three weeks, but I thought I would stop work on the 12th & take a month so I’d have a few days either end to wash clothes & clean etc.
The new office I’m in, the Field Office, is the one that looks after all the interviewers all over the U.S. who do the “Gallup Poll” type of interviewing for the Surveys the Institute do. The interviews are more thorough & scientific than the Gallup ones, but the idea is the same, & this week we have been getting ready to send out a huge no. of questionnaires (2000) to the interviewers for an interview on Atomic Energy. It is quite intriguing, but my part has been very minor – I spent 2 or 3 days stamping each questionnaire & numbering them etc.! The Office Messenger called Tim & the Stockroom man called John, helped me – the former has his B.A. & the latter his M.A.- Tim and I have long discussions on modern literature!
I am now onto your letter of May 30 and it is Sunday. This morning we slept & slept & slept until 12 o’clock- it was lovely! Cec’s pills of course, make him sleep, & I have felt tired this week, so we both enjoyed the long lie in! We got up & showered & washed our hairs, then had a breakfast – fresh orange juice, bacon & eggs (two eggs for Cec) toast & coffee! We get such fun out of the juicer on Hugh’s mixer – usually we use the frozen orange juice, which is just as cheap if not more so than having fresh oranges. The frozen is in little tins about 4” x 1 1/2” & you keep it in the freezing part of the fridge till you need it- then you put it in a jug & add three little cans full of water (makes over a pint) and it is just like fresh orange – not a bit like that baby’s stuff in England. Since breakfast (!) I washed up all the dishes, made the bed & changed the sheets & did the laundry up ready to go on Tues. In the meanwhile Cec had a baseball game on the radio- Detroit v. the New York Yankees & it has been very exciting! Cec loves listening & I am beginning to know what is going on, & to know the players’ names. We support Detroit who are top of the whole League at the moment, with Yankees only 1/2 a game behind. They just won this afternoon so are now 1 1/2 games ahead!! We have it all arranged with the S’s to go into Detroit for the day on 1st Aug. We have to go to the Airline Office & get our cards fixed for going into Canada, & then in the evening we are going to the big stadium to see Detroit play against the Yankees again. They don’t play just one match against each other, but lots during the season, but because they are so close to each other in the League it is very exciting! Is everyone in the West Indies very interested in the WI test matches? I know they are being played & that is about all. Do you remember last year how excited Cec & I were at the May Week Boat Races, because St. John’s boats were doing so well,? I wrote & asked Connie & Len to let us know about them this year & they sent us papers etc. & Lady Margaret (St. John’s) was head of the river this year! They made a bump every single day & The Times said they were the best crew on the river for years & everyone was expecting them to do great things at Henley. All the other Lady Margaret boats did wonderfully too, so it must have been fun. Remember you & Jessie F. watching!!
I am so glad the parcel of the dress arrived safely eventually, & that you liked it although you had to alter it. I knew it would be too long, but I couldn’t quite remember what size I used to get you & thought too big was better than too small. Cec & I were quite sorry you were going to rip up the apron as we thought it was so cute!! You ask whether I can still get into my going away dress, & that is O.K., but I think I’ll have to let out the waist of my yellow & grey taffeta – remember my white jersey “bitchy” dress with bright colours in? I had it cleaned, so what with that & my avoirdupois I bulge back & forth & can’t wear it!! Lots of girls at work, however, tell me they gained weight during their first year of marriage, then lost it, so I hope I’ll do the same! And not go on & on like Nan!
I was interested to hear of Pat Galloway’s baby being 3 weeks premature- h’m! Also of Margs & Monie trying & not succeeding! They must take after the Simmons & not the Hazells – remember Jean saying that the Hazells were so prolific- a man just had to look at them & they were pregnant!!! As you say about Bill & Owen, it must depend on the man & the way they look!!!!!
Cec just interrupted me there by saying he was hungry in a plaintive voice, so I stopped & made him a huge peanut butter, sausage & lettuce sandwich & a glass of milk so that should hold him for a while. I had a little snack too!! I must go & get dinner soon – we are having fried chicken, peas, potatoes, sliced tomatoes, then cantaloup melon. Come and have dinner with us?
I have been meaning to ask you whether Arthur got the job in Trinidad or what he is going to do? Just about the time Bren was coming to St. V. we heard on the Canadian radio that a Lady boat had gone aground somewhere, & we wondered if Bren was on it, but you didn’t say anything I don’t suppose she was, or perhaps she flew as you said she may do.
In this letter you say something about us coming to the pictures again, & I’d written it was a long time since we’ve been & you were amazed as you thought we’d just been to see “Cinderella”. We laughed, as it was 6 weeks previously that we saw “Cinderella”, so we weren’t being such constant picture-goers after all! Have you been to the St. V. picture house yet? I bet it will be an experience! Your cocktail party sounds as if it were a great success, & I was tickled at everyone’s interest in the 2 new married couples – did you pin Romeo & Juliet on their backs or were you tactful?!
I am now onto your letter of June 6, so I am progressing! We have had dinner, & I have washed up & ironed a dress for tomorrow! I intended to do all the ironing today, but it is so hot that when I do anything at all I get hot & sweaty all over, so I have left it! That is one disadvantage of having an upstairs flat – although ours isn’t so bad as some– but it gets hot during the day & then when it is lovely & cool outside in the evening it is hotter than ever in our flat & doesn’t cool off ‘till nearly morning. The fan is a great help, but when we have it on in the sitting room & I am working in the kitchen it is a bit of a nuisance to move around.
I was glad to hear that you got £6.10 for the stamp album & are giving it to the Church Fund. Rosemary’s father offered quite a fair price after all then, didn’t he? You also are writing about sending Joan Cox a cable in this letter, & it reminds me that I have never written to her since she was married. I sent her nylons by A.M. for the wedding & she replied a day or so before, but as I haven’t yet sent her anything else yet, I have been delaying writing till I did. Money is such a problem!! I had just packed Dottie’s & Sandy’s birthday presents – Dottie a waist petticoat- white silk (rayon) with a frill round the bottom & Sandy a little pair of blue cotton pants with straps & a little red, white & blue cotton shirt – what is the date of his birthday anyway? And while we are on the subject of birthdays, what is the date of my little godson’s birthday? Have you heard anything from Jane & Bill from England? I expect they will be coming home soon now. Anyway, to go back to Joan’s wedding, I asked Anne & Connie if they had seen it or heard about it to let me know, but I haven’t heard from them yet.
Did I tell you that Connie & Len are probably coming to Ottawa in October for a year? Lennard hopes to finish his Ph.D. then & thought of going to Ottawa or the U.S. but Dr. S. advised Ottawa- we heard this from Dr. S. & haven’t heard definitely from them. Poor Cec is still struggling along with no equipment yet, but it is beginning to trickle in. However he has been working on another thing this past month or so which he says will be of use to him, so he is doing something, but it is terribly annoying for him.
I was interested to hear of Ian Hazell’s wedding, & what had happened to him. Which reminds me, that all these months I have meant to write to Rangin in Canada & have never done it, & now I wonder if she is still there or has gone back to Norway. I was also interested to hear about Alastair Fraser in Jamaica & this new thing he has discovered there- it all sounds very clever.
I loved hearing about my “Mrs. Costain” rosebush, & hope that you are taking good care of her! I am now onto your June 13th letter, & you were saying how much it was raining, but by your last letter that seems to be over & you seem to be having lovely weather. I was glad that during the rainy days you had fun doing your snapshot albums & wish I could see your “bridal book”. The two days Cec was away I did a little more on our Scrapbook but I am way behind now, & will have to try and get a good “do” at it someday. I had thought of taking it to Canada for Cec’s Mummy to see, but if we are flying it will probably weigh a ton!
You remember the pictures of Bremas you sent me? Well Gunborg goes to a class in Sculpture, & they have just got a new teacher who sculpts animals beautifully, so Gunborg is going to do Bremas & his mother! She has done a sweet little clay model of the mother lying on her back & little baby bear climbing over her tummy, & will do a bigger one next! I think it will be cute. A week or so ago, Gunborg gave me a present of a lovely Swedish cookery book. She has one, & when I was helping her with that tea long ago, I admired it, & she wrote to Sweden & got her sister to send one for me. It is all in English & has the most beautiful coloured illustrations – I am so thrilled with it.
Mary and Gunborg.
You made me laugh in one of your letters because you said Gunborg always seem to be tired according to me. Well very often she is, as she can’t stand the hot, clammy weather any more than I can, & keeping the whole house & cooking, ironing etc. for 5 people is no joke, but she has just got a coloured girl who comes in twice a week, so she has a bit more leisure. However, meeting her she isn’t a bit a tired dreary person – she is vivacious & talkative & a lot of fun. Dr. S is Scottish & therefore more reserved, but has a great sense of humour – we are always tickled because Gunborg will sometimes make teasing remarks to him & (when we are alone) put her head on his shoulder etc. & he laughs & looks embarrassed! She told me that she knew him for a year & saw him nearly every day (she was living with a married cousin in Cambridge) & he took her out & to shows in London etc. & never even held her hand all that time! She says she was terribly in love with him & she thought it was dreadful! They are both darlings, but Cec and I think Dr. S. would be most shattered sometimes if he knew the things Gunborg told me!!
I haven’t heard anything from Til & Lois since they went down south, but think they may be home before we leave. Last time we were there Til gave me 2 plants- an ivy & another traily plant a bit like a Virginia creeper leaf. They are on my kitchen windowsill & I am so pleased as they have some nice new leaves since they have lived with me. I also have an apple seed, & an orange seed, & a maple seed in 3 tiny pots but they don’t seem to be doing very well! Also a sweet potato in water & it is sprouting lots of green leaves!
I am onto your 21st June letter now, written with your pretty pink & silver pen! Isn’t that lovely? You certainly do well with pens from gentlemen as you say & it was nice of P.W.V. to give you such a pretty one. How is his “liaison” going or don’t you hear of such indiscretions in polite society?! Perhaps now that you were there to show him a good example he will return to the straight & narrow path! I liked hearing about Peggy and Jean’s houses & also Peter’s “farm” with all the little piglets! You don’t mention Peter much– how do you think he is getting on here – does he like it & is he looking any better? I do hope Jeanie produces a boy this time – give her my love & tell her I’m crossing my fingers for her! I think your little chickies & kitten sound sweet. I was tickled to bits about the little wee thing flying to his Auntie Cyn – which reminds me that Lee’s cat had kittens too, & one of them was Cec’s birthday present, so we have 2 kitties “in absentia”!
I wonder if Doris has got her clock back from the burglar- poor Doris, what a fright she must have had.
Bren’s little Tessa sounds sweet, & the sunshades she brought you from Burma very glamourous. Do you remember she wrote me from Burma that she was sending us a W. present & it never came- – I wonder whatever happened about that. I would like to have Chris’ letter about Bidsy’s wedding – it must’ve been some splash. I had a letter from Amy last week with a card for our Anniversary & she told a little about June Kirk’s wedding but not much. Amy’s letter was very nice, but not much news. I also had a nice letter & very pretty card from Auntie Moo, & she is saying how glad she is that you are having such a lovely time at Bequia as you have such a dull life with her!! Dull – it sounds uproarious to Cec & me!!
You were saying about whether I ever hear from my father now – I haven’t heard a word since I came over here, but I write nearly every week, & have just sent off another parcel of sugar lumps & mints etc.
I liked hearing about your new dress – it sounds nice, & with such a good, cheap dressmaker it is hardly worth while your bothering to make things yourself. Over here the dresses are so cheap ready-made that it isn’t worthwhile having them made. The girls at the office are all very smartly turned out with pretty clean cotton dresses every day, so I am kept busy washing & ironing the few I have! I got another one last week for 3 dollars- it is very thin muslin-y cotton – grey with a white pattern & tiny red spots & red buttons down the front, & has a square neck. It is getting to the end of the summer season now, & I am thinking I might try to get a summer suit in the sales as I will need something for travelling & I only have four cotton dresses & the blue cotton skirt & blouses. So far I have had 2 cheques, & get another tomorrow, but as Cec isn’t teaching during the summer term he doesn’t get paid of course, so besides my pay we only have the regular allowance from Canada, & as we will pay our rent while we are away & want to leave some money in the bank, we still aren’t rolling in dollars! With me at work, we spend a bit more too- prices going up as well – & also bus fares & sometimes lunches when we don’t take sandwiches. Ordinarily, we take sandwiches, & have such fun – we eat them on the Campus, i.e. trees & grass around which the College buildings are built – & we have made friends with the sweet little squirrels! One particularly, with a lovely bushy tail, we call Blossom, & although he is shy, he will now take things from our hands. We have discovered they all love cherries! They hold them in both hands & gobble away till the fruit is all eaten & then crack the kernel & eat the nut! For fun one day, we gave Blossom a plum, & he could hardly carry it, but he staggered away with it & sat at the bottom of the tree & ate it & then asked for more!
Blossom.
Did I tell you that Mrs. Pasquier was going to Europe this summer? Mr. P. wasn’t going, but she was going with a v. rich friend who was paying for the whole trip – they were going to England- Denmark- Paris & I don’t know where else. I didn’t see her before she left, but had a long letter from the Q. Mary, & then last week a card (Bridge of Sighs) from her in Cambridge! She had gone for a day & met Anne & were sitting together on the Backs writing to me – wasn’t that lovely? I am so glad she went there even for so short a time- she thought it was beautiful.
This is your 4th July letter, so I am really getting up to date now. I was amused that your writing about how “the old order changeth” & how everyone in St.V. black & white have cars now, while you & Aunt Moo walk – it’s the same here too. As I told you there are quite a few coloured girls at work – & I get on quite all right with them. Lois is one who is working half time & getting her degree as well – she is middling colour & says her mother was from Bombay so must be 1/2 Indian. Eva is another & she is quite black, but very thin & sharpfeatured – she is picked up in a huge new shiny black Buick every day but I stand & wait for the bus!
Thank you for the offer to make me thing is, Mummy, but at the moment I am O.K. I am growing out of cami-knick’s etc., but panties are so cheap here (50¢) that in a way it doesn’t seem worthwhile making them, & as you say my fat podge size makes it difficult to know the right size!
I laughed at your letter when you are remarking at the snaps I sent- the oil cloth on the kitchen table is a necessity as it is painted a dark ugly brown & we got the oil cloth at once to disguise it – sometimes I put a tablecloth on! The high heels I’m wearing that you remark on, are my wedding white shoes & I put them on specially for the photo! Usually I wear my old “sloppy Joe’s”! You ask about my size in getting dresses now, & I get a 10 or 11 instead of 9, so it isn’t too bad- 9 is too tight over my boosum! The 10 & 11 I shorten but that is all. The grey one with lace that you asked about- the lace is kind of imitation crocheted lace, if you know what I mean!
I heard from Dottie about poor Pete’s glands, but hope they are o.k. now. I was interested to hear about Joan in Aberdeen – I must try to find out from Dottie what the trouble is. Amy & Ruth & Charlie seem to be doing themselves proud over holidays this year don’t they? I hope Dottie & Bar have a good time together, & that Bar is feeling better.
Your next letter of 9th July, was posted from Bequia, & Cec and I have both enjoyed your letters about your holiday there so much. It all sounded such fun – a beautiful lazy free life with all luxuries, mod. cons. servants etc.! – just suit us – no pioneering – just the lap of luxury!! Next best thing to being there with you was reading about all the good times you had, and we truly did enjoy hearing all about your doings. Your island outfit – i.e. sand shoes, gay skirt & big hat sound very sensible & I hope that there is a snap of you in your get up, so that we can see! The bathing must be heavenly, and I love to hear about you getting really sunburnt – one thing in your letter really did make us laugh though, & that was when you were describing the black sand, but clear sea, & ended up “Get me?”!! Tuts! We chuckled over Patsy’s flirtation & your threatening to spank her, then ending up by being sympathetic to her! Sounds as if she should be sent back to hubby, leaky house or not! How did the crocheting get on? Not very fast I’m sure, with all the fun & writing great nice long letters to your children! But never mind, I’d much rather have letters about lots of fun than a luncheon set! There were 3 different sized mats- 1.) 9 3/4 ins. across 2.) 6 1/2 ins 3.) 5 1/4 ins.- that of course, is after they were pressed out, & the measurements are a bit approx. as the edge has points!
I was most tickled at Bren & Patsy deciding they came from humble origins, after all this time! I am glad Tessa got better & so Bren was able to come after all, and that you all were such a jolly party. It is a pity that Uncle Fred isn’t carefree & jolly all the time, but he seem to have been a wonderful host, & Cec & I loved hearing about all the food & picnics & everything! We were sorry about your sore behind, but couldn’t help laughing too! The plan of the house & the bay gave us a good idea of the place, & I am always interested in what the houses are like.
You asked me in that letter (15th July) to send Irene’s snaps for you to see, but although she told me she was sending them too, they haven’t arrived yet.
And now for your very last letter of 23rd July- I am actually catching up!! In it you were writing of our 1st year of marriage & saying it was the most difficult, but if so, we’re not a bit worried! We’re not anyway, but we’re still the same as in our “courtin’ days”, & we haven’t been cross with each other or had a squabble yet! The only thing we moan about is our rolls of fat, & as we both have them we don’t mind so much! It’s a good job we weren’t with you in Bequia or we’d have put on lbs. more with all the gorgeous lobsters & things! One of my jobs at the moment at the office, is to make out file cards, forms etc. for new interviewers who are being hired for us all over the States for the Surveys which are beginning now. I feel most interested in them, because amongst other information they have to tell me their age, height, weight, colour of hair, eyes & complexion, & I typed out an identity card for them & send it back with a nice letter of welcome from the chief! It makes it so much more interesting to know that Miss Lavinia Derryberry has brown eyes & blonde hair & is 27, & Mr. John Miles Jr. is 34, married & has green eyes, fair hair & a ruddy complexion!! Anyway I was telling Cec that lots of the men were 6 feet. & over, but none of them weighed as much as him! (206 pounds now!) But I had to add that all the women were taller than me, and lots of them weighed much less!! He was very gallant and snorted “Bean poles!”
You were asking about Mary Jo & Pete & their new house – it is on Granger Ave. too, but higher up as it is quite a long Ave. They moved in last week- we haven’t been since, but while they were still in the throes of cleaning etc. we took them ice cream cones one afternoon! They are both v. nice – they both come from Baltimore & speak in a v. strange way. Mary Jo still comes for me on Fri. night to shop, so I am all set.
You were also asking about the S’s house & since I began this letter they have bought one. It isn’t very far from here, but we haven’t seen it yet, and they don’t get possession till Sept. It is 20 years old, has 4 good size bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, sitting room & big porch, dining room, study & kitchen & downstairs lav. so it has everything they need, so they felt they should take it although it needs re-decorating inside & out & gutters mended etc. It cost $25,000 which seems a lot, but a lot of the houses they looked at were over $30,000 & to build would be even more. The Petersons house was about 1/2 that I think but they did a tremendous a lot of work on it themselves. Before I forget, Gunborg is pronounced Goon-bore!! (Approx!)
I was interested to hear that Margs & Bill may yet come out in the Autumn, but hope A. Ettie gets there safely anyway. I too, hope Monie & Owen have a wonderful time in Eng. & that Monie isn’t disappointed.
My “little blonde”, Miriam, is getting married on 27th Aug. Her parents have come around & everything is fixed for the wedding & she is so excited now & counting the days!
I was interested to hear that you thought my letters were being opened – not that I think anyone but you would get much fun out of them. I’ll be more careful, but the thought of ME sending DOLLAR BILLS!!! I laughed & laughed- dollar bills – as if I could. The Sutherlands thought it was ever so funny too!!
Any news of Jean’s babe yet? Our two new nephews are called Bruce Costain (Merle’s baby) and Stewart Daryl (Lee’s.) The latter is to be known as Daryl which we don’t much like, & Lee made us laugh by saying in her letter “I don’t think Wendell (her husband) cares for the name”!
I laughed over you were telling Bren & Patsy about my “hungrey boy” & that reminds me that one night it was very very hot & Cec & I were lying on the bed sweltering, and Cec felt & said “Have you got the sheet over you? “& I said “Yes, I’m keeping my bloody liver warm” & we both shrieked & roared with laughter! Did you ever tell A. Moo about that? I tried to tell Gunborg one evening & laughed so much I don’t think she really knows what it’s all about!
I hope A. Moo’s hearing aids are back & that she is well – my love to her & to the girl. I am enclosing the rubber bands, but can’t get greaseproof paper- it’s all waxed here. The nearest thing is a little sandwich bags or there is some marvellous aluminum foil paper which is lovely – shall I send you some of that?
It is now 2nd Aug. & and I have at last finished this effort. We went to Detroit yesterday & had a lovely time, but I’ll tell you all about that in my next A.M.
When Cyn discusses housework, I am always struck by the importance of the chore of ironing. She does seem to buy cotton dresses, sensible for a hot summer, and my father Cec wore a white shirt and tie every working day, but I seem to remember handkerchiefs and sheets and goodness knows what else needing ironing. There is no letter telling about her getting a job, but it is clear that now she is working, she is facing the perennial problems of the working woman, combined with a conviction that the housework is HER job!
Pete and Lu Forsyth have featured in both Cyn and Cec’s letters before, since not only was Pete at university with Cec in Saskatoon, but also was a Radar Officer like Cec during the war. This letter introduces his sister Jessie, as well as new friends that Cyn is meeting because of her job. She keeps in touch with old friends too- Joan’s wedding was remembered on the day, and a cable sent off to the Egans sailing for Australia. And family is always mentioned- Carol and her sisters and nieces reuniting in the West Indies, and Cec’s sister Lee having a baby boy in Canada. Soon the letters will be covering Cyn and Cec’s holidays, when they go west in Canada so Cyn can meet her in-laws!
5th July, 1950.
Dearest Mummy,
For the first time since I began working I have caught up with my ironing! I am so pleased with myself because each week I had a dribble (or more!) hanging on till the next week & tonight I finished it off!! What helped the hitch in the first place was that I changed my laundry as the 1st one wouldn’t remember to collect the things regularly & the 2nd laundry thought it was a “flat” wash & brought back 8 shirts rough dried to add to my other ironing! Woe was me!
Yesterday was the 4th of July & so of course I got a holiday, much to my delight!! We slept late (need I say!) and then I did housework till I told Cec I had a halo extending for feet & yards! I cleaned both rooms thoroughly – did the hall & stairs- cleaned the bath & scrubbed the kitchen floor! Despite the hard work we had a nice day & I quite enjoyed the change of occupation! Thank goodness it has got a bit cooler, but by the time dinner is over I can’t get any energy to clean so I leave it for the weekend & then with the shopping & cooking & one thing & another it is a regular scramble, but now I am caught up I feel fine!
When I wrote last week we were both wilting with the heat, but it got better by Wed. & has been nice but cool ever since. We had a visitor to dinner last Wed. Do you remember Cec often talking about friends of his at home called Pete & Lu? We met them in Montreal when we came thro’ & saw their little baby girl. Well, Lu wrote to us a little while ago & said that Pete’s older sister Jessie (a teacher) was coming for a Summer Course at the University here, so we got in touch with her last week. She met us in town & we brought her home with us for dinner & she seems very nice. I had a cold meal- cantaloupe, a chicken mould with an hors d’oeuvres (in Joan & Ray’s dish) of salad veg. and bread sticks & butter, then afterwards strawberries & cream on little sponge cakes & coffee – Good?! It is so strange to think that you can’t get chicken now, because at the moment they are much cheaper than meat- the cheapest meat (hamburger) is 64¢ a pound & steaks etc. are 99¢ a pound or more- whereas chickens are 39¢ a pound or 49¢ according to type, so we have one most weeks & enjoy ourselves! Now that I’m at work all day I can’t go shopping with Mrs. S. on Fri. afternoons, so instead the wife of a fellow who works with Cec, called Peters, takes me with her. They live close by, & have 2 little girls & have just bought a house which they are painting & fixing up themselves. The girl’s name is Mary Jo, & she & her husband are very nice. Anyway, Mary Jo calls for me about 8 o’clock on Fri. evening & drives me downtown to a big “Market” called Packers & we buy in our week’s stores. I think I am doing pretty well to have two huge paper sackfuls, & 1 boy to help me carry them out, but Mary Jo always has to have 2 boys & they can’t even carry her stuff to the car, but have to drag it in a little cart!!
Cec had to go back to the Lab. once or twice last week, as he was running some machine, so on Thursday evening I took my washing around to S’s & Gunborg & I had quite a chat & a cup of tea over the kitchen table. Anne & Kirsten are going to a summer camp for girls for 3 weeks, so she was sewing name tapes on, so I helped her, & then Dr. S. came in, & he was rushing to get an article done to send off, so I typed the end of it for him! On Sat. evening Cec & I called around to see them for a minute on our way to the drugstore to get a milk shake, & they were so interested in the idea, that it ended in us all getting in the car & driving into town together. We went into an Ice Cream Parlour & sat in a booth & had milkshakes & hamburgers! Gunborg & I felt very hilarious & said it was because we were having such a wild night out! We do enjoy being with them tho’ & they are such fun – we are planning to all drive into Detroit one evening & see one of the big baseball games. Cec is always listening to them on the radio & I am beginning to have a slight notion of what they are about!
On Sunday Jessie had asked us to come & have dinner with her. She is staying at one of the big women’s residences for the University & they were allowed to invite guests on Sundays. The place was over on the other side of A.A. & no buses on Sundays, so we borrowed bicycles from the S’s. Cec was fine on Dr. S’s, but I found Anne’s was just too high for me, & oh! my seat got sore!! The residence was very new & comfortable, & we had a good dinner, with Cec the only man in the whole dining room but we sat at small tables, so he didn’t mind!
On Monday morning we began a new time at the office- 8 instead of 8:30 in the morning, so that we get out at 5- lovely at 5, but oh dear- 6:45 AM!!! We had a cheque from A. Ettie for $15 as a present from her & the girls, so we bought a nice little electric alarm clock for $5, & counted the electric fan as the other part of the present, as that cost $10. Wasn’t it sweet of them – and we couldn’t have had 2 more useful presents – remember, I said I’d ask her for one or the other? I’m afraid she got tired of waiting for my letter, but I wrote straight away & thanked her. The clock is nice- square with a cream plastic case & has been very effective as to alarm up to date! I was so pleased to hear from A. Ettie about Monie & Owen going to England & her coming out to St. V. I hope she keeps well and gets her permit all right to come in September. (Did Margs ever get to the W. I. In Feb? I never heard.) Won’t you all have a good time chattering together!
Did I tell you that I had to go to a dentist as the filling came out of one of my teeth? Well, the hole was so big, he is having to take out the nerve & I have been 3 times already, & he was ever so cruel the time he injected me & took the nerve out! However, it seems to be O.K. now & I hope he’ll soon have it finished. He told me it would cost $30 or $40, so isn’t it a good thing I have a job!!
It is Saturday, by now & I am sorry I didn’t get this letter finished earlier, but I just didn’t seem to have had a minute. I was writing on Wed. evening & went to bed as I felt sleepy, & I didn’t tell you how we finished celebrating the 4th July! Just after dinner Gunborg came to invite us around that evening, as Dr. S. had just left for Buffalo for a meeting & she was feeling very lonely. So we agreed to go later as Cec had work to do. When we arrived, she had her “Cocktail Recipe” book out, & we mixed one we all liked the look of & then sat & chatted, but although we only had 2 drinks each, they must have been very potent, as we ended up the evening feeling very cheerful!
On Wed. I remembered to send a cable to Mary Egan who was sailing from Tilbury on Thurs. I shudder to think of what their last few weeks must have been like with the packing & children & everything!
On Thursday. I invited one of the girls at the office home to dinner with us. Her name is Miriam Krauss & she began working there just after I did as secretary to one of the men. She is rather like Irene in appearance (blonde- German descent) and is just 22 & out of College. She is engaged to a fellow in College who hopes to be a Dr. & they are going to get married next month, but in the meanwhile he is up in Northern Mich. at his home, & she is in a room here (as her home is a little way away) & feels so lonely, so I am sorry for her! Her father is a minister, & her mother doesn’t want her to get married this year, so I listen & give a good advice! But she seems a nice girl & enjoyed her visit. Last night I went shopping with Mary Jo & today I don’t seem to have done much at all. I baked a fruit cake & some shortbread biscuits as I thought they would be nice to take for our picnic lunches. Did I tell you we took them each day now? If it isn’t nice we eat them in Cec’s room in the Physics Building & if it is we eat them on the “Campus” which is like a little park around which the university buildings are built with grass & trees & benches. We take peanuts for the squirrels too & have as much fun feeding them as feeding ourselves!!
This letter will be way overweight if I’m not careful – so I’ll stop now. Love to Jeanie etc. (by the way Cec’s sister Lee has a little baby boy too! All Costain babies seem to be boys this season!) and A. Moo–
With lots and lots for my Mummy
from
Cyn
P.S. This letter seems very disjointed – don’t know why!
A word of explanation about Cec’s work: in the 1950s, the word ‘microwave’ was not in everyday use as the short form of reference for the microwave ovens we have in our kitchens- in fact, it was only in use among physicists. Cec’s experience with early radar during the war led to occasional work with naval research in England, as he did his degree in Cambridge. At the University of Michigan in 1950, he was still doing his Cambridge Ph.D., but had followed his professor, Dr. Sutherland, to Ann Arbor and was now doing research in the field of microwave spectroscopy. The conference in Columbus was annual event that Cec would attend in the future as well.
Sunday. 11th June.
Dearest Little Mama,
I am a Grass Widow today as Cec has gone to Columbus, Ohio, with Dr. Sutherland for a Microwave & Infra-red meeting. Dr. S. is staying for the whole week, but the thing that interests Cec is on Monday, so he will drive back with another man on Tuesday. I am glad, as it seems so queer & quiet! They set off this afternoon & already it seems ages & ages although it’s only 8 o’clock- I have been eating my dinner in installments – I had cold meat & salad at 6.0, & then coffee, & now have just had a plate of ice cream! Actually it was supper as we had dinner in the middle of the day before Cec left. Talking about widows, remember the draught being a little wind from the bottom of the widow?!
I have just been writing to Nan, to thank her for a nice long letter & a picture of Sandy. Sandy looks sweet & chubby now – she said she was sending you one of the pictures too, so you’ll see him, & I put it on record that now I think he is a bonny baby!
I sent Nan’s birthday parcel off late, so last week wrote her a note to tell her it was on its way. I went & forgot & put a 3¢ instead of a 5¢ stamp, so had it returned for the 2¢ postage by the very mail her letter came, so I kept it & sent it off with a longer letter today.
I wrote to Miss Lefroy a while ago, & have been quite good about writing letters, but must write to Denis & Dorothy now about their son! Won’t Winnie be tickled to bits? I wonder if he is a red-head? I bet Denis is pleased with himself, and it is lovely to know that there is a little Bobby – I hope he is as sweet & nice as his namesake. I wish we could begin our family too, but we must just be patient and wait until we are at least nearer the time for going to Canada, because besides the difficulty of the money to pay expenses here & it being so much more expensive, Cec will have enough to cope with all his work this coming year, and also I’d like it to be a Canadian & to have a home instead of this little flat. I don’t know why I suddenly begin writing about having a baby, but so many people seem to be doing it!
When I wrote last weekend we were just going to Toledo, but I didn’t get quite up to date in that letter, so I’ll go back a little to Whit. weekend. Not that it was kept as Whit. here – I never heard it mentioned, but Tuesday was Memorial Day & a public holiday, but it didn’t make much difference as Cec went to work as usual. On Mon. afternoon I went to tea with Mrs. S. and she had invited Joan Simpson with Christopher too. We had it in the garden & Mrs. S.’s birthday present had arrived- it was a chaise-longue! A garden one – a sort of armchair-sofa with padding etc.- very comfy. Apparently, it was a family joke with the S’s- when Dr. S. came home in the evening & asked Mrs.S. what she had been doing all day, she used to say “Oh, I’ve been lying on the chaise longue, reading a French novel & eating chocolates!”, so now Dr. S. got her the chaise longue for her birthday.
Mrs S. was saying that next evening she was having a dinner party for 12 people- how it had grown & grown out of control, & she was now horrified! So I said could I help her at all in the afternoon & she was most grateful. I went along on the Tues. afternoon & helped her make salad, & a relish tray & other odd jobs & we had a great gossip! I told her that I thought Joan Simpson was a wet weekend & she agreed with me! As she is so dull & no sense of humour, & can talk of nothing except her own family! Mrs. S. is great fun – we are nice & catty together & have the same opinions about people – With her, people are either wonderful & charming, or else she sees their faults, but if they’re nice she doesn’t see anything wrong with them, & she tells you quite candidly what she thinks!
On the next day, Wednesday, the Dean of the Graduate School, & his wife, Mrs Sawyer, who comes to the Physics Teas, had invited all the Physics Dept Faculty & their wives out to a picnic at their cottage on a lake some miles from A. Arbor. Dr. & Mrs. S drove us up – I wore my new checked cotton dress – & we got there about 5.30. It was lovely, sunny but cool, & the cottage was really a proper house right on the Lake shore. It was too cold to bathe, but some people were out sailing, & some got baseball bats, but there were too many trees to play baseball, so Dr. S. & Cec & I got up cricket, with a tree as wicket & a baseball bat & ball! It was great fun & everyone was most enthusiastic & I played wicket keeper & had a lot of fun! We had a wonderful dinner- baked ham, hot rolls, salad, corn etc. then cake, ice cream & strawberries- for about 60 people! Mrs Sawyer had 2 coloured girls helping her, that was really marvelous, the way she did it. Then we played more cricket & got bitten by mosquitos! By the way, there was some goodstuff called “Shoo Fly” which had no smell, but kept them away if you rubbed yourself with it. I thought if you wanted I could get you some, as you said you got bitten. After we left Dr S. drove us around by another lake & it was lovely moonlight, so we had a really nice time altogether.
The only sad thing was that our energetic cricket made a Mrs.S. Cec & me, so stiff the next day, but we recovered! Also, I lost a filling in a tooth, so rang up a dentist one of the Physics wives told me about, & he put a temporary filling in & I go later on to have it done properly. He was quite a nice oldish man- not black & sweaty like your friend!!
On the Sat. afternoon we went to Toledo as I told you. Til & Lois came about 4, & we got there & had a lovely dinner of ham, macaroni & cheese, corn, green salad then rhubarb pie. We just spent the evening gossiping & Til & Lois & Cec looked at television & I looked at magazines! It was wrestling, & rollerskating etc. & I was bored with it, so I much more enjoyed the magazines! On Sun. we got up latish, & then Lois was going to drive us to see her Aunts, when we found the car had a flat tire, so a man came from the garage & changed it while we waited. We then went & had a nice drive & saw the Aunties, & then came back & got dinner- fried chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus, tomato salad, and then strawberries! Cec did some of his marking & then off we set home & arrived here about 6.30, & Til & Lois went back. They will be driving down to Alabama this weekend & I hope are doing all right as they were going in the tiny car! It uses so little petrol etc. the whole journey would cost them $5!!
We had quite an uneventful week, except that Cec got a horrid cold, & felt so rotten he stayed in bed on Wed. It was a scorching hot day & by afternoon, the flat was so warm, as there wasn’t a breath of air, so he got up, & in the evening we went round & sat on the S’s porch & had a nice drink with them & chat & it was lovely. Thursday was even hotter, & Cec didn’t go to work as his cold & throat were still bad, & we both felt just limp with the heat. Thank goodness, there was a storm on Friday & it has been lovely and cool since.
On Friday I was to go to the University at 1:30 for my typing test. When Cec came home for lunch he said would it be O.K. if Ned (the fellow he shares a room with) and his wife Phyllis, came to dinner that evening. We had asked them earlier in the week, but with Cec being away from work, it had made a mix-up, so I said all right, as I didn’t think the test would take more than an hour & I’d have time to shop & cook. So off I went- arrived at 1:30, & tottered out at 5 o’clock!! I was horror-stricken! There were 4 other girls & myself, & first of all we had a 1 1/2 hour intelligence test! It was about 6 or 8 sheets & each sheet you had so many minutes to do- one was spelling – some right some wrong & you corrected the wrong ones; one was grammar; one was punctuation; one was sums– floored me; one was sorting out things etc. etc. Apart from the arithmetic, I got on O.K., but it was hideous! Fractions & so on, that I’d forgotten all about! The next test was typing- first, copy exactly just an ordinary typed sheet; second copy sheet of itemized figures etc. in columns; third, type a freehand letter with various inclusions; fourth, compose & type a letter to a person on a certain subject you were told about; and fifth, type a page & correct punctuation, spelling, capitals etc.
When it was all over, I waited & saw the dame, who told me my test was all right, but it was too late to have any interviews then, so I’m to go back tomorrow! Looks as if I might be working!
Anyway, when I finished the test & saw how late it was, I phoned Cec & said cancel the dinner, & instead Ned & Phyllis came later & played bridge & had drinks. I was worn out with all my efforts, & we were pretty lousy after no practice, but it was fun.
It is getting late now, so I must stop & off to my lonely bed!! (and squeaky!) Next week I am going to begin another letter & answer all of yours I have accumulated & will either send it by sea or send it next weekend.
My love to Auntie Moo, & the cousins,
with lots & lots for you
from
Cyn
P. S. Cec’s Mummy was asking for you in a letter the other day & said she’d always meant to answer your lovely letter & asked for your address, so that she still could. I sent it to her, but she is just as bad as her son about letter writing!!
I seem to have got in such a muddle over writing to you lately, & we have done so little that I can’t even remember from my dairy when & what happened. However, I shall go back to my old plan of writing at the beginning of each week, as you now have an airplane service, & will keep up with myself. This letter I’ll tell you what we have been doing & on Monday I’ll answer all your letters.
I have lots & lots of things to thank you for. 1) your letter posted on 23rd May which arrived on Monday 28th. 2) your letter posted on 16th May which arrived on Sat. 20th. Monday seems to be the day your letters usually arrive, but that one just managed to get here sooner- last week’s was a great surprise as I didn’t expect one for another week, but it is lovely that there is an extra mail now. Both Cec & I love your letters & get such a kick out of all your doings- of course we are wildly muddled up with all the relatives already, but we have great fun over them! I hope your cocktail party was a great success- also the games! But I’ll answer your letter properly next week. 3) the Burny Sugar Cake which arrived very quickly, just a few days after your letter telling me about it. Thank you very, very much, Mummy! I love it & crunch away & then have to puff to cool my tongue! Cec doesn’t really like it & the Sutherland children get a sort of painful pleasure out of nibbling tiny little bits, so I get it mostly all to myself! 4) The Picture Post with the dear little bear! We enjoyed seeing him so much & think he is so sweet – thank you for sending us his pictures.
Tomorrow is Joan Cox’s wedding day. We got her invitation this week & wished we could pop over for the occasion. She wrote & told me she’d like something to adorn herself with, giving sizes, but by then nothing would have arrived in time with Customs & what not, so I sent her a smuggled pair of nylons by air mail to arrive for the wedding & will send something else later. I wrote her an A.M. too, so we aren’t going to send a cable– too expensive & as usual we are hard up!! Did she tell you that the Lock’s baby was a girl? We heard today from Merle, Cec’s elder sister & she has just had her baby- a third boy!
She says the other two wanted a girl who would do the dishes! But that that he is sweet.
I got bootees & mitts with blue ribbons so I was right!! Actually I have just sent them, as we have sent 4 prs. of Cec’s trousers home for Carmen & I put the baby’s things in a back pocket. Both prs. of brown tweed pants & the fawn gabardine & grey pair he got his 2 summers in France are all too small- middle & length- he says they have shrunk!!
Now to go back to our doings- way back, just after I last wrote- Cec & I went shopping in town & had such a good time with ourselves! We got Cec a summer suit, as he had nothing cool to wear & it has been quite hot already. It is a bluey – grey material, & he looks nice in it – he wore it to teach his class one day this week & the students whistled at him & asked him if he was going to get married! It has two prs. of pants, so he is getting the other pr. to wear as slacks. Then we got me a cotton dress – black, red grey & white checks, trimmed with black along the bottom, cap sleeves & yoke. I have had to bequeath 3 of my cotton dresses to Anne Sutherland- my boost boosting out! So I have very few. We saw a wonderful thing that we are going to get with Marie’s wedding present money – it is out of stock at the moment, but more are coming in. It is an electric waffle iron- oblong- to cook two waffles at a time. When you don’t want waffles you can fix on flat plates instead of the honeycomby waffle ones & use it as a grill for eggs or bacon or hamburgers, or you can use it as a sandwich toaster! We are panting to get it & have a go at it!!
That evening we met Mary & Arthur Dockrill at 7:30 & went to the big University Gymnasium which was reserved for the use of faculty & families on Sat. evenings. (Closed now) It is a marvellous place with a huge gym – badminton courts, squash courts, swimming pool etc. We went in the gym first & I didn’t do a thing though the others played around, then we went to change for swimming and darn me if I didn’t split my bathing suit!! It was the one I got in America- white with purple orchids on made of silk jersey & I suppose the material was pretty rotten by now. Anyway, when I heaved it over my fat seat, it just went z-o-o-o-o-p! Mary seemed so upset at my saying I wouldn’t go in, that I toiled all the way home, & not risking my French one (tight in the beginning!) took the yellow playsuit with red roses on & finally swam in that. Cec & Arthur in the time of my absence has been playing paddle ball- a bit like squash, so by the time our swim was over, Cec was crawling with exhaustion! I had a lovely bathe in a rubber ring floating gently around! Afterwards we all went to a drug store & had a cup of coffee & as Dr. & Mrs. S. were out to dinner & I’d said I’d look in at the children, we bought them each a popsicle (frozen water ice on a stick!) & went & gave them to them in bed & read them a story! We were very popular! Next day & for about 3 days afterwards Cec couldn’t lift his arm above his shoulders & groaned like anything!
Did I tell you about the Sutherlands loaning us a bookcase? It is an old one they had in the children’s room in England & didn’t intend to bring with them but it got packed up with the other things. There was no room for it here, so it was lying in the attic & Mrs. S. said we could take it & paint it & do what we liked. So I spent two days filling in holes with plastic wood, sandpapering, & painting two coats of grey to match our sitting room walls & now it looks so nice & makes an enormous difference to the appearance of our room. It looks like so-
Charming, don’t you think?
I did all this very violently because on the Wed (next day) we had Mary & Arthur to dinner & we wanted it all to look nice. We brought the table into the sitting room, & I had the green linen table mats, green candles & a little bowl of sprays of lilac & it looked pretty. The menu was: – Tomato juice: Fried chicken & gravy- mashed potatoes- corn- green peas: relish dish of radishes- carrots sticks – celery curls: lemon meringue pie: coffee & it was good! They hadn’t had fried chicken before so it was new to them. We had a nice evening & we all enjoyed ourselves talking. Mary has a part-time job as Lab assistant at the Univ. now – that is what she did in Cambridge. She took a job packing in a laundry for a week 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with 1/2 hr. for lunch! It was good pay but she was nearly dead! I am still hoping for my typing job & go for a test next Friday- oo-er!
Do you remember my telling you about going to Toledo & to the Atkinsons etc. etc.? Well, we have been all muddled up. I suggested 3rd June or 10th to Mrs. A. & arranged to go to Til & Lois on 27th May. However, Mrs. A. couldn’t manage 3rd, as it was a big Masonic “do” & as schools finish on 9th, she found everyone would be going away or gone by the 10th, so finally we all decided to postpone it till the fall! Then we phoned Til & said we’d go to them for the weekend of the 3rd as that suited them better, as Lois finished at the Airport on 31st May, so would be freer. After that was all arranged Cec discovered that he had to invigilate his students’ Physics Exam on Sat. morning, so now instead of going on Friday afternoon Til & Lois are coming to collect us on Sat. afternoon & Cec is taking along his papers to mark! Til & Lois leave for Alabama on 10th & will spend most of the summer there, so we won’t see them again for a few months.
We are sitting waiting for them to arrive now, so I will stop & write you more on Mon. when I get back. We are taking down the presents to them that I got in Cambridge as this is the 1st time we’ve been down since our trunks arrived! By the way, how did everyone like your presents? Tell me!
We had another letter from you today (Sat 3rd) written last Mon. so I am scrambling to get this off as I feel guilty! Thank you heaps for yours –
With lots and lots of love
from
Cyn
[Cec’s Handwriting]
Dear Mom,
Cyn has left me more space than usual! I’ve got my exams to mark, grades to do & then I’ll be free to work for a few months.
I was a bad boy last week. I went back with one of the other boys to the lab in the evening, started an experiment we couldn’t leave & got home at 7 a.m. Poor Cyn was frantic but she should have gone to bed & slept. She’ll know next time. (I hope.) She was a good girl not to tell you. Bye for now. Stay sober!
Lots of love Cec.
Cyn’s favourite sweet from St.Vincent was called, in the family, Burny Sugar Cake, because it was- is- a cake of crystallized sugar flavoured with ginger and so ‘burned’ fiercely. I shared her fondness for this, (along with chocolate milkshakes) but unfortunately the only time I tried to bring some back from the West Indies with me, the strands of ginger embedded in the sugar cake got mouldy- it is street candy, not commercial, and doesn’t travel well!
The cheques Cyn and Cec got as wedding presents in America are added to her wedding present list: in the previous letter, she mentioned Aunt Ettie, who gave them a cheque for $15 and the electric fan she had hoped for was bought, along with an electric alarm clock. I remember the waffle iron Cyn is looking forward to getting- a great heavy appliance that lived in a cupboard and didn’t make an appearance very often, but definitely made good waffles. Hugh’s present has not made an appearance yet, but is very generous- a Sunbeam Mixmaster that was a staple in Cyn’s kitchen and survived constant use for decades.
And speaking of money, in the account book she kept at the time- rent $80 a month, as was their monthly food and housekeeping bill- the letter mentions Cec’s suit- $31, and her dress- $5, although in June Cyn spends $20 on more clothes and Cec’s birthday present. Cec’s pay seems to be $240 a month, and in July there is a new entry: Cyn got a job, and their money situation eased a bit!
I was puzzled by the difficulty Cyn was having getting a job, since I would have thought she was, even with only English credentials, capable of being a supply teacher and she would have had glowing references from the administration in Toledo, where they had offered her a job in 1947! However, my husband reminded me that she was now married- possibly in Ann Arbor women teachers had to be single? It seems very strange to me now, and my teachers in elementary school a mere 6 years later were married women, but that was Canada. (Mind you, the Catholic school board that my husband started his career at in the early 70s fired their married women teachers if they got pregnant, although that changed in his second year teaching.) However, it could be that Cyn just did not want to get involved with the uncertainties of supply teaching.
The pictures that Cyn refers to in this letter, from the Toledo visit Cyn and Cec had made, were perhaps the product of the camera that printed out the photos immediately, most of them already published with the letter describing that visit- except for the funny one included to make Carol laugh. They are printed on solid stock, and did not stick in the scrapbook like the other photos!
[This letter is typed on onionskin paper in red, very hard to read.]
May 19, 1950.
Dearest Mummy,
I am practising my typing, so thought I would see how many mistakes I could make for you! Actually, Mary Dockerill told me last week that she had got a form from the University to apply for a job, so as I was in town I trotted in and asked for one too. Not only did they give me one but invited me to fill it in there and then, so I did, and handed it over, and was politely informed that if I cared to wait a few minutes their interviewer would see me. I was quite overcome at this speed, but waited and was interviewed by a nice woman who told me that they had some clerical jobs and that if I cared to work at my typing and then come in and take their test, I had a chance of getting one. So Cec got me a typing book, and every evening I have practised for an hour. This is extra as I have just finished my hour, but thought that it would help my speed and also get lots onto a few sheets so that I can send the pictures as well. I am cross about my speed because one evening I got as fast as 50 words a minute, and since then I haven’t been able to get quicker than 45. Very annoying!
The pictures I am sending are the ones I told you about when we were in Toledo last. On Wed. evening Mr. K. called me for a telephone call, and it was Til. I hadn’t heard from them since we were there last, but she was ringing to say they had been busy, but that she was coming to Ann Arbour with a friend Cecile the next evening and would call in to see us. I remember that I have the days all mixed up now- it was Mon. that Til called, and Tuesday at about 6 o’clock she arrived and stayed for about an hour while Cecile was busy in town. We had coffee as she wouldn’t have dinner, and she told us that both she and Lois have been so busy, she giving as many as seven concerts a week. She was looking very tired, and also Bill has left for Panama now and I think she would probably be upset with that. Jan is to follow him later. They finish school on June 9, and are going down to Alabama straight away, so we are going down next weekend to see them, as they will be away all summer. Cec has been very busy as I told you, but on Wed. he gave his paper to the Group and seemed to feel quite pleased with the way things went. Anyway, it is over now, so he has a little breathing space and we thought we would go to Toledo while we had the chance. The Atkinsons you know, have been asking and asking us when we can come for a party they want to give us – a sort of welcome back for me, I gather, and of course we have been putting off and making excuses! However, I felt we couldn’t do that forever, so I wrote and said how busy Cec had been and that he was still so busy that we felt we couldn’t get away for a whole weekend, but would love to come through for a day, and suggested two Saturdays, whichever suited them. So far I haven’t heard, but I told Til to keep it dark that we were coming to stay with them! Oh dear, isn’t it difficult!
With Cec being so busy, and my typing activities we have done very little since I last wrote. At the weekend I went and babysat with the Sutherland girls on Sat. evening, and then when Dr. and Mrs. S. came back they insisted on collecting Cec and bringing him over for a cup of tea, and we had quite a gossip and a lot of fun.
[Switch to typing in black ink.] deRe Mom, just a few lines too show you that I can tipe as good as your dotter, but it is harder two spell. lots of LOVE cEc. [Back to red ink, with reference to O. Douglas, ‘The Setons’] Fish lawffed! And me too! My chubby hubby had a lot of fun doing that! On Sunday we celebrated by going to the Drug Store and having a chocolate milk shake, which is practically my favourite amusement! No wonder I am still spreading. I tried on my summer dresses this week and I am now a sad woman – I have proof of what I suspected! My pink and black is too tight to do more than bust over my bust, and my tussore is tight over the ‘ips. The latter I am going to try and let out but the other one is beyond hope. I asked Mrs. S. whether she thought Anne could wear my things and so she is going to try them and see, because the pale turquoise one with the buttons is very short now and also my blue corduroy suit is short and tight, so if she can wear my things she might as well have them. Really, I have had all those things three and four years now so it isn’t too bad. Cec is mad because the trousers he got in France last year and also the ones he got the year before are not only tight around the waist but have shrunk at the cleaners so we are making up a parcel and sending them all to his young brother!
What do you think? Yesterday morning we had a card and check from Marie and Sam Dorman! The card was “A little late for your wedding” and Marie wrote on the back that she had waited till we came over here and had just got our address, and as she didn’t know what we would like she was sending us a cheque. It is for $15 which seems a huge sum to us at the moment and we are so excited about spending it! We are going to town tomorrow to see what we can get and we are rather hankering after a waffle iron if we could get one!
I had a note from Auntie Ettie asking us what we would like and we thought of asking her for a fan as it would be a blessing here in the summer. Another thing we could do with is a clock as the only one we have is my little travelling clock which isn’t very good – Cec’s alarm clock we left beside the bed in Cambridge and Joan has it. I had a letter from Joan not long ago and she is getting quite het up about the wedding now. She was describing her dress to me – it is white lace with a stiff organdie petticoat to make the skirt stand out and sounds very pretty, but Joan says she thinks she’ll look like a tea cozy! She is getting married at Chesterton too, but isn’t having any bridesmaids. They have a nice little cottage in Royston, and are trying to get the one next door so that they can knock the two into one and so make it bigger.
Last night we went to the pictures for the first time for ages. I met Cec after work in town and we had a cup of coffee at a drug store and a hamburger, and then went to see Olivia de Havilland and Ralph Richardson in “The Heiress”. It was very well acted but kind of miserable, but there was another silly picture with Robert Young which was funny. We then walked home and had a huge supper of eggs and bacon and chips!
Looking back I see that I began to tell you about the pictures and then forgot to go any further. Well, Til brought them and now that we see them in the cold light of day we don’t think they are very good, but they are funny anyway. We are sending you the best ones and hope they’ll make you laugh – the Piano Virtuoso will I know!
Remember Pam Holbrow who is now out in Bermuda? I had a letter from her the other day, very tickled to know I’m married and in the U.S. again. She is staying in Bermuda for another year and hopes to take a trip down to Jamaica this summer – she had wanted to make a trip to St. V. etc. on the Lady boats but it was too expensive. Have we any relatives or anyone she could see in Jamaica? I told her we had relatives everywhere but can’t think of a soul in Jamaica!
Must stop now before I go onto another page – hope you and Auntie Moo are having fun! I’m looking forward to hearing from you next week, then will answer both your letters.
A Family History in Letters 