Mid-January doldrums! Dave has been working in pouring rain and Ruth is frustrated, because despite all the work she has been getting, she hasn’t been paid. This post contains a bonus letter from Lydia Sprague.
January 13, 1936
Middleburg, N.Y.
Hello Darling,
Don’t be surprised at the change in paper. I haven’t gone high class or anything like that. Mom gave me a box of paper for Christmas and I might as well use it up. You are the only one I write to so you will get the whole box.
“Don’t be surprised at the change in paper.” This stationary was smaller in size but heavier grade.
Well another blue Monday has gone by although you still have a couple of hours to work. Every day except when I see you has a blue spot in it somewhere and it will continue to be that way until the day that we are married, hon. I can’t begin to tell you how much I want you, dear. I only know that life wouldn’t be worth a cent to me if you weren’t in it.
I left the box in P.H. last night when I came home. I set it outside their back door. The bathrobe I have here and will take it down sometime this week. I didn’t’ want to leave it outside for fear it might blow away.
Went to work this morning and got soaked thru only this time it was from rain. We worked in it for more than an hour. I’m afraid I did a little swearing, too. That is, I just repeated some of the words you taught me last night. Funny how quick I am to learn, isn’t it?
After dinner I did a rather unusual thing for me. I went to bed. I wasn’t sleepy but I did feel awfully tired. About two-thirty it had stopped raining and they came back to work so I got up. I hadn’t slept any, but I had a little more pep anyway.
I hope you weren’t as tired as I. If you were, Mrs. Lally will say you are beginning to act like Loretta. The tired look, I mean. There was a light in the house where she is when I went home last night.
The weather man says colder tomorrow and I hope he is right. About one more day like this and the ice business will go boom. There are enough orders to keep us busy for two or three weeks yet if the weather permits.
Gee, hon, we’re doing good. Both working every day and not getting any money.
Goodnight, dear, and take care of yourself.
All my love to you,
Dave
January 13, 1936
464 First Street
Albany, N.Y.
Hello Dave,
I just finished a letter to my Mom so while I am at it I will try and do my duty by you. Mom has been worried because she hasn’t heard from me more often. If she only knew how busy I have been, she wouldn’t be surprised.
Gee, the weather sure is chilly tonight. I waited for a Washington Avenue bus twenty minutes tonight and another ten minutes when I transferred to the trolley. The wind blew so hard I could hardly stand up. I sure was cold when I got home and I still am. Our ambitious Clifford let the furnace fire nearly go out. The way the temperature is kept here, it wouldn’t be any wonder if we all had good colds.
As yet I have had no money. I hate to think I am going through all of this for nothing, especially at the only time of the year when there is plenty of work. I am going to tell them tomorrow that I have to have some money. I wonder what they think I am using for money. I’m sort of burned up.
I received a box of candy from Joyce today which she mailed before Christmas. I don’t know where it has been all of this time.
I guess Mom had sort of a surprise party on her birthday. I wish I could have been there.
Loretta says her Heller family is the same ones you know. She is going to ask them if they know you. Wait until you hear the dream she had about me. It sure was a good one.
Well, Darling, I am cold, so I think I’ll undress and go to bed before I catch me a cold. I have been nearly roasted all day.
Good night, my Honey.
Lots of love,
Ruth
January 15, 1936
Middleburg, N.Y.
My Dear Girl,
It is now five P.M. and while I am waiting for supper I will start this letter. I may go to P.H. after supper if I can dig up enough ambition. I seem to have lost all I ever had. Yesterday and today I have felt just as tired as I did Monday. I don’t know if it is the forerunner of a cold or not but I have started taking stuff for one. It has actually been years since I have had a cold and I don’t want to break the spell now.
This has been another wet and drizzly day. It started raining about noon and has kept it up ever since. I quit work at four o’clock and my father came home with me, but the rest of the gang were foolish enough to stay on. It is raining hard now and I just heard them come up from the pond. I’ll bet they are all soaked thru.
Thursday noon
I stopped writing last night to eat and then went down to P.H. Didn’t get back until about 10:30 so I decided to wait until this noon to finish.
Lydia’s bathrobe is still here. I forgot to give it to her last night. My main reason for going down last night was to get gas and I found that that goofy in-law of yours had left the keys in the station and locked it up. What a man. Maybe it is just as well though. He has sold only a nickel’s worth of candy so far this week.
Lydia and Fran will be with me when I come up Sunday night. I am quite sure of it this time. I told her about your new sweater and skirt and how swell you looked in them. Honest, hon, you look better in that than any dress I have ever seen you in.
It is time for me to go back to work now so I’ll have to sign off and begin counting the hours until I see my darling again.
Lots of love,
Dave
P.S. Lydia said she couldn’t bother to waste three cents so she gave this note to put in with my letter.
I just put the big blot on the front of this letter and almost said d____.
[Lydia’s note]
Wednesday nite
Dear Miss Ruth Parker,
In case Dave goes up tonite I didn’t ask him Monday morning when he stopped with the clothes. So don’t know but will write a few lines. It is so darn slippery out now, I would say he was foolish. I did the washing Tuesday and the ironing today. Oh yes, Mary came up and did hers here.
As I was starting to say, you had better get a couple more pajamas and some underclothes while you are in the money. I heard you had a new dress. What color and have you your new shoes yet? I bet it seems good to have a little work. I hear you are kept busy most of the time. Are they home yet? How is your girlfriend coming in her new place? Oh yes, I wrote you a letter to 164 First Street so no doubt you’ll never get it. Fran is smoking the pig today. He said this morning tell Ruth she can have one of the feet for her birthday and I informed him they wouldn’t keep that long, so he decided you couldn’t have any. He thought the card quite the cats. Also, don’t go sending kisses by Dave for me. I haven’t told Fran that yet. Yes and Dave saw the ones you sent.
Had a good time out to Jo’s Saturday nite. Harmon has been having trouble with his car so we went there. Next time it’s here. Hope you can come. Guess I’ll invite Florence and Ben. Have you heard from them yet?
I wrote Mrs. Herlihy today. I hear they had a wild party New Year’s Eve—not Herlihy. Pete was pretty good out to Jo and Ralph’s when we went out there. He wanted to play but Skippy didn’t want to.
Fran came out of the station and left the keys inside and the nite lock was on. Some boy, I’ll say. Haven’t seen anything of Dave for the last two or three weeks, only to say hello to. Had a letter from your Mother today. I see Niles is working steady.
There isn’t any news so will say so long and be good.
The scraps will be O.K. only I couldn’t make them, but will do them just the same. I hear you are gaining weight. Tell Zelma someday I’ll surprise her and write.
Love,
Lydia
I have some nice baked beans tonite. Mrs. Sprague sent us up a duck Monday, also a head of lettuce. Tried my darndest to get lettuce Saturday and couldn’t so Tex must of told her. I wanted celery for my sandwiches and that wasn’t any good. What kind of sandwiches shall I have? Guess they are going to bring cheese and toast them here but I want something else.
January 15, 1936
464 First Street
Albany, N.Y.
Hello Dave,
I meant to tell you not to bother to write Monday if you didn’t feel like it. You must be awfully tired when you are up so late and have to work so hard. I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t received the letter after anticipating it all day. However, I might last out one more day if you waited until Tuesday night to write.
I retired at 10:20 last night. It is the earliest I have been to bed in ages. After I got home I happened to be pawing around in one clothes press and dug out a bottle of port. I took me a drink and went to bed. Loretta said she had it there for her cold. I didn’t have a cold, but since it is supposed to be good for what ails one, I thought it might cure me.
Mondays seem about as blue to me as they do to you I guess. I only hope next winter isn’t a repetition of this winter. It looks sort of discouraging at times but maybe we will get a break. I sure have the darndest luck with cases. Yesterday I gave them a line about being broke. Dr. Lally managed to squeeze out five dollars and promised me more today. Tonight he said he would try and pay me tomorrow. Five dollars looks sort of small when it should be nearly sixty. I hate to quit because I am afraid I will never get what they owe me. If I don’t get some money, I don’t think I will stay after this week. There is lots of work now and I might strike one where I could collect a little money for a change.
The next time you come up will you pul-ese remind me to send all of my dirty uniforms back by you. I had two dirty and sent one back.
I thought of you when it started to rain today. The way it has rained all day I don’t see how there can be much ice left. Dr. Lally brought me home so I didn’t get wet. I usually stand on the corner and wait a half hour at least for buses.
Will you please get me some more stamps. I hate to bother you so much, but I don’t know of any place around here where I can get them. Of course if you don’t get them, that will give me a good excuse for not writing.
I don’t believe I will write again this week so if the weather permits, I will expect to see you Sunday night. Come a little early and maybe I can get out a few minutes early. There is no good reason why I couldn’t get off at seven, but after listening to Mrs. Lally five minutes, you no doubt know that is impossible. So you think I have lots of patience. Sometimes I have to overtax my self-control to keep from telling her where to go. Maybe you remember that it isn’t my nature to take much without answering back. She never says anything about me or my work and she hadn’t better try it. There are plenty of things we don’t agree on so I find the best thing to do is avoid such subjects. I don’t even hear her groans and sighs when I massage her arm. Maybe it does hurt her but she doesn’t have to scream all over the place. When she starts talking about Hannon’s I could bop her one.
Nuff sed! Now that I have spilled my tale of woe, I will call it a day and get ready for bed.
Oodles of love to my Honey,
Ruth