Letter to Harold
page 1
Kokomo, IN
Feb 22, 1931
Dear Harold,
This is Al, way up in Kokomo he is still thinking of you once in a while and wondering what you could be doing to torment all the rest, but be careful and don’t torment Ray too much for he might bust you once in the eye.
Well Harold you tell Pheeny (Phine–Josephine) to be careful there might be a lion coming around that has teeth and that lion might bite the lion without teeth and also tell her that I eat my gravy either way hot or cold so she didn’t have to worry about that gravy, that I was getting fatter every day without that gravy Ha Ha “that was a good one”
Oh boy I come near forgetting. Harold you tell Kate I didn’t want any of her peach pie for they might be spoiled that is not good to eat, so she didn’t need to worry about baking peach pie, or me letting her know when I was coming home, because I didn’t want peach pie anyhow.
Harold you said Oscar and Marie are sitting on the davenport, well Harold the best thing for that if you don’t want Oscar and Marie to sit on the davenport is to put a cushion on the davenport as they can sit on the cushions they can probably sit longer and don’t bother you so much that way or otherwise get them to take you to a show or riding some pretty day when the sun is shining like it is today.
Harold tell Pheeny I had some good chicken gravy for dinner today and that was hot also, had chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, lettuce, butter, jelly, bread, and cherry pie but not peach pie so whenever you get hungry just put your finger on that map and push it right up to Kokomo then you can get a lot of good things to eat. Tell your dad and mother Al is still at Kokomo for you just got a letter from him. And I will stay here til I get another letter from you so I am the same as before still at Kokomo.
Al
My comments:
It occurs to me while reading this that Elma’s family held a certain amount of affection for Josephine or Pheen, as Al referred to her above. Pheen had something neurologically not right. My mother and aunt both confirmed that when Kate, her sister, would tell her to do something and she would just do it until she was told to stop. She loved to eat jelly bread and drink coffee, at the exclusion of anything else. Thus the talk about food.
I think that the letter-writing to a little brother shows that Al was making himself part of the family. I mean, if he was just trying to lasso Elma he wouldn’t have to write to everyone else.
I was intrigued by the numbers at the bottom–not sure what that is, but it reminded me of how my grandma would save old envelopes that had mail in them and write on them. She was the original recycler.