December 27, 1967: Puppy boarders

Letter postmarked December 28, 1967 (dated December 26) (Part 4):

Here's Part 4 of the letter Mom started writing the day after Christmas in 1967. Today we'll cover Tuesday, December 26. Mom indicated in the letter that she wrote this part Wednesday morning.

I got worn out writing about the pup trouble yesterday, so I went back to bed. When I woke up at noon, David Wayne was still asleep and he had spit up in bed. I just let him sleep and guess what - he slept until 2 PM.

[Good grief I must have been exhausted from that late night trip to the airport. Mom apparently was, too.]

Barbara Hansen came by a little while after he woke up and I was so glad to see her. She nearly cried when I told her about the dress. As we were sitting calmly talking and admiring David Wayne's toys, a knock at the door and guess who - Suzie with the puppy! It was just like another child coming to see David Wayne's loot and they played - loudly and rambunctiously. Finally, Barbara and I gave up trying to talk and she left.

[It seems as though Suzie is a bit clueless about certain things, like whether or not Mom really wanted to see the puppy that ruined her dress the day before. I'm sure Mom was thrilled.]

Suzie also announced that it was Gene's birthday and that they were coming over Tuesday night for a party!

[In addition to clueless, let's add insensitive, inconsiderate, and unaware of social norms.]

David Wayne was delighted, I had that sinking feeling, and when Dave came home and heard the party news . . . well, I won't tell you his reaction because, really, Mother, I am married to a nice feller.

[I'm sure after getting home after midnight Monday night and getting up early for work Tuesday morning, Dad was absolutely thrilled to find out he was hosting a birthday party Tuesday night. I can probably guess the first two words out of his mouth and exactly how he said them.]

The bad things yesterday were offset by the arrival of packages from you. We had Christmas all over again! They came in the early afternoon, but David Wayne really surprised me by saying he wanted to wait for his Daddy before opening them up. How about that? Now, Dave just got one foot in the door before David Wayne started tearing paper off, but he did wait.

[Wow, that is surprising for a five-year-old. That must have been a phase I grew out of shortly afterwards.]

Thank you so much for my maternity underwear as it was much needed.

[Between the bras, mini-skirts, and underwear, we're covering Mom's wardrobe pretty well. Yay.]

And the money doll was adorable - I can't bring myself to "undress" it yet because it's so cute. We're going to a buffet at the Hansen's Thursday night, so I'll get a new dress for that. But I won't wear it around that damn puppy, for sure!

Dave was so pleased with his sweater, but when he tried it on it was too large. The sleeves just hung. Do you think Mike could exchange it if I sent it back? He really needs it badly and he just really did like it. Both Davids were pleased with the pajamas. They wanted to put them on last night and have me take a picture of them, but with company (boarders!) coming we decided against it.

And David Wayne - I wish he had given us time to get out the camera when he opened his. That alligator soap holder was the cutest thing I've ever seen and he just had a fit over it. And the stocking with bubble bath is adorable - I told him to use the stocking as a washcloth and he could hardly wait to get into the tub. Avon must have the cutest line of things this year - the gold ornament with bubble bath is just beautiful. Dave said that our bathroom looked so good now, he was going to take visitors in there. Dave fixed up the dunking bird last night and David Wayne just can't get over how it works.

[I don't remember having this dunking bird in Los Angeles, but I know my grandmother had one at some point and I'm pretty sure we had another one a few years later. Here's the link to the Wikipedia article ("Drinking Bird") if you need a reminder of what those toys were or if you're curious how they worked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird]

The beetle bug has crawled all over our house by now and thank goodness it's a wind up toy instead of battery powered - we'll be spending a fortune on batteries this year. Now, he didn't jump up and down for joy over the clothes, but Dave and I thank you. The puzzle, books and mostly the Matchbox cars and carrying case were the big deal in his eyes. We are going to the beauty shop this afternoon and the Matchbox cars and case are going with us.

Thank you so much from all of us!

[This concludes Part 4 of this letter. Tomorrow we'll probably have the fifth and final part of this letter.]

August 24, 1967: The Zoo

Diary entry for August 24, 1967:

Drove to Penney's and bought presents for Wayne and Tracey. David Wayne and I ate lunch at a Woolworth 5 cent and 10 cent store. Then we spent rest of day at the zoo. We really enjoyed the reptile house. It was very hot.

The people Mom was buying presents for were her older brother Wayne and my only cousin at the time, Tracey, who is on my father's side of the family. They both had birthdays coming up.

I suppose a close equivalent of the nickel and dime stores from the 60s and 70s is the dollar stores we have now.

Hopefully we'll hear more about our trip to the zoo. I really liked reptiles, didn't I?

August 14, 1967: Mandingo hot

Diary entry for August 14, 1967:

Do not feel well today. I am reading "Mandingo." Hot and tired feeling.

We may have had too much fun in the sun this weekend, as Mom's not feeling well again. And although in the most recent letter Mom said "Drum" was too dirty for my grandmother to read, apparently it wasn't so dirty that Mom didn't want to read the prequel.

There were actually two pieces of mail sent to my grandmother on August 11. In addition to the previously mentioned letter there was a birthday card from me to her. Her birthday happens to be today, August 14. She would have been 101 today, so she turned 51 years old in 1967. Here are scans of the front and inside of the card.

I would estimate the fuzz on the bunny (everything white) to be at least 98% intact, which is pretty impressive given its age. My fuzz from 1967 is long gone.

July 19, 1967: Happy Birthday!

Diary entry for July 19, 1967:

Left motel about 8:30. Got to L. A. 12:30. Finally found Wilshire Blvd after much driving. Then couldn't find motel. Checked into the low priced motel about 3. David didn't go to work. We ate a hot dog, rested, and then drove to eat supper. We are staying on Sunset Blvd. Terrible driving here and we are struck by the strange people. Boys with hair, girls with none. We are all very tired and worn out. What a birthday for me!

Yes, we finally arrived in Los Angeles on Mom's 26th birthday, "very tired and worn out" after driving for two and a half days. Dad wasn't a super romantic kind of guy, so it's no surprise there is no mention of a birthday gift or special dinner. I'm sure he got Mom something for her birthday, although maybe a day or two later. We were probably looking for Wilshire Blvd because my dad would be working at an insurance company somewhere on Wilshire. Maybe we couldn't find it because Dad was too cheap to buy a map. Another low-priced motel, but no mention of cockroaches this time. So that's a positive. Note the beginning of culture shock, starting with the hair styles of both males and females. (I assume Mom meant "boys with long hair, girls with none.") I recall being on the lookout for hippies for some reason when we moved to L. A. According to my mother I was not shy about yelling "Hippies!" out the car window as we drove down Sunset Boulevard.