October 27, 1933 - Friday

Dear Folks,

Tonight is the eve of our pledge dance. It is to be a morgue; that sounds cheerful, doesn’t it? We have everything hung in black sack-cloth, and there are coffins and tombstones strewn all over the place.  You have never seen such a gloomy place. We are all going to wear dark suits and have black mourning bands on our arms, and everything else. We are even going to wear grey gloves. We shall not act like a bunch of mourners, though, I can assure you.

I have studied all day today, and as a result I have a nice headache to show for it. I am in great condition for the dance, buy I will snap out of it.

I am enclosing a letter from the East for Dad to take care of. You just sign the thing and send it back to me. I will take care of sending it back to Chicago. I certainly hate to think of going into debt, but I guess there is no way out of it. I will probably be paying it back for a century. But, as you say, if I never have any heavier indebtedness than that in my life, I will be lucky.

I think I will go to bed for awhile before the dance begins. Goodbye and take care of yourselves.

Love, Brother

October 24, 1933 - Tuesday

Sweet Heart,

Tonight I am so sleepy and tired. Do you mind if my letter is short. I didn’t get a letter from you today so I haven’t anything to answer and the days are so uninteresting that there isn’t anything to make my letter long. I made some of Mrs. Larson’s nut bread today and it tasted pretty good. I was worried about it because she just sent the ingredients with no instructions on how to put it together.

Tonight  Grover and I went to the movies and saw an awfully good show with Irene Dunne. I wish Grover would keep his hands off of me. He has always been very affectionate with his mother and sisters. After all I’m just a cousin, but I didn’t like it when he put his arm around my waist this evening. It’s the only time he has done that but I don’t like to have him even touch me. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He puts his arm around Mom’s shoulders but I don’t like it. Next time I’m going to tell him that I don’t like to be mauled but he will probably just laugh and pay no attention or maybe think he has found a way to tease me.

Remember the gray suit, hat and shoes that I wrote you about getting while you were at the “Fair”? Well, I have finally gotten around to getting a picture of them. Here it is.

Lover, I miss you so much. Being busy doesn’t seem to make much difference.  I love you with all my might dear

Ann

October 22, 1933 - Sunday

Dear George,

My blood’s up tonight. I am just boiling over. Mr. Cresap is positively the rudest most “I told you so” man I have ever known. I get so riled up that if he weren’t my elder I am afraid I would say nasty things to him. As it is I guess he thinks I am a pretty bold young lady. He delights in other people’s mistakes and doesn’t let them forget them for one minute.

O’ I just want to yell at him. Tonight I told him he was crazy! You will probably like him when you first meet him. You may like him all the time most men do. He has a lot of good points but he makes me wild almost every meal. What he says is absolutely right. It’s useless to argue with him. I hope he has nightmares tonight. Now let’s leave him. And please excuse me for over flowing but I think rudeness is absolutely inexcusable.

Sunday seems like such a long day because I don’t get any letter from you. I wonder if Oregon beat Idaho. It wasn’t in the papers down here. Wasn’t it swell about OSC holding USC? I was certainly thrilled. I didn’t say anything to Mr. Cresap about it but he hasn’t mentioned it either but I’ve looked a lot. You would think that I had gone to that smelly cow college but anything from Oregon is heavenly to me these days. I hate California!

We went for a beautiful ride this afternoon. It was up over one of the mountains that are around the lake to a spring on the other side. The view from the top was beautiful. Lover whenever I see beautiful things I store them away in my mind to show to you when you come down here. We could go up to the top of that hill some evening when the moon goes down quite early in the evening and watch it set from the top. I found another hide away where we could sit on the edge of the lake and watch the moon on the water. O’ I love you darling!

Goodnight, sweet heart,

Annie

October 19, 1933 - Thursday

Darling,

It was just this morning that I remembered that I had sent you some cookies and wondered if you had gotten them but I didn’t have to wonder long because your letter this morning told me. I’m glad that you liked them, dear, and if it doesn’t embarrass you too much I will send you some more. You did not say anything about the almonds. I tho’t they were particularly good. Didn’t you, or had’nt you gotten down to them yet? Mr. Cresep says we have some walnut trees on the place that will have to be picked pretty soon so I will be making things with walnuts in them next.

O, darling, they are playing “The Day You Came Along” on the radio. Don’t you love it!? I have been singing it all day.

I have just written a letter to Cardie and I am scared to death I have made some terrible grammatical mistakes with her a journalism major! I saw a picture of Mayor and Mrs. Wright in the paper this morning so I sent it to her. They are in San Francisco so I imagine she will be meeting them soon. I’ve decided that Marshal looks like his father.

This morning I had to go into Prathers Lumber Co. on an errand and my friend, Dave came up to me and asked if he had been too rash in asking me for a date. I told him I was engaged. He said he guessed he had been too rash. Darling excuse the liberties I took. Why, must I always get into such messes. I didn’t know any other way to do it and I didn’t want to go out with him!

Lover, good night and I love you.

Annie.

October 18, 1933 - Wednesday

Hello Family,

I guess you must think me a very appreciative young person. I am sorry I don’t write more, but I wish you could see your young son these days. Today I have studied from nine to eleven, one to six, and seven thirty until now which is eleven thirty. That is an everyday occurrence that goes on for seven days a week. The discouraging part of it all is that I can’t seem to keep from getting swamped with work. There seems to be no time for review, because there is always so much present work to do. I shall come through, though, I haven’t failed you or Annie or myself yet.

Thank you so much for the money, Dad. I hope I can get along without anymore help now. You use your own judgement about coming down here this weekend. I would like to visit with you, but there are other things to think of these days.

When you return my laundry, Mom, please put some tooth paste in the box. I am in dire straights for some of that stuff.

Is it getting late and I must get a little sleep. Please don’t wonder if my letters are few and far between. I love you both and think of you often. I shall write just as often as possible.

Love, Brother.

October 16, 1933 - Monday

Darling,

Who would ever have tho’t when we started that penny bank a year ago last spring that we would have five dollars in a savings account just from pennies? Thank you dear, for writing Tom Moran such a long line about June. I know if he ever should ask her out she would be so thrilled she wouldn’t be able to talk of anything else for weeks. I’ll bet we did miss a good game Saturday! The papers down here are so dumb al they say is that Oregon won and by how much but they never tell anything about the game. The sports writer is terribly dumb anyway because both when we played Gonzaga and Washington he predicted before the game that we would loose. Saturday afternoon before supper we were listening to the radio and they gave some football scores and they said Oregon had won by six points. Later in the evening we were listening to the “Saturday Night Dancing Party” (very good by the way – Sat. 7 to 8 – NBC) and they announced that Washington had won by six points so we were up in the air until your letter and the paper came this morning.  Pop and I were so excited when we heard the first announcement over the radio and were so crest fallen at the second. One reason why we like to listen to the “Sat. Nite Dancing Party” is because besides giving the scores they play the song of the school that won. That’s another reason why I was so crest fallen because I was looking forward to hearing that dear old “Oregon, our Alma Mater.” But I did hear a swell song over the radio tonight that almost made me cry! It was the lullaby that the Alpha Phi sweetheart song is written to. It made me so home sick for you, dear.

I am glad that your father has found something to do but I wish it didn’t have to be in Seattle. If they go up before Christmas how can I come up and see you?

You didn’t know what a wonderful country I am living in did you? Well, I am enclosing a folder just to show you. There’s nothing like it!

This has been a very dull day except for your two very welcome letters. I can’t read them often enough and it thrills me every time I read them. I got up and got breakfast. After breakfast I changed all the beds because being Monday the laundry man came. It seemed almost like old times making beds and I am a whizz at it. Then I went into town and did the marketing. By that time it was almost time to get lunch. After lunch I read some and made a desert for tonight. After I washed a big bunch of stockings and bathed I got supper and then after supper I played Russian Bank with Grover and now here I am.

I’m sorry, dear, that you had to miss the game but now you are all caught up, aren’t you? You still have to work hard but at lest you aren’t behind the others anymore, are you? Sweetheart, I love you and I want you to accomplish your aim!

Good night, lover

Ann

October 15, 1933 - Sunday

Darling,

Last night I didn’t write to you because my cousin Grover and I went on a spree. We went into town and saw the local movie. It was only ten when we got home but everybody was in bed and the house was dark and I was awful sleepy so I went to bed. I was scared to death he was going to find out that there was a dance in town and insist upon going because he confided in me that he just loved to dance. I had a couple of reasons for not wanting to go into the dance. In the first place, altho’ I like Grover, I’m afraid I know only too well how he would dance and we being about the same height would make it worse than ever and the second reason was that when I was in town yesterday morning I had to stop at the garage to get the car serviced and my friend “Bud” asked me if I were going to the dance. If I had been there he might have asked me to dance and then what would I have done. I don’t see how I could have gotten out of it and I certainly wouldn’t want to dance with him. I’m going to save up all my dancing for you when you get down here and make you suffer. This morning Grover and I went for a boat ride on the lake. We went across to Silunies and back. Pop wouldn’t let June or I see if we could man the boat but he let Grover. We made it go so I know how now and I’m going to make him let me take it out. So that when you come down we can go out on the lake together when the moon is full! It’s heavenly.

Sweetheart, I hate to have you so blue and lonesome but it thrills me to the depth of my being to know that I mean so much to you. I couldn’t live without you, dear and it’s so comforting to be loved so much. Lover, don’t say six or eight years after you get out of law school because we can’t stand to be separated that long. And besides you know darling that I would much rather starve with you than have to be separated. Have you forgotten all your talk about early marriages? I have a lot in me, dear, and I could certainly stand it. That denial wouldn’t be in it with the denial of living without you, dear, can’t you understand?

My mother and father are going into the city this afternoon and stay until about Thursday and I will be at the helm in this house. Maybe my father is going to be in the liquor business as soon as prohibition is over. Isn’t he a sinner? He is going in to find out about it. Would you still love me if I changed my role to a bar keeper’s daughter?

Darling, I love you and don’t be blue! I will write tonight again.

All my best love,

Annie

Sunday Night

George dearest,

It is certainly a good thing that you didn’t see me today. I was in an awful humor, everything went wrong! It started early this morning. I was getting breakfast and I was just in the middle of it when Pop came steaming up and said Mr. Cresep had to have his breakfast in three minutes because he was leaving early with some people. I was fixing up a spiffy breakfast with pancakes and bacon but he couldn’t wait for that because the griddle wasn’t even hot yet. Pop said “make him some toast”. I wasn’t making toast because of the pancakes so the oven wasn’t even on much less hot. Well, we stewed around and got something ready for him. While I was trying to get something done Sleepy, Pop, Grover, Mom and Eleanor were messing around in the kitchen and all offering advice and needless to say I got pretty boiled up. I think I would have exploded if someone had pricked me. I think that old adage of “too many cooks spoil the broth” was never so well illustrated as it was today. More than once this noon I was planning a surprise on the family. I was going to cook a Filipino dish that we all like very much. I had told Mom what it was. In the morning after the breakfast stew and I had cooled down, Grover and I went out on the lake in the “putt putt”. I got back in plenty of time to get dinner. I was back at eleven o’clock and we weren’t planning to eat until about twelve thirty or one it being Sunday. But Mom tho’t she would help me and so she started the meal. She didn’t even look at the recipe I had but just went at it as she remembered what it was like when it was served and she did it all wrong. In fact it was so wrong that we couldn’t have that dish at all and I had to change the whole menu at the last moment. So of course dinner was late after so much time lost. Everybody was stewing around the kitchen trying to help it along. The disappointment of not being able to have what I had planned as a surprise was bad enough but to have all the fuss besides. O, it was awful. When I got thru with that meal I could have easily chewed somebody’s head off.

Mom and Pop left after dinner and they won’t be back until about Thursday noon. Grover’s getting on my nerves. He seems to think its up to me to keep him amused. I can’t have the evenings to myself anymore. He doesn’t like to read and it’s kind of hard to sit and read when he is sitting across the room twiddling his thumbs. Tonight I had to teach him to play Russian Bank in the way of doing something. This afternoon he turned on the portable and insisted that I dance with him. It was just as I feared but I think I stumbled around enough to convince him that I don’t like to dance.

Lover, I am so sorry this letter is so full of complaints but this has been a trying day for me. I wish I had your shoulder to rest by head on. I need you, darling and I’ll love you forever and ever.

Good night sweet heart

Annie

P.S. I did have peace and quiet this afternoon long enough to make an apple pie that was pretty good.