November 30, 1967: Cafeteria fish and newlyweds

Letter postmarked November 30, 1967 (Part 5):

This is Part 5 of the letter postmarked November 30, which is the remainder of the letter not covering any specific days of our Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco.

Now to answer your letter. It was in the mailbox when we got home late Sunday night and as tired as we were we couldn't wait to read it. David Wayne loved his special letter - especially the Peanuts stickers. Dave enjoyed those articles on politics, especially the one I'm sending back to you.

[The article Mom sent back is a column someone wrote about Ralph Yarborough, who served as a US Senator from Texas from 1957 to 1971. The columnist did not have a good opinion of Senator Yarborough. The article primarily pokes fun at his response, as well as the response of many other politicians, to the damages along the Texas coast due to a recent hurricane. At the bottom of the article, in someone's handwriting other than my mother's or my grandmother's, is "This was cut from an independent paper in Birmingham." Assuming that's Birmingham, Alabama, I have no idea why a column about a Texas senator would appear in an Alabama newspaper. But I do have a theory on how my grandmother came across the article. After her divorce from my grandfather, she remained in close contact with his mother (my great-grandmother) who lived in a rural area in northwestern Alabama. My great-grandmother wrote the occasional political piece for the local newspaper, so I suspect she came across this article and sent it to my grandmother in Denton. My grandmother, in turn, must have added it to some political articles she had been saving for my dad.]

David Wayne did enjoy his Halloween, but we haven't been to see the baby in No. 9. He has been several times to No. 6 to see the old lady's fish though. She even tried to give him some.

[The old lady's fish? What's that all about? I'll refer you back to the August 28, 1967 diary entry, where Mom recounts a trip to the beach. I caught some minnows on this visit to the beach and brought them home, but they died. One of my comments regarding that diary entry was, "My desire to observe fish will be revisited later on, I hope." And here it is. There was an old lady who lived in our apartment building who had a large aquarium. (Well, it seemed large to a five-year-old, at least.) Reading between the lines I'm guessing we discovered this lady and her aquarium while I was trick-or-treating on Halloween and she let me come into her apartment and watch her fish for a bit. She must have told me (and my parents) that I could come back whenever I wanted to to watch her fish, and I did. I don't know if Mom would call her first to ask, or if I would just ask Mom if I could go, but I would just knock on her door, ask if I could watch her fish, and she'd let me in so I could stare at the aquarium for awhile. (Yes, "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" comes to mind.) I don't know if I did that the rest of our stay in Los Angeles, or if the novelty eventually wore off and I stopped going.]

The Hansens have already gotten him a Christmas present and so have Gene and Suzie. On Monday, Barbara and I took David Wayne to eat in a cafeteria - it was his first encounter with one and he was fascinated. I had never even realized that he didn't know what they were. I just wonder if I'll be able to give our new baby the experiences that David Wayne has had. I doubt it.

[Fascinated by a cafeteria. Fascinating . . .]

Suzie and Gene are going to be contestants on The Newlywed Game. It will be taped the 8th of December but won't be on television until the 16th (Saturday night). Now don't miss that as it should be very exciting. Tell Mike that it will even be worth his time. You may not want to ever admit you're from Texas again, though.

[I do remember watching that episode of The Newlywed Game, which would have been the original version starring Bob Eubanks that aired from 1966 - 1974. Hopefully Mom will mention it in a letter after we watch it.]

We haven't been back to the Sivells for one reason and then another. I have asked Dave to invite them over this weekend so I'll let you know. I did tell you that they invited us to eat with them on Thanksgiving - I appreciated that.

My "gloomy" letter did help me, but I was afraid (later, of course) that it might upset you. I'm glad you understood that it wasn't permanent. Our trip to San Francisco pepped me up and also the night Dave took me out to eat at the French restaurant. Both of us needed that shot in the arm.

 As for Dave's diet, he couldn't wear any of his clothes and that made him feel bad. He hasn't stuck to it rigidly lately and that helps. Really, I'm proud that he still wants to look nice for me after being married a whole year - it's kind of a compliment to me, I believe. 

I felt some movement recently and my last trip to the doctor turned out fine as he could hear heart beat, etc. And I am getting bigger, so something's bound to be growing. I better warn all of you that Dave is going to be a different type of "first father" than the cartoons show. Now, he will be proud and happy, yes, but he won't be beaming or showing off "look what I did!" He just isn't the type. Neither do I expect to get any help on feeding, changing diapers, cleaning up messes, etc. With Dave, the family will just have to not criticize or be surprised and I will know that he is happy. Besides, I'll get the biggest help knowing that bills will be paid and the child will be loved and taken care of. That is another reason that I would like to see Wayne because I doubt seriously that we will "see" it with Dave. 

I will answer the rest of your letter another time. It is just about time for Suzie to come so we can go to the show. I am really excited about seeing "The Sound of Music." Take care of yourselves and write often. 

Love,

Linda

 P. S. - I mailed another package for you - just sort of a novelty gift. Let me know if it gets there. Now I have finished all shopping except Wayne and Dave.

[I guess Mom got brave enough to mail another package to Texas. Let's hope this one arrives undamaged.]

November 26, 1967: Sick trip

Letter postmarked November 30, 1967 (Part 4):

This is Part 4 of the letter postmarked November 30. This part covers Sunday, November 26, 1967.

Sunday morning David Wayne got sick and vomited several times. I think it was just excitement and he had gotten too hot while sleeping. He got alright about noon and we left, but we had planned to leave earlier. The drive home took 9 hours and we really ran into the traffic. I finally just went to sleep. That long drive nearly killed me and I haven't fully recovered yet - none of us have.

[That sounds like the best road trip ever, doesn't it? The start of trip is delayed until noon due to a vomiting five-year-old, and then the trip that took 7-1/2 hours a few days ago takes nine hours due to traffic. I bet Mom was miserable.]

Dave has decided that we will have to rent a trailer when we come home because I'll have to have a bed in the back seat. Also, he is resigned to the fact that it's going to take longer getting back than 2-1/2 days.

[Yeah, if we drive back to Texas while Mom is still pregnant it's going to be a great trip, isn't it?]

[Speaking of cocktail napkins, I ran across a few more that Mom saved. First, from this San Francisco trip, is one from The Franciscan restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf. That must have been where we ate dinner Friday night. The Franciscan Crab Restaurant is still there today and looks like a very nice place, having been recently remodeled.]

[Mom also saved three cocktail napkins from the Napkins of Distinction line by a company called Beach Products in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I assume she got these from Finocchio's on Saturday night. Each of these napkins has a theme and they have that distinctive 1960's look. The three themes are "On The Rocks," "Famous Quotes," and "Songs To Drink By." They have short quips covering one complete side of the napkin (four panels), such that you have to unfold it completely to see everything at once. I may dedicate a post to the scans of these napkins, but for now here is one side of one of them.]

[Next, Mom saved a couple of cocktail napkins from that French restaurant called Taix that Mom and Dad went to on November 17, which Mom wrote about in the November 21 letter. According to Google Translate, "Les Freres" (accent over the first "e") means "The Brothers."]

[Thus concludes our Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco. We'll go over the rest of this letter on November 30.]

November 25, 1967: Girls, girls, girls?

Letter postmarked November 30, 1967 (Part 3):

This is Part 3 of the letter postmarked November 30. This part covers Saturday, November 25, 1967.

Saturday morning David Wayne went to the zoo again and the adults stayed home and watched TV and just plain enjoyed each other. I guess that it had been so long since David Wayne had had a child to play with that he wanted to stay with Ginger all of the time. And she was good with him. Anyway, I let her keep him Saturday night while we went out on the town.

[Yet another trip to the zoo for just me and Ginger (assuming I didn't go by myself). No injuries or other incidents reported, so that's good. Now let's see what kind of trouble the adults got into Saturday night.]

First, we went to the top of the Fairmont Hotel (which is the thing now - it used to be the "top of the Mark" Hopkins Hotel). This place is all glass at the top and it was just beautiful looking at the lights of San Francisco and the bay. We rode down on an outside glass elevator!

[A quick internet search seems to indicate that Top of the Mark has regained its spot at the thing in San Francisco.]

[Mom did save several mementos from this trip to San Francisco, starting with a couple of swizzle sticks (drink stirrers) from the Fairmont Hotel. Here's a picture of them with the obligatory quarter for scale. In case you can't read the text on them, it says "Fairmont Hotel and Tower - Atop Nob Hill - San Francisco."]

[The next item Mom saved is a cocktail napkin from the Fairmont Hotel. This one has drawings of several of the notable sites around San Francisco, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, Candlestick Park (demolished in 2015), and Alcatraz. The next two pictures are scans of that napkin.]

Next we went to the show at Finocchio's - all female impersonators. I have never laughed so much in my life. These "girls" were really funny and some looked so good as women I just couldn't believe it. Mary (Cliff's wife) and I just loved the show, but Dave and Cliff were not impressed.

[Just the thought of Dad sitting uncomfortably through a drag show cracks me up. I'm surprised he and Cliff agreed to go. Maybe they didn't know what it was before they went in. Mom did save the flyer from Finocchio. You can't really tell what it is from the front of the flyer alone, but there's no doubt if you look at the inside. Sadly, Finocchio's closed in 1999.]

After the show, we just walked the "strip," eyeing the outside pictures of the nude women in the topless shows. We could tell Cliff wanted to go to one but Dave couldn't have stood it - his eyes were already red and protruding from looking at the pictures!

[Too bad Ginger and I weren't with them on this little walk down the strip.]

[Tomorrow's segment will cover the trip back to Los Angeles.]

November 24, 1967: Observations

Letter postmarked November 30, 1967 (Part 2):

This is Part 2 of the letter postmarked November 30, covering Friday, November 24, 1967.

Friday we took David Wayne across the Golden Gate Bridge. He immediately said it was a giant dinosaur, with its feet tied to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. All day we just drove around the coast, stopping at places that looked interesting (Muir Woods for one). That night we ate at Fisherman's Wharf and I got my first lobster. I loved it and David Wayne ate his scallops until I thought he would bust. Then we walked around the wharf, watching them boil oysters and crabs in big pots on the sidewalk. All of us enjoyed the day.

[I'm glad the trip to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco turned out better than the trip to Fisherman's Wharf in Los Angeles.]

[Muir Woods National Monument, a little north of San Francisco, is a redwood forest, with most trees there between 500 and 800 years old per Wikipedia. Mom doesn't mention it here, but I did get a bank from Muir Woods. Here are some pictures with the obligatory quarter for scale and some bonus dust.]

[This bank is made out of wood. I doubt it's made out of redwood, but I'm no expert on species of wood. There are small labels on the top and the front that say "Muir Woods Calif." A small deer is glued to the top of it, with eyes that are not unlike the eyes often seen on depictions of aliens. The large label on the front that looks like a scroll has this clever poem:]

I'm just a little deer But I'll someday cure your woe If in this slot upon the top You'll drop some of your "doe"

[I think I got another bank during this trip to San Francisco, which I no longer have. This one, which was from Fisherman's Wharf, wasn't really a bank per se but it was a large shell (perhaps a real one) with a colorful ceramic fish glued to the front. I think I eventually threw that one away after too many pieces broke off of it.]

[The photo album contains two pictures of me from our drive along the coast. (And one picture of a gopher we watched dig a hole.) The gopher head is very difficult see in his picture, so I won't bore you with that one even though my shoes are in the picture. But I will bore you with both pictures of me since there is some military history to be learned.]

[Mom's caption on the first picture is "These holes looked like some kind of defense around coast." You can see that I'm standing on some sort of concrete structure, and to my left there is a square metal frame around a large hole. It looks like the metal frame likely supported a door at some point. You will also note that I'm wearing my mouse shoes (huaraches) as well as a shirt and a pair of pants that fit.]

[Mom's caption on the second picture is "Taken on top of cliff at San Francisco." In this picture I appear to be standing on a large pile of dirt or a large boulder. The expression on my face, combined with my body language, indicates I was concerned about my ability to safety get down from my current position and I was in the process of stating my case to my parents that I needed some assistance. Either that, or I didn't want to get my new clothes dirty, which seems unlikely for a five-year-old boy.]

[In the second photo, if you look to my left, over the boulder, you can see three concrete structures that have curved tops.]

[I believe I was standing on top of one of those (or one just like them) in the previous photo. I did a little googling, starting with a phrase that was something like "California coastline defense," and determined that these are observation bunkers built during World War II so military personnel could be on the lookout for attacks coming from the Pacific Ocean. Here is the link to a 2009 article from The San Diego Union-Tribune about some of these bunkers along the coast, very close to the US border with Mexico: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-border-bunker-battle-2009aug25-htmlstory.html. I also found a closeup photo of one of these bunkers at Muir Beach (near San Francisco) at this link: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/california-san-francisco-muir-beach-u-s-high-res-stock-photography/145094775. So we learned two things here: Mom's caption on the first photo was correct, and the premise of the movie "1941" had some basis in reality.]

[That's a wrap on day two of our Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco. I wonder what kind of adventures we'll have on Saturday?]

November 23, 1967: Mountains of shopping

Letter postmarked November 30, 1967 (Part 1):

The CCZCC now stands at 5.

You may recall from the November 21 letter that we were planning to take a trip to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. Since Mom's next letter was postmarked November 30 and is somewhat long and covers the whole trip, I have decided to break it up into parts. Here's part 1, covering Thanksgiving Day.

Dear Mother and Mike,

I feel like it's been a long time since I have written to you. I was very busy right before we went to San Francisco for Thanksgiving. I had to get David Wayne some clothes as he had only one pair of pants and no decent shirts.

[Hopefully I got some shirts that cover my belly.]

Also, I needed a winter "dress-up" dress for going out on the town. We were gone Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since I have been back, I've been busy - Monday I went shopping at Century Plaza with Barbara Hansen, Tuesday I went shopping with Suzie Dirr, and this afternoon Suzie and I are going to take David Wayne and see "The Sound of Music." No telling when I'll get this letter finished, but at least I'll begin now.

First, I'll begin on our trip to San Francisco. It took us 7-1/2 hours to get there, but it was a pleasant trip.

[Google Maps says it's about a 5-1/2 hour drive from L. A. to San Francisco now. Chances are we had to stop several times for bathroom breaks for both me and Mom.]

David Wayne got to see mountains with snow on top. We did run into a heavy fog, but other than that it was a nice drive. I'll admit I got very tired and uncomfortable. When we got to "Clip's" house we were met with a big Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.

[As previously noted, "Clip" is what I called Dad's coworker Cliff.]

After eating, David Wayne and Ginger (11 year old stepdaughter) went to a zoo which is right across the street from their house. That night we all went riding around the city - went to Coit Tower, Chinatown, the nightclub strip, the ocean, etc., etc. Cliff really knows his way around that city, but his driving leaves something to be desired - poor Dave sat in the front seat and I thought we would lose him several times. You know, those hills got a lot steeper since I was there with Myrna and Julia. We drove (maybe raced is more descriptive) down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. If Dave survived that, I will not worry about his heart for a long time.

[It sounds like they let me and Ginger go to the zoo by ourselves. I guess they really trusted her to keep little five-year-old me safe. Given my history with the animals at Jungleland, that's a bit of a surprise.]

[So that was a rather full Thanksgiving day that began with a 7-1/2 hour drive. Let's see what the rest of the holiday weekend has in store.]

November 21, 1967: The colorful crash

Letter postmarked November 21, 1967:

The CCZCC now stands at 4.

Dear Mother and Mike,

Here it is another Monday morning. We are getting ready for our big San Francisco trip so we didn't do much this weekend. We had lousy weather here anyway - by lousy, I mean it rained. I didn't care to be out on the roads, especially the freeways. There were several people killed in car accidents (27 or 28), two boy scouts died while on camping trips, and one whole section of town close to the mountains was plagued with flooding and mud slides! So as you can see, your children were pretty wise to stay home. Maybe old age has set in.

Dave did take me out to eat Friday night. He took me to "Taix," a French restaurant. The food was just wonderful, but not very Frenchy - we had a vegetable soup, a salad, and pot roast with new potatoes and spinach, and of course that wonderful fattening French bread. Borrowing a word from dear Aunt Sara, the place was "elegant" but not expensive at all - the meal plus two (one each) before dinner cocktails was $7. You could hear Dave's sighs of relief all over the joint when the bill was presented.

[You may recall from the November 17 letter that Dad hadn't committed to taking Mom out anywhere on Friday night when Gene and Suzie offered to watch me.]

[Taix opened in 1927 and moved to the current location on Sunset Boulevard in 1962. It is still run by the Taix family. Here's the web site: http://taixfrench.com/. Regarding the cost of their meal, $7 in 1967 purchased about as much as $51 in 2017.]

I was terribly disappointed that we didn't go anywhere after eating - like dancing, show, etc. We left David Wayne with Gene and Suzie at 6:30 and we picked him up at 9 o'clock. But, Dave and Gene had plans to watch a football game on TV for Saturday, so they have to get their reset. They keep better "in training" hours than the football players.

[The football game on Saturday happened to be #1 UCLA vs. #4 USC, so I can see why Dad and Gene wanted to watch it. USC won 21-20 and went on to win the national championship. This game, which has its own Wikipedia page, is considered by some people to be a contender for college football's "Game of the Century" (20th century). USC's win was in no small part due to the efforts of junior running back OJ Simpson, who scored two touchdowns. One of these, a 64-yard run in the fourth quarter to put USC ahead for good, is considered one of college football's best plays ever.]

There was a bit of excitement during the game. We heard this terrible noise outside and when we went to investigate we discovered there had been a terrible car accident just up the street. Two women ran a stop sign and hit a car with three women passengers. One car had run onto the sidewalk just missing this poor old woman who was out for a stroll. We had two ambulances, two fire trucks, and one police car on the scene. During all the excitement I happened to notice several pregnant women standing around and some women in white uniforms. On closer inspection I discovered no wedding bands on their fingers. Then it hit me - Gene and Suzie live next door to a home for unwed mothers! You should have seen me fly into action - I flashed my ring around, kept calling David Wayne in a very loud voice, and I stuck to Dave's side like glue.

[Now we know Gene and Suzie lived within a block or two of our apartment building. What is it with car accidents on this street?]

Sunday we stayed indoors and watched television and read. The "Alice In Wonderland" special was on Sunday night. Gene and Suzie had told us to bring David Wayne over to watch it on their color set. It was just wonderful. I had seen it before, but seeing it in color was great. We are hoping to get a color television when we get home.

[Yes, color television was a big deal in the 1960s. The first television season that had only color programming in prime time on all three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) was the 1966-67 programming season. The first year in which more color television sets were sold in the US than black-and-white sets was 1972.]

David Wayne is really having fun with Gene and Suzie. They are crazy about him and just beg to keep him for us. Suzie even wants to keep him during the daytime when I go shopping. Since Suzie is a speech teacher, I'm trying to enlist her help on getting David Wayne to pronounce his t's and s's. As we were watching the wreck on Saturday my son (in a loud voice) said, "Look at the clouds of the shitty." Suzie said she thought that was one time he pronounced it right.

[I think I got my "t" sounds straightened out fairly quickly, but I know I had a problem with "s" sounds until second or third grade.]

I guess your work is still keeping you pretty busy. Maybe you can rest over the Christmas holidays. Resting seems to be my specialty these days. I don't even like to watch television during the daytime.

[Good, that means I can watch TV all day.]

Well, I will close for now. I would like to get this letter mailed today. Take care and make Mike behave.

Love, 

Linda

November 17, 1967: Madness

Letter postmarked November 17, 1967:

The CCZCC now stands at 4.

Dear Mother and Mike,

This is going to be mostly a "be mad at my husband" letter! You know I've been saying that we just had no idea when this job would end - well, I must have had a frog in my pocket, by saying "we." Dave has known a tentative date for weeks - not necessarily a final date, but a tentative one which is almost as good. And to think I've gone through pure hell worrying about what will I do if the baby is born out here, who'll take care of David Wayne, who'll take care of me, etc., etc. I could easily chug him through the floor.

[To set the stage here, Dad was on a temporary assignment in Los Angeles, and we learned in some earlier letters that when this job started they thought it might be done by Christmas. But they learned a month or two ago that the job would not be done by Christmas so we would be spending Christmas in Los Angeles. To further complicate things, Mom is pregnant and due in April, so it's quite possible she could have the baby in Los Angeles, given the unknown end date for Dad's assignment. Well, unknown until today.]

[I think Mom meant "chunk" instead of "chug" in the last sentence of that paragraph.]

It happened this way: Barbara Hansen (her husband works with Dave) and I had lunch together yesterday. I was saying that I wished we had just some idea as to when it would be over. Then she told me that her husband had asked the man in charge because he needs to make arrangements for another job. The boss said it would be the end of February. When Dave came home from work I told him what I had learned. He didn't say much so later (just on a hunch) I asked him if he had known. "Yes," he said, "I was in the room when Erlen asked the boss." I was so mad I could've spit! I asked him why he hadn't told me and he just said he didn't think about it. I hope I have a little girl because one more damn man around the house would drive me batty.

[I can't cut Dad any slack for this one. Bad communication there. Mom was definitely a little hot.]

I just got back from the doctor. Everything's fine and he said that the baby is active enough and he can hear heart beat. I hadn't gained even 1/2 pound since last visit. He is very happy about that. I still hope it's a girl - - - grrrrr!

Gene and Suzie came over last night and we watched their home movies. David Wayne really liked them. We saw Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, the Hoover Dam. For me, it was just like taking that trip with Myrna and Julia all over again.

[Mom apparently did take a trip to the west coast with her cousin Myrna and a good friend of hers named Julia. I didn't know anything about this trip until I was going through some photo albums as we were packing for our move this past summer. (Mom wrote "Judy" in this letter but she wrote "Julia" on the backs of some of these photos. I do remember visiting Julia occasionally while I was growing up.) Based on what Mom wrote on the backs of these photos I believe they took this trip in the summer of 1965, which is the summer Mom turned 24 years old.]

[First is a picture of Mom and Myrna at the Grand Canyon. Myrna was having a bad hair day.]

[Next is Mom standing behind Julia at Hoover Dam.]

[Next is Mom and Julia somewhere out west. Mom's striking quite the pose leaning against that tree.]

[Here we have Mom and Julia at Lake Tahoe. I think Mom looks like a go-go dancer in this picture.]

[The last picture is Mom in San Francisco, all dressed up for a night on the town.]

Gene had one roll of film he was very proud of - it showed Suzie losing on a gambling machine, then a maternity shop, then one of those instant wedding chapels, then a motel. I'm afraid we didn't get as big a thrill from it as Gene, but we were polite and laughed. David Wayne absolutely adores both Gene and Suzie. They're supposed to keep him Friday night (their idea), but so far David just ignores the subject of going out. I guess we won't go out - grrrr! grrr!

I am so happy that Linda had such an easy time. I wish I could see Wayne and I still feel like I'm really missing out on something. Linda sent us two pictures of the baby. I wish you could have seen David Wayne's face lit up like a Christmas tree. That funny child said, "He looks just like Daddy with his round, bald head!" I explained that all babies looked like that so he replied, "How will we tell our baby from their baby then?" Good question. Steven better grow a lot before April, because if I have another baby elephant we won't be able to tell them apart.

[As I mentioned while going over the October 5 letter, I weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces at birth and was affectionately nicknamed "baby elephant" due to my size when I was a year or two old.]

I got the feeding dish at Penney's. I don't know if it is the same as the one in the Green Stamp book or not. Did you get the check alright?

We appreciated the letter from Mike. Did you twist his arm, Mother? David Wayne really liked it and how! Sounds like he isn't grounded at all - right?

[Well, he's a high school senior and he's in the band.]

Guess I'll close for now. I'm going to put arsenic in David's supper tonight, so I better get busy.

[I think she's still upset.]

Love,

Linda

November 13, 1967: Movie tour deal

Letter postmarked November 13, 1967:

The CCZCC is now at 3.

Dear Mother and Mike,

Well, here it is Sunday afternoon - a lazy one at that! David Wayne is watching television, as usual, and he just finished giving Snappy a bath. Dave has gone to the store to buy some Vel dishwashing liquid and I'm sitting here waiting to do guess what - wash dishes. Due to yesterday's activities, we decided just to stay home today.

[Apparently you really are supposed to bathe a pet turtle or tortoise, according to this WikiHow article: https://www.wikihow.com/Bathe-a-Turtle. Before reading that article I would not have guessed that tortoises drink through their anus.]

[The Vel brand of dishwashing liquid was retired in 2002. That's too bad, because it was marVELous as you can see in this commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de8x4gQz3x0]

Now that I've got your curiosity up (I hope) I'll tell you what we did on Saturday. We got up much earlier than usual, dressed, drank coffee, fed David Wayne, and somehow managed to pick up Gene and Suzie on time - then off to NBC. We had tickets to attend the "Let's Make a Deal" show. I don't know whether you've ever seen this one or not, but it's wild. Everyone that wants to be in the show wears some kind of crazy costume - some were way out! Suzie and I loved the program, but, naturally, our stuff-shirt husbands were not impressed. We had Gene and Suzie over to eat supper last night and they stayed until about 11:30 which was really late for us, but we had a lot of fun.

[Yeah, I can see my dad not really getting into the craziness of Let's Make a Deal. Mom would have loved the people-watching, though.]

Saturday wouldn't have worn me out so much if it hadn't followed Friday. Suzie picked me and David Wayne up at 8:00 AM, then we went to NBC and got the tickets for the Saturday show. We were going on the tour at NBC, but we had some time to kill so we went to the Hollywood Bowl. We walked way up to the top and I got a sore muscle in my right leg. I was very impressed with the Hollywood Bowl.

The NBC tour was very good. I'm not saying that I understood everything, but I enjoyed seeing the cameras, stages, props, wardrobe, makeup room, etc. I can even say that I've been in Dean Martin's dressing room and seen his commode and bar - how about that! David Wayne was the only child on the tour, so he got a lot of welcome attention. Our guide even gave him some color film of Jerry Lewis and the NBC peacock. Oh, yes, we got to see the costumes form the "Alice in Wonderland" special which really impressed David Wayne. I was impressed (I sure am using that word a lot, kinda like Aunt Sara's "elegant") with the place where they make props and sets.

[Dean Martin would have been doing "The Dean Martin Show" at the time, which aired weekly from 1965 through 1974.]

[I remember having the film with the NBC peacock, but I have no idea what happened to it, which is a shame if it had Jerry Lewis, too.]

After the tour we paid a small fortune at Grauman's Chinese Theater to see Walt Disney's "The Jungle Book." We sure paid a lot for atmosphere ($2.50 for adults and $1.25 for children). The show that comes before "Jungle Book" is called "Charlie, The Lonesome Cougar" and it is just as good as the main feature. I couldn't really adequately describe the shows, other than to say it was another Walt Disney production all the way. David Wayne laughed until I thought he was going to be sick.

[$2.50 in 1967 purchased about as much as $18 in 2017. Wow, that is a lot to see a movie, although it was a double feature. Per IMDB, here's the storyline for the cougar movie: "When a cougar raised by a group of loggers in the Pacific Northwest reverts to its natural instincts, the consequence could threaten its life." So we saw one movie about a cougar raised by humans, and another movie about a human raised by wolves.]

I'm sorry that your work is so demanding right now. I know that it can really tire you out. Also, I'm sorry Taffy is causing such a problem in the cold weather, but it is a comfort to me that you are taking such good care of her.

Mother, I applaud you for grounding Mike, even though it sounds like he still goes quite a bit. I have a new method of punishment for my little one - television off and he sits in the corner. Boy, does that get him. David Wayne is much more active than Mike was as a child and sometimes I just don't know how to handle him. But this "corner business" will work for awhile - I hope.

[I don't recall ever being told to go sit in the corner, so I guess either it stopped working or I just quit misbehaving.]

I'm anxious for news about Steven Wayne and his mother. Who does the baby look like? Did Linda have any trouble? Is she alright now? Tell me all! And did you get the check okay? Oh, yes, what does Mike think of his new nephew? Did he sit by the bassinet all day when he first saw the little one?

David Wayne refuses to acknowledge that he and his cousin have the same middle name. I told him but he said, "My name is just David Jennings - like my daddy's." David Wayne has really surprised me by not asking any questions about how you get babies. Last night we were watching a movie, "The New Interns," and they showed a scene of a baby being born. I thought to myself, "Oh brother, here come the questions." His reaction: "Did I get spanked when I was a baby?" And that was all. I think he must still be trying to figure out why fish don't get seasick.

["The New Interns" was a 1964 movie that had quite the cast of future TV stars (some uncredited), including Kojak, Jeannie, Mary Ann, Hogan, and The Robot from Lost in Space.]

I will close as I am way behind on letters to answer. I need to write Wayne and Linda, Myrna, Patsy, and the Jennings. Write me soon and just tell Mr. Rigler to go jump in the lake or go run into another door.

[Isn't it nice that people don't have to worry about writing letters any more? Just put your life on Facebook and whoever wants to can read all about it and look at the pictures. You may have to send an occasional email to friends and family who aren't on Facebook, but at least you can send the same email to multiple people and just tailor it a little for each recipient.]

[I believe Mr. Rigler was my grandmother's boss at the time where she worked, which was the Journalism Department at TWU in Denton.]

Love,Linda

P. S. - Mike, instead of writing love letters to Ann during study hall (and I know you don't study), drop us a line or at least send David Wayne a post card.

[Now I think we might know why Uncle Mike got grounded.]