Mrs. Malverd Howe, Northfield Vt; 2 December 1944
My dear Robert: [to Bob Howe fighting in the Pacific.]
I was delighted to receive a letter from you. I had written Oda to send me your address but she must have forgotten it as she sent me a postal card but no address.
We are having the same kind of weather I wrote you about, though it has been a very pleasant fall but now we have snow and tonight the mercury is dropping two degrees each half hour, is only ten above zero and not eight o'clock.
I have made a change in my living quarters this fall as I have a young professor and his wife and baby (one year old) living with me. I have a living room bedroom, bath and den (really the library) on the lower floor, while they have the real living room with fireplace, dining room, kitchen and 2 bedrooms and baths on the 2nd floor, and I board with them so I am relieved from cooking and planning the meals.
Really I am getting homesick for my own people and I keep thinking I will sell the house to the University. They are anxious for it and it is the only place they do not own in this part of the village.
If I should do so I would make my home with a niece who lived with me for years. She lives in Ames not far from your Iowa home and connected with the University at Ames.
Marie has had her mother living with her and Homer for 10 or 12 years and 2 mother in laws in one house is too many. Homer came home the last of October for a week, he has been teaching Naval students at the Indiana Teachers College in Terre Haute for the past year. We had a fine visit and was a great help in planning and arranging things in my new quarters.
I never lived in such close quarters so I feel cluttered up, it will take me all winter to find where I have put things.
I hope Dorothea sends me a snapshot of Mark so I can see how he is growing. The little one year old boy here thinks he owns me now, we have great fun together.
I do not hear from any of the Howe relatives except Oda, I had a card from the Mannys who sent their address in St. Petersburg but no news. I think of you often and wish we could have a good visit together.
With much love and may God bless and keep you.
Devotedly, Cousin Jesse.
[The University is Norwich; son Homer married Marie Price; Malverd Abijah Howe, son of Asa Howe, taught civil engineering at the University in Terre Haute, retired and returned to Northfield to live until he died in 1941. Homer was an only child and had no children, was a Detroit metalurgist in the auto industry and died in 1973. Cousin Annette Sawyer married Frank Manny from New York.]
December 9, 1944
Dear George: --
One of the astonishing things about the American people is their acceptance of an election vote! No disturbance in spite of great disappointment over results.
Dorothea wrote about her and Mark's efforts in the campaign and it was good to hear for she is the type of woman not swayed by others opinions, but thinks and decides for herself. I read and listen to so many radio reports about action in Leyte where those torrential rains adds to other hardships. Bob is so calm about it all, even if his feet are never dry -- and he does not get cold! Must be uncomfortable! It is never cold there I suppose.
Our church autumnal celebration was very successful even without a church home, and the clipping is a good account. Our two ministers, Mr. Henley and now Mr. McElroy are the highest type of Christian pastors and great leaders.
Yesterday I went to Boston -- a rare event, and bought barrack boots for John, as I did last year; he likes them, gets into them easily, zipper fastening. Their fabric, very comfortable just for house wear instead of slippers. There are few things to give him, his wants are small and your suggestion of candied fruits is excellent, for he still loves sweets. When I asked him last time if he had a good dinner Thanksgiving, he said 'no'! He'd forgotten all about it!
I am still holding the insurance slip for little Billy's birthday shoes I sent -- were they received do you think? We still can get bacon 39 per lb. but I have so few red points I can't get much of a variety of meat or cheese. 1/2 lb. butter now and then. Warnings of sugar and coffee shortage? Maud came last week Sat. so we are three females! Alice's blood pressure was pretty high on last checkup; otherwise she looks and seems pretty well. I should like a taste of one of Allie's pies -- what sort? Apple, squash, cranberry (do you have them?) Pond is skimmed over, and ducks put up for winter. Our big Sylvania plant on Sylvan St. is going night and day, 7 days a week, and their lights are visible from our upstairs windows, war work, fluorescent tubes.
Postman due,
lovingly
Dode
FB Tucker, 2669 Shasta Rd., Berkeley, CA 19 Dec. 1944
Dear Bob: [to Bob Howe fighting in the Pacific.]
A letter from your father gives me your address and so you will unexpectedly hear from me. We are so proud of you and your career far out there in the Pacific. You will have some vitally interesting stories to tell when you return to your family and friends. We remember so well when you brought your young and attractive bride to see us; it seems as though we didn't have to get acquainted but had always known her. I wish I had something to send you besides my good wishes and prayers for your safety and speedy return., but it is so hard to know what a fellow can use, and to get it if I did. But the first summer you are back you must plan on spending a month at my cabin at Tahoe with Dorothea and the baby. It doesn't look as though Alice and I will be there as the doctor thinks it wouldn't be advisable for Alice., though she is doing very well now at this low altitude. I had 14 weeks vacation last summer, but could only spend 10 days at the lake.
Cousin George writes that your mother is steadily improving and that all the family is well, so that is the best news I can write. Your father sent us a box of avocados from your own tree and they are certainly good.
There is no telling when this letter will reach you, but I hope you will have spent as happy a Christmas as circumstances allow and that good luck will attend you throughout this terrible war. Much love from Alice and me.
Your cousin, Frank B. Tucker [son of Malverd and Ria; unmarried sisters Alice and Ione. He taught high school in San Francisco. Owned the Tuck-Howe house in Berkeley that survived the 1923 fire; have aerial photo.]