Another letter from “Pencil Pal” Mary. Some cute little yarn dolls were included in the letter but no mention of them. I remember making dolls like this as a child. They have stood the test of time, 73 years old!
pen pals
Book 1 – Letter 14 Received May 9, 1942 from Lois Jean
The next letter from Lois includes a picture. How nice to put a face with the name. As a side note I got a very nice letter from Lois a couple of weeks ago. She is 88 years old and still lives in the same house! I can hardly believe that I am corresponding by letter with one of my Aunt’s favorite pen-pals. More on that later…
Book 1 – Letter 13 Received April 29, 1942 from Lenore
Another letter arrives from Lenore. She mentions seeing Gone with the Wind 3 times! It was originally released in December 1939 and re-released March 1942.
Book 1 – Letter 12 Received April 22, 1942 from Miriam
Perhaps Patricia and Miriam would have met at the music trials in Ada but the previous letter arrived just a bit too late. The Dr. Altmaier that she mentions married her cousin. Research from the internet reveals that he practiced medicine in Marion and passed away in 1986 where he is buried.
Book 1 – Letter 11 Received April 20, 1942 from Lois Jean
Interesting perspective that her church was 7 miles away and this was a challenge to attend Luther League.
Book 1 – Letter 10 Received April 20, 1942 from Mary Wilder
Mary is a new pal that lives on a 900 acre wheat farm in Kahlotus, WA. Currently the population is less than 200 and the town is listed at about 300 acres.
There are 2 letters that arrived on the 20th so I will post the other one tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Book 1 – Letter 3 Received March 18, 1942 from “LR”
The 3rd letter is from a friend in Iowa. This is still early in the process and as you can see she gets more names to correspond with. In current terms this would be known as “networking”. I also find it interesting that this is a girl who really wanted to be in school but due to family obligations she needed to stay at home and work.
Pen Pals
From ehow.com – Pen pals have been around for decades. In the past, the only way that pen pals could communicate was by sending letters on paper. Schools held pen pal matching programs, in which students could start communicating with students in other countries. The traditional way of sending mail for pen pals changed significantly because of the Internet. Today, most pen pal programs rely on e-mail. Communication is instantaneous, so you don’t have to wait weeks for letters to reach your pen pal.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/about_4596961_pen-pals.html
This is postcard to Patricia from the local postmistress.