Letter postmarked December 16, 1967:
The CCZCC now stands at 10. The record is 11. The tension is almost unbearable, isn't it?
Dear Mother and Mike,
Thought I'd drop you a line this calm Sunday morning. All next week may be a bit hectic with an eight month old baby and a puppy invading our household. David Wayne is so excited about "our company" that he's forgotten all about it being close to Christmas. David Wayne entertains the baby so much that I'm not expecting to do much work there, but that pup is another story. The little puppy is just about over her distemper, but I'll still have to give her medicine twice a day. Besides, the cold weather last week meant that Suzie couldn't take it outside (and she was almost housebroken.) Now, we have a thoroughly confused puppy that potties anywhere and everywhere in the house. Oh brother!
[I'm sure Dad's thrilled about having that pooping puppy in the apartment. I hope we get a full report on that.]
Friday afternoon Suzie kept David Wayne for me and they made cookies. I think they both enjoyed their afternoon together and Suzie said David Wayne was wonderful with Eric, the baby. I went to the beauty shop and got my hair cut. My friend Gary isn't working there any more so another one of the "boys" fixed me up - this one sang to me for two hours. I also bought all the little stocking fillers for the stockings. I discovered that they don't make 5 cent toys any more - that was a big blow to my budget. I really had more fun filling up Dave's stocking. Here are a few things I got for him:
- Scotch flavored toothpaste
- Bourbon flavored toothpicks
- Ear plugs
- Pot holder for cooking outside (cute design of a beer mug)
- English Leather lotion
- Lint remover (the travel kind)
He should have a lot of fun - that is if he never finds out how much I spent.
[I sense an alcohol theme among those gifts. Too bad Mom couldn't find ear plugs that were decorated like beer cans.]
Friday night Dave took me out to eat at a place called "The Lion's Tale." We ate our first prime rib dinner - delicious!
[I'm really surprised this is the first time they had prime rib. I remember them talking about prime rib a lot in Los Angeles, so I just assumed it was the whole time we were there. They must have gotten hooked on it in L. A., though, because they continued having prime rib frequently after we moved back to Texas.]
After eating we went over to the Dirr's to collect our son, who was not at all worried about ever coming home. The Dirrs had the home movies back from the tour at Universal Studios. The parts of David Wayne and Suzie "performing" in the antique car, rock pile, and dancing in the elevator were the funniest things I've ever seen. Gene ran them at all three speeds - fast, regular and slow motion. I think we showed that section of the film nearly 30 minutes and just laughed louder and louder each time. Dave and I have about decided to get a movie camera real soon.
[That would be incredible to watch those movies again. Sadly I'm not aware of any contact with the Dirrs after we moved back to Texas.]
Saturday, we went out to Busch Gardens with Gene and Suzie. We took the boat ride and we saw the bird show again. It was pretty cool, but we enjoyed it - also it wasn't crowded at all so we took the monorail tour.
[I guess I knew to stay away from the birds this time.]
That night, of course, was the big event - The Newlywed Game! Did you watch it? What did you think? They really put on a show, especially Suzie with that accent. Before the show, Gene told the studio audience that Suzie was a speech correction teacher and everyone in the place fell out of their seats laughing - you can understand why. They were sillier watching themselves on TV than they were on the show.
[Mom doesn't mention it in this letter, but I'm pretty sure Gene and Suzie won that episode of The Newlywed Game, based on my recollections of Mom talking about it many years later. I vaguely remember it being a big deal when we were watching their episode with them. And now we know that Suzie must have had a pretty thick southern accent which the studio audience really enjoyed.]
Well, I will close for now. We may go down to Olvera Street this afternoon as I understand there is a beautiful life-sized nativity scene at the Plaza. It is supposed to have been carved in Italy. We still need to get a pinata for David Wayne and also we want to buy us a nativity scene down there. Write soon.
Love,
Linda
P. S. I still need instructions on how to make dressing. My sweet husband has offered to suffer indigestion so I can practice on cooking my first Christmas dinner.
Letter postmarked October 2, 1967 (Part 2):
Today's post is a continuation of yesterday's letter describing our fifth trip to Knott's Berry Farm that occurred on Saturday, September 30. Today we make our third trip to Busch Gardens.
"Sunday we went back to Busch Gardens again. Dave said to take pictures - ha! He didn't fool me. It was crowded, but not as hot as the day we took you. We got some good pictures of the birds and waterfalls. In one part of the garden a man had some tame macaws and he was letting the children pose for pictures with a parrot on each arm. David Wayne's picture turned out really cute."
[Since I know you can't wait, I'll break into the middle of this paragraph to show you the picture of me with the birds.]
[Awwww . . . that really is cute. Look at that big grin.]
"In another part of the garden some parrots had gotten down from their tree and were walking across a bridge. We were going to get another picture of David Wayne with the birds, but unfortunately, these birds were not tame and little David Wayne got a plug bit out of his arm!"
[It's me breaking into this paragraph again. I do remember that incident. One minute I'm happily standing with some birds on my outstretched arms as you can see in the picture, and then not long after that I'm posing with some more birds and I get bit. All I remember is it hurt like crazy and I'm sure I cried over that. (Macaws can supposedly exert over 500 psi when they bite. A human bite is about 150 psi.) Here's a picture of two of the rogue birds tearing up plants and generally destroying the landscaping. One of these birds is the one that bit me according to Mom's caption in the photo album.]
[I didn't pose for another picture with a bird for 25 years, when the opportunity arose while we were on our honeymoon in Hawaii. I remember being a little hesitant due to the memory of the horrific incident at Busch Gardens, but I did it anyway.]
[I was not bitten in 1992, but the bird on my shoulder did poop on me. And no, I don't think I should pose for another picture with a bird now just because another 25 years have passed.]
"I wonder what his first grade teacher will think of us next year when he describes the difference in llama bites and parrot bites. And won't show and tell hour be wonderful when David Wayne repeats from memory the guide's talk on how beer is made! I probably will never have to worry about teaching school again."
[What an incredibly prescient series of questions Mom asked there. As some of you have already seen on Facebook, I did write about my adventures this weekend for a school assignment, presumably the next year when I was in first grade. Mom felt like that was a keeper. Here it is:]
[Fortunately my spelling and punctuation improved considerably after first grade. My handwriting, on the other hand, declined considerably.]
"Also Sunday we took Dave up to the Observatory. We didn't see the show, but David Wayne pushed every button in the building. I noticed several people looking funny at us as David Wayne told his daddy just what everything was and how it worked. Usually, the parents were telling the children."
[It sounds like somebody was a little show-off at the Observatory.]
"Dave weighed himself on the scales and decided he better go on the first flight to the moon. He weighed 163 pounds on earth and about 300 pounds on Jupiter. I'm going to have to put that guy on a diet or people will wonder just which one of us is having this baby!"
[So Dad weighed 163 pounds then. According to his last drivers license his height was 5' 6". That's a BMI of 26.3 which is overweight but not obese. So yeah, shedding a few pounds wouldn't be a bad idea. 154 would have put him just within the normal range.]
"Next weekend we are going to Disneyland again. We are taking three or four rolls of film with us, so maybe we'll get more than two pictures this time."
[I guess the two Disneyland pictures she's talking about were the two of me with my grandmother. All the other Disneyland pictures were taken either during this upcoming trip or maybe a later one.]
"I told you about us taking flu shots. Well, I had a reaction from mine - sinus, ear infection, sore throat, etc. - and I had to take another shot to cure that! Dr. Danno will be able to retire with "healthy-as-a-horse" me as a patient. Other than that I am fine - not much sickness, but I sleep all the time."
[I bet Dr. Danno loved it when the TV show "Hawaii Five-O" started airing in 1968.]
"We had quite a scare last week about Dave's work. They are having trouble getting some of their company records, so this company asked the state to postpone the examination for a year. This would have meant coming back to Texas immediately - with a loss of $600 per month. Frankly, we just can't afford to come home until we get some more saved. Baloney sandwiches would be ok for me and Dave, but not very healthy for the children. Anyway the state said no and we are breathing again and Dave stopped talking about getting a midwife for me in April! Now, it looks like the job will last much longer than first expected - so probably no Christmas in Texas for us. Dave has already informed his boss that he is leaving in March anyway because he doesn't want to have a "foreign-born" child. They have really been giving him a hard time at work about that rash statement. No wonder we were welcomed to the U. S. at Knott's."
[First of all, that sounds mighty suspicious that an insurance company knew they were going to be examined (audited), yet determines two months into the examination that they can't locate some of their records and would like to postpone the examination for a year. Kudos to the Texas State Board of Insurance for not letting that happen. That makes you wonder just what they were trying to hide.]
[That's interesting that Dad thought going into this that we might be back in Texas by Christmas. I never knew that. But I did know about Dad's desire to have this baby born in Texas instead of California. Keep that in mind for later.]
"Write when you have time. I know work is keeping you busy right now. I feel pretty droopy after the busy weekend so I think I'll go see Gary at the beauty shop."
"Love,
Linda"
"P. S. - I may not go to the beauty shop after all. I just asked David Wayne about it and he told me to comb my own hair!"
[Always the practical one. Some things never change.]
Diary entry for September 10, 1967:
Got a late start today. Went to Busch Gardens. It was too hot and too crowded. Couldn't ride monorail because of long line. We went on boat ride and saw a few birds. Left early.
Next, we got a watermelon and went to Griffith Park. Saw and heard hippies. David Wayne played on park equipment. Then on way [home] we drove down Hollywood Blvd. Saw Grauman's Chinese Theater.
Having gotten home from Disneyland at midnight last night, it's no wonder we got a late start today. That's a bummer about Busch Gardens being too crowded. I still need a bank from there, too.
This visit to Busch Gardens is what I was alluding to in the post on the September 3, 1967 diary entry, when I mentioned a future event that made me think Mom backed off on the alcohol consumption after she found out she was pregnant. She always liked to tell the story about how much Dad enjoyed this particular visit to Busch Gardens because they gave each adult visitor a free beer after going through the tour of the brewery. Since my grandmother didn't drink alcohol and Mom couldn't drink any because she was pregnant, Dad was very happy to get two extra beers at the end of the brewery tour. Anyone who knew my dad would have no doubts about the truthiness of that story.
I think Mom had previously mentioned that the hippies infiltrate Griffith Park on the weekends, so we were apparently victims of that today. Unfortunately there is no mention of whether or not I brought my guns with me.
Sunday didn't turn out quite as well as Saturday, but at least we tried and Nana got to see a little bit of Hollywood. We'll see what adventures unfold this coming week.
Diary entry for September 2, 1967:
Went to Busch Gardens today. First rode a monorail train (in the air). This was tour through the brewery. We took a boat ride - it was nice. Had free beer! Saw a bird show - good and funny! Paid $5 for a beer mug.
Later, we found Olivera Street. Ate supper at a Mexican cafe - very hot sauce. I think Sheree North (movie star) was in there. Bought a 79 cent chapel bank and a $1.75 _big_ bull bank for David Wayne.
Free beer at Busch Gardens! I know my parents liked that. We'll be visiting there again for sure.
So what's the deal with Olivera Street? First of all, it's Olvera Street (no "i.") Every time I've seen where Mom mentioned it in a diary entry, letter, or caption in the photo album, she wrote it as "Olivera" instead of "Olvera." I'm fairly certain she always pronounced it as "Olivera" whenever she talked about it, too. I didn't realize it was "Olvera" until I googled it yesterday, and going forward I'll always write it that way when quoting Mom.
Anyway, Olvera Street is a historic district in downtown Los Angeles that has some of the oldest monuments in the city going back to the early 1800s. It is a popular tourist destination with dozens of restaurants, vendors, craft shops, etc. Here is a picture of me in front of a wishing fountain on Olvera Street.
Don't I look thrilled? Please try not to focus on that belly of mine sticking out under my shirt. Hey, are those piñatas hanging in the background? Keep that in mind for later.
The caption Mom wrote for this picture is "David Wayne doesn't look happy, but he really liked the wishing fountain on Olvera Street."
Sheree North was being groomed in the 1950s to replace Marilyn Monroe as the leading female star for 20th Century-Fox. Later in her career she played Kramer's mother on "Seinfeld" and revealed that his first name was "Cosmo."
Here is a picture of the chapel bank, with the obligatory quarter for scale. It's glazed ceramic and in very good condition.
The bull bank was a very large ceramic bank, I'd estimate at least 12 inches tall and 18 inches long. Since it was too big to display on the shelves in my room it resided in the living room at our house the whole time I was growing up and for many years after that, and it can be seen in the background of many family photos. Since it was ceramic it got nicks and chips and cracks over time, and we eventually disposed of it sometime within the last decade. I don't have a standalone photo of the bull, but it will appear in a group photo later.
The two additional banks purchased today brings the total to eight. Not a bad start for the first day of a three-day weekend.
