Help Needed: Looking For WW I Info on Medic John B. Plantenburg

A Story of Bent, Broken Scissors and A World War I Medic

Descendants of John B. Plantenburg have related for several years the following story. But unfortunately, no one took the time to write or record the story in a formal manner.

Here's how they tell it: : Cpl. Plantenburg was a medic with Company M, 125^th Infantry Regiment during World War I. While stationed in France, the Corporal either had the scissors in his hand, or they were in a uniform pocket, when a German bullet shattered the scissors, leaving the Corporal unharmed. One version of the family story has him hit while removing bandages from a wounded soldier. 

We do not know if any of this story is true.

What we have: The scissors, his dog tags and Pay Record Book.

The following is information we have.

John B. Plantenburg was born April 25, 1892, in Scribner, Nebraska, to a family of farmers. His parents were Anna and John Plantenburg. He grew up to medium height and medium build with blue eyes and brown hair.

He completed his draft registration card on June 5, 1917, at 25 years of age.

His US Army service number was 1418871.

He was assigned to Company M, 125^th Infantry and rose to the rank of Corporal.

His discharge date was May 26, 1919. His discharge document state he received “no honors, no medals.”

He married Gladys ???? and they had two daughters, Jacqueline and Marilyn. They farmed in Perry (Thurston County), Nebraska, from about 1935 to 1960.  His whereabouts from 1919 to 1935 is not known.

John B. passed from this Earth on April 4, 1960 at age 68.

His dog tags, which are partially corroded, spell his name Plantenburg (with a “u.”) The envelope for his Pay Record Book spells it with a “u.” His name on the book itself is not legible. His grave marker spells it Plantenburg.

US Army records show the 125^th Infantry Regiment, which started as a National Guard unit in Michigan, reached France as a part of the 32^nd “Red Arrow” Division. The regiment suffered terrible losses but emerged from WWI with the reputation of being a formidable fighting force. During the War, the 125^th was under fire for six months, fought on five fronts, met and vanquished several German divisions and took more than 2,000 German POWs. The regiment demobilized in 1919 at Camp Custer, Michigan.  

The scissorsis sogtagH were manufactured by the well-known cutlery maker Landers, Frary & Clark and carry the firm's Universal brand, which was used between 1865 and 1965.

I have been unable to connect with any of John Plantenburg’s descendants to confirm this story.

Can you help? 

PS: In the box with this material was an American Legion 25-year pin. 

More Autographs - These From Oregon in Late 1800s

As we are nearing the end of the year and I have not posted anything new, I reckon it's time for more autographs. This book is from Oregon City, Oregon, and belonged to Annie who got a large number of autographs in the late 1880s. There is a strong Christian theme to most of these autographs. Cursive handwriting at the time seemed to take on many new tricks, making it near impossible for me to translate. Here are the ones I can decipher.


He who gives much plenty stands,
Who withholds hath empty hands.
Mt. Pleasant Jan. 16th, 1888
N.W. Randall

To Annie
Farewell and if by distance parted
We see each other's face no more,
Ah, may we with the faithful-hearted
Meet beyond the parting shore.
 Your friend, Lucy Gill June 25, 1888

Annie
Nearer the bound of life
where we lay our burdens down,
Nearer leaving the cross
Nearer gaining the Crown.
Your friend, Sophia Bean July 5, 1888 

Dear Annie
Nearer my father's house
Where the many mansions be --
Nearer the great white throne
Nearer the crystal sea.
Your friend forever, Nellie Bean July 2, 1888

 Dear Annie
Always be true to the ties Of friendship and ???? ???? you and I.
Bird Albright

To Annie
Merry, happy, free from care
With all prospects bright and fair,
Blessing many friendship true
Such my friend I wish for you.
Lauretta Wright Oct. 7, 1888

To Annie
Roses without thorns for thee.
Your friend, W.H.G.

Dear Annie Within this book so pure and white,
Let some friends presume to write
And may each line with friendship given
Direct the reader's thoughts to heaven.
Ever your friend, Lizzie Ely July 11, 1888

(Annie)
Onward through life, What ever your past
Strive to keep a cheerful heart.
Your friend, L. Sykes July 16th 1889 Oregon City, Oregon

Dear Annie
What's in your mind let no one know,
Nor to your friend your secrets show.
For if your friend becomes your foe,
Then everyone of your secret's known.
Your true friend, Della Boylan, May 27, 1888

Dear Annie
When grass is green and roses red,
Remember me when I am dead.
(Name erased) Oregon City, 1889

To Annie
O ne'er may the Stars St. Peter
set on her radiant brow decay,
O Lord of Glory, crown thy spouse
on the great accounting day.
Ever your friend, M. Etty Albright, Oct. 11, 1888

Friend Annie
Passing through life's field of action
Lest we part before its end,
Take within your modest volume
this memento from a friend.
Ever your friend, Lizzie Banche June 7, 1888

Friend Annie
Think of me when you are happy
Keep for me one little spot;
In the depth of thine affection,
plant a sweet forget-me-not.
Your friend, Mollie

To Annie
When you are old and cannot see,
Put on your specks and think of me. (Unsigned)
-30-

WWII Fathers See Their Babies For First Time - 1943-1945

It's mid-1943 and the country had been at war for about a year and a half and many thousands of servicemen had left their homes -- many with their wives expecting a new son or daughter. About this time, The Sacramento Bee newspaper took on the project of photographing new mothers, with their babies, and sending two prints -- one large and one wallet size -- to the new father. The photo of mother and baby also was printed in the newspaper as a regular feature that lasted nearly to the end of the war.
An accompanying story with the first photo, which appeared on Aug. 25, 1943, told how it was done: "Any mother of a Sacramento 'war baby' wishing to have pictures of the new arrival sent to the father may avail herself of this service by writing or telephoning to the city editor of The Bee.
"A cameraman will take a picture of the baby and mother and The Bee will mail the photographs to the father and present a copy to the mother. That is all there is to it."
Those babies will now be 66-70 years of age. How do I know this? At a recent estate sale, I picked up a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings, all neatly pasted in place, that told the story and included 446 Sacramento Bee clippings showing mothers with their new babies. Although the clippings are not individually dated, the birth dates of the babies pictured seem to end in early summer 1945. Whether the collector tired of the project or The Bee ended the series, I do not know. It is a fascinating service The Bee provided -- which is shown by several articles from servicemen who received the photogaphs.
So, in order to complete this blog, here is the list of the babies, in order of appearance in the scrapbook. If you were born in Sacramento during World War II, you might be on this list. Numbers refer to the scrapbook page.
1. Fowler, Herbert Brereton Jr.
2. -0-
3. Nicholas, Alan Craig; Acosta, Vicki Lou; Gates, Wayne Roy; Hollingshead, Carol Jeanne; Geyer, Victoria; Uomini, Virginia; Cummings, Robert Lee; Nelson, Cheryl.
4. Collins, Arthur Robert; Bieser, Frederick Stevens; Overton, Vivian Cheryl; Groves, Lewis J.; Hamilton, twins Patricia Ann & Margaret Carol.
5. -0-
6. Borgia, Raylee Rhonda; Hurst, William Leland; Hensley, Darrell Norman; Parker, Edward Andrew III; Francis, Gale Brent; Wright, William Russell; Gurtler, Judy Ann; Harris, Harell G. Jr.
7. Eichele, Eugene; Carlsen,Karen Rae; Blanchard, Fred Mathew Jr.; De Long, Nina Carleen; Myers, Sonny Louise; Kerr, Barbara Ann; Lemons, Jackie; Ahern, Judy Ann
8. Tucek, Sandra Kay; Hughart, Joan Darlene; Field, Conrad James; Sheltrown, Bradford Lee; Lumry, Carlton; Peek, Carol Ann; Woodard, Sherran Ann; Koeteeuw, Stanley
9. Gregson, Richard; Hix, Pamela
10. Drake, David Patrick; Hurst, Mary Ann
11. Smith, twins Aileen and Elaine; Omand, James
12. Haag, Michael Elliott; Lonsway, Eugene
13. Abrams, Donna Ruth; Ware, Cassandra; Hughson, Patricia Ann; McDaniel, Janet Elaine; Von Behren, Leroy Martin Jr.
14. Carlson, Allen LeRoy; Simmons, Earle Thomas Jr.; Oyler, Harold Douglas; Savage, Kenneth; Lambert, Daniel Robert; Bronk, Robert; Huit, Ralph Jay; Lima, Lawrence Jr.
15. Adam, Arthur John Jr.; Ernst, Kenneth Phil; Seastrand, Paula Marie; Casebeer, Larry Gene; Stone, Sara; Busby, Judith Ann; Hipp, Karen; Manwell, Melvin Randall
16. Robbie, Richard William; Steuben, Janice Marie; McConnen, Enid Elizabeth; McElroy, Donna Sue; Estes, David Eldon; Monson, Milton W. II; Phulps, Judith Lee; Jeffries, Janice Kay
17. Broyer, Judy Ann; Sellers, Janeen
18. Garcia, Henry Ronald; Porta, Louis Jr.
19. Kestell, Suzon Lynne; Stirling, Sanna J.
20. Baker, Lloyd; Crowle, Henry William
21. Moody, Rose Marie; Mysing, Susan Holliday
22. Egolf, Mary Lee; Perry, Madison H. Jr.
23. Werner, Carla; Frye, Joanne Garlene
24. Spitaleri, Joseph; Reed, Michael
25. Mains, Marie Pearl; Cooper, James Franklin
26. Burke, John Thomas; Wetmore, Robert James
27. Whelan, twins Santa Jean and Robert Ennis; Morrison, Mary Louise
28. Standing, Lawrence; Briske, Bruce Kenneth
29. Cabodi, Mickey; Creed, Walter Jesse
30. Bibb, Caroldean; Cornelius, Terry Sue
31. Hildreth, Carolyn Ann; Allphin, Michael Forrest
32. Strothers, Judith Anne; Risney, Carol Anne
33. Hulbert, Louise Gail; Casillas, Sally Diane; Millsap, Marylin Elizabeth; Rogers, Richard Vincent; Bateman, Mary Belle; Jones, Mary Louise; Jones, Stephen Marshall; Boyd, Reggie Clay
34. Dymond, Robert Allen; Barker, Barbara Jean; Ashley, Betty Ruth; Corbell, Richard Angelo; Lockhart, Barbara Roberta; Bryant, Thomas Creston; Scribner, Crystal Firn; Olson, Russell Martin
35. Stephens, James Benton; Murin, William Nicholas; Johnson, Trudie Mae; Bertram, Garland Ray; Dollar, Joe Ray; Eid, Diane Marie; Wilson, Clayton Wesley; Hickey, Victoria Ann
36. Morehead, Jon; Delgano, William Boyd, Jr.; Veach, Kathleen; Ferris, Shirley Susan; Irish, Vickie; Buckley, Kathleen; Lewis, Cynthia; Schmitz, Carolyn
37. Sprock, Karen; Wells, Franklin D.; Sornsen, Roger; Pearson, Margie Marie; Miller, Linda Lee; Martin, Albert Elliott, Jr.; Finkelstein, Paula Rene; Clark, Stephen Rodby
38. Valencia, Anthony Joseph; Royce, Roberta Marie; Smith, Dennis Wayne; Atilano, Juan Antonio; Hughes, Mary Irene; Wisdom, Thomas Harvey; Scalora, Anthony Joseph, Jr.; Hoff, Victoria Ann
39. Olmstead, Carol Ann; Beck, Charles Phillip; Ferguson, Linda; James, Beverly Marie*; Adams, Ronald Irving; James, Beverly Marie*
* One of these is incorrect. The same identification appears beneath two different photos. Refer to Page 63 (top right) for corrected identification. Booth, Douglas Edward; Donahue, Patricia Ann
40. Bitle, Ronald John; Estey, William Clyde; Pardi, Robert Alan; Cook, William Gene; Long, David Albert; Moody, JoAnn; Dole, Robert Edwin; Walsh, Frank Robert
41. -0-
42. Valine, Joan; Kennedy, Juanita; Pembroke, Timothy Raymond; Hopkins, Patricia Lee; Parks, Valerie; Kelly, James Mahlon; Ford, L. P., Jr.; Amey, Thedore Elizabeth
43. Heidt, Patricia Kay; Cook, Donna Joyce; Hamm, Brooks; Coleman, Carole Linn; Eckley, Kathryn Anne; Holland, Judith Ann; Meredith, Kathleen Meleana; Hammitt, John
44. Stewart, Bonnie Lee; Harrington, Sue; Reagan, Barbara Jean; Quadros, Jo Ann; Taylor, Laurence William; Yeager, Bob Madison; Eck, Michael Lawrence; Kinney, William James, Jr.
45. Hendershot, Nancy Rae; Fleming, Gwendolyn Joyce; Morgan, Robert; Martin, Donald Alan; Provence, Mary Lee; Burnham, twins George and Robert
46. White, Shirley Ann; Tugaeff, George Robert; Freeman, Marsha Corinne; Brown, Gerald; Fausett, Linda; Wynn, Henry Alfred; Salerno, Larry Carl; Neeld, Cheryl Ann
47. Dorr, Jimmy; Tonges, Carolee; Porta, Penny Rose; Enos, Thomas Franklin; Hornbeck, Barbara Lynn; Baker, Gerald Wayne; Meyer, Carolyn Jean; Wegner, Rosemary
48. Hilburn, Helen Laura; Fallwell, Patricia Kay; Robinson, Janice Elaine; Karver, Thomas Michael; Fargo, Kathleen Lynn; Stevens, William David; Morrisseau, Mary Louise; Webster, Sherry Lynn
49. Swett, Margaret; Peters, Ernest Dean; Gonzales, Ralph; Boatwright, Robert Alonzo; Savage, Stephen John; Wood, Kathryn Marie; Simmons, Para Lee Ann; Deaver, Danny Farrell
50. Clothier, Cindy Nadine; Townsend, James; Harrington, Diane; Johnston, Ray H., Jr.; Gallman, Robert Lee; Meder, John Robert III; Villegas, Maurice; Shettlesworth, Cheryl Lea
51. Ross, Shelby Darwin; Hess, Franklin Courtney; DeHermida, Chrissie; McAuliffe, Dennis Reynold; Jackson, Melannie Amelia; Harris, Carolyn Marie; Webster, Carrol Ann; Broadston, Leonard LeRoy, Jr.
52. -0-
53. Lorenson, Melinda Jill; Metcalf, Barbara Ethel; Parker, Margaret Marie; Serra, Cheryl; Walsh, Glenn John; Hurst, Carol Lee
54. Carter, Virginia; Treloar, Donald Lee; Miller, Sharone Anne; Kirts, Malcolm, Jr.; Diaz, Amelia; Lane, Michele
55. Ward, John William; Parker, Paul; Boydston, Judy; Witbeck, Cynthia; Strong, Robert Ernest; Wood, Kenneth John
56. Graham, Frederick Harold, Jr.; Hawley, Anita Darlene; Myrah, Donald; Kolaitis, Meredith; Hampton, Larry S.Q.; Thielen, Raymond John II
57. -0-
58. Potter, twins Lawrence John and Louise Marie; Smith, Sharon; Gaines, Dora Louise; Hall, Rickey Alan; Cox, Harvey Glenn; Concannon, David Clifford; Baldi, Frances Patricia* Petrulak, Peter Charles*.
* Baldi and Petrulak Photos switched
59. -0-
60. Sommers, Linda; Sanchez, Richard Charles; Lauer, Richard Walter; Edwards, Richard Lloyd; Johnson, Pamela Rae; Brady, James Harold, Jr.; Haub, Kenneth Elden; Scott, Mary Jane
61. Morton, LaVerne Carol; Reynaga, Beatrice; Hulett, Bonnie Jean; Felton, Doris Kathleen; Saucedo, Carol Ann; Stramler, James, Jr.; Waddams, Donovan III; Carden, George Dennis
62. Meachen, James David; Emery, Rebecca; Eichele, Eugene; Nelson, Linda Jean; Hoffeditz, Aaron Ross; Chan, Cara Lynette; Brabec, twins Jefferey and Todd; Fong, Franklin
63. McKintley, Dennis Ray; McElwee, George Patrick; Frazier, Theo Earl; Smith, Sharon Kathryn*
* Corrected identification from Page 39 Reynolds, Nadine Esther; Cordano, Alan; Adams, Milton; Perryman, James
64. Brault, Raymond T.; Gray, Carl Jr.; Geibel, John Joseph; Creasey, Sandra Ann; Statz, Kerry Michael; Adamski, Bonnie Lee; Smith, Joseph Herbert; Tregea, William Stewart
65. -0-
66. Howell, Patricia Joy; Clancy, Michael; Dolton, Terry Allen; Monteleone, Noel; Faringer, Diane; Burns, Garry Le Roy; Swoveland, Dellas Ronald; Gilpin, Shirley Jean
67. Palermo, Mary Paulette; Potter, Gary Lee; Shepard, Elizabeth Ann; Trondsen, Anna Marie; Hahn, Stuart; Aivasian, Owen II
68. Meyer, Kathleen; Blake, Karen Rose; Patterson, James Henry; Nichols, Robert; Nott, Virgena Lynn; Record, Terry Allen; Levensaler, Sandra Gayle; Pyles, Michael James
69. Pierson, Michael William; Goldstein, Michael Louis; Jones, Robert (Bobbie); Nelson, Duane Arthur ;Blackwell, James Alvin; Sims, Thomas Allen; Jones, Melvin, Jr.; Henderson, Sharon Lee
70. Lopez, Delmay; Babcock, Lynn; Rupple, Sandra Lee; Jensen, Kathryn Alice; Adams, Theodore Elman; Porter, Viola; Stuart, Elaine Elizabeth; Fagunes, Carol Lynn
71. Thompson, Larry Douglas; Carlo, Roy Jr.; Elledge, Donna Lee; Steinbrecher, Bette Gene; Yeast, twins Dennis Elwood and Donna Marie; Martin, Mildred Louise; Anderson, Valerie; Irwin, Constance Marie
72. Romine, Roberta Marie; Kitterman, Joseph Peter; Secord, Ronald Scott; Boehm, William Joseph; Collins, Robert; Abegglen, twins Suzanne and Stephen; Howard, Evelyn Gail; Tamantini, Josephine
73. Rau, Dennis Mark; Kinney, Michael Gordon; Puggini, Warren Thomas; Christoffel, Carolyn Marie; Grubbs, Diane Adelaide; Bradford, William Lee; Mussey, Richard Lynn; Wright, Mary Catherine
74. Clary, Roger Allen; Olsen, Lucy Anne; Carey, Nancy Jean; Tomer, Helen; Allen, Patricia Elizabeth; Valencia, Mary Ellen; Leggett, Leslie Ann; Schmidgall, Rene
75. Leavitt, John Sheldon; Hill, Gwendolyn Kaye; Donathan, Larry Dean; Romero, Sandra Lee
76. Bidwell, Leslie Lynne; Murphy, David Kitt; Folstrom, Charles Walton; Allen, John Thomas; Miller, Eddie, Jr.; Wild, Grayce Evelyn; Graham, Marilyn Lee; Albee, Douglas Henri
77. Jerdon, Patsy Ann; Meany, Michael George; Tarbell, Harry III; Daspit, David Michael ;Jellison, Terry Lynne ;Harrison, Virginia; Deisenroth, Linda Lee; Harmon, Carol Ann
78. Olson, Janet Kay; O’Connell, Robert Charles; Hermann, Paul Douglas; Fiskum, Sharon Ann; Sheehy, Jo Ann; Romovich, Ronald Steve; Kemper, Ronald Michael; Gabel, Edward Ronald
79. Simpson, Richard Wayne; Lamb, Shirley Ann; Bicknell, Darcy Anne; Gray, Joyce Norine; Costa, Susana Marie; Massie, Richard Edward; Blaine, James E., Jr.; Middleton, Carol Jean
80. Davis, Nancy Anne; Hall, Wanda Jean; Mains, Eugene Walter; Brown, Delbert Clifton; Riley, Robert Lewis; McGregor, - Twin daughters not named; Alva, Beatrice; Kinser, Doris Sue
81. Brown, Paulletta Jean; Killian, Sharon Lee; Smith, Kenneth Garnett, Jr.; Graham, David Howard; Phillips, Connie May; Williams, Sharon; Flynn, Larry Patrick; Keylor, William Robert
82. -0-
83. Colley, Jerlean Evelyn; Allen, Roxanne Lee
-30-

More Student Autographs from Woodland, Calif -- 1944-1947

Well, it's only been about seven months since I was here last. And, guess what? I have more student autographs. This book is from Woodland, Calif., and is from the 1940s. You will notice a definite change in attitude and content, compared with those autographs left in the 1890s and 1920s.
This autograph book belonged to Penny (no last name) and on the first page she lists the names of boys she "has gone out with, been kissed by and that have asked me out." More than 30 names are on the list so . . .
In any case here are the remembrances in her book.

Dear Penny
As you slide down he banister of life,
remember me as a splinter in your career.
Neil Osborn
April 8, 1944
-0-
The higher the mountain.
the cooler the breeze,
the younger the couple,
the harder they squeeze.
A good friend,
Bettilou Darling
-0-
Dear Penny
I love you little
I love you big
I love you
like a little pig.
Yours till six feet under,
Barbara Lois Barth
Dec. 18, 1945
-0-
Dear Penny
You may fall off a cliff,
you may fall from above,
but don't fall in love.
Your pal, Iris Jay
-0-
Dear Penny
First comes college,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes Penny with a baby carriage.
Yours till Ivory soap sinks,
Eloise
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When a monkey's up a tree,
Pull his tail and remember me.
Your friend, Joseph Oliver
April 8, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get married with ???? and have twins,
I'll keep you supplied with safety pins.
Robert Soulier
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When I get married and have a Ford,
I'll give you a seat on the running board.
Don Blicht
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
You may kiss beneath the steeple,
You may kiss beneath the rose,
But the proper place to kiss
is right beneath the nose.
Your pal, Don
Nov. 30, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get married and live across the lake,
send me a piece of your wedding cake.
A friend, Clemma Cox
May 21, 1947
-0-
Dear Penny
I love you little,
I love you big,
I love you like a little pig.
Yours till the sun comes out at the West
Your pal, Barbara Oliver
April 8, 1944
-0-
Dear Virginia
Roses are red, violets are blue,
sugar is sweet, and so are you.
Your pal, Juanita Hurd
-0-
Dear Penny
I'll wait for you early,
I'll wait for you late,
I'll wait for you
by the garden gate.
Your sister, Bobbie
April 9, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get old and cannot see,
Put on your specks and think of me.
Your pal, Mercy Esther Barth
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get old and cannot see,
Put on your specks and think of me.
Yours till you become ugly, Dan
(You wont' have to wait long.)
Dan
Oct. 18, 1945
-0-
Dear Penny
You can fall from a cliff,
You can fall from above,
But, Dear Penny,
Don't fall in love.
Your pal, Maxine
June 3, 1944
-0-
DearPenny
I didn't go to Yale,
I didn't go to Harvard.
I got my education in the Yolo County jail.
Your friend, Lois Vosburgh
May 27, 1947
-0-
Dear Penny
When evening draws her curtain down,
And pins them with a star,
Remember you have a friend though she may wander far.
Your friend, Carol Burner
Ocft. 5, 1945
-0-
Dear Penny
2 y's u r
2 y's u b
i c u r
2 y's 4 me
Love, Loretta Ann Freese
May 7, 19443
-0-
Dear Penny
Little Miss Marstool sat on a barstool drinking her merry full.
Along came a wolf and sat down beside her and
guess who got stuck with the bill.
Robert Soulier
Nov. 30, 1944
-0-
Penny
Roses are red, violets are blue
Beet pulp stinks and so do you.
Janet Gail Barner
-0-
Dear Penny
When you have a man,
He will be thin as frying pan.
Your pal, Artis Jager
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get old and cannot see,
Put on your specks and think of me.
Your everlasting pal, Doris
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you come home through the hedge,
remember the girl who wrote on the edge.
Love, Eloise
-0-
Dear B.O.
Roses are red, violets are blue
Vinegar's sour and so are you.
Dolores
-0-
Dear Penny
When you grow up and think you're sweet,
Take off your shoes and smell your feet.
Joseph
-0-
Yours til Germany gets Hungary and fries Turkey in Greece.
Yours truly, Sonya Boyd
-0-
Dear Penny
When you buy a car don't go away too far
Because I can sell you some gas and give you a ten pound bass.
Your friend, Jacob Barth
Dec. 14, 1945
-0-
Dear Penny
Don't forget the girl who wrote upside down.
Love, Elaine
-0-
Dear Penny
The higher the mountain,
the cooler the breeze,
the younger the couple,
the tighter they squeeze.
Your friend Betty "Bat" Tafoya
May 26, 1947
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get married and have a Ford,
Save me a seat on the running board.
Audrey
April 10, 1947
-0-
Penny
Two in a hammock proposing to kiss
All of a sudden, it happened
like this (written upside down).
-0-
Dear Penny
I went to the show tomorrow, I sat in the front of the back.
I sat on a pin in the gallery and broke the front of my back.
Yours till Ivory soap sinks, Carol Barner
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
When you get married and have a baby girl,
Think of me and her hair will curl.
'Your pal, Phyllis Burr
April 10, 1944
-0-
Dear Penny
I wish you luck, I wish you joy.
I wish you first a baby boy
And when his hair begins to curl,
I wish you a baby girl.
Thelma Osborn
April 8, 1944
-0-

More Autographs - These from Yolo County, Calif., 1880s

This autograph book belonged to Lillian May Prior of Woodland, a fine, tree-lined city just west of Sacramento. It's also home to Main Street Antiques, a 14-member antiques cooperative right in the middle of town on, where else, Main Street. Lillian May makes note that she was 18 years, 9 months and 15 days old when she signed her book in March 1885. Many of her contemporaries have signed the book, and left little notes along the way. There seemed to be preoccupation with life in the hereafter and not much humor. Here they are.

To May:
May the brightest rainbows ever play above the fountains of thy tears.
I remain your friend, Roberta Grant
---
May
I dip my pen into the ink
And grasp your album tight.
But for my life,
I cannot think of one word to wright. (cq)
Your friend and schoolmate, Geneva Wiserman
Jan. 4th, 1884
---
Dear May
May thy lot happy be
Is my dear wish for thee.
From your cousin, Lillian Shelton
June 15th, 1888, Albany, Oregon
---
May
If we have true merit, we all will have true friends.
Your friend, Eliza Duer?????
Woodland, Oct. 13th, 1884
---
May
"Moderation is the silken thread running through the pearl chain of all virtues."
Your Friend, Lee
Woodland, 9-10-1884
---
May
Remember I say
When you look on these pages
That writing in albums
Is like working for wages.
Eva A., January 1st, 1884
---
May
Remember your true friend
Kittie L. Comfort
---
To May
We have been friends together
It will not all be over
We will be friends forever
though we mean to part no more.
Leona Grigsby
Woodland, Jan. 7, 1884
---
Dear May
Remember me when far away
And absent from your sight
And I will do the same by you
With pleasure and delight.
Your friend, Katie Ball
Woodland, Jan. 11th, 1884
---
Yours most sincerely
Katie B. Fisher
Woodland, 8-4-'84
---
Compliments of Manny & Stella
---
May
When rocks and rills divide us
And you're no more.
Remember the name of Grace
And I'll remember thee.
Your true friend, Grace
---
Dear May
Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing leave behind us
Footprints in the sands of time.
Yours trule, Hattie Grant
Woodland, Jan. 11th, 1884
---
May
May all your days on earth
Be crowned with peace and love,
And I wish for you at last eternal joy above.
Zada Boulware,
Woodland, March 23, '85
---
May
Remember your true friend
Georgia Jackson
Woodland, Jan. 7th, 1883
---
Dear May
Beneath the oyster shell uncouth, the finest pearls may hide.
Trust me you will find a heart of truth
Beneath many a rough outside.
Your sincere friend, May Spencer
Woodland, 1885
---
May
In the golden chain of memory
Where each name forms a link,
I will add another to it.
Of the owner, sometimes think.
Your friend, Jennie Cokenour
Jan. 7th, 1884
---
Friend May
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
And loving favor rather than silver or gold.
Your friend, Lena Porter
Woodland, Jan. 7th, 1884
---
To May
We have been friends together
It will not all be over
We will be friends forever
Though we mean to part no more.
Julie Stocking
---
Dear May
In the wood box of memory
Please drop a chip for me.
Your friend Emma
---
To May
I thought & I thought
Till I thought in vain,
Till at last I thought
I would write my name.
Your friend and schoolmate, Eliza Wiseman
Jan. 7th, 1884
---
Friend May
Flowers of true friendship will never fade.
Mary Lee
Woodland, March 27, 1885
---
Dear May
Let pure thoughts and kind actions mark every day of your life.
Your friend & teacher, Mrs. Sue B. Grant
Jan. 10th, 1884
---
May
Remember me with kindness.
Your friend, Dahlya Powers
Woodland Feb 2, 1885
---
Dear May
Remember me as your true friend.
Sophie Boggs
Woodland 2-11-85
---
Dear May
May joy and happiness always be with you.
Is the wish of your friend, Hattie Dunlap
---
Dear May
In the bright and long hereafter,
May you always happy be.
May you count your friends by thousands
and among them remember me.
Your sincere friend, Nellie Dietz
Woodland, Feb. 3rd, 1885
---
May
May your life be as fine as these pages,
and unshadowed as these lines,
Is the sincere wish of your true friend,
Nettie M.
Woodland, Feb. 3rd, '85
---
To May
Flowers may form a garland,
Gold may link a chain, but
Friendship is a clasp, forever to remain.
Your sincere friend, Erdeene Hennagan
---
May
Not like the Rose
May our Friendship wither
But like the Evergreen,
Live Forever.
Maude Lownsberry, Woodland
March 26, 1885
---
To May
May thy pathway be bright as the stars in heaven.
Your friend, Etta Hyman
Woodland, Jan. 7th, '84
---
Friend May
Remember me when this you see, if only half awake.
Remember me on wedding day and send me a piece of cake.
Your Friend Mattie Heurle (??)
Woodland, Cal. 4-1-1885
---
May
Last in your album,
Last in your thoughts
Last to be remembered
And first to be forgot.
Your friend, Rebecca Strong
-30-

Still More Autographs -- These from 1887

This little book that belonged to Mollie came to me in April 2010. Cockrell, Missouri, is the town mentioned most often, but there is one entry from Raton, New Mexico. Here they are.



Forget me not,
the name of a friend is enough.
Jim Hankenberg, April 30, 1887

---

To Mollie
May peace and happiness your pathway attend
As down the stream of time you wend.
Ellen D -
June 6th, 1887

---

Our time is fleeting fast, though memory lingers
Yet a friend that is true we can never forget.
Swanea Tyson,
May 20, 1887
---

Dear Mollie
Think of me often tho' far away,
I shall often think of you.
Your true friend,
Walter McCloud, Raton, NM
---

To Mollie
Some have none and some have two
I have but one and this is you.
Your friend
---
(To) One of the 7 wonders of the world,
(From) Two of the 7 wonders of the world
A. G. Sears (and) M. Belle Tyer

---
Flowers may wither,
Leaves may die;
Friends may forget thee,
But never will I.
Lydia Siller
Cockrell, Mo.

--
The past we may forget
The presesnt swift its moments fly
The future ??? ??? trust it yet.
For trusting will never sigh.
P. T. Dealy

---

Miss Mollie
Within this book
So pure and white
Let none but friends
Assume to write.
Alex Sears, April 15, 1888
Cockrell, Mo.
---
Mollie
To write in your album, you ask.
Ah, well, it is not such a diffiult task.
All I can say is contained herein one line:
May the blessings of heaven forever be thine.
Tis the wish of your friend.
1 of the 7
Cockrell, Mo., 5-7-88

---
Dear Mollie
Our friendship has budded on Earth,
O, may it blossom in Heaven.
Your friend, ????
May 23, 1888

---

To cousin Mollie
May your joy be as deep as the Ocean.
And your sorrow as light as its foam.
Billie
Cockrell, Mo. 8-4-88

---
Mollie my Friend -
Delay is the "Darkey" that steals the chicken from off the roost of time.
A.G.S.
Cockrell, Mo., May 7, 1888

---

I. R. "Ike" Lloyd -- WW II Submarine Portraitist

I see that has been just a bit more than a year since I produced any words for this little blog. No excuses. But since I'm here this would be a good time to bring up a new mystery I'm trying to solve.

I recently acquired two original paintings of World War II submarines. They were produced by a man named I. R. "Ike" Lloyd who was in the design department at Mare Island Shipyard during the war.

I thought it would be interesting learn more about Mr. Lloyd. After quite a bit of internet searching and talking and corresponding with museum curators in California and Washington DC, I am learning only bits and pieces.

Even more extraordinary: I have been unable to locate any other of Mr. Lloyd's original paintings. Prints of various ship paintings created by Mr. Lloyd show up occasionally on internet auction sites.

But no original paintings.

Here is what I know: Mr. Lloyd worked in the design department at Mare Island and resided in Vallejo for about 10 years. Sometime after WWII, he was divorced and moved to Key West, Fla, where he passed away in 1956. While at Mare Island he created numerous paintings in oil, guache and tempura of various ships, mostly submarines. And he drew ships for caches, shellback documents (a certificate attesting to a sailor having crossed the equator the first time) and at least in one instance, an invitation to a ship christening. And, for a time, he operated "Lloyds of Vallejo" on Hichborn Street where he created ship mementos.

The list of submarines he painted is a long one. To mention a few, Gato, Permit, Sailfish, Archerfish, Trigger, Wahoo, Argonaut, and Pompano. The first Lloyd item that shows up on Google is his painting of the USS Bailey in a firefight at the Battle of Komandorski Island. Prints of this battle, many autographed by sailors, show up once in a while.

In 1944, Lloyd also had a couple of his submarine paintings shown at the City of Paris department store in San Francisco. A brief article in the San Francisco Chronicle said: "Mr. Lloyd . . . received permission from Washington at the outbreak of the war to make a series of Navy paintings which are being kept on record in Washington." The second part of that sentence brought me into contact with the curator of the Naval Art Museum in Washington DC. Lloyd's name does not show up in their inventory of naval art.

So, Mr. Reader, I have two major questions:

- What happened to Mr.Lloyd after his move from Vallejo and why did he quit painting?

- Where are his original paintings?

If you have any clues, you know where to reach me. I'll be right here.

The two paintings I have are of Gato (SS-212 ) and (perhaps) Trigger (SS-237). That's the Gato in the accompanying picture.

Help needed: Who is GARV?

I recently acquired this pretty fine pencil drawing of an old flintlock pistol. The original piece of artwork is signed GARV.

Now, I know there is an artist of adult material named Garv; there is an Indian movie named Garv; there is a webiste devoted to mixed martial arts called Garv, and there is a Garv-Inn -- among almost a million hits devoted to the word Garv.

But I cannot track down the person who created this wonderful drawing, which is one of several similar subjects. This illustration, poorly mounted with low quality matboard, came out of a defunct printing shop in the Sacramento, Calif., area.

If anyone out there knows who this "Garv" is, I would appreciate a return comment.

And Still More 19th Century Autographs

March 3, 2009 –
Here are some more autographs. These are from a little autograph book owned by David P. Flory of Hygiene and Boulder, Colo., dated 1884, and in which he writes this introduction:
To My Friends
My album is a garden spot
Where all my friends may sow
Where thorns and nettles flourish not
But flowers alone may grow
With smiles for sunshine, tears for showers
I’ll water, watch and guard these flowers.
Your friend, D. P. Flory
Hygiene, Colo.

Here are the entries, many of them with a scolding theme and that he better get his act together as his three sisters pen words of encouragement. It would seem David might have been a troubled lad. After his move to California, however, things seem to improve. I personally favor the final entry, written by his daughter. Read on:

Dave:
Be satisfied with your self and surroundings, for the present;
but at the same time, try to understand and gain a high standard.
Your friend and school-mate, Bertha Goss
Longmont., Colo. Oct. 28, 1884
* * *
To D. P. Flory
Day by day we are ??(shaping)??? the influences which will presently be our rules. We are choosing our habits, our associates, our homes. Weigh carefully all your undertakings and choose the best.
Your well wisher, Miss Nellie Goss
Pella, Colo, Oct. 28, 1884
* * *
When you get old and cannot see, put on your specks and think of me.
S. F. Fesler
* * *
Remember me as a friend.
Yours truly, W. D. Goss
Pella, Colo, Oct. 27, 1884
* * *

David
I dip my pen into the ink
And grasp your album tight;
But for my life I cannot think
One single word to write.
Your sister,
Lottie Flory,
Tujunga, Calif. August. 19, 1886
* * *
Of all the earthly goods, the best is a good life.
Your friend, Norton
* * *
Friend David
Remember thy Creator
In the days of thy youth.
Mrs. S. S. Farnocht, Longmont, Colo.
* * *
Always have courage to say "No" where tempted to do wrong.
Yours truly, Jennie Montgomery,
Longmont, Colo. Oct. 18, 1884
* * *
May your path be strewn with roses fair
and flowery to the end;
And when your body in death repose,
May your Maker be your friend.
Your cousin, H. M. Flory,
Brock Neb., Oct. 5, 1884
* * *
Dear Brother
If you wish success in life,
make perseverance your bosom friend,
experience your wise counsel,
caution your older brother
and hope your guardian genius.
Your affectionate sister, Lizzie Flory
San Fernando, Cal. Jan 12, 1885
* * *
Dear Brother
When you get far out in California,
Do not forget that you have friends and relations in Colo. who will remember you though far away.
Remember me as your loving sister, Hollie
* * *
To Dave
Ah! Lips with the curl impatient
Ah! How with the shade of scorn,
"Twere cruel fate
Were the night too late
To undo the work of the morn
Your friend, Mollie Montgomery
Longmont, Oct. 17, 1884
* * *
Dear friend
Your virtues ever shine like peaches on a punkin vine
Your friend, W. D. Perkins
Oct. 26th, 1884
* * *
Friend David
Do with heart and mind thy work and sweet will be the rest
Value time and do not shrink but do thy best
Doing this thou shall be blest.
Your schoolmate, Lizzie Wreese
Springtown, Colo., Oct. 25th, 1884
* * *
Friend Dave
May you live long and happy
May your enemies be few
May your friends be as many as the sparkling drops of dew.
Yours truly
Freta Trobaugh, Tujunga, Cal, June 10th 1888

Then she adds this ditty – a very early version of texting abbreviations:
Y y u r
Y y u b
I c u r y y 4 me
Can you read it?
* * *
Friend Dave
We may write our names in albums
We may trace them in the sand
We may chisel them in marble
With a firm and skillful hand.

But these pages soon are sullied,
Soon each page will fade away.
Every monument will crumble
Like all earthly hopes decay

But my friend there is an album
Full of leaves of sunny white
Where no names are tarnished
But forever pure and bright

In the book of life, "Gold’s Album,"
May your name be penned with care
And may all who here have penciled
Have their names recorded there
Your friend, Freta
San Fernando, Cal., August 31, 1890
* * *
Dear Friend
To blossom in the grove,

To bloom around the cot (cottage)
Please cultivate that little plant

they call Forget-me-not.
Your schoolmate, Addie Smith
Springtown, Colo., Oct. 27, 1884
* * *
Dear Daddy
To each is given a bag of coals
A shapeless mass, and a book of rules,
And each must make, ere life has flown,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone.
Your daughter, Betty

* * *

To my reader: Many more 19th and early 20th century autographs have appeared in this blog; you can read them in 11/20/07 and 03/03/08.

And They Landed Safely

In my never-ending search for interesting paper, I came across this Boeing advertisement in a 1945 National Geographic. I was -- and am -- astounded as to the amount of damage this B-17 took over Germany in World War II.
A bit of Internet search took me to a very interesting site (www.daves'warbirds) in which the survival accounts of many B-17 are reported and shown.
The site says:
"The B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97the Battle Group) flown by Lieutenant Kenneth R. Bragg, its tail section almost severed by a collision with an enemy fighter, flew 90 minutes back to its home base, landed safely and broke in two after landing.
SOURCE: Flying Forts by Martin Caiden."
The website offers a couple additional photos of the plane after landing.
The advertisement adds a little color:
"This slashed-in-two Flying Fortress theoretically should not fly. There had been stiff fighter opposition. In the melee, a Messerschmitt, crazily out of control, crashed into it.
"The German plane was destroyed upon impact. The Fortress's fuselage was ripped diagonally from top to bottom. Control surfaces were carried away. The tail gunner, suddenly imperiled in his wabbling section, crawled forward onto the narrow floor structure that held the parts together. And the Fortress flew steadily -- back to her base for a perfect landing."

I Just Don't Know What to Say . . .

Here's a 1954 advertisement for Old Gold cigarettes. It would appear that 55 years ago there was no political correctness when it came to poodles.

And a little bit of lousy re-touching makes this poodle appear to be smiling -- just really happy to be inhaling that tobacco smoke! And little Fifi there appears somewhat tentative. Or maybe this pair is just having a smoke after a little bit of, uh, well, you know. Woof, woof.

So, try as I might, the picture cries out for a proper caption -- can anyone out there help? My other reader would be grateful.

Mystery Object: Bottle In A Broom

One of the things that make collecting so much fun is finding a thing, an object, a thingamabob, a gizmo that just can't be identified. Try as I might, I have not found one these things on the internet and none of the antique collectors with whom I come in contact has ever seen anything like it.

"It" is a whisk broom wrapped around a half-pint size bottle.

Now I can imagine all sort of uses:

The valet who dusts off your clothing and then has access to a quick nip, all the while keeping it secret.

The housewife who brushes up the dinner table and then decides on a short snort -- you know, something to take the edge off.

The old man cleaning out the car on a Saturday morning needs a little fortification -- but not so's the neighbors will know.

Maybe hooch and secrecy are not involved -- but then why keep the bottle under wraps?

It is obviously a manufactured item, with fine tight stitching around the straws, a nicely made cork stopper - but nary a name tag anywhere

What does my reader think?

Help me, please

Who Says There Is No Santa Claus?

In a message dated 12/24/2008 10:52:58 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, ENovak@ascentmedia.com writes:

> Santa and Science
> 1) No known species of reindeer can fly. But there are
> 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified,
> and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not
> completely rule out flying reindeer, which only Santa has
> ever seen.
>
> 2) There are 2 billion children in the world (persons under
> 18). But since Santa doesn't (appear to) handle
> Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, or Buddhist children, that reduces
> the workload by 85% of the total-- leaving 378 million
> according to the Population Reference Bureau. At an
> average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household,
> that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there is at
> least one good child per house.
>
> 3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to
> the different time zones and the rotation of the earth,
> assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical).
> This works out to 822.6 visits per second.
> This is to say that for each Christian household with good
> children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of
> the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stocking,
> distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat
> whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get
> back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.
>
> 4) Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are
> evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we
> know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we
> will accept), we are now talking about
> 0.78 miles per household, a total trip of 75.5 million
> miles, not counting stops to do what most of us do at least
> once every 31 hours, plus feeding, etc. That means that
> Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3000
> times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the
> fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe,
> moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second. A conventional
> reindeer can run, at tops
> 25-30 miles per hour.
>
> 5) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting
> element. Assuming each child gets nothing more then a
> medium sized LEGO set (2 lbs.), the sleigh is carrying
> 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably
> described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer
> can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting the
> "flying reindeer" can pull TEN TIMES that normal
> amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine--we
> need 214,200 reindeer. This increased the payload--not
> even counting the weight of the sleigh--to 353,430 tons.
> Again for comparison, this is four times the weight of the
> HMS Queen Elizabeth.
>
> 6) Three hundred and fifty-three thousand tons travelling
> at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance.
> This will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as
> spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere.
> The lead pair will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy
> per second, each. In short, they will burst into flames
> almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them,
> and creating a deafening sonic boom in their wake. The
> entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26
> thousandths of a second. Santa meanwhile, will be subject
> to centrifugal forces of 17,500.06 times greater than
> gravity. A 250 lb. Santa (which seems ludicrously slim)
> would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by a
> 4,315,015 pound force.
>
> In conclusion, if Santa ever DID deliver presents on
> Christmas eve, he's now dead.

Now, I don't know who ENovak is and all those mathematical calculations are well and good -- but his conclusion is sideways. Santa Claus would not be dead. How else to explain the miracles that have occurred around the world on this day? Santa Claus could be dead from all that exertion? C'mon Virginia, of course Santa Claus would be alive and well and asking for more. There's a little bit of Santa Claus living in all of us. And that's how this miraculous delivery job gets done. Ask any of the billion of Santa's adult elves who have stayed up half the night wrestling with packages that say "some assembly required." It's obvious to the most casual observer. Ask any five-year-old.
Santa Claus dead? I think not. He's just real tired.

Illustration Courtesy: Webweaver's Free Clip Art

Chariot Racing Help Needed

I have acquired the pictured silver belt buckle and have questions. It's one of those large (4 inches by 3 inches) and very well made belt buckles similar to those cowboys earn for bull riding or calf roping or bronc riding at major rodeos. This one, however, pictures two running horses, PULLING A CHARIOT!
I know there are chariot races held throughout the West and have searched the Web high and low and cannot locate a name that fits SRRA. The buckle is dated 1983 on the front. It was manufacured in German silver by the Montana Silversmiths of Columbus, Mont. My contact with them was brief, to the point of rudeness and completely helpless.
So, I'm turning to my reader with two questions:
1. What is the meaning of SRRA? 2. What does "1st Aged" mean?

Christmas Conundrum

As previously mentioned, I look for, and find, all kinds of old paper -- this piece was found rumpled up in the bottom of a box of old Christmas Cards. I'd opine it to be from the 1960s.

So, for my reader out there: May all your holidays be happy!

(Caution: Adult material ahead!)

San Francisco 49ers Fight Song

Someone asked me the other day if the San Francico 49ers had a fight song. Assuring the questioner that they certainly did need one, I dragged out some of my memorabilia to display the accompanying song sheet. I do not know if this is an "official," NFL-approved fight song, but here it is. The song was written by Martin Judnich in 1952 and published two years later. (Yes, son, there was a football team called the 49ers before Joe Montana came to town.)

It is also reported that during the days when the team was playing at Kezar a group of local and loyal musicians would break into song with "San Francisco," the tune from the 1930s movie of the same name and made popular by Tony Bennett.

By the way, the 49er cartoon character was used on all the 49er promotion stuff during this period. The "Official 49er Majorette" on the cover is Pat Maulden. It wasn't until the NFL mandated teams to have them in the 1980s when the 'Niners started featuring cheerleaders, to satisfy the television broadcasters.

You can listen to the 49ers Fight Song as played by The National Football League Marching Band -- no lyrics -- on:

http://philadelphia-eagles.net/fightsongs/nfc-49ers.html and

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/TheCard/fightnw.html

I am not sure you'll like it much as it doesn't seem to have much rhythm, even though it also is labeled "Football Polka."

Here's the lyrics (maybe someone out there will have the capability of matching them to the music):

"This is our football fight song, It has some cheering words

If you want fancy singing we leave that to the birds

And while our band is playing we sing it for the foe

And when our gang starts driving we yell GO-GO-GO-GO!

1. When our band plays football tempo, All the fans will cheer and sing

So when our team is fighting to go, You will hear our voices ring

We all know our team fights for us, And the fans do want some fun

We soon will loudly sing the chorus, While the foe is on the run.

2. Let's sing the good old Football Polka, While we shout GO-GO-GO-GO!

We cheer our team of Alma Mater, While they GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!

Our gang shall drive and keep on rolling, And across the goal they'll go

Let's sing the good old Football Polka, While we GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!

3. Let's sing the Forty Niner's Fight Song, While we shout GO-GO-GO-GO!

We cheer our team of San Francisco, While they GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!

Our gang shall drive and keep on rolling, And across the goal they'll go

Let's sing the Forty Niner's Fight Song, While we GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!"

--by Martin Judnich, 1952

What more can I say?

Dredging For Answers

Here is this wonderful thing.
It seems to be a model of some kind of dredge.
It's 100 percent brass and is very well made.
Perhaps it is a salesman's sample
Perhaps someone just made it for his own enjoyment.
I obtained it from an antique store going out of business in Woodland, Calif. The owners knew little of its beginning or history. I was told a person could hook up a garden hose to the tap on the end and that the water would flow through the little piping and exit through the lattice-type conveyor belt, to be ejected through the downward pointing end. Overall, it's about four feet long and three feet wide with both tanks in place.
I can imagine this dredge floating in a pond of its own creation, dredging up gold-filled soil and somehow separating it from the mud, silt and sand.
Am I going off the deep end here? (No pun intended.)
In any case, if you know what this thing is, how it works and why it was constructed in this fashion, I'm open to suggestions.
Have a nice day.

My Time With Fantasy Football

A well-padded football player in the early part of the 20th century. The thing hanging from the elastic strap around his neck is a hard rubber combination mouth and nose guard. These were used only for a few years -- and no wonder!

It must have been a slow day, back in 1978. I was reading Sports Illustrated and noticed a small story in the column titled “In the Spotlight.” Some fellow (see below) in the San Francisco Bay Area had thought up this little game with a bunch of guys selecting American Football League players from the offensive side of the ball, toting up their scores from each weekend’s action and comparing their scores.

I thought that sounds like fun and the next thing I know, we’ve gathered together 12 fellow workers at The Sacramento Bee, established some very basic rules, held a draft and the All Points Football League was born. I cannot recall how much money we put in the pot but I do have an account of the winnings: The 12 players were divided into two divisions and each division winner earned $20; second place was worth $15 and third was $11. Also, the team with the most points at the season’s end earned an extra $2. In addition, the team winning each week’s head-to-head, collected a dollar (ONE DOLLAR!) from the losing team owner. Wow!

We played that league for more than 25 years, until disbanding a couple years ago. But it was so simple. The only things that mattered were touchdowns, field goals and conversions. No yardage bonuses, no points per yard, no points per catch, no points for fumbles or fumble recoveries or sacks, no waivers, no free agents, no play-offs. Just pick a team of 15 players, select a QB, a couple runners, a pair of receivers (tight ends, OK) and a kicker and off we go.

The newsletter that I produced at the time indicates the league would hold a secondary draft halfway through the season, which actually was held in Week 11. Curiously, the league also allowed teams to add or drop a player at any time. Trading players also was allowed -- and there was no limit on the number of players on your roster so you could trade two for one. It was first come, first served. The schedule worked perfectly for a 16- week season. Each team played against each squad in the other division once and each team in your own division twice. Perfectly square. No byes.

I recall team owners scrambling each Friday to figure out which athlete might be injured, and how badly, and whether he would start that weekend’s game. I don’t recall the NFL publishing an injury list in 1979 but if they did, it was very difficult to find. Some newspapers would publish it and I can recall trying to hunt down a SF Chronicle for an updated injury list. We had sports writers in our little group and it seemed like they often a had a bit of a head start on the rest of the team owners. But they would often share their information – especially if they were not going head-to-head with you that weekend. Of course, there was always the team owner who forgot to turn in his lineup or didn’t know his QB was on injured reserve or wanted to trade for a player with a broken leg.

And the scores reflected the simplicity of the game. The first week’s scores ranged from 9 (nine!) to 46. And check this out: the 46 came from 4 TD by Ahmad Rashad, Vikings WR; 12 by Sherman Smith, Seattle RB, and 10 by NY Jets kicker Frank Leahy. The lowest scoring game? A 1-0.

But establishment of yardage bonuses and defenses changed all that. And for a while, we even played "team quarterback:" If you drafted Joe Montana, you would also get all the other QBs on the 49er roster and their scores would count if they got into the game. This was done at the time when quarterbacks were getting knocked out on a regular basis and we felt it offered some kind of insurance. Of course, when a team was ahead in the final moments of a game, a sub would come marching in and want to prove he could throw a TD, causing much teeth-gnashing. .

There was action, however, as shown by the 73 I got in week two from Steve Grogan, NE QB; Sidney Thornton, Pittsburgh RB; Harold Jackson, NE WR; Jean Fugett, Washington TE, and Rafael Septien, Dallas K. As commissioner at the time, adding up the scores was simplicity itself. Only a few years later, the game became a bit more complex – but in all that time, it was always fun!

The first player chosen in that 1979 draft: Seattle QB Jim Zorn. The top scoring player at the end of the season were (stand-by for this!) Brian Sipe, Cleveland QB with 180. The top scoring runner was Earl Campbell, Houston Oilers; best kicker Jim Breech, Oakland Raiders (!) kicker, and Stanley Morgan, NE, was the high scoring WR. The high-scoring team for the year got 500 points and went 11-5 in head-to-head. At the other end of the spectrum, one player got 225 points and was 0-16 in match-ups. Five teams finished 10-6, indicating a very competitive league

And when it was over, we couldn’t wait for 1980.

It was a couple years later when we developed a singular method for handling post-season games. Instead of reducing the regular year to 14 games and holding a league play-off with top scoring teams, we convened for a complete new player draft, choosing players from teams in the play-offs. I always thought this was very successful and really added a lot of excitement to the play-offs, concluding with the Super Bowl and trying to figure out how many players you could choose who would get that far. Much fun!

*Modern fantasy football can be traced back to the late Wilfred "Bill" Winkenbach, an Oakland area businessman and a limited partner in the Oakland Raiders. In 1962, Winkenbach, along with Raiders Public Relations man Bill Tunnel and Tribune reporter Scotty Starling, developed a system of organization and a rule book, which would eventually be the basis of modern fantasy football.

Letters of Lieut. Ralph K. Blasingame

A review for General Godfrey Irving, temporary commanding officer of the 5th Australian Division. Lt. Blasingame writes: "The two leading sections is my platoon and was especially commended by Colonel MacDonald, inspecting for the General."




(Introduction: Here we have a set of 10 letters from Army Lt. Ralph Blasingame of
Chico Calif., as he reaches Europe in January 1918. Among his concerns for his family – including brother Harris on duty in Camp Lewis, Wash. – are bits of information from a very acute observer about his activities away from the actual battle front. )

From California to 'Over There'
On letterhead of the RMS Baltic.)
Jan. 11, 1918
Dearest Mother:
When you receive this I will have arrived safely "over there" and any worries you may have had will have cause to cease.
My stay in New York while short was very delightful as a result of the many kindnesses of new found acquaintances. To them I shall always be grateful.
Should Mrs. Frances Johnson or her daughter Amelia ever go to Chico, I know you will remember them.
New York is full of Jews, one dollar bills and a shortage of coal but for all that it is quite wonderful and worth the visiting.
How have you been? I hope that aren’t experiencing the rheumatism you generally have in the winter and I’m mighty thankful you haven’t this sort of weather to put up with.
We are very comfortably located however with plenty of warm clothes and you must know that I’m all OK and enjoying every bit of it.
The government is handling things so nicely that one could not be anything but cheery and I hope when you hear the dreary tales of some that you think of the yowls the come from the Border (?) and which were mostly founded on homesickness.
Have been very busy, otherwise would feel ashamed at not having written oftener. The stores here are great and it is a pleasure to shop in them - only wish that one of them was located in Chico; it would be fine.
I’m about to write a bunch of friends so will close, sincerely hoping that you are enjoying good spirits and health the things that ease my nightly offering.
Lots of Love
Ralph
PS: My address is
Lieut. Ralph K. Blasingame
c/o Postmaster New York City, NY
Expeditionary Force
1st Lt. F.A.R.C. Unassigned
Please give this to my friends.
* * *
Meeting well-known shipmates
(Undated but most very soon after his arrival in France; say January 1918. Written in ink on two pages; first pages missing.)
The weather here is very clear and Lordy but it is cold. I can’t recall a time in my life before when I was as cold as I have been over here. It is doing me lots of good for I’ve gained eight pounds and feel very good. . . look good too.
We get very good food and as much as we need altho sometimes a person can’t help but think of some of the home things. I hid some of the cakes and candy in my trunk and just ate them last week from the box I got at Sacto (Sacramento).
It is very hard to get American cigarettes and the French ones are vile. I have a good stock in my trunk that will last for a month and I hope conditions change by then.
We’re situated in a very beautiful part of France and while we are too busy to make a detailed survey we see lots while working. I have been over quite a bit of England and France and just this week got located permanently.
Got a little thrill in the Tuscania (see below) mix-up. Had charge of the watch on the big nite but couldn’t see anything.
Our pay is being held up due to a shortage of vouchers but find it to my advantage as I will save more that way. Will be expressing it home when paid.
Met Irvin A. Cobb (see below) the writer on the way over and got well acquainted with him. He’s very funny and better conversationalist than he is a writer. Also met a Mr. Bouron, a member of the English Food Control. They are trying to get onion seed through S. F. Brokers and need them very badly. Also met Mr. Leslie, another member, and a very famous Englishman. I told him that Ennis Brown Co. was a good outfit to do business with and where he could get hold of you. They were all very nice to me and asked me to visit them in England.
Just had a call for war, will be writing again this week. There’s nothing ever happens here so don’t expect anything startling.
Love, Ralph
Post Office 718, A.E.F., France
Note: The Tuscania left New Jersey on Jan. 24, 1918, with 2,013 American troops and 384 crew. On Feb., 5, a torpedo from U-77 struck the ship. Troops were recovered by destroyer escorts but 230 people, mostly crewmen, died.)
Note: Irvin S. Cobb (1876-1944) was an American author, humorist and columnist who wrote 60 books and more than 300 short stories.
* * *
Cavalry training takes hold
(On YMCA letterhead with imprint: "On Active Service with the American Expeditionary Force.")
Feb. 1918
Dearest Mother
After many days of very hard work I again find time for a few lines. I have not been able to write anyone but you but I expect to be able to write my friends soon.
Have been traveling very much lately and between trains, motors, bicycles, and horses have been over considerable territory which for the most part have been very interesting. At last I am located for a period of time in one certain place and will be able to regulate my affairs.
My room is in an old chateau and it is beautiful. It is equipped with electric lights and a steam heater which doesn’t work altho it is very much needed. At present this difficulty is overcome however by a fireplace which makes it very pleasant in the evening while the fire lasts. It is very cold in the mornings here and as this building is of stone and hardwood I know you can imagine how I like getting up in the morning in such a place.
It is necessary to keep long hours here and the day is very full. Most all of us will look forward with pleasure to the week’s rest that comes in three months.
I have a very good boarding place for most of my meals and for my board and room I must pay something over two hundred francs, or about $50. I like the food and am getting fat on it.
Lt. Blasingame on La Bero.
The water here is not good and we drink wine and chocolate almost entirely. The coffee is very poor and I have never seen any tea altho I am living happily without them.
I have a riding lesson every day and enjoy it very much as I have a very fine horse. I also ride into the country quite a bit on a bicycle, an extinct sport in America.
The environment of this particular city is wonderful and I wish you could see it. There is a body of water spreading away under my window and I go out on the balcony and look across it each morning; it presents such a beautiful sight.
How is Paul? I think of him often. I certainly hope and pray that he may get well.
Do you hear from Harris? I would like for him to be with me for it would do him so much good in years to come. Give both he and Paul my love and say I will write at the first opportunity.
How have you been? I wish you were here for I am sure this climate would keep you feeling fine, it is really wonderful.
Tell the folks and friends I would be ashamed for not writing if I was not so busy. Will write them all soon.
Love to all, Ralph
Post Office 718
American Expeditionary Force

* * *
Early use of Daylight savings time; those mercenary French
U.S.P.O. 718, A.E.F.
March 14, 1918
Dearest Willette and Mal:
Just one month ago today, your wedding and Mal’s birthday anniversary, I arrived in this locality and it looks like good fortune favored me for we will be here for two months more at least. It is quite peaceful here and now that the weather is good we are enjoying a blissful existence.
Last week it was snowing and very cold but now it is very warm and generally nice altho we expect some rain anytime. The spring they have here is very mild except for a light frost in the early morning which is not enough to keep the blossoms back. The daylight is increased too and the sun doesn’t go down until 4:30 p.m. We like that part of it but it makes the day longer.
They do not separate the day here at noon but count the hours straight through which makes one-o-clock the 13th hour, 2 p.m. 14th, 3 p.m. 15th and so on up to 24. Also they set the clock up to increase the daylight for working purposes. March 9th they moved up one hour and it does save lots of time.
The French people are very mercenary as a general rule and I have decided to spend as little money with them as possible. They make no pretense at being otherwise when you catch them. Frankly I am very much put out with the shop keepers anyway for they certainly take advantage of every opportunity to cheat the American boys.
We are getting lots of action with the guns and I have gone in, in place of a gunner and fired quite a few shots. Just after a change of position the other day I sat in the gunner’s seat and the gun bucked pretty bad skinning my elbows and knees. The ground is very soft and it is necessary to put in platforms for the guns to keep them from sinking out of sight.
The equitation continues with fewer accidents which indicates that we getting better. I have a fine calloused seat and enjoy it more than ever.
Benson and I have moved and have a much better layout. We have two rooms now and use one for a clean-up place and the other to live in.
I would like to tour the this country in and out in peace time. It is so pretty in the spring and from the outside. The roads are marvelous for good weather travel and there is no traffic. Everything is along the road too and very convenient to use. They rebuild everything over here with a fine disregard for modern improvement.
A pile of manure marks the doorway of each rural doorway and it is more carefully guarded than the wood, altho both are treasured possessions.
I have just recovered from an eye infection which wasn’t very bad altho it made them look like sin. The Lt. Dr. that cared for it was very good and fixed it up without my going on sick report. Going on sick report generally necessitates no duty so we fixed it up with ??? on the outside. I got dust in my eyes and the whole country has been so liberally manured that the infection most likely came from that.
Authority permitting, I am sending Mae a cigarette torch made from the remains of a German belt buckle and shell fragments. The crippled artisan that made it almost ruined it by putting his regiment number on #13. They are very strict about medals being exported and I’m trying to get a jewelry classification on it.
The Belgium Burgomeister’s wife who resides close by was very attentive during my eye trouble and having been a Red Cross nurse gave some valuable help at the right time. There aren’t any American nurses here and that didn’t cut out the sympathy. She’s fat, forty and Belgium Blond (like Sis). Dirty fingernails didn’t spoil the good intentions and they are quite ?? over here.
How are the girls? I think of them every day and will be sending them something next express day. We can’t send packages every day or it would interfere with regular business.
How are the Haworths and the Phillips, Radcliffes and all the neighbors. Give them my best.
Also don’t forget to remember me to the Merrys, Cronny and Eva Mae. I intend writing them soon. I hope Cronny is having a better time of it than before.
I dream of Paul every other night and it worries me some. I sincerely hope he has that one opportunity in a million of getting well. If he had only received this sort of training he might never have been pulled down. I certainly shall advocate lots of physical training hereafter.
How is poor Mid? I wish for her sake that he could be more agreeably located.
Tell Mother she could have a swell time here going over these old chateaus. They are wonderful in some ways but having resided in part of one, I’ll take the modern ones. Knowing her fondness for examining old things, I often think of her when going in and out of the old roost.
Must do some studying so adios with much love,
Ralph
* * *

A postcard of Chateau de Villegenis; Blasingame's room is marked with an "X."

A plea for coffee, cigarettes
U.S.P.O. 718 A.E.F.
Sunday, March 18
Dearest Mother
Today, Sunday, finds me in very good health and spirits and I hope you and the family are as well.
Benson and I moved today and have a very good room which is much closer to our work. It is also warmer than the other one which makes it all that could be wished for.
Explosions no longer furnish a thrill for us and our ears are adjusted to the noise. Nature certainly proved as well in every way. Our ears are filled with wax which comes in as fast as we wipe it out. We use a little cotton too, in addition to nature’s provision.
I filled in on a gun crew yesterday and had lots of fun. The ground is very soft from rain and snow which makes it a very poor seating for the guns and as I went on just after a change of position in the first that furnished a good ride before the trail spade became imbedded . The ground is so soft that is necessary to furnish a platform on change of position every 8 or 10 shots.
We are using quite a bit of trench material and they are certainly fine guns. I fired 40 shots in short order yesterday without any apparent heating of the gun which is remarkable.
The weather has turned off beautiful in the last couple of days and it is certainly appreciated. Only the early morning frost keeps the blossoms back and the middle of the day is wonderful. Violets are coming out and when on reconnaissance little boys come out with small bunches that their mother has put up for us. These little fellows are very bright and pick up English very readily. All of them can say "good morning" and is it is necessary to say "hello" to a thousand of them every day.
I had a slight infection in my right eye but it is gone now. The Lt. Dr. here is very good and knocked my infection in quick order. I was out on a motor trip and got dust in my eye from the machine ahead which mostly caused the infection. They manure the ground liberally here which makes infection from dirt more liable. When I get a scratch I paint it with iodine and the "new skin" to keep out infection.
I am learning considerable about riding over here and like it very much as I progress. If determination counts, I will be the best horseman they turn out. We are hurdling a bit now but just ordinary. Before we have finished we must go over a hedge and ditch and all sort of obstacles. Margaret Stuffer would like it because when one horse tires out you get another. They don’t figure to spare the horses and spoil a rider.
My dog hasn’t arrived yet but I have a good place to keep him on his arrival. We have a big washroom adjoining our bedroom which will make a good dog house.
We are doing a lot of reconnaissance work and it is fine. The outdoor part is the most attractive part but I am getting interested in sketching and tiny bit more professional at it.
Was examined by the Board on something that involves very high forms of mathematics and didn’t do very much. Thank the Lord I have a chance to bone up a bit. I have made up my mind to do my best but they know the extent of my math before sending me over from previous inquiries.
I am getting Bob a ?? and an identification bracelet which I will send the first time I get to town. That is, the town where I have them. Will get you some gloves like I wear as they are very good looking and much warmer that all the heavy things you can pile on.
They (the YMCA) have a very nice old lady name Mallow. She is solicitous about our health and habits and mothers us around in a good fashion. I like her very much she is so agreeable and ??? without a degree of partiality. She makes chocolate and coffee for us quite often and it is much better than that which we have.
If Anyone wants to send me anything tell them to send Hills Bros. Coffee and cigarettes. Also if Bob has lots of chocolates, one or two them will do.
Have been paid but can’t get to a place to send it home. Will be able to this week tho. We get enough francs each month to live on that we could live in France for years on them. I flashed a 1,000 franc note on a store woman the other day and she almost fell away in a faint.
I wrote Margaret a letter last week and suppose she will send it up to you.
Must get some shut-eye for the good of the service so adios my dear with lots of love to you and the sisters.
Ralph
Note: "Bob" reference is Roberta Blasingame of Chico, Calif., a sister.
* * *
Using a 75mm gun as a 'heater'

April 5, 1918
Dearest Mother:
Your letter of March 6 came today and I’m very happy. I hadn’t received any before, except the one Dorothea M. wrote me and you can’t imagine how relieved I was to get this letter. I didn’t know myself till tonight but my spirits are so high tonight that it must have been that. I hadn’t any idea of how you were except what I assumed from the fact that you addressed Dorothy’s letter.
Was very glad to know Bob was again OK. I thought of her injured leg often and hoped it wouldn’t result seriously. I begrudged her hot irons when I was home and hot water bottles also, but since arriving over here have experienced two nights when I would have traded my extra shirts for one. Tell her if she intends joining the signal Corp she had but take advantage of them while she can. There are some over here. Next winter I intend warming up a 75 and by firing an evenings salute to the gun and taking it to bed with me.
I read the clippings with interest and you will be doing a kindness by enclosing some each time for I have always been glad to get them.
One of them recalled my letters from Harold Bishop and Mrs. Davis and for fear my other letters have gone astray will say I was unable to present them, much to my sorrow. I did however have a nice visit in England and liked it very much. I met some fine Britishers, too, among them being J. H. Bowron of the English Food Control, a Mr. Leslie also of the Food Control and several Army men. I met Major Bishop, the English ace (Aviation) and Major, and Major (Hugh) Nevin of Princess Patricia’s Own. I say Princess Patricia’s own because the English aren’t crazy about the term Princess Pat’s.
Also read Skinny Birmingham’s letter with interest. He is not far from here but I have ben unable to get over where he is. I have seen Fred A. twice on the side and could understand his writing regularly. Fortunately he had not been assigned up until then and had a few minutes in which to write. He is in the Art. (artillery) and kept so busy that it is impossible to write often. I have written each of the sisters once or twice at least from each stopping place and they should be getting them soon.
I had another letter from Willette which was very interesting. It came with yours and I felt that too many good things were happening at once. She told me of Melborne joining the Army and I was glad to know of it. He will be advanced in something worthwhile when the war is over as aeroplanes are quite the thing now. We have a much superior air force to that of the Hun and they are doing pretty work at present.
War is becoming a very scientific practice and anyone coming over here will be advanced when it is over. I would like to detail our work to you it is so very interesting but will have to wait until I get home.
I am still living a peaceful life and have but one advantage in living over here and this being able to see and know the Hun’s frightfulness and get early news from the different battles. I couldn’t wish one thing more than the complete defeat of the Hun’s entire forces. They are getting a good trouncing now altho they look good on paper.
Benson and I had a two days permission at Easter time and spent it looking over the country. We visited some very interesting places and had an enjoyable time. Will send some pictures, censorship permitting . We also had some very good meals. We get the same thing Birmingham spoke of except I think the price is a bit high. They don’t seem to have conscious stricken behavior so guess it is all right.
I have had a bad cold recently and a slight attack of tonsilitis but nothing serious. It was from change of under clothes I think as I have gone back to BVDs with the coming of good weather. Weighed myself the other day thinking that with light clothes I would lose what I had gained but continued fat. I was surprised to find I had gained more as I weighed 170 with all the clothes off. I’m getting to resemble Don more every day. Tell him I will write him my next permission.
There is one cloud on Benson’s and my horizon and that is, we are to lose our striker. He is a young Frenchman and goes in the draft tomorrow. He is quite tickled and joins others of the same age in parading the street singing battle songs. They don’t appear to be much affected here by attrition as he and others are quite old enough to go.
The spring is opening slowly but very kindly which makes us all feel very good. We are getting the necessary rain along with the sunny days. And while we don’t like the rains so much, they are tolerable. This is a beautiful country now but there is no country in the world that surpasses Chico in the spring. I am so convinced of that that many of the officers call me Chico.
Perhaps you would like some details of my trip over. It may be had in part by your reading Irvin Cobb’s article of March 9 Sat. Evening Post. I saw a little more of it that he did having been in charge of the Watch that evening. I didn’t see the Post but heard someone say it was in there and he was on my ship.
(See Letter No. 2)
How is the family? I think of them all often. I think of Harry and his car at this particular season for it would be swell to go queening in when all the world is young. Tell Ted that we have most of the ball players over here and that we need some good managers. Several I have seen know Ted very well.
Was sorry Laureen had to send you my bill but don’t let these worry you for they will be cared for as soon as I can get money orders for them. You might write any of them that send bills there saying I have not forgotten the obligation but many things interfere with a more prompt mail service and that they must be considered. I hope the folks at home don’t become impatient with the Army service for it is wonderful, everything considered. Things are much better here than they were in Arizona and our Gen. is a bear for organization.
We get efficiency evaluations right along and I sincerely regret the way I misused my opportunities in high mathematics. I hope it doesn’t cause my downfall and don’t
think it will but it takes lots of hard graft to keep up. The average citizen has no idea to what extent war has been developed. It is bringing all sorts of inventions out that will prove very valuable to the people at large once it is possible to disclose them.
I must get to work now but will write whenever possible and hope to hear from you often. Remember me to Bucknells, Ben Crouch and all of the friends and say I will write them as soon as time develops.
Love to all, Ralph
PS: New Address
c/o Army Artillery Headquarters
USPO 728, AEF
Note: Major Billy Bishop of the Canadian Royal Flying Corps, was credited with destroying 72 enemy aircraft. The Germans nicknamed him "Hell’s Handmaiden."
* * *
Lt. Blasingame aboard Cynquire.

Worries about flu on the home front
(Undated letter; typewritten single page; first pages missing.)
Enclosed is a picture taken of me day before yesterday by Capt. Hibbert and I think it is pretty good. He took it with my camera but the sun made me squint something fierce. I didn’t get one of the orderly and horse but will send one as soon as they are finished; also one of me on my first string mount which is a dandy. My first horse is called Cynquire and has a pedigree too long for reading; the other is call La Bero and was also from a fine old gang. Cynquire is the big bay and La Bero is the chestnut sorrel with the blazed face.
I am sending Margaret Stauffer some of the pictures also because she will like them if they have horses in them. She writes me wonderful letters in fact, the best ones I rhink. She never says anything about the family but Harris tells me all about Ben and his doings.
Our major has been made a Lt. Col. which is just for he is the best officer in our outfit in my estimation. His men come first and altho he is hard goer his heart is the in the right place. It is too bad that they all aren’t just like him.
One of the Lts. from the other battalion was here visiting with me yesterday and he tells me that they all lost all of their equipment in the last fracas. That has been the bane of my existence over here, getting new equipment to lose. Most everyone had the same luck however and I am not alone in distress. My field glasses and gas mask I kept with me and they are quite safe but all of my other instruments went up the flue.
I was quite alarmed to hear of the numerous deaths in Chico from the flu, especially when I learned that was your trouble but then along came Bob’s second letter saying that you were once again OK .... We had many men sick with it but didn’t lose a one and I haven’t heard of anyone dieing with it. It seems a shame that they can’t have some cure for it.
Barney Hoskins wrote me from over here the other day and told me that George (Tuffy) Rieff was in my outfit but I have been unable to find him after a careful search. I handled the replacements for the Brigade in one fracas and may have had Tuffy then but didn’t see him as there were any number of them. He isn’t with the old outfit either as I inquired for him there too. Hoskins writes that LeRoy Williams and Art Waltz’ wife were married and that Stotts and El were about to tie up. They are welcome to each other.
The daily papers we are getting here from the States seem to be detailing the war in general and if we don’t get home soon we will have nothing to tell. The men are anxious to get home but behave very well about it. These poor fellows here were denied a chance at the Front and just because they were so good, too. They were chosen to instruct the Candidates for three months. And did it so well that they kept them for three hitches. They were all worried about it too but we know what they would have done if they had been up there.
I am OD again tonight and must make a tour of the posts so goodnight my lovers with beaucoup love to all.
Ralph
* * *
A long day in the saddle
(Undated, but most likely early fall 1918.)
Alors Mon Cherie Mere:
You mustn’t worry if my mail seems a bit irregular from now on because we have loads of work to do and it requires lots of my physical energy which in turn requires so much sleep. I know you won’t worry too because how can you with such a pretty little nurse. Tell Miss Elizabeth I love her deeply for taking such good care of my mother, and will always be in debt to her. Also give Capt. And Mrs. G my very best.
How is your health? I hope it is good and stays good for as you suggested in your last letter, a short time will find me home again and it wouldn’t do for you to be ill during the celebrating.
Those pictures you and Bob sent were swell and gave me something to stick in a frame I have. I framed the one of you and Elizabeth fooling with Bob’s cat. That’s a rotten cat by the way and when I get home with my German shepherd he’ll have to do some climbing around. I don’t see how you put up with him but from the pictures take it that you fell for this one, too.
Minnie’s letter and Don’s present arrived OK and I’m saving the handkerchief to put in my sock Xmas eve. Tell Don I’m very grateful and will bring him a Hun souvenir from Belleau Wood near Chateau Thierry. My box hasn’t arrived yet but it will . I don’t want it before Christmas anyway,.
It’s a wonderful feeling to know what a peach of a bunch of sisters I have. They all write as regularly and interestingly that I almost feel ashamed but I know they will excuse me.
Just for example so you may know a few of the things I have to do, here is a program. At seven each morning I must have my battery or rather our battery ready to march at 7 a.m. for service d’campaign or field service. The horses must be fed, housed, groomed, watered, fed and harnessed before this time so we get up all hours. This lasts until 5 p.m., then it is grooming, feeding, etc. all over again, plus cleaning of harness. On the side, I am preparing defense for a prisoner who I am defending before a special court., see to requisition of supplies, look over paper work, repair stables which are in bad shape, and once a week do a hitch as O.D. and that’s plenty for me. I am in the saddle about 8 hours per and find it doesn’t hurt my side - in fact it strengthens it.
The weather here is abominable, the rain never lets up and the mud is terrible. The horses sink to their hocks and the guns to their hubs every time we leave the road and then we have plenty to do, which is often. Io expect to tell you in my next letter that our camp has been flooded because we are on an island and both rivers are out of their banks below and above here. Lt. Moore and I are OK, however, as we live in a house just outside of camp and it is swell. We have a nice fire and manage to keep dry and warm in spite of the elements.
Suppose that you are getting some rain at home now that duck hunting is on full blast. I’ll be home for trout season you bet and deer season also. Can hardly wait altho we got two wild boars here last week. They are small but OK and we are to have them Xmas at the Battery Mess.
Haven’t heard from Harris this week but expect a letter any time as he is very regular with his correspondence. Can hardly wait for final results of his family venture. Don’t give a ____ whether it’s a boy or girl; either would be OK.
Well, Mother dear, must close as I am writing Harris so adios with beaucoup love . Also love to sisters.
Ralph
* * *
Thievery on the front
Saumur, France,
December 6, 1918
Dearest Mother and All:
It has been some days since I had any mail but the last bunch I had makes me feel that I owe numerous letters to you all. There is absolutely nothing of interest happening in this place and it makes writing very difficult unless we tell of the camp details and they aren’t interesting to civilians.
Suppose you are having the usual December weather at home which calls for lots of rain. Here it has been very nice for the last four days except for a disagreeable mist that hangs about every morning. The sun went out nice and warm this afternoon so I had a bath and promenade on my horse.
Now that war has been called off we have some wonderful horses and each day finds us riding a couple of hours at least. The US Government bought the thoroughbreds that formerly belonged to this school and we had our pick of them in order of rank. I have been using two and hope to get home with one of them. They are certainly wonderful horses the of the Arabian type. They are very nervous at present due to the fact that they have been brought up in a riding school and they don’t know what it is to be taken out on the roads where we encounter automobiles, etc. They are sensible animals however and getting used to outdoor life. My side won’t stand any trick stuff just yet but the other officers are on the steeplechase course every morning showing what their horses will do.
It seems a shame to burden you with any of my minor troubles but you may as well know about them for they are only serious in one way. I have lost all of my equipment and I can’t help but think it was stolen enroute here. My bedding roll or the remains of it came in the other day and I would much rather have lost the whole works than to have seen what was left of it. Thank the Lord they didn’t take my mattress but that was about all that was left of it; they also left a Hun cartridge pouch but took some others just like it plus other trinkets. My orderly at the front was a dandy at rolling the outfit up and I know that it was shipped in good condition but it was a sorry wreck when it arrived here. All of my clothes went too.
Our work is slackening up some and we aren’t as busy as formerly which makes it a bit better for the men who have worked hard and faithfully. I am especially glad for we will now have an opportunity to get them in fine shape for the Reviews that we will most certainly have when we get back. It is hard to say then that will be but it isn’t far off.
Suppose Harris will be getting home soon now to family. They have asked most of us if we wanted to remain in the army or not and I said that I did. I would hate to go home if I could relieve any of the men who went thru the last month of the fighting when I was in that wonderful hospital. They certainly deserve every possible favor for they caught ----.
If you try any more of that flu stuff I don’t know what I will do with you. Bob writes me that you aren’t the best patient in the world as you insist upon eating and drinking everything on the list. I don’t blame you for eating because it had me out of bed and back to work long before they said I would be out. You must take good care of yourself because we will have lots of chasing about to do toot des suit.
Some of the Xmas packages are coming in and the Capt. allowed them to be distributed as they arrived and in that respect I disagree with him for I think they should be saved until Xmas day for they would enjoy them that much more. Of course in this manner of letting them out as they arrive we avoid a rather spare few feeling of the men who might not get theirs on time,
(No signature)
* * *
An equestrian challenge
APO 795 A.E.F. France
February 22, 1919
Dearest Mother and Bob:
It has been some days since last I wrote but they have been very busy ones that did not permit it. We are doing about 5 hours of mounted drill daily now in addition to instruction in different things for the men and it not only takes up all of our day time but we must study some ourselves.
The weather here has turned off warm and nice and besides a little rain about everyday it is OK. The ice and snow have disappeared and we are living quite comfortably.
Hope you are all in good health etc. We haven’t had any mail for a week or more and don’t expect any for sometime and I am expecting a whole bag full soon. Tell Ted he mustn’t let the winter weather get him down because we will be on for some duck shooting next winter. Hope Ted is well and going by now.
The enclosed pictures are of our stable area, my two horses and orderly, my pup at one and a half months old, and a little French girl who I talk with to improve my French. The girl’s name is Theresa Fontaine and they live quite near the stables. She speaks English very well and I learn a word or two every day when she is home from school. There is a little American girl here that comes by with this one that is the step daughter of a French officer. Her family lives in the east in the states. My pup is quite large now and tonight had a first rate trimming from yours truly because he wouldn’t mind. Now he is sulking down with the horses. He is exactly like a young coyote altho he is as large as the average grown one now. He eats enough for a soldier three times a day and shooting up like a weed. They are very sensitive dogs and as stubborn as mules but I think American treatment will make a dog out of this little Hun.
The other picture is a flame thrower demonstrating liquid fire. This is terrible stuff as you may observe and while it was not used very much at the front there were times when it was necessary. This particular apparatus is controlled but the Boche apparatus was as dangerous to himself to use if he happened to be wounded as it would continue to spout regardless of where it was pointed.
Lt. Slensby and myself are drawing up a challenge to the entire A.E.F. for a high jumping contest and general field meet with horses and we expect to win it easily. His horse jumped six feet with him up the other day from a tan bark takeoff over a foot deep and on soil ground will have no trouble in going 7 feet. Slensby is the best rider for jumping that I have ever seen and we are going to include all of the Allies in this challenge. My horses are a trifle over average in most everything and we have some others that are good for any distance in a running race. When the Cavalry School at Saumur broke up we got the pick of the horses and believe me we have some dandies. My orderly rides a better horse than many a poor general ever had at the front or any other place for that matter. C’est la guerre. Every division is having a horse show here now but we haven’t entered as yet because when the different generals see our horses it will be fini horses so we are delaying as much as possible so that we can step out just before going home.
Here is the end of the sheet and nothing of interest to write about so will close with love to all.
Ralph
* * *
Destroyers on the Canal
(On American Red Cross stationery.)
March 3, 1919
Dearest Mother and Bob
Had numerous of your letters yesterday, most of them telling of the 6 letters returned. I think the dates were for the later part of January. Was glad to learn you were both OK once more and hope you don’t get down again.
At present my baggage is located in Gerauvilliers, a small village 5 kilos east of Gondrecort, but yours truly is at Toul, and just now waiting for Geo. Malloy to come down and see me. I phoned him that I was at the Officers Rest Billet but he was not there so left a message with someone out there.
The other Sunday, I was officiating at a foot-ball game at Saumur and the visiting team put in a new man; the new man was Cussick Malloy so when I talked with him he told me that George was here. Today I had an ammunition train out and stopped over here for the night. I hope Geo. comes down.
Saw a strange sight today - 3 British destroyers here at Toul. Look on your map and you can imagine how queer it really seemed to find 3 miniature battleships steaming alongside the road. It merely goes to show how complete the European Canal system is. There are places where this particular canal passes over the Mouse River on a bridge, too. The canals are continued from one water system to another by tunnels and bridges and this particular one connects the Marne and the Rhine.
My automobiles are without headlights and I was forced to stop here for the night, as my load is ammunition already fired and it would hardly do to go over a bank with it.
The weather while rainy is somewhat better than usual as it is not so cold. Today was really quite warm and nice except for a drizzle of rain.
We have lots of work to do here and it keeps one busy all of the time. The work has let down a bit this week but we have so much cleaning to do that the task seems endless.
Had some letters from Harris too the other day and of course he pats himself on the back about Dean. I hardly blame him.
My pup is growing so fast I don’t know what I will do about him when I start home. He had a battle with a cat yesterday and came out OK.
Gee but I am itchy. I think I have everything from scabies to lice since sleeping in the French house last night.
Geo. hasn’t shown up yet and it’s getting late for me as I must be up at 4:30 tomorrow, so love and good night. Ralph
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