August 31, 1933 - Thursday

Postmarked Sept. 1, 1933, Oakland Calif.

Addressed to GLH, Hotel Stevens, Chicago

Letterhead: Pacific Steamship Lines, Serving the Pacific Coast, On board

From AEP

Thursday

George dear,

Boy, are we getting the old roll this morning but I feel fine. But I’ll admit that I did feel kind of urpy (sic) yesterday however I sat clear thru all my meals. June got up in the middle of lunch and tore back up on deck and all she had for dinner was a sandwich in her stateroom. This morning it is almost ten and she is still in bed. I don’t know whether she is still sleepy or whether it is something else that keeps her there.

I have had more of a chance to see the passengers this morning altho’ June and I have made very few acquaintances. The boat seems to be over run with children and all of them are such cute ones. There are so many that are still in the early stages of walking and talking. There is one chubby little boy that has the most beautiful golden tan and one sweet little girl with lovely blond curls. Her father and mother are a darling couple that are as proud as can be of their child. But she seems to be the only child on board that has both her father and mother with her. There are many mothers traveling alone with the children. There are several of them that I feel so sorry for. They look as tho’ they felt like a dishrag and they have such active children that they have to jump up after all the time. It surprises me when little children get sick because they tear around so I don’t see how they can feel the motion of the boat. But there is one little girl that has evidently and she got so sick she just howled.  I’ve heard that there is a man on board that is very sick. I heard one of the cabin boys saying that he had been on the boat seven years and he had never seen anybody so sick. I was talking to a couple of ladies about another lady in one of their cabins that was so sick and one of their little girls piped up with “I bet you wouldn’t like it if someone made fun of you when you were sick!”

There is a darling old couple on board that have a couple of deck chairs near ours on deck. I hope we are like them. They are together all the time and seem to be having the best time. Evidently they have done a lot of traveling and they get a huge kick out of it. They giggle and seem to find so much to amuse them.

Then of course we have our bride and groom. Soon after we got on board Tuesday night we heard much yelling and saw much throwing of rice so that’s how I know. Your father said he knew the groom. I don’t know whether I know which couple it is or not. I think I do but there are so many on board that look like bride and groom.

Oh, yes, and we have our shipboard romance, too. Nothing is lacking on this voyage. She is a tall slender striking blond (June says she bets she’s dumb) and he is very dark. They are both traveling with their mothers.

Then we have our quota of maiden ladies that march vigorously around the deck, loving fresh air and sea voyages. You know the kind.

There are a bunch of white coated negros (sic) on board who act as waiters during meals, as cabin boys during the day and as porters and red caps while we are in port.

There darling, I think I have given you a cross section of the boat. But I didn’t tell you about the captain. He is a typical captain, fat and jolly. I noticed that he has USNR after his name.

Last night in the middle of the night the night porter came in to close our porthole. The waves were getting pretty high. He said the boat was going the same way the waves were and she couldn’t keep ahead of them. He said, ”That waters pretty cold and you wouldn’t want it splashing in on you.”

This morning at breakfast we got the Daily Radio news. It includes world news from Germany, London, and San Francisco but needless to say it was all very brief.

Darling I wish you were here to share everything with me. I see things that are amusing and I want so much to turn to you and point it out or tell you. It’s just sickening to see a man and a girl walking around the deck arm in arm. I get so jealous. Gool-ee, it’s all I can do to keep myself from chewing them to little tiny pieces. O, and George there was the loveliest moon over the water last night. Lover, I wish you could have seen it. There is nothing more beautiful than moonlight on the water particularly the ocean.

San Francisco at 7 tomorrow morning. I love you, dear.  Annie