[Take a step back in time and enjoy this old-fashioned Christmas celebration at our Idaho farmhouse. This first letter is from my grandmother, Ina Dobson, to her son, Vance, who is a piano teacher in Raymond, Washington. (See photo left) Ina's daughter, Ethel, and her husband, Ernest, are there at the farm for Christmas with their 10-year-old daughter, Shirley Jean. Ina's youngest daughter, Shirley, is also there. She works at a doctor's office in Orofino. The next June Shirley will marry Henry Shockley, who is also mentioned in the letter.]
Sunday, Jan. 3, 1937
Dearest Vance,
You are getting my first letter of 1937! We have some snow. It began the Sunday following Xmas for we had a black one [no snow for Christmas.] It was very merry though with six of us here to enjoy it. We were all so glad you called us and started the day off fine.
We had our tree without the June’s this year and it was a full one. Shirley Jean went with Ernest to get it and Dad set it up Thursday forenoon. Then she, Shirley and Henry trimmed it. Shirley was sort of weak from a touch of flu so doctor told her she’d better come home Wednesday evening and from then on it seemed really like X
mas to me. Henry is good company, too, and he didn’t go over home till Xmas Eve.
Shirley Jean was thrilled to be allowed to tie on gifts, etc. She hung up her stocking at the fireplace and Dad did too as he usually does when a grandchild is here. Shirley Jean was allowed to slip down and get her sock before everyone else was up. We only stipulated that it should not be too early morning. I put a book in the top of it, so as to keep her quiet till we were up. After breakfast she was allowed to take off gifts and hand them around and was delighted.
It was another “skimpy Xmas,” with everyone well-remembered. Earle and Bernice sent us a plaque representing the covered wagon days. A wagon in the foreground and the train stretching beyond, the skull of an ox adds a touch of realism. It is about 8x10 and very interesting, looks fine on the mantel. They sent me a pen and pencil set in green. Myrtle sent Dad a bag of nuts and I put that in his sock. Shirley gave us a set of pretty plates in wild rose des
ign and Shirley Jean gave us a sugar and creamer to match. I already had cups and saucers, platter and bowls in that design so feel pretty well fixed now for dishes. Ethel gave me a set of mixing bowls in heavy pink glass for my birthday . . . Gene sent me a box of pretty handkerchiefs and Ben sent a box of stationery in a book-shaped box. They will keep on sending things at Xmas, though I’d prefer being left out on it. Dad gave me pretty boudoir slippers, so I did well. There were other small remembrances and cards which I will spare you in my recital.
The rug is very pretty. Henry brought it out after taking Shirley back Sunday P.M. after Xmas for she had Saturday and Sunday off, too, but failed to get those days off after New Year’s Day. Henry, Ernest, and Shirley got it down the A.M. of New Year’s Day. (We were at June’s for dinner and had the usual spread tho Aunt had told us to not expect much.) It makes the room look larger and lighter. Thank you for your share in it. Your box came the day after Xmas and so prolonged it for us. I gathered them all around and all enjoyed the beautifully wrapped gifts and the verses on them. The holly decorations were so lovely, too. Shirley and Henry immediately began to further embellish the house with them. They took down the big etching over the mantel and hung the large cluster you made there and used the silvered branches over the other two. What a lot of time you must have spent on them and how beautiful they are. We reserved some and the ball sprays for our Sunday dinner decorations. We made a lovely centerpiece of holly and the sprays and candles and dined in state with the best cloth, dishes, etc., all by candle light. So don’t feel bad that yours didn’t get here for Xmas as we had more opportunity to enjoy it. As I said it just prolonged our festivities, really. Shirley Jean’s box is so pretty and quaint-like. [Vance had sent Shirley Jean a small jewelry box.] Dad’s gift was a very happy thought and mine of the salt and pepper very clever and handy and already have seen service. I like them. They are so nice to pick up. Well, shall ring off on Xmas!
Well, anyway it was a red-letter one with the folks here. I’m keeping your card and the leaves on my gift and Ethel is keeping hers. What a jumble this is! But you’ll understand! I hope you’ll tell us all about your Xmas, etc. We kept the house all decorated till yesterday when we moved the tree out and all. It was the first time we’d had the garlands up since ’30 when Ethel and Shirley Jean were here for Xmas the last time.
Well, we’ve just had dinner – beef soup . . . huckleberry pie with whipped cream. Of course, you’ll understand there were in-betweens. Mrs. Dawson gave Shirley some maple sugar for Xmas and she sent part up here, so we are going to have waffles with maple syrup one of these days. Come over and you may have yours with whipped cream and [?] maple sugar ala Rectors.
Now I think I’ll stop for Ethel and Shirley Jean are also writing.
Love and all good wishes for the New Year. Mother Inda
[A few pieces of the dishes Ina mentions, "Wild Rose" by Homer Laughlin, were left here in the house, so I took a picture of a placesetting. I have enjoyed researching that pattern online.]
10 comments:
Hmm, what do you know about the Mrs. Dawson who gave Shirley some maple sugar? Could it have been Granny? She was married to Grandpa Daws by then, and they had a grocery store. Wonder how many Dawsons there were in Orofino in 1936.
Do you know where the picture of your dad was taken? It's a very nice photo.
I don't know anything about Mrs. Dawson, but if your granny was Mrs. Dawson in 1936, then I suspect it was she. And I don't know why she would have given Shirley maple syrup. Perhaps it was because she worked at the doctor's office.
On the back of the picture of my dad it says: "The little 'piano-man' on a bright Sunday morning" -- and that's all. I think it was taken in Raymond in the '30s.
That is VERY interesting! I guess that would be Aunt Chris' g-ma on her mother's side then? How about that.
I wonder if the Orofino library has one of those Microfiche things where you can read through old newspapers. I bet you could learn all kinds of things.
That's Aunt Chris' dad's mom. Her mother is actually from Seattle. Probably Aunt Chris will come back and give us better history.
I have thought of checking with the Tribune office in Orofino for research. I'm sure it would be interesting.
No, that would have been my Dad's mom. His father was killed in a car accident in 1926 when Dad was 15 months old, and Granny (as she wanted to be called by her grandchildren) married Carl Dawson, a local grocer, when Dad was about nine. That would have around 1932.
After I wrote the comment, I googled Orofino census and found them but 1930 is the last one listed. The Cummings family was listed and it was fun to see. Here's the link http://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/id/clearwater/1930/
Ha! We were writing at the same time! :-)
So, Aunt Chris, your Dad was Cummings, but he was raised by Dawson? That is very sad about the car accident.
That's right, Hallie. Dad has no memories of his father because he was so little. The accident happened on the road upriver from Ahsahka on the north fork of the Clearwater River and was the first fatal car accident in Clearwater County. All of that area is under water now because of Dworshak Dam.
Nice photo of Vance. He didn't change a lot over the years.
No, I guess he didn't change much; he definitely gained some flesh. In an interview written for the Clearwater Tribune in June 1986 by my half-sister, Harriet Reece, she quoted Vance as follows: "I started during the depression and I don't know how I survived. My second year in Raymond in 1929 I had a class of 40 pupils and then they started dropping out like flies."
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