January 29, 1946

January 29, 1946

1046 W 24th

San Pedro Calif.

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Today has been a fairly nice day altho not as warm as those last week. Yesterday and today there has been a pretty good breeze from the ocean which has kept it fairly cool, even at midday. Perhaps it is working itself into a rainy spell altho no clouds have appeared on the horizon as yet. The mornings have been rather hazy but this evening it was clear enough out at the Watson station so that you could see the mountains inlands.

Sunday was the every-member canvass and I was (unwillingly) one of the canvassers. However I had a fairly easy time of it and got thru fairly early so that I could visit with Mrs. and Mrs. Johnson awhile, they being the last one on my list. Mr. Johnson as I may have written before,fell about Christmas time and has been almost totally helpless since. It has been very hard on Mrs. Johnson, who looks quite tired, and much thinner than before. She has only been able to be at church occasionally lately. We talked for about an hour or so and she gave me some lunch. I thinkI’ll give her one of the lbs of butter since she said she too had had a hard time getting any. I certainly feel sorry for her and Mr. Johnson. They are having a hard time of it in their old age, and there doesn’t seem much that can be done about it.

My work continues about as usual. Also as usual, nothing more has been heard from either the draft board or about the transfer.

I have been having a little cold lately so that my neck has been sort of stiff and sore. I had a haircut Friday nite and the barber said he had been having a cold so I may have picked it up there. It hasn’t been very bad tho.

The package with the butter arrived yesterday. Thank you very much for sending it, mother. I am enclosing a check for it and the postage. Four lbs of butter around here is just about a king’s ransom.

That’s about all for now.

With love

C.P.

February 17, 1946

Feb 17, 1946

1046 W 24th

San Pedro, Calif.

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Well, it’s Sunday morning again. Somehow or other, Sunday always seems to be the low-spot of the week for me. When I am working I can usually keep from thinking much and therefore remain in a state of emotional stupor. Saturday usually passes reasonably easy as a reaction from the week’s work, from errands to do etc, but by Sunday the usual reaction against life in California has set in. And of course, the prospect of going down to listen to that addle-brained pastor doesn’t help matters. Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, but whatever else rest it brings, it certainly breeds discontentment as far as I am concerned.

Yesterday I went downtown in the morning — to the bank to cash my paycheck, to the cleaners to get my pants, to the barber to get a haircut and also down to the book-store to see if the book I had ordered two weeks ago was there but it wasn’t. I browsed around for awhile and bought a book — “The Ring of the Nibelung” by Richard Wagner. I had never thought I would be much good, but one day a fellow out at work got to talking about the story of Siegfried and Brünnhilde and it intrigued me so when I ran across it in the book store I bought it. It seems that a guy was courting Brünnhilde but according to the rules she had set up you had to excel her in various physical feats if you were to win her hand. This individual couldn’t, but Siegfried impersonated him and beat her so that she consented to marry this other guy. Later she found out and hung her husband up on the wall by his collar on a hook or something because she was so disgusted. I haven’t got to that part yet but what I have read so far is quite interesting.

The guy who told me about it is sort of a funny duck. His name is Bernard Dale (“Bernie”) and he is an Englishman. Maybe I have written about him before. Everybody teases the daylights out of him. He is so literally minded that everything you say to him he takes seriously which is a valuable aid to teasing him. He gets a little sore sometime. As I recall his telling about Siegfried & Brunnhilde was a comment on some other guy out at work (the one I stayed with over in L.B.) comparing Brünnhilde’s husband’s physical prowess with his.

Sunday evening

It’s about 6 now — Fred Allen has just signed off. He wasn’t quite as good tonite I thought as he usually is.

Today has been a sunshiny day but it has not been very warm. I went for a walk after dinner and it was really quite chilly (Calif chilly, that is). The forecast is for warmer tomorrow but cloudy so it may be getting ready for another rainy spell.

My work is coming along pretty good. Shell Development is getting next Friday off since it is Washington’s birthday. I guess that now that it is peacetime, we get virtually all of the holidays the banks get which is a pretty fair number. I wish I were close enough home so I could make a quick trip home over the three-day weekend. It would certainly be nice.

By the way, thank you, mama, for the box of cookies and for the valentine from father and you. I certainly appreciated getting both.

This is all for now

With love

C.P.

P.S. Another thing you might try to get for me when you are in Ft. Dodge sometime is some Keen Kutter razor blades. 

I can’t get them here in Calif., but the Thiede Mueller hardware company carries them. Their store is located on Central Avenue not far from the city square. 

Thank you for trying to get some pants for me.

February 5, 1946

February 5, 1946

1046 W 24th

San Pedro, Calif.

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks are home,

I am tired tonite but I shall get off this letter and perhaps do some reading before I take a bath and go to bed. Today has been a very clear day — quite crisp this morning. Altho Saturday dawned clear it soon clouded over partly and the wind blew all day. Saturday night it was really quite windy (A navy destroyer in the harbor got loose or something & rammed into a merchant ship) and about 10:30 Sunday morning it began to rain. I got sort of wet walking downtown after church but by the time I had finished dinner it had almost stopped. Monday it rained a little too — mostly when I was walk[ing] from the P.E. stop down to the lab. It cleared up after that and evidently the rain is over.

The Gowrie News came today and I see that Maurice Telleen (or Eleanor Pohl) has been writing another of his editorials. Both last week’s and this week’s were quite good I thought. Lorimer Patton ought to put them on the front page or something; they are certainly superior to the rest of the paper.

Thank you, mama, for offering to buy some pants for me. I would certainly appreciate it if you would. My waist is about 31½” now and the inseam (as accurately as I could measure it) is about 28½”. If you could get some gabardines for me it would be swell. Try to get them with pleats in the front and don’t get any that aren’t all wool — they loose their press too fast otherwise. Also if you can, get a plain gray or brown or something that doesn’t show dirt easily. If you can’t follow these directions use your own discretion. Saturday I tried to get some again but the only pair I could get belonged to a slack suit and I would have had to buy the coat also so I didn’t get them. They were sort of tweedy anyway, which I don’t particularly care for.

Today I went up to Dominguez awhile and looked over the gel manufacturing plant, but I was back at Wilmington in the afternoon. Mostly my work continues as usual. Also as usual I have heard nothing from the draft board.

So you’re thinking of selling the house in town. My personal opinion (perhaps wrong, particularly in a community like Gowrie) is that prices haven’t hit the peak yet, which will come in ½ to 1½ years. Around here, real estate prices are rising steadily as yet and show no signs of faltering. In Gowrie, tho, the housing shortage may break sooner than it will here.

This is about all for now.

With love

C.P.

January 26, 1946

[2 letters from Verner]

January 26, 1946

Dear Mom, Dad, Marold and the Rest Home,

3 months ago today, I was drafted into the Army. It seems a lot longer than that. The last month has gone a lot faster than the first two. I just wonder what the next 3 will bring.

I am waiting for the mail to come in so I have a chance to write.

Last night the news broadcast a story about Truman’s thinking of resigning. The source of the rumor was supposed to be a usually true source. Anyway thats look sort of bad for him. He has never been the man for the job from the first.

There isn’t much to write about. I sent home my return fare on my old railroad ticket. See if you can get anything for it. if you can, just keep it or give it to Marold. I am far from broke and the less extra money the better. Did my bond for the month of December come thru. They took the money out. It better come through or I’ll know the reason why.

Love, Verner

January 26, 1946

Dear Mom,

It’s a cold Saturday morning here at J.B. And the forecast is for even colder — 0° by tomorrow morning.

I really hit the jackpot on mail yesterday. 4 letters and the Christian Herald. Thank you for the magazine — this was the first issue I have received. I finally heard from Russ yesterday. It was the first time since before I was drafted. He wrote a real interesting letter. he seems to be having things about as nice as possible in the Army except for the fact that he is on the water so much and his contact with home through the mail isn’t very good.

We are getting a new Separation Center C.O. He seems to be a pretty good man. The present one is all right also.

Last night I went up to the main post library. If Marold still likes to read, he would be thoroughly at home in the fiction section. There are more detective stories and fiction than I had previously anticipated. I spend most of my time over in the more “educational” room where the books on Literature, History, Science, Arts and etc. are kept. Last night I went into the “fiction” room and there are shelves upon shelves of books, but I suppose Marold doesn;t get much reading done with all his night life?

Well I have to get to work.

Love, Verner

December 30, 1945

Dec 30, 1945

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother, and the rest of the folks at home

Today has really been a super-duper day in Calif — a bright clear sky, not a cloud floating around and virtually no wind. I’ll bet it hit 80°F or better out in the sun about noon. When I went down to church I though some of taking a coat along but it certainly wasn’t necessary and I’m glad I didn’t. Roderick who was down in San Pedro today certainly said he picked the wrong day to come down on since he certainly couldn’t gripe about the weather. However he wanted to know if Calif also owned up to the six wet cloudy days it had during the past week.

Roderick was the same as ever — talkative, teasing and interesting. He is one of the most versatile people I have ever met. This morning he sang a solo in church, which wasn’t too good but he had a rather bad cold. After church we had dinner together and talked awhile but he had to leave about 2:30 to go to Los Angeles. As perhaps I have mentioned before he plans on going into foreign missions, which for him is a mistake I think.

The Eldridges aren’t home today. They went to Pasadena Saturday morning to visit her sister. They will be coming back either this afternoon or tomorrow. Since they aren’t back yet I have an idea it will be tomorrow.

Yesterday I went downtown and bought the bond for which Uncle Carl had sent a $18.75 check. In the afternoon I went to a show, “Mildred Pierce”  which I thought was pretty good. I came home and went to bed rather early since, unaccountably enough I was rather tired.

On Thursday I got a Christmas present from Vivian — a beautiful pair of gray gloves. It was certainly a nice and useful gift since, as you said mother, my others were getting sort of worn. I also got a card from Dwight who says he likes it there, but that setting up house-keeping is sort of an expensive affair.

I forgot to mention it before but I had evidently given my sugar stamp to Mrs. Johnson since I didn’t have it, so I couldn’t send it to grandmother as I had planned. By the way Mrs. Eldridge says it is almost impossible to get butter here. Do you think you could send some? She would gladly pay for it (and the postage). Even if some spoiled en route it would be worth it.

I guess that’s all. Thank you for those lovely cookies, mama. I can’t make up my mind to eat them rapidly or be conservative about them. I guess I’ll eat them as I feel, or rather what’s left of them which isn’t very much.

With love

C.P.

December 19, 1945

December 19, 1945

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

In case this letter reaches you in time, I hope you have a very merry Christmas as no doubt you will have if Ann Marie is still around. If it doesn’t reach you in time I hope that you will have had one. I received the package from home today. It came thru safe and sound. To date I have also received greeting from Grandmother, Aunt Esther and Uncle Lawrence’s as well as from various people here in Calif.

Ann Marie certainly looks learned and dignified leafing thru that great big book, as shown in the snapshot you sent mother. Don’t forget to send the rest of them too, at least for a look at them if not to keep. Her hair has certainly grown at a considerable rate since I saw her, because she seems to have quite a bit on the picture. A penny for your thoughts, Ann Marie! What are you thinking about anyway?

The eclipse of the moon last night turned out fairly well. It was quite cloudy till about 6 or 6:15 but obligingly cleared off thereafter so that the movement of the shadow of the earth off the moon could be plainly seen. The moon was never completely invisible in that you could detect its outline even when the eclipse was total, but it was much paler than it ordinarily would be. I can’t recall having watched a lunar eclipse before so it was quite intriguing.

A.J. was down this week as I mentioned he would be, but he didn’t get here on Monday. I saw and talked to him today but he won’t know till after the first of the year on the transfer. He gave a reasonable enough explanation as to why no action has occurred but somehow or other I still get the impression that I am being given the run-around. I am beginning to feel that if I am to get back to the midwest, it won’t be by a transfer.

Since the bonds I asked about awhile back seem to be o.k., you don’t need to send them out. Evidently only some of them issued during the month were not correctly made out and I didn’t get any of them.

I can’t think of much more to write about so

Merry Ch

December 8, 1945

Dec 8, 1945

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Well, a week has passed since I returned to Calif and I can’t say that it has overwhelmed me with the desirability of living and working here. Sometimes it is work that makes it seem so depressing, sometimes it’s the weather, sometimes it’s the people, but always, or nearly always, it’s something. Depressing isn’t the right word — more it is enervating, deadening, dulling. Every time I get back here from a visit to the middle west it seems more colorless, the people seem more frenzied, dull, stupid, inane — the atmosphere more torpid, sluggish, the whole attitude toward life more out of focus.

I wrote a letter today to Glockler, department head of chemistry at Iowa asking him to keep me informed of any likely openings in the midwest for chemical engineers. I rather think I could pull a switch of jobs now without getting drafted. I also wrote to Arnold who is at the Univ of Calif at Berkeley asking him what he thought of the idea of going back to school If I don’t get the transfer to Wood River and no likely position shows up in or near Iowa, I think I shall plan definitely on returning to school next fall. The application for a research or teaching fellowship must be in my Feb 15 or March 1, so I would have to decide by that time anyway. Iowa State College seems like the best bet, but I shall pick out a couple of other prospects from the schools I wrote to last fall.

This morning I went to church as usual. As I had written before I wasn’t too favorably impressed with the new pastor, and the impression was strengthened this morning. He is pallid in every sense of the word. He looks anemic. His address is effeminate. He never looks you in the eye while preaching (altho the ceiling is minutely examined as well as the floor) and he must have almost flunked homiletics or whatever the science of preaching is called. His sermon this morning was a masterpiece of illogic and of vague, general statements. If I didn’t feel sorry for him in such a tough situation as San Pedro represents, I would be thoroly disgusted. What is the Augustana Seminary for anyway? Either their admission committee doesn’t function properly or they don’t teach their pupils much after they are admitted. How can you expect a church to progress when the caliber of the men admitted to the ministry is so low? Maybe I am wrong but I am afraid that the death knell for the San Pedro church was rung when he came.

Yesterday I did my Christmas shopping and got the packages wrapped to send off which I shall do tomorrow on the way home from work. I am sending Clarice’s, Verner’s and Ann Marie’s presents in the package home since I don’t have Verner’s address or Clarice’s Aurora address, so could you send them on to them? All except 3 of the stores are functioning again in San Pedro. Penney’s looks like it intends to reopen but one of the ten cent stores has moved out most of its stock so it may be closing. Therefore it wasn’t too hard to do the Christmas shopping, all of which I did in San Pedro.

This afternoon I went down to the Vesper music hour at the YMCA. It was pretty good but nothing to yell about. The best number on the program was a couple of songs by a soldier. He was tall, skinny, shy, bashful but he surely could sing.

This is all for now.

With love

C.P.

December 3, 1045

Dec 3 1945

1046 W 24th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother & the rest of the folks at home

As I wrote in the card I sent Sunday I didn’t get around to writing till now, and I am duly settled in my new quarters and have also worked another day for good old Shell Development.

After I said goodbye to you at Boone and boarded the train I went to bed for awhile but I didn’t undress because it was only a couple of hours till daylight. I just lay and attempted to nap for awhile but not too successfully. The train was late leaving Boone of course — about an hour and a half — and remained behind schedule till it got out of Salt Lake City. Then, since there is a considerable stretch where the roadbed is straight and level they made up time till the train was exactly on schedule at Milford, Utah. During the last night on the train, it made up some more time so that it got in an hour early, an unprecedented occurrence in my experience. I didn’t mind at all since train riding is not exactly a source of unbounded joy and happiness to me.

The trip back was much like it was coming home but in Wyoming and Utah the scenery was much nice now than then, primarily because it had snowed some more so that the mountains and trees were all snow covered. It was certainly a “Christmasy” sight to look at the mountains etc when the sun was out and they were all glittery and white. You could hardly look at them steadily, it made them water so. It wasn’t too cold tho since a little stream which follows the tracks for some time before the train gets to Ogden was not frozen over. There was hardly any snow at all in Nebraska and after we left Salt Lake City and went south, it soon disappeared there too.

In the berth below me were a marine captain and his new bride, at least I guess it was because they acted as if marriage was something quite new and different. Anyway, he was all attention etc etc and she was sort of flighty etc and all in all they didn’t realize there was anybody else around but themselves. I had to laugh because on Friday morning I said hello of course and we all introduced ourselves and we made a few polite remarks about ourselves. Then Sunday morning I was talking to the captain again and he certainly didn’t remember what was said then. I guess he had his bride on his brain. Oh yes, he was telling her what he didn’t like to eat and she was mentally cataloguing it all, I suppose resolving never to give him this or that. It was really funny.

There were a couple of other interesting people on the train but most of them were rather dull. There was an ex-jockey (race-horse rider) going to Calif with his wife and son. The parents weren’t much but they certainly had a cute little boy. There was also an Italian, a chief petty officer in the navy who was quite interesting. He certainly had no use for the navy and was going to get out at the first opportunity.

Most of the time on the train I didn’t feel so hot. I think I had picked up a touch of the flu at home so my stomach didn’t feel so good. As a consequence I didn’t eat much & had some of your lunch left, mama, when I got here. I went to the diner for supper one night but, except for the coffee which I really wanted, it was a disappointing meal.

Sunday afternoon I took a bath and cleaned up after the trip, since you always feel dirty after you get off the train. Then I unpacked my stuff etc. Later I went downtown and mailed the card and walking all the way back up to the house here since I had had no exercise to speak of on the train. I think I am going to like it very well here since the lady is very congenial and since the bus runs about ever[y] 15 minutes or so, so it isn’t very hard to get to & from downtown.

Today at work was like any other day there except that I didn’t feel much like working, but did manage to get some things done. Davidson said that Johnson was coming down in a week or so, so I could find out what, if anything, was holding up the transfer. I was talking to Ed Fisch (one of the guys from Iowa U) today and he was saying something about a new selective service directive that had gone out recently sying that you would be permitted to go back to school now & work towards an advanced degree if you had been working for two or more years. I would like to know if this was so, but I certainly don’t want to correspond with the draft board anymore than I have to. As long as they forget about me the better I like it. Incidentally, I didn’t receive any communication from them during the time I was gone.

This is all for now. I should write a letter to Vincent.

With love

C.P.

P.S. I haven’t got Verner’s new address. Could you send it along sometime.

August 19, 1945

August 19, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Welll, today is the Sunday proclaimed by President Truman to be a day of thanksgiving and prayer that the war with Japan is over. The first Sunday it is that the U.S. has been officially at peace since that day in 1941. I guess I’ll never forget that Sunday and this one probably too shall stand out in my memory. We truly ought to be thankful that, undserving as we are, we have won the war and have had the peace bestowed on us.

It is cloudy and still in Calif this morning. Yesterday was also cloudy and still — really a very sultry feeling day. It even rained a little in the morning, in the middle of summer. Up in the mountains and farther inland it has been raining rather heavily. Eric Johnson called up last night and inland where they live it has been raining for two days. I overheard last night a conversation between a couple of old “salts,” evidently fishermen, talking about the weather and they thought a big storm was brewing. Probably it would be mostly at sea tho.

A.J. Johnson has been down here the last couple of days talking over with each guy here his future with the company. I don’t know what precipitated this visit or its purpose but anyway it occurred. I talked to him for about three-fourths of an hour and secured a lot of information. The transfer to Wood River as far as I am concerned has not yet been definitely arranged, but negotiations will be started immediately. If I am not sent there, which probably will occur, I will be sent to Emeryville or transferred to an operating company (Shell Oil or Shell Chemical). At any rate, my days here are numbered. I think that the transfer will come in a month or so but I really don’t know how long it will take to arrange it. Dwight is going to San Francisco as is also Hugh Guthrie. Some others are also being changed. It is really joy-provoking to feel that I will be able to leave Calif. in the not too distant future.

I haven’t heard a peep from the draft board either he or back east since I went down to the local transfer board to have my physical transferred out here. I haven’t had the physical yet but I expect it will come in a week or so. The company has (almost 3 or 4 days after I got the original I-A classification) written to the draft board protesting the classification and has initiated an appeal action. I don’t know what the outcome will be, and A.J. Johnson said he didn’t know either what to expect now that peace has come. Even if I were taken it couldn’t be for more than a year, or probably even less since the selective service act reads that service will be for duration and six months. The end of hostilities hasn’t been declared yet, but probably will come in 2 to 3 months. Anything can happen of course, but I feel that I still have a pretty good change of staying out. however, I feel that if I am taken that I will never go back to Shell. Either I will go back to school or get a position with some other company. The end of the war has brought unemployment prospects for many war-workers but there will be a shortage of technically trained men for 3 to 4 years and probably longer because of the extremely short-sighted view taken by the government as far as students were concerned so that it will be relatively easy to get any kind of a job you wish if you are a chemist, engineer etc. This isn’t just my opinion either; you can see the very obvious efforts of the various companies to maintain & increase their personnel. The help wanted section in the chemical news edition of the American Chemical Society is really something to look at. In some respects, a fling at army life would do my personality some good.

My car is on the blink again. It runs o.k., but somewhat jerkily as if something were wrong [with] the fuel supply. It is irregular enough so that it wouldn’t seem logical to be the ignition altho that possibility cannot be ruled out. I took off the carburetor and cleaned it but it didn’t so much good. I also relaced [replaced?] some dubious looking wires in the ignition but that too didn’t do much good, so I plan to take it down to the garage again and see what they can do. The battery is also run down again so the generator probably isn’t working again either.

Well that’s all for now.

With love

C.P.

P.S. Yes I noticed Ann Marie’s pictures and agree with you that she is very cute. However, I feel that I would ha e to see her to go into the raptures you do over her. Vincent, when questioned about her, is very enthusiastic but such secondhand information even when delivered personally is still inadequate I feel.

August 16, 1945

August 16, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Ain’t it wonderful! I was never so happy before in all my life when the news came thru. I don’t know if it came in time to keep Vincent from going out, but it certainly means that he won’t be going into an area at war anyway. I don’t know also what it means as far as the draft is concerned, but I have an idea that Congress will put the end to that shortly after it convenes. There is unfortunately the in-between period when anything could happen.

The news came thru about 3:30 or 4 Tuesday afternoon out here. Everybody sort of stopped working and headed for home as had been announced previously. Shell Development has taken Wednesday and Thursday off also — in line with Pres. Truman’s proclamation altho they were not exactly bound to do so. I have an idea we may have VJ day off too, but I’m not sure. At any rate it has been nice having these days off.

Aside from a lot of driving around the honking of horns, the victory celebration in San Pedro did not amount to much. Up in L.A. I guess things really got turned upside down from the sound of news reports on the radio. By the time I got back to San Pedro Tuesday all the stores were closed except a few restaurants (some were already closed because of a retail clerks’ strike now in progress). Today both stores and banks will be open again.

Vincent left Monday morning after I had left to go to work. I haven’t heard how he fared goping back but he had all day ahead of him so it should have gone all right.

With love

C.P.

August 7, 1945

August 7, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother, Clarice, Vivian, Verner, Marold and Ann,

Thank you so much for all of the beautiful cards and letters from you that I received on my birthday. Virtually all of them came on my birthday too, the only one coming beforehand being grandmother’s. Reading about home from each one of you seemed almost to take me back there. I really can’t express my thanks adequately so you’ll just have to take this wholehearted “Thank you” in lieu of a more extended and verbose expression of it. Mrs. Johnson certainly thought I had hit the jackpot when all of those letters came. Even the postman thought it was funny I guess. He came back about 5 minutes after he had delivered the mail in the first place and wanted to know if he had misplaced another letter he had in all those which I had received.

Spoiling somewhat the general effect of happiness and light brought by all the missives from home was a notice from the draft board to report for a preinduction physical examination. The instructions were to report back there of course but I had it transferred out here by going down to the transfer board in Wilmington. I hope that this little effort on their part to get me in the army will prove as abortive as thos they have made in the past.

I didn’t work yesterday afternoon since I had worked Sunday instead — to make up for it and for the ½ day I took off when Vincent came down. I came home about one o’clock, read all the letters, went over to Wilmington to the transfer board, went down to the Y and played pool for awhile (I love that game) and came home again. Mrs. Johnson had invited the student pastor over for awhile (and for supper too) so we sat and talked etc. She had made a very delicious meat loaf, the kind that practically melts in your mouth. I got some stockings and a handkerchief from her.

My work continues about as usual. Today it hasn’t progressed very good because I sort of messed things up at the very outset in the morning so I had to spent most of the day getting ready to try again tomorrow. I should get off a little thank you note to grandmother’s too before I go to Luther League, so this is all for now.

With love and thanks for all those beautiful letters —

C.P.

July 30, 1945

July 30, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Since I wrote only last Friday I thought I would wait till tonite to write to you. My cold is just about gone now and I feel pretty good again. It left just about as fast as it came. In the morning I am still a little hoarse for awhile but that passes off very soon. Various other people out at work have also been having colds so that is where I may have picked it up.

Saturday night I went down to the library and took out a couple of P.G.Wodehouse [books] and loafed around most of the evening reading them. I hadn’t been down to the library for some time and it was fun to browse around in it. Yesterday afternoon I went to a show called “AThousand and One Nights.” 

 

It was a take-off on the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp and it was really quite funny. I enjoyed it very much. In the evening Mrs. Johnson had company but I didn’t visit with them but managed to escape since they were people that weren’t very interesting.

Tomorrow the Petersons are leaving. I had thought they were going to stay longer and don’t know why they are leaving so early. It will be sort of peaceful around [here] again when they are gone.

My work continues about as usual; I have finished the report writing that I have [been] doing the past week and will resume some previous work that I dropped and try to get that completed. I think I will work up at Dominguez at the setup there since it is less crowded. Today I got a draft reclassification card again this time classifying me as I-A. Since I had previously been deferred twice till this fall I don’t know what this latest development means. I suppose they do what they think they should but it would improve my opinion of them if they could make up their minds. It would be a laugh if I got in the army now.

It is nice and cool outside. I think I shall take a little excursion down to the post office with this letter.

With love

C.P.

P.S. Of course I always forget to say so, but you don’t know how much I appreciate letters from home. I think one reason is that they portray the farm so much. When you’re in it I suppose it sounds very hustly and bustly bit to me it just sounds peaceful. It probably would be just as much fun to carry leghorns even tho it was hot and dusty as to sit and write a report. You’ll probably say I’m wrong etc etc but there isn’t a more physically enervating and tiring work than using your mind; physical work beside it is almost tick tack toe — and I’m not forgetting the exquisite torture of that last row of potatoes, or that last load of bundles.

July 2, 1945

July 2, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

As my habit has been lately I am getting my letter off a day late. Yesterday Mrs. Johnson had the student-pastor here for dinner and in the afternoon he and I went over to Long Beach. He borrowed a car from a lady he knows and we went in that (he had secured some gas to be used in his work even tho he has no car of his own). Mrs. Johnson told us we should go to a program called the Old-Fashioned Revival Hour at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium. 

We went in but didn’t think it was very good so we left. Then we rented a boat for ½ hour and rode around in sort of a lagoon near the auditorium. It surely was a pokey boat, powered by an electric motor. I guess they don’t want them to to go too fast. Afterward we walked around on the Pike and looked at things and we didn’t get home till after eleven so I didn’t feel like writing then. Today I have felt sort of sleepy since I didn’t sleep as long as I usually do.

This morning it was virtually raining again. On the way to work it misted enough to make the windshield entirely wet. The sun came out tho and it warmed up some but it is quite cool tonite.

Ed Fisch, a guy out at work who hails from Iowa, came back from his vacation today. He said that it wasn’t too bad traveling but that going west, the train was so full that some people had to stand. Mrs. Johnson’s daughter and son-in-law are coming out to Calif on their vacation July 6 or 7. They didn’t know if they were going to be able to come but they got some reservations when they had just about given up hope. Since Mrs. Johnson has only one double bed (in which I sleep) I am giving it up so they can use it and I will sleep in a smaller bed she is getting ready. They probably will be gone by the time Vincent has a chance to get a 3-day pass to come down here as he mentioned in the letter you sent on, since they will be staying only a month or so.

My work continues about as usual, etc etc.

Good night

With love

C.P.

P.S. Ed Fisch said that when he was home he met a boy he knows who was working on a farm who was trying to enlist and his draft board would allow him to. He didn’t give any more particulars who.

June 13, 1945

June 13, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Well, the last two days have been really summer days in Calif — foggy in the morning but quite warm in the afternoon it must have been up to 80 or 85°F this afternoon. I suppose you could really use some weather like we have been having in the afternoons to dry things up a little but in Iowa. Rainy or not, tho, I’d still trade Calif weather for Iowa weather any day.

I feel sort of sleepy tonite. Monday night my alarm clock wasn’t working and I couldn’t sleep very good on account of I thought I might oversleep. I woke up about 4 o’clock in the morning and didn’t sleep much afterward. Last night I didn’t get to bed till eleven-thirty after Luther League. I got talking to the student pastor and didn’t get home till about that time. I can’t figure out exactly what is wrong with my alarm clock. I think that the little wheel which goes back and forth and controls the escapement may be binding or something. When the clock lays on its face it ticks for 4 or 5 times vigorously and then gives sort of halfhearted one. it is then that it has a tendency to stop. However, I have found out that it will still run pretty good if I prop it upright (one leg is broke so it won’t stand up otherwise). Maybe there will be new alarm clocks on the market pretty soon.

My work continues about as usual. A.J. Johnson was supposed to have come down this week, but I guess it was called off from the latest rumor. He is a vice president of Shell Development. Everybody has been running around cleaning up things.

Thursday morning

I woke up about five-thirty and loafed in bed till now, about a quarter after six and I thought I’d finish this before I go to shave etc. The birds are clammering [sic] outside my window as usual at this time of the day. The avocado tree isn’t quite the hangout for them it used to be tho since Eric Johnson trimmed some of the branches off it when he was down here awhile ago.

Last night I was down to the book store and picked up a couple of new books I had ordered, one each on invertebrate & vertebrate zöology. Zene had showed them to me and I thought they would be a nice addition to my library (even if I did quite a biology class once).

With love

C.P.

June 10,1945

June 10, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Well, it’s about 9:30 Sunday evening and oddly enough, I feel as tired as I would at the end of any working day altho I certainly haven’t done much. I got up shortly after six this morning since as usual I didn’t feel like sleeping when I could and pasted in my Li’l Abner scrapbook before and after breakfast. Breakfast was the usual Sunday one — three waffles. Three waffles is too much for me but Mrs. Johnson is shocked that I don’t eat more so I eat three to appease her.

I was going to walk down to church this morning but got delayed so that I had to take my car anyway (Mrs. Johnson had a ride with somebody else). Our new student pastor preached this morning. he has one year left in the seminary and has been in charge of several congregations before for short times so he is well experienced. He hails from northern Minn, went to G.A., is (I guess) about 25+ years old and looks like the Swede he is. He is a fairly intelligent fellow and quite likeable. Mrs. Johnson asked him up for dinner and before and afterward we sat and talked, which is why I happen to have learned so much concerning him. The only thing wrong with him is that I am afraid he is too much of a guy who likes to run around and meet people. That of course is o.k. and dandy as long as it doesn’t affect me, but I am afraid it will. It seems every time that I permit myself the indiscretion of trying to improve my personality by mingling with people I get my fingers burned. Perhaps I shall learn eventually to tend strictly to my own affairs, which policy when followed in the past has proved satisfactory.

I really wish now that I hadn’t moved here to the Johnsons, despite the nice room and conveniences I have here. The real reason I moved here was that I thought it wasn’t good to be living alone in the apartment I had. Now, life has become somewhat intolerable in little ways and I would like to move but hesitate to do so for fear of hurting Mrs. Johnson’s feelings. Another thing I don’t like is the associations I have in the church here. I am appalled at the inane characters on which I spend my time in that respect. I should never have allowed myself to become as closely associated with it as I have. It bothers me many times that Christianity is so closely linked with the innate worth of each individual while so many of them are obviously superfluous and of no use either to themselves or humanity.

Well it’s ten o’clock. Not much of a letter for ½ hour’s effort. I guess I’ll woo Morpheus; perhaps I shall be more successful at that.

With love

C.P.

June 6, 1945

June 6, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

I’m tired tonite so I think I shall go to bed early, but I will write my mid-week letter home first. Today was a profitable day as far as getting work done was concerned but I feel rather played out. After supper I took a music lesson, and just got back from that about half an hour ago. I always feel nervous when I am taking a lesson and I suppose that also contributes to the used-up feeling I have right now.

Calif hasn’t been able to manufacture any warm sunny weather since I wrote last. One night it even rained some. I woke up and the water was merrily run[ning] down the downspout outside my window. In the morning it was wet all over on the ground and still misting some. Today started out sun-shiny but it sort of clouded up later and it hasn’t been any warmer than in the near past.

Last night I went to a show, a double feature, but it wasn’t very good. I didn’t think they were going to be any good but I didn’t feel like doing anything else, so went anyway.

The student was supposed to come today, and the plan was to come by this way, but he hasn’t showed up. Perhaps he was delayed en route someplace. Mrs. Johnson was a little concerned about it, and a ittle irked because I didn’t seem very worried about it. She has a tendency to worry about things when they don’t happen exactly as they are supposed to. No matter how mixed up things seem, they’ll always work out some way or other, is about the way I feel.

I don’t know if there is a shortage of black pepper in Calif or not. There is however sort of a shortage of meat, particularly in some stores. About two weeks ago there was a little egg shortage too when some stores were limiting their customers to 3 eggs each. That passed tho, so must have been rather transitory in nature. The bakeries are usually sold out rather early on Saturday nights but otherwise have a fairly good line. If you have time and patience, however, I think you can get almost anything you wish.

I think I’ll stop now.

With love

C.P.

June 3, 1945

June 3, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif.

Dear Mother, Father and the rest of the folks at home,

Vincent was down again this week-end, but he says he will be leaving Malibu Beach sometime this week, so he will not be down again for some time and then probably only if he gets a two-day pass. He arrived last night about seven o’clock, a little later than he had made it before from Santa Monica. Since he said that he didn’t particularly care to go anywhere we just sat around, read, took naps etc Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. I had to go down to church this afternoon since the new pastor at Banning Homes was giving private Communion to an individual and didn’t have any bread or wine, but Vincent staid at Mrs. Johnson’s and slept instead. I took him out to Highway 101 after supper and I suppose he is on the way back to Santa Monica by now. Seeing him these weekends has certainly been wonderful and I know that you would have loved to have been here to see him. All I can say is, he seems to be much the same individual basically as ever — liking to sleep and meeting everything philosophically. He is certainly a brother to be proud of. Every time I see him I feel that it is wrong that he is in the army and I am not.

Today has been a fairly cloudy day most of the time, the clouds not clearing away till after dinner. I got fairly warm when I walked down to church this afternoon tho and I had only a light jacket on. This evening it is fairly chilly again tho.

This morning, Lester Jones preached down at church. He is a layman from Glendale who does this kind of thing fairly regularly. Our student should be coming this week, probably on the 6^th. He will be staying with the Neiburgs, altho the live rather far from the church. Nothing has been heard from the pastor who was called yet.

My work continues about as usual. Right now I regard it neither with enthusiasm or distaste. It’s just there mostly.

My cold seems to be a little better tonite but my stomach wasn;t feeling too good. Perhaps when the weather warms up, I will begin to feel better.

That’s all for now.

With love

C.P.

May 27, 1945

May 27, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Vincent was down this weekend as I believe I wrote he might be in my last letter. Perhaps you know this already since he wrote a letter this morning and we mailed it before church. He got here about 6:45 last night or so just as I was leaving to go down to church to make the bulletin. He looked as brown and ruddy as ever. If he is not leaving a week from Monday he will be down next week-end also.

Mrs. Johnson had company today. Eric Johnson and his family was down from Monrovia. The reason for the visit was that Judith Ann had just had her 4^th birthday. One of Mrs. Johnson’s relatives from Pasadena was also down for the day. I wonder sometimes why Mr & Mrs Johnson don’t sell their home and move up there. It certainly would be more pleasant for them. Eric says that every time he come sto San Pedro his opinion of it falls.

Friday night I mowed the lawn as usual. This week I had some additional exercise in that Vincent and I walked out to the beach this afternoon. I am too lazy to exercise unless it is almost forced on me.

Shell Development gets a day of vacation this week on Memorial Day. I am not sure what I am going to do with it but I make take the spark pugs out of my car and clean them. Perhaps they are the reason I get rather poor mileage.

My work continues about as usual. I am doing some work again with silver salts, a resumption of the work I was doing previously. My hands, therefore, bear again the mark of my profession.

Tinberg called last week one night and said that an intern is definitely coming. His name is Roderick Johnson, of whom I have never heard till now. As yet no reply has come from the pastor who was called.

I bought a new pair of pants this week to wear to work. They are sort of a brown, so they won’t show dirt too quick. They cost only $7.90 and they look as if they were pretty good. I notice that the pants now have pleated fronts on them again. I also bought two neckties, which Vincent said he would have like to have worn so you can guess what they were like.

With love

C.P.

May 23, 1945

May 23, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

I am tired and disgusted tonite. I have been having a little cold and so I haven’t been feeling too good today. At work the lot was fairly crowded today mostly with people not doing much of anything except standing around. That of course in addition to arousing my dislike for people in general also lowered my opinion of Shell Development some more. Then on the way home tonite the shipyard traffic was more stupid and reckless than usual, if such a thing is impossible. Finally to cap it off I got so tired of waiting for a shiftless waitress to notice I was there at Thrifty’s that I left. I’ll have to get some supper after I have had my music lesson. I don’t feel in the mood for it — but I guess I’ll take it anyway. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. I hope so anyway.

Monday night there was a meeting of the Banning Homes committee out at Banning Homes. The committee was introduced to the new pastor in charge out there. He is a just ordained WLC pastor by the name of Hintz. The Clausons are leaving Sunday and are spending a couple of days at Yosemite enroute.

The weather has been fair the last couple of days here. Yesterday it was foggy in the morning but cleared off before 8 am. It has remained rather cool tho most of the time.

I got a letter from Tinberg the other day in which he says that maybe we won’t get a student after all. If we do not I certainly wonder what is going to happen here. Samuelson will not be able to be here during June since he will be alone at the Service Center and can’t leave to come down here on that account.

Vincent writes and says that he will be coming down this weekend again if he can get off. I certainly hope he does since it is so nice to see him.

This is all for now.

With love

C.P.

May 20, 1945

May 20, 1945

949 W 12th St

San Pedro, Calif.

Dear Father, Mother and the rest of the folks at home,

Today has been a nice, quiet day. Yesterday tho it really blew along in the afternoon and evening. Out at work it didn’t start till about 4:30 when I was leaving work but in San Pedro it began much earlier according to Mrs. Johnson. It was sort of hard on flowers etc., I guess. The sun has been continuing to dawn unhid by clouds etc but I guess that that can’t last too long.

Thursday night I went over and visited Mr. West, on of the members of the board at the church here. We talked till about ten-thirty. He asked me to com over the night of the house-warming I wrote about previously. It was a fairly interesting evening. He is a nice fellow with a nice wife and two smart youngsters but he’s not exactly my type. He was a salesman before the war — a great talker — you know the type. After you leave off talking to him and think over our conversation it’s really as frothy as that at Ladies Aid.

Friday night I went to a show. It was a double feature. One show was “The Three Caballeros” — a Walt Disney product. It was however I thought considerably below his usual standard. The other one was one that my music teacher had recommended — “Music for Millions” but it too was not very good. I could not recommend either one. Time Magazine ran the first pretty well into the ground with its review of it but gave the other as I recall a vague commendation.

Today Pastor Samuelson was not here but the other pastor from the service center, Johnson, was. Next Sunday Samuelson will be back and after that the student is coming I guess. Tinberg was down Thursday night but I didn’t go to see him since I was over at the Wests and hadn’t told Mrs. John son where I was. He told her, however, than in intern was coming for the summer Well, he’s got his work cut out for him.

My work is going on about as usual. At present I am obtaining some additional data with regard to some previous work that I had done.

Good night

With love

C.P.