Dec. 3, 1944
Dec. 4, 1944
Dearest Phil,
I had hoped to be able to write yesterday, but fate decreed differently. There is so much to tell you and - so little time to write this evening that I hardly know where to begin. By all rights, this letter should have been my happiest to date, but, again, fate intervened, for this missive most convey to you the news of Betty Gutkin's demise. She died Dec. 2nd and the details are still a bit hazy. I'm sure you will be just as shocked as we all are. She had been pregnant and lost her baby in the seventh month. Evidently she had a heart attack - it must have been too much for her this time. Her funeral was held in the Bronx today and Mom, Ethel and Mickey attended. Betty had been living in Connecticut and they must have brought her body to N. Y. Ethel came to Adele's birthday party yesterday and had to break the news (Moe called her from N. Y.) and took Mom back to her house and they took an early train this morning.
I'm sorry I had to start off with such news and I know you won't have too much heart for all the other frivolities I have to talk about. This past weekend was one of the most enjoyable I've had to date. On Sat. evening, everyone decided that they didn't want to venture out into the freezing cold that keeps persisting, to attend the party held in Richy's honor. I made up my mind to go. I called Emma and wound up going to the party with Emma and Shirley Stein. We took a cab and split the fare between us.
The party was one of the nicest ever held by the Liebermans. The entire house was decorated with red, white and blue decorations, Richy’s pictures were plastered all over and there were many bouquets of flowers. Gee, but it was good to see Richy after these many years! He looks fine, and the only change I could note was the fact that his hair is not as red as it used to be. He said that he was near Grisley (or something like that) England and very far from you. He had quite a bit of interest to tell us, and I won't go into that here. He had a steady girlfriend and said to me "That girl waited three years for me". He didn't even know that we had a little girl and was quite surprised.
The Liebermans were so excited they didn't know what they were doing. May was in Florida at the time and flew in to be at the party. The Liebermans also celebrated their 36th anniversary and made the affair to cover both his homecoming and their anniversary. They all danced and sang Jewish melodies and the food was delicious. Everyone you can think of was present. Most notable, however, was the presence of Billy and Dolly. I spent most of the evening talking to them. I'm enclosing BilI's address and want you to write to him as soon as you can. I gave him your address, too. He's a T-5 and is attached to Anti-Aircraft. He was terribly nervous and when I asked why, informed me that his outfit was being transferred to Infantry and he was wondering what his chances were. He has an office job at the present time. He is able to come in most every weekend from N. Y. Bill and Dolly drove me home at about 12:30.
Sunday I was busy as a bee, cleaning, shopping, readying the table, getting Adele all prettied up and many other things. I set the table in the dining room with red and blue napkins, paper plates, I had the birthday cake in the center of the table and had dixie cups for the kids, pretzels, potato chips, butter cookies, fig newtons, chocolates, chocolate straws, caramel lollipops, soda water.
Adele was very bewildered by all the goings-on and very quiet, until she really got started. Then she socked this one and banged that one. Those present were: Mrs, Feldman, Sarah, Betty, Pete, Abe, Evelyn (Abe’s girl) Freda (Betty's girlfriend), Fay with Marc and Anne with Richy. Relatives consisted of Ethel, Mickey, Paul, Goldie and Diana. Ruth was here with a girlfriend of my brother Eddie's. It was quite a nice affair. Petey made Adele sit on the steps in the living room and pose for him. We turned on all the lights in the living room and he made two snaps of her, which I'm hoping will tum out. (She looked so darn cute you would have eaten her up). Adele wore her little silk blue and pink pleated dress, blow socks and a blue bow in her hair.
Gee, I forgot to mention "Nanna", who was right beside Adele all the time. We sat the kids around the table and joined them. Petey asked if he could “play” the, "daddy" and lit the candles on the cake. We all helped Adele blow out the three candles.
After we had partaken of the refreshments Mrs. Feldman became impatient and asked me to open up the stack of gifts that had piled up before I knew what had happened. The gifts were as follows: From Anne and Richy: two pairs of white flannel pajamas with little red and blue figures all over them. From Fay and Marc - a lovely wool plaid red and jungle green pleated skirt. From Ethel and Mickey: a fuschia colored wool skirt and bolero jacket, which is trimmed with red and green tyrolean. The skirt is also pleated. From Betty and Nanna: a lovely dress that consists of a white blouse with smocked yoke. There are buttons all about the bottom of the blouse to which is buttoned a pretty plaid cotton flared skirt. Petey and "Ara” gifted "our darling" (That's what they call her) with the loveliest dress of all. It has a blue flared skirt with suspender effect (blue straps over a white blouse) on top. The neckline in the front is trimmed with blue lace effect and has a drawstring to pull it snug to the neck. Each and every gift was absolutely lovely.
We broke up early and I asked some girls over for a gin rummy game in the evening. I had asked them early in the morning, before Ethel came and couldn't very well back out. Mom and Ethel left early and Mic stayed for dinner. After dinner I put Adele to bed and she was very cranky. I took her up at 6:45 and she didn't get to sleep till way after nine. Just as she fell off, the bell rang and in walked the girls, You know Elsie and Fay, but you don't know Heloise and Gladys. I met the latter two through Fay. We taught Goldie the game and played a six handed game. I got off to a marvelous start (as usual) and wound up 20¢ losers, I got to bed by 12.
This morning I stopped at the bank before going to work and bought a $50 bond with my check that had arrived Sat, along with the check from S & D. I also deposited $5 to our account. I thought we would have $1200 in bonds by virtue of this recent purchase, but we only have $1175.
Today was another big day. When I got into work Jessie informed me that she was leaving Friday and that a new girl will take over. I'll probably have to help this new girl a bit. Secondly, the strollers I had been waiting for all these months finally arrived and I took one home with me. I don't know the exact price as yet, since Mr. Bellet left before the price was set and I didn't want to wait to find out. It will probably be around $14. It's a very nice carriage for the money. We really needed the stroller badly, for the walker was just about shot.
When I got home this evening I found your letter of Nov. 17th waiting for me. I had already received mail dated Nov. 13th and had hoped there would be more recent mail. There was nothing in your letter of the 17th that excites any comment on my part. However, there was something else that really excited some comment from me - a registered letter from Jack N. that I'm enclosing for you which had a ten dollar bill in it - for Adele. I had written to Jack N. on Adele's birthday and I needn't tell you just how surprised I was! I shall use the money to pay for the stroller.
I hope to visit Jack in N. Y. if he cannot come here, but, naturally, I shall not make any definite plans. His birthday is Jan. 25th and it may be that he won't be in any condition for visitors for some time. After all, this is going to be a delicate operation. I wonder what his chances are?
And so I bring you up to date on my latest doings and since I want to send a thank you note off to Jack now, I shall close now, baby, not, however, till I've kissed you soundly and told you just once more that I adore you ever so much! As we blew out the candle, I couldn't help saying, "How I wish Phil were here"! I wish that so very much at this moment - -
Dearest Phil,
I had hoped to be able to write yesterday, but fate decreed differently. There is so much to tell you and - so little time to write this evening that I hardly know where to begin. By all rights, this letter should have been my happiest to date, but, again, fate intervened, for this missive most convey to you the news of Betty Gutkin's demise. She died Dec. 2nd and the details are still a bit hazy. I'm sure you will be just as shocked as we all are. She had been pregnant and lost her baby in the seventh month. Evidently she had a heart attack - it must have been too much for her this time. Her funeral was held in the Bronx today and Mom, Ethel and Mickey attended. Betty had been living in Connecticut and they must have brought her body to N. Y. Ethel came to Adele's birthday party yesterday and had to break the news (Moe called her from N. Y.) and took Mom back to her house and they took an early train this morning.
I'm sorry I had to start off with such news and I know you won't have too much heart for all the other frivolities I have to talk about. This past weekend was one of the most enjoyable I've had to date. On Sat. evening, everyone decided that they didn't want to venture out into the freezing cold that keeps persisting, to attend the party held in Richy's honor. I made up my mind to go. I called Emma and wound up going to the party with Emma and Shirley Stein. We took a cab and split the fare between us.
The party was one of the nicest ever held by the Liebermans. The entire house was decorated with red, white and blue decorations, Richy’s pictures were plastered all over and there were many bouquets of flowers. Gee, but it was good to see Richy after these many years! He looks fine, and the only change I could note was the fact that his hair is not as red as it used to be. He said that he was near Grisley (or something like that) England and very far from you. He had quite a bit of interest to tell us, and I won't go into that here. He had a steady girlfriend and said to me "That girl waited three years for me". He didn't even know that we had a little girl and was quite surprised.
The Liebermans were so excited they didn't know what they were doing. May was in Florida at the time and flew in to be at the party. The Liebermans also celebrated their 36th anniversary and made the affair to cover both his homecoming and their anniversary. They all danced and sang Jewish melodies and the food was delicious. Everyone you can think of was present. Most notable, however, was the presence of Billy and Dolly. I spent most of the evening talking to them. I'm enclosing BilI's address and want you to write to him as soon as you can. I gave him your address, too. He's a T-5 and is attached to Anti-Aircraft. He was terribly nervous and when I asked why, informed me that his outfit was being transferred to Infantry and he was wondering what his chances were. He has an office job at the present time. He is able to come in most every weekend from N. Y. Bill and Dolly drove me home at about 12:30.
Sunday I was busy as a bee, cleaning, shopping, readying the table, getting Adele all prettied up and many other things. I set the table in the dining room with red and blue napkins, paper plates, I had the birthday cake in the center of the table and had dixie cups for the kids, pretzels, potato chips, butter cookies, fig newtons, chocolates, chocolate straws, caramel lollipops, soda water.
Adele was very bewildered by all the goings-on and very quiet, until she really got started. Then she socked this one and banged that one. Those present were: Mrs, Feldman, Sarah, Betty, Pete, Abe, Evelyn (Abe’s girl) Freda (Betty's girlfriend), Fay with Marc and Anne with Richy. Relatives consisted of Ethel, Mickey, Paul, Goldie and Diana. Ruth was here with a girlfriend of my brother Eddie's. It was quite a nice affair. Petey made Adele sit on the steps in the living room and pose for him. We turned on all the lights in the living room and he made two snaps of her, which I'm hoping will tum out. (She looked so darn cute you would have eaten her up). Adele wore her little silk blue and pink pleated dress, blow socks and a blue bow in her hair.
Gee, I forgot to mention "Nanna", who was right beside Adele all the time. We sat the kids around the table and joined them. Petey asked if he could “play” the, "daddy" and lit the candles on the cake. We all helped Adele blow out the three candles.
After we had partaken of the refreshments Mrs. Feldman became impatient and asked me to open up the stack of gifts that had piled up before I knew what had happened. The gifts were as follows: From Anne and Richy: two pairs of white flannel pajamas with little red and blue figures all over them. From Fay and Marc - a lovely wool plaid red and jungle green pleated skirt. From Ethel and Mickey: a fuschia colored wool skirt and bolero jacket, which is trimmed with red and green tyrolean. The skirt is also pleated. From Betty and Nanna: a lovely dress that consists of a white blouse with smocked yoke. There are buttons all about the bottom of the blouse to which is buttoned a pretty plaid cotton flared skirt. Petey and "Ara” gifted "our darling" (That's what they call her) with the loveliest dress of all. It has a blue flared skirt with suspender effect (blue straps over a white blouse) on top. The neckline in the front is trimmed with blue lace effect and has a drawstring to pull it snug to the neck. Each and every gift was absolutely lovely.
We broke up early and I asked some girls over for a gin rummy game in the evening. I had asked them early in the morning, before Ethel came and couldn't very well back out. Mom and Ethel left early and Mic stayed for dinner. After dinner I put Adele to bed and she was very cranky. I took her up at 6:45 and she didn't get to sleep till way after nine. Just as she fell off, the bell rang and in walked the girls, You know Elsie and Fay, but you don't know Heloise and Gladys. I met the latter two through Fay. We taught Goldie the game and played a six handed game. I got off to a marvelous start (as usual) and wound up 20¢ losers, I got to bed by 12.
This morning I stopped at the bank before going to work and bought a $50 bond with my check that had arrived Sat, along with the check from S & D. I also deposited $5 to our account. I thought we would have $1200 in bonds by virtue of this recent purchase, but we only have $1175.
Today was another big day. When I got into work Jessie informed me that she was leaving Friday and that a new girl will take over. I'll probably have to help this new girl a bit. Secondly, the strollers I had been waiting for all these months finally arrived and I took one home with me. I don't know the exact price as yet, since Mr. Bellet left before the price was set and I didn't want to wait to find out. It will probably be around $14. It's a very nice carriage for the money. We really needed the stroller badly, for the walker was just about shot.
When I got home this evening I found your letter of Nov. 17th waiting for me. I had already received mail dated Nov. 13th and had hoped there would be more recent mail. There was nothing in your letter of the 17th that excites any comment on my part. However, there was something else that really excited some comment from me - a registered letter from Jack N. that I'm enclosing for you which had a ten dollar bill in it - for Adele. I had written to Jack N. on Adele's birthday and I needn't tell you just how surprised I was! I shall use the money to pay for the stroller.
I hope to visit Jack in N. Y. if he cannot come here, but, naturally, I shall not make any definite plans. His birthday is Jan. 25th and it may be that he won't be in any condition for visitors for some time. After all, this is going to be a delicate operation. I wonder what his chances are?
And so I bring you up to date on my latest doings and since I want to send a thank you note off to Jack now, I shall close now, baby, not, however, till I've kissed you soundly and told you just once more that I adore you ever so much! As we blew out the candle, I couldn't help saying, "How I wish Phil were here"! I wish that so very much at this moment - -
Good night, baby, I love you -
Your Eve
Your Eve
4 December 1944
My Darling,
Today was a beautiful, sunny day, but the sun gave off little warmth and there was a cold, boisterous wind blowing. However, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and that in itself, is so rare an occurrence over here in England, that it is worthy of mention. I worked steadily most of the day on this month's installment of the Company History. Of course, as is usual, I was interrupted numerous times by other details which had to be attended. But I managed to get it done by the end of the day, so I’m well satisfied. After work, I put on my overcoat and gloves and hiked down to the theater, where I saw Spencer Tracy in “The Seventh Cross". It was an absorbing melo-drama about Nazi Germany in 1936, and I thought it a very interesting sort of film. After the show, I stopped at the Snack Bar for a bite to eat. The Red Cross had brought in a couple of entertainers from London, who sang duets a la Eddy-MacDonald. I listened to them 'til they ended their performance, which was fairly entertaining, and headed back here to the Orderly Room to write this. It is almost 10 o'clock now, so if I end this rather abruptly, you'll understand why. I have a flock of your V-mails to answer tonight. I have arranged them consecutively according to dates, and am just about ready to start. Before I do, though, t want to tell you about the enclosed hankie. Dick Stahle gave it to me some days ago to mail to you, but up 'til now I've forgotten to remember it. He bought it, together with a lot of other stuff, when he was on furlough in Scotland recently. I thought it might go well with your gray lumber-jack dress, if it has a pocket. Anyway, I hope you like it, Sweet. Don't forget to thank Dick for it when you write, as it was his idea that I send it along to you,
Now, to your V-mails - The first one is dated 13 Nov. You said you were "unusually happy" ’cause you received three of my letters that day. The rest of the letter calls for no comment.
Next, the one dated 14 Nov. This one told me about the good news of Eddie's arrival in Charleston. I had been puzzling about his whereabouts all this time, and it certainly was a relief to know that he finally did wind up in the States, I can't understand, though, why he couldn't go straight home from Charleston, I'm sure he's O.K. Now that you mention it, I do remember Gene Forman. I mean I remember you telling me about him. As you know, I answered his letter shortly after I received it, but haven't heard from him since, and I’m certainly not going to write again until he does answer me. Glad to learn that the Vitamin tablets are helping you, Chippie. Yes, do weigh yourself and tell me how fat you are getting (um hm! I can just picture that!). And now, I'm afraid I must sign off, Ev, darling. You know I love you. A kiss for my punkin. Love to all. On second thought, I won't hold this for tomorrow. I'd rather, and I know you'd rather, that you got this a day earlier. Good night, my lovely, I am
As ever,
Now, to your V-mails - The first one is dated 13 Nov. You said you were "unusually happy" ’cause you received three of my letters that day. The rest of the letter calls for no comment.
Next, the one dated 14 Nov. This one told me about the good news of Eddie's arrival in Charleston. I had been puzzling about his whereabouts all this time, and it certainly was a relief to know that he finally did wind up in the States, I can't understand, though, why he couldn't go straight home from Charleston, I'm sure he's O.K. Now that you mention it, I do remember Gene Forman. I mean I remember you telling me about him. As you know, I answered his letter shortly after I received it, but haven't heard from him since, and I’m certainly not going to write again until he does answer me. Glad to learn that the Vitamin tablets are helping you, Chippie. Yes, do weigh yourself and tell me how fat you are getting (um hm! I can just picture that!). And now, I'm afraid I must sign off, Ev, darling. You know I love you. A kiss for my punkin. Love to all. On second thought, I won't hold this for tomorrow. I'd rather, and I know you'd rather, that you got this a day earlier. Good night, my lovely, I am
As ever,
Your Phil
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