A Fire In Baldwin and Tallulah Does Durante

Monday, October 13.

Dear Andrew and John,

We're working naturally and so is school tonight but the banks and most of the business offices are closed down today honoring your birthday on yesterday.

One Friday, I mean on Friday afternoon I 'phoned Abe and he is feeling much better since he found he has only a tendency toward diabetes and not the actual stuff. Noontime Mommie told me she got a letter from Mrs. Bellis but didn't read it because I have to keep these calls from the office to home short. Got the 'phone bill Saturday and Arlene had called her friend Mary Margaret in Catonsville to the tune of $1.19 worth. For other news of Catonsville, Virginia called Ann to say she was dropping in on Sunday and Dee called again Friday to say no they wouldn't. And yesterday afternoon we have a - I can't even think straight - we had a short visit from Ellen and Gerry Bures. They are anxious to get out of West Edmondale where they bought their new house but can't find cheaper quarters elsewhere. They're so darned on edge they're nervous wrecks.

It was raining Friday evening so we postponed our trip to the food store till Saturday morning. It cleared Saturday noontime and I fixed the back door and wiped off the car and then drove Ann and the kids as far as Woolworth's on Harford Road. We were gone a little over an hour and came back Long Green Valley Road way to find fire engines racing past us to a big fire. If you still have a map or remember my describing Peterson's store and packaged refreshment shop, it's right next to that. Burned down into the ground with not a beam or shingle standing were the post office (Baldwin) general store and hardware and a good part of Baldwin Motors, a combination garage, repair shop and sales agency for tractors and farm equipment. Doctor's property ends down that way - it's almost a mile from the house really -- and one of his barns full of hay was partly burned. Arlene went with her friend Ann Woodward, our second neighbor to the south, and her father who is a member of the volunteer firefighters. She said they had eleven fire engines there but it got too much of a start. Ann didn't see the results but I drove past yesterday morning with Mike and Kathy when we event to pick up Arlene from Mass. Ann and I went to 8:30 yesterday for a change as it was Holy Name and in memory of our 8:30 Mass six years ago. Father Doran takes his good old time and has a sermon no matter how long he talks on the matter of Propagation of the Faith or the particular problem for the Sunday. We got home from 8:30 Mass at 10:02 and it started on time. Arlene was out in half an hour. We could go over on Harford Road to an earlier Mass or in to Towson but I think it's better to stay in the parish and they need our two-bitses.

I guess it was about 5:30 when we got back Saturday and I didn't look at the paper till after we ate so were we surprised to see Tallulah listed for All Star Review at 8 p.m. We were up and waiting for the beginning. You remember how Jimmy Durante used to and still does close by walking off as though into the distance. Well, Tallu comes from way back walking slowly and playing with her hair, right up into the camera and croaks "Hello Dahlings". We loved it. Her support all through the show were no less than Ethel Barrymore and Groucho Marx. But the show was all Tallulah's. She danced, sang and had several skits to herself as well as with the others. It was from New York as she remarked Ethel and Groucho had flown in from Hollywood. I liked her semi-final, a solo of how she had gone from her place at 59th Street to visit some friends in the country -- way out at 181st St. on a thing called the subway. Maybe it's old stuff but we enjoyed her applying at the money changing window for a drawing room and saying of course they would take her check. She pauses and gives her name as the fellow has evidently asked who she thought she was. She says, "I'm Tallulah Bankhead", then another pause listening to him and reaches her hand through to shake saying, "I'm so glad to know you, Mr. Bonaparte". Just as she is about to board the subway train, the camera follows her past a big paste up ad featuring the head and shoulder picture of Betty Davis and "Two's Company" which is apparantly her latest. Tallu goes past, does a double-take and then comes back to whip out her lipstick, hunch over the pic and step aside to show her decorations of glasses, a mustache and beard; no talking. Her ending of the show was a reversal of the beginning; saying "'Bye Dahlings" in front of the camera and walking slowly to music off into the rear center. Show of Shows did everything right as usual, this time with a host, Dennis O'Keefe. After this Ann retired but Arlene and I sat to watch Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett and George Sanders in "Son of Monte Cristo". I didn't realize it was such a big production and lasted just five minutes short of two hours.

We sat around all yesterday and had finished eating and cleaning up when Gerry and Ellen came. I guess they were here from about 5:30 till 6:30. We went up to TV for This is Show Business which was fair and Colgate's Comedy Hour had a pretty good show in Bob Hope with Fred MacMurray and Connie Haines. Phil Playhouse which last night was Goodyear Playhouse came on with some gypsy offering O Ramany. Ann said the author is a good one but we didn't care for the beginning so turned it off for the evening. Ann heard Mrs. Baldwin next door calling and I went down and read awhile. Ann came back and told me she had promised to go next door to stay with the kids in the event Mrs. Baldwin would be called back to town. Her husband's father, Streett Baldwin, had suffered a heart attack and stroke on Friday. So far they have kept it out of the papers for some political reason or other but as of this morning he's hanging on. The doctors now say there's no hope whatsoever and he is paralysed except for the fingers of one hand.

On our ride to the ten cent store Saturday we had to go past the Maryland School fort the blind on Taylor Avenue. They have their annual sign out advertising apples and cider. Ann says, from past experience, there's none better. They'll have it for some time but we don't want to get any as it might turn or that might be for the better also. It's only twenty minutes away by car.

That Stevie slob at the table will shovel in three helpings of meat, potatoes and vegetables I couldn't come near downing, then sit back with his shoulders slumped and mouth omen and wait for the monstrous bubbles that usually follow. Right after eating his stomach hangs down the way Kathy's used to. Nothing new on Kathy this week but Mike is due one of my famous haircuts no later than tomorrow.

END OF LETTER

Editor's notes:
October 12, Columbus Day, is Charles and Ann's sixth wedding anniversary. It is also the birthday of twin brothers, Andrew and John.

Next Posting: October 15, 1952

Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner

The Previous Tenants and Mickey Mantle

Thursday, October 9th.

Dear Andrew and John,

Haven't much to tell you but like to get something off anyway.

When I got home Tuesday I found that Virginia had called and cancelled her trip to see us. She and Connie were supposed to come but one of them couldn't make it.

Kathy's virus in her tummy persisted through this morning and I called home noontime to find out how she was and Ann says she's much better, having produced her first burp in three days. Stevie, the slob, is back in there shoveling in the food with both hands. His face is getting fat and he's going to outgrow Kathy in the weight department. But she's getting taller, I'm sorry to say, though I do think she'll still be in the cute stage for a couple of months till your return. Mike is all legs and has his spells of eating like a horse and staying away from everything but you can't call him unhealthy. Arlene we don't have to worry about. In the Christmas Card we chose for this year, I put her name next to a caption of Food Editor. Stephen is saying just a few more words but understands everything. His pronunciation is not as good as Mike's was at the beginning, as he calls our little girl, Kaki and has a few other wild expressions but you can't cross him up. I think you'll find Kathy changed most for she was just saying a few words as I remember it when you left and now she'll string an endless sentence into 5 minutes without faltering or stammering. But she's got to warm up to you first. And that'll probably take a couple of hours. When we went out to see Abe last month, while Ann was downtown shopping that day, Kathy wouldn't even look at Abe for the first hour; she buried her heady in my shoulder even when he tried to give her a little china dog. Abe is having a bit of trouble right now, too. I guess it's the combination of his father and I'm sure there are financial difficulties. He was feeling so bad he went to see our Dr. Gallager who gave him a thorough physical and suggested he take hospital test for diabetes. So Abe tolls me he was at Mercy Hospital for 5 hours on Monday with some sort of glucose test and there is a show of diabetes. His father is on the first floor at home, apparently to stay and the bathroom Buzz has half-built is still unfinished as you know Buzz. I asked him Monday what's new in Catonsville and he said nothing that he could see.

Tuesday evening I sew about an hour and a half of TV. Milton Berle has gone the way of the many others and is now on only every other week. In his place we saw the last half of a show sponsored by Buick with the regular performers apparently being Joe E. Brown as a clown and Dolores Gray and a John Ratti as singers. I don't know if the circus is to be the continual scene but that's what I got from it. Last night we saw the first half of Godfrey and Arlene switched to a new show starring Frank Fontaine and Patti Page with some very good dancers and sponsored by Scott. They played up their Cut-Rite wax paper and paper towels and Scotties but no mentions of the toilet tissue; Ann says they probably don't think that good advertising.

It turned quite cold Monday night. Western Maryland had temperatures down to 28° but we went no lower than 42°. Today it's raining but I'm sure we'll have nice weather again in October.

Andrew, you mentioned you'd like to get out of uniform as soon as you can when you get back and I've been thinking about fast ways of obtaining something decent to wear inexpensively and if we could run out as far as Sam the Tailor in Catonsville, I noted he is now carrying a full line of suits as well as slacks, coats and other men's wear. And knowing him, he'd put the cuffs on and make the alterations while you wait. In an hour I bet you could get pants and a coat, if necessary. And if either or both of you don't have company and intend to go on a shopping spree, I'd like to take off and see what they're offering these days. I'm down to one pair of shorts myself which I'm washing out at nights and those dacron socks I bought in the spring of '51 are still holding up pretty well. The rest of my wardrobe is good enough for another year, except for ties and there my last additions were what you two gave me last Christmas. So I'll provide transportation if things work out and I also know your credit is OK at Katz for when Ann talked with the fellow the last time he called to say he had received your remittance, Andrew, he said he was glad as you no doubt would want to use the account when you got out.

We've been learning a little more about the Barbours, the people who occupied the house before us. Jean Baldwin next door and Mommie lean on the fence or hang up clothes together. Mrs. Baldwin said one day this past spring she came over to what we occupy now to pick up laundry that was left while they were out and Mrs. Barbour was stretched on a couch smoking and reading while one of the smaller girls was dragging dump trucks full of dirt in front the outside and dumping the loads behind the pillow on an armchair with no correction from Mrs. B. Also, Mr. Barbour made all the clothes for the family in the garage and in the cellar and also sponsored a baseball team which met several times a week in the back yard or the Pasture across Long Green Valley Road. The kids were never supervised And one night in early summer, when Mr. Baldwin was on the verge of trying for his bar exam, at 2 a.m. in the morning the kids were whooping it up in the back yard. He asked them to quiet down a bit and Mrs. Barbour stuck her head out of the window and yelled, "Ignore him, he don't own the place". And just before they moved, referring to Mrs. Burton she said, "We're going, but I called the old bag up and gave her hell."

I heard the last two games of the World Series on the old radio here at the office and the papers around are giving Mickey Mantle the hero role. I mention this as I went down to Peterson's store last night for some bread and one of the farmers was addressing a small group and saying, "I was with the Bums and if it wasn't for that wop, Mickey Manuel, we'd have beat 'em."

Take it easy with the final moving. Mr. Pearson here at the office picked up a bag of Micalith at the mine and got himself a hernia which he has to have operated on in December.

Two weeks from today!

END OF LETTER

Editor's Notes:
Two weeks from todayis the deadline for John and Andrew to leave Korea!
Charles' employers own a mine that results in a product called micalith.
Abe is a longtime friend of Charles

Next Posting: October 10, 1952

Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner

Frankie and Ava Have Split

Tuesday, October 7th,

Dear Andrew and John,

I'm late this week; had a busy day yesterday and could only get off the Times. We got a letter at home from you yesterday, John, and we hope the cold has cleared up. Wouldn't want anything to delay departing for either of you. Nothing has come to the office yet in the way of packages but I think six weeks is the minimum we can expect service. We had a little trouble with our mail but I think it has been corrected. When we didn't received our 'phone bill or Hochschild's by the end of September, I called and found they had been mailed out. Ann asked Mrs. Baldwin next door and she said oh yes a little girl down the road, the same one who had gotten in her deep freeze in the cellar, has been caught reading the mails in the neighborhood and then tearing up the evidence. We hope nothing of importance has gone that way. Hochschild's and the C & P are mailing out new bills today and the postman is now going to toot his horn when he puts mail in the box as it can't be seen from our part of the house.

We shopped again at the grocery Friday evening and had things cleaned up for some TV by 9:30. It's dark at 6:30 now but we're getting used to it. We saw some quiz program and then Ann and Arlene were almost asleep and gave up but I sat through an English mystery called "Tangled Evidence" with nobody I recognized. I worked on the car and played around with the kids Saturday as the weather stayed in the seventies. We didn't have a visitor or hear from anyone as usual. It wasn't until after supper however, that we looked in the paper and saw WBAL had taken off Show of Shows for a darn pro football game. We put the Stevie to bed and pajamaed Mike and Kathy when Arlene called down she had it so we went up and found Show of Shows coming from Washington and clearer than we used to get it at home. Following that, we switched hack to Baltimore and enjoyed Abroad with Two Yanks with Dennis O'Keefe and William Bendix. The hostess on Show of Shows, I forgot to say, was Wanda Hendrix. She has changed her hairdo or let her jaw dawn or something for where she used to have a heart shaped, face, it's now square: looks like Kathryn Grayson. Speaking of show people, I heard on the radio this morning that Frankie boy and Ava have split up--Ave giving him her wedding ring back, of all things. Sunday, Arlene and I get home from church at twenty minutes to twelve and the 'phone rang two minutes later, which I answered. It was Virgina asking if we'd be home Tuesday (today) and I said of course, so she said she'd be out this evening. She talked to Ann about two weeks ago and was supposed to drop by but came down with a bad cold. Kathy picked up the virus on Sunday that we've all had but wouldn't stay abed, just wanted to be held. It reached a peak yesterday when she tossed her breakfast but this morning woke bright and happy. Sunday afternoon we left Arlene at home with the World Series and took an hour's ride to Jarrettsville, which was new to me. It's only 8 miles and we circled back around the farms and home as Kathy was restless. It was another lovely day and nice and peaceful. We ate early and brought the little ones upstairs with us for TV. Red Skelton is on at 7 p.m. Sundays this year and on film. I don't think it's as good. He was followed by Jack Benny's monthly appearance and I had forgotten to look who was to be on the Colgate Comedy Hour. At 8 o'clock they flashed the station break announcement saying next in line was Colgate Comedy Hour. There was a 15 second pause and the announcer came in to say "We're waiting for the Colgate Comedy Hour from Hollywood". Still nothing, and here's where it got good. Again the announcer came in to say while they were waiting we'd have a film of something by Schubert. The music swelled up in the background but they must have pushed the wrong projector for on the screen came the regular motion picture makeup " The Thief of London" starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Valerie Hobson; that faded to "With" and pictured Alan Hale, nodding, and the rest of the cast; then fade-out and as the first scene came on everything went black for a moment, then there was the conductor leading the Schubert symphony. That was followed by another short and finally at 8:20 the announcer returned to say that we would watch Tanhauser for the next forty minutes as there had been a "disagreement" with the engineers in Hollywood and the Comedy Hour would not be seen and heard. We switched over to Ed Sullivan who was having an ASCAP show of all famous composers in person, playing their own melodies and it wasn't bad. Philco presented a pretty good one--Jeffrey Lynn in "Black Sheep". After that we turned it off.

Ann found a cleaner who seems to do good work. Anything sent on Wednesday is returned Saturday and pick-ups Saturday come back the following Wednesday. I believe he charges a dollar where I was paying 75¢ before but we can't be too particular when you're off the beaten track. You'll have to look forward to seeing the place next spring as you're missing a lot of the good scenery right now. The only thing around in the roar of flowers seems to be something out front which we're not sure whether it's a rose bush or a blackberry vine. In the back yard are three or four lilac bushes. Maybe we can add something that will bloom right away. We have searched the store room for your tulips and as I've said to Ann, I still believe the movers made off with a lot of stuff as I can still remember making the last trip to the truck and he slamed the door before I got there and said that's all. They may be at the bottom or some of the carton boxes and I hope so. In the last days at Bloomsbury with Mike and Kathy, and Jane, Edward, Susie, Tyson Ann and many others roaming the house, they broke the radio-record player combination and Mike's little record player as well. Some of these quiet evenings we've wanted to listen to the few records we managed to save. I shouldn't really say few because there are about 50 or so. In transit, our Nutcracker Suite and part of the Carmen Abe and I bought were broken but a lot of individual records are left. You mentioned in a letter a month or so ago that one of the boy's father had sent him a 45 r.p.m. I played one for the first time at Ann Clapsaddle's and I remember telling you I liked it but now they've added something new to that, what they call 45 extended play records. Each side of a regular size 45 plays about 8 minutes. At Parkville last month I noticed Read's was selling a big counter of popular 45's at four for a dollar so they must be overproducing.

I'm copying this last paragraph from a Prentice-Hall Accountant's Weekly Report which came yesterday and the case is listed as true:

A New Orleans lawyer sought an RFC loan for a client. He was told that the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to property offered as collateral. The title dated back to 1803 and a had to spend 3 months running it down.

After sending the information to RFC he got this reply: We received your letter today inclosing application for a loan for your client, supported by abstract of title. Let us compliment you on the able manner in which you prepared and presented the application. However, you have not cleared the title before the year 1803 and therefore before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary that the title be cleared back of that year."

Annoyed, the lawyer replied: "Your letter regarding titles in Case No. 189156 received. I note that you wish titles extended further back than I have presented them. I was unaware that any educated man in the world failed to know that Louisiana was purchased from France in 1803. The title to that land was acquired by France by right of conquest from Spain. The land came into possession of Spain by right of discovery made in 1492 by a sailor named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the then reigning monarch, Isabella. The good queen, being a pious woman and careful about titles, almost, I might say, as the RFC, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope upon the voyage before she sold her jewels to help Columbus. Now the Pope, as you know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, who, it is commonly accepted, made the world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that He also made that part of U. S. called Louisiana, and I hope to hell you are satisfied."

END OF LETTER

Next Posting: October 9, 1952

Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner

The Last Driver of a Horse and Wagon Fire Engine

Monday, August 11

Dear Andrew and John,

Suppose I talk about something else than the house first. It rained from last Tuesday through Sunday afternoon and another storm Sunday evening but it stopped long enough Saturday morning for me to cut the hedge and get some of the weeds out. Mrs. Rinehart stopped and talked for a good fifteen minutes-first time she has said more than a hello. She told me she had heard from one or the other-or both of you and that her son, Dick, is out of the service and working for U.S.F.&G. in Philadelphia and how much he is interested in show business. She says he is 26 and I had thought him a lot older. For some strange reason she also told me she doesn't relish the single life and I don't if that's a hint she's getting married or perhaps moving.

Gid Smith died last Thursday and was buried on Saturday already. Bud came on and I saw him for awhile on Saturday afternoon. He is still in Fort Wayne and now has three children; looks good. They had column headlines-and two half columns in the Sunday Sun yesterday on Gid and discussed his being the last driver of a horse and wagon fire engine in these parts.

Saturday evening the Washington ball game cut out the two movies on WAAM we have enjoyed for the past few weeks so we switched to WMAR from 9 till 10:30 and watched the "Saturday Night Dance Party" with Jerry Lester. He is apparently the star and M.C. for the hour and a half show with different bands and acts each week. This week's orchestra was somebody called King Guyen. Maybe you've heard of him and maybe the spelling is wrong but the music was good; first set up I've seen with two complete drummers and their outfits. Another act was Paula You-Know-Who and the Modernaires; next week, Tony Pastor's music. Following that was the Gunther Playhouse with "South of Pago Pago"--Jon Hall, Victor McLaglen, Frances Farmer, Gene Lockart and someone I had almost forgotten but used to like, a gal named Olympe Bradna. The picture wasn't humorous but the comercials were. At the first break, Baxter Ward, the announcer, was out for a beer and we had three minutes of silence and a blank screen. For the second commercial the lamp in the projector blew out and you could hear the guy beating his brains out while somebody uncapped a bottle of warm beer. We stayed around all Sunday, too, for don't mention-it reasons and I saw part of Eternally Yours, with Loretta Young, David Niven and Broderick Crawford in the early afternoon but walked around the school with Mike while the second feature was on-Valerie Hobson in August Weekend. That was the uninteresting synopsis of our week-end between worrying.

Now to the house. As a continuation of whet I last told you, Ann called Schatz and asked him if we could be relieved of our contract and he thought yes, if agreeable with his brother. Ann said do it now and after two minutes of silence Schatz said how about waiting till Monday as they had ads in for the weekend. I said there was nothing in on Friday but there it was Saturday morning. After telling us on Friday he would try to get $7,300, the ad Saturday offered it at $10,500, which to us is further evidence he is trying to put it so no one wants it and yet try it himself at the low figure. At 7 o'clock Saturday evening right after baths, Mrs. Murphy, Schatz' sister, I believe, called to say she had some people who wanted to see the house in about 15 minutes. Ann and I tore around the house so that we haven't found some of the things we pushed out of sight. The prospects were a couple in their forties, or rather their father, who was with them. Before they left, Mrs. Murphy said he liked the place but wanted to show it to his wife today (Monday) or tomorrow. But we don't know what they offered it to them at or whether they let them know the price before or after they looked at it. We called Mrs. Murphy again yesterday but she had no further information. I picked up the Evening Sun this noontime and there was the ad again at $10,504--this time a little larger and differently worded. So where are we? We've been praying to St. Anthony like mad and I hope we're supposed to go through with this because at this writing, the suspense is terrific. The kids can sense the tension, too, and are much noisier than usual and I go to bed nights mentally beating myself for having pushed them around a little, a thing I never used to do.

With plenty of time over the week-end, I cleaned up Abe's typewriter and fixed the two keys that were only bent. Last Thursday when I worked with the Doctor, Mrs. B. told me to look up the price on a new Standard Royal for use out there so we'll have something available for your next play. Ann also had me go up to the front room with her and we decided Mrs. B. or no Mrs. B. we'd at least take the contents of your drawers and all the clothing with us. It was after we agreed on this that Virginia called to say she could put the stuff on hangers in one of their closets. Ann has washed a lot of the soiled stuff, little by little the past few months and I'm sure if we left the drawers filled, even though sealed, a lot of the stuff would be missing. As to the TV set, we were naturally going to take that along and knowing we have to have an aerial out there thought we could add a cheap set of our own if we have a few hundred left over, out with Mrs. B.'s dictatorial policy of telling us where we have to place each article of furniture, I think Ann already wonders if we have made the right choice, even as badly as she wants to get away from our present surroundings and not the house itself. I doubt if An told you about the antique table and chairs she took an option on thru her friends at the Penny Wise shop for a song. Mrs. B said no to the description Ann gave her (even though we were paying) and Ann had to cancel; next day a man bought the set for just twice what they offered than to us. The one thing Ann positively put her foot down on was when we were shown through the place and one of the bedrooms on the second floor was indicated for Ann and we were told she thought it a good idea to fix up a spot for me on the third floor. I naturally sided with Ann. Wait till you meet her; I think you'd like her but it's just that her way is the only way. So, w'll pack all the contents of the drawer in boxes to take with us and put in more moth protection. I notice that the box in John's metal wardrobe is only half empty. When I called Ann at noontime, today, Virginia had just come to collect the hanging pieces.

END OF LETTER

Editor's Notes:
Charles' family is moving from Catonsville. Charles' employers, the Burtons, have promised him the use of one of their houses in Long Green Valley.
Virginia is a friend of John's.

Next Posting: August 14 1952

Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner

Graduation Day, A Flat, and A Good-As-New Watch

Monday, June 9 - 95° F.

Dear Andrew and John

I am glad to hear that you were able to pick up an Argus, Andrew, and I hope you were also able to take advantage of a price discount as John did on the razor. At present the C-3 is selling for $70, or rather $69.95 plus tax. I take it the film situation is OK now with you but imagine flash bulbs are still hard to get; so I will try to get some off to each of you. Also, if you can't pick up one of those small adapters for the midget bulbs and intend to try for some flash pictures, let us know. It's a shame you don't have my Weston exposure meter which just lays in the drawer but with or without a meter you couldn't ask for a better example than the shot of John with the trees, blue sky and cloud in the background. I'm anxious to hear who did the finished print. I put a roll of black and white in the Leica last night, that is yesterday evening and got a few shots of Arlene and the graduation. When we got up church, the graduates were lining up on the new school steps for an official photograph so I ran over and got a shot from right beside him. Another fellow came along with a Polaroid and got four beautiful shots. I asked him if he was interested in buying another camera and he knows of someone who is, so I gave my phone number and am siting and hoping for a call for my Polaroid.

The graduation went off very nicely. It was warm - in the ninties - but a beautiful day. The only ones there on our side were Virginia and Arlene's girl friend (a seventh grader) Mary Margaret Tucker with her mother. They live down on the corner of Frederick Road and Overbrook in a big cream colored stucco house and I remember Mrs. Tucker from when she used to come to 7 o'clock Mass every Sunday with her father, a short fellow with handle-bar mustaches. She is maybe a year older than I, dark and very attractive. I'm sure you've both seen her. She has two daughters and Arlene, for this school year, has struck up one of these acquaintances which has her on the phone for hours at a time. We have to pry them off and then one will call back a short time later. The funniest thing Ann and I have found is that in person Mary Margaret, the daughter, doesn't open her mouth. Back to graduation, I didn't go in but stayed with dynamite Stevie and several dogs he always manages to attract. He chased birds on the Sister's lawn and slobbered all over Coach Woysihowitz or whatever he name's little boy, about 10 mo. The Coach had stopped (first time I ever spoke to him) and asked how you two were and knew you were in Korea. About that time Mike came out of church, followed a few minutes later by Kathleen, with Ann, who went back in. She had to bring Kathy out as she had put on Ann's gloves and was pointing them like guns at the surrounding kneelers and going Ptooo. So I had three of them rolling all over the lawn for about a half hour. The exercises were over about 7:45 and we took Virginia home, then went for a short ride before we drove, Mrs. Tuckers back.

Last Thursday I had school as usual at night. The Walcott-Charles fight was scheduled for 10 p.m. and I get off about 9:20. Last summer when they fought, I was home alone that Wednesday night when the yoke went up on the TV and I missed the knockout. On the way home last Thursday, I ran over a broken coke bottle and had a beauty of a flat right in the middle of the colored section on Franklin Street. I had no money in my pockets and by the time I changed the tire myself and got home the fight was well under way; but I saw part of it. Abe and I, a few days before when he was driving his car, had watched the kids breaking soft drink bottles and carefully placing them in the car lanes. The tire that got it was the spare with only a few thousand miles on it which had been put on just about a month ago when I rotated the tires. The fellow at the Esso station showed me the verdict Friday; the tire has a six inch slash right through the inside casing and a hole in the tube as big as your head. It was so bad he advised not trying to have anything done to it and I had to get a new tire and tube.

With grass cutting, trying to get the cellar in shape and then teaching again on Friday night for Mrs. Brown who had some friends on from New York, I didn't see any TV last week till Saturday and then late. There wasn't much choice. American Beer is bringing the Washington Senators baseball games while the Orioles are out of town. Those grinning gargoyles from Arthur Murray's local "Dance Party" are on from 9:30 to 10:30 and after that we turned the set on to Gunther's movie. This time it was the Corsican Brothers with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in a twin brothers role and apparently an American production with J. Carol Nash, H. B. Warner; I can't remember the girl, was it Helen Varrick or something like that. We enjoyed it and if it's very old I certainly wouldn't have known it. It was an Edward Small production, If that means anything. It lasted a full two hours so I didn't wait to see the coming attractions for next week.

Best news of all for me during the past week was that after eight weeks I got my watch back. The price for a new mainspring, cleaning of the rust, adjusting and regulating, was $3 so I just put it on our account and didn't gripe. I have timed it for four days now and in that time it has gained but ten seconds; if that keeps up I am very fortunate. If either of you get a watch or think about one, make it one of those waterproofs, or as they have to say, water repellent; with incabloc construction and antimagnetic. In 17 Jewels stainless steel they are selling all over now for about $12 and are accurate within seconds. Elgin is now working full speed on their new electric watch; smaller than a regular wrist job, it is powered with a wafer thin battery about as big as a nickel which lasts about one year. Another thing I noticed in the papers is that Hamilton has decided to market Swiss watches under the Hamilton name due to competition.

Coming from school on Thursday night also, I had to walk over here around the corner from the office to get the car before the mishap. When I came past the Knights of Columbus I stopped for a minute to listen to the good music. There was a theater-type signboard outside with pictures and headed "June Week". The band then playing was Ray Anthony's (I've heard of him) and scheduled for the next evening was Tex Beneke (they were just arriving when I got out of school Friday and I didn't hear them). I haven't been able to find out from anyone who was having the June Week but it west be one of the schools; not the Naval Academy which holds all their affairs in Annapolis.

I am going to take tomorrow off, or part of the day at least, to register Arlene at Towson Catholic. I hope it's not a foolish move but I told Mrs. Burton was going to do so and she told me to be sure and tell Ann it was the thing to do. But all that doesn't get the people out of the house and it also doesn't sell ours, and if we do sell ours and the other isn't empty, where are we? I dislike bringing those questions out to Ann but you two might throw in a couple of prayers with me, not to get the house out there especially, but to solve immediate problems.

I forgot to mention that Mary Bellis graduated from high school on Friday, the day of the 18th birthday. She's still necking with the same fellow and it may be serious.

END OF LETTER

Editor's Notes:
Arlene graduated 8th grade from the Visitation Academy in Frederick. Charles' employer has promised him the use of a house in the country. He is worried that it won't be ready by the time his present house sells.

Next Posting: June 16, 1952

Copyright 2012 Stephen A Conner