Letter postmarked August 24, 1967 (dated August 23):
Two letters in a row with the zip code. Could this be a trend?
Dear Mother and Mike,
I wrote you a letter Monday morning but I didn't get it mailed until today, Wednesday. I got your letter Monday afternoon, so I thought I would write you another - shorter - letter.
[I guess Mom would like to retract her wisecrack comment in the previous letter about my grandmother not writing because of a broken arm.]
First of all, I'm glad you liked your birthday present. Sorry you didn't get it on time. I really couldn't remember whether you had a jewelry box or not.
David Wayne surely got a kick out of your letter about the "livestock." I have read it over and over to him. I really enjoyed the newspaper clippings and the news about Tommy Webster. Yes, Dave is getting the Belton Journal. I don't think he could get along without it. I really tease Dave about that paper, but secretly I am glad that he feels so close to Belton and the people. I hope David Wayne will feel the same about us and his hometown.
[I don't know what the news was about Tommy Webster, but he was is the same high school graduating class as Mom. According to the 2007 Denton High School alumni directory he was running a pool company in Houston.]
[The Belton Journal! I was wondering if Dad got that while we lived in L. A., and I'm so glad Mom mentioned it in a letter. My sisters and I will always remember Dad coming home from work every day and the first thing he would do after changing clothes was sit down at the kitchen table and read The Belton Journal, his hometown newspaper. I'm pretty sure he was still a subscriber when he died. Mom and us kids would often joke about Dad having a virtual bubble over his head (like the cone of silence on "Get Smart") when he read the Belton Journal, since he often seemed oblivious to what was going on in the house while reading it.]
[For the record, I do not feel the same way about Farmers Branch that my dad felt about Belton. Family, yes. The town, not so much. It's basically Dallas anyway.]
Dave didn't have much to say about your "views on money." Dave is and always will be a "cash" paying man. He _has_ changed some about spending money for entertainment since we got to Los Angeles. Every weekend we spend money, not foolishly, but we have a lot of fun. Dave seems to like seeing things as much as I do and he even gets a kick out of David Wayne's fun. In Texas, our weekend "fun" was Irving, Denton, Sanger, and Belton. My "boys" get along better when we go places together and that is certainly better for me.
[As I have mentioned before, I can imagine Dad being a little tight with the money. And I can see it being a bit of a tug-of-war between him and Mom, since I'm sure Mom wanted to go go go all the time. But it seems like we're getting into the swing of things in Los Angeles now and visiting a lot of places. We'll see if we can keep up that pace.]
[Irving, Denton, Sanger and Belton are mentioned in that paragraph because we spent many weekends visiting family primarily in those cities.]
I knew Daddy went to Alabama. Linda Kay wrote me that, but she didn't mention the car. Also, Adelia wrote and told me that. Dave was surprised that he wanted to take our car, but I wasn't. I had secretly wondered about that when I first heard he was going. Dave said the car would not have held up at all. Thank goodness for Wayne - or Linda's? - foresightedness.
[My grandfather was born and raised in Alabama, and he was the oldest of nine children who lived past infancy. (He also went by the nickname "Alabama," which I think he got while in the Navy during World War 2.) He made frequent trips back home to Alabama since he had lots of family still there, and it sounds like some scheming was involved with regard to his transportation for this particular trip. He was always scheming something, as anybody who knew him will tell you. (Adelia was his second wife. They lived in Sanger, TX at the time.)]
It's alright about not going to our house. Patsy keeps an eye on things and sends all the mail except magazines. If we do have any Reader's Digest though send them to us. I will be glad to pay the 10 cent postage due for them, because Dave enjoys them so much.
I was hurt that you didn't mention coming to visit. We will be terribly upset if you cannot come. David Wayne precedes every sentence with, "When Nana comes . . ." He told me this morning to tell you to get a bathing suit and we could go to the beach.
[Mom's really laying the guilt trip on Nana now, isn't she?]
I finally got brave enough to drive to the beach yesterday. It wasn't so bad after all - no monsters ate me up! David Wayne had a wonderful time. He made caves and castles with the sand. He even went into the ocean by himself - not very far. I was scared, but also glad that he showed such independence. I kept my eye on him constantly and only chewed the fingernails off _one_ hand. He has gotten very shy - even more than he was - in this big, strange, city. I understand why, but I am trying to get him out of it without just pushing him away from me. I want him to grow up to be a man, and not always hanging on to my skirt tail. By the way, I really saw some sights at the beach! My husband will never get to go with us, I'll tell you that. The scant covering doesn't leave much to the imagination. If we ever do go he won't be able to find his glasses.
[Interesting comment about me being shy. I always thought I was a little hellion as a young child, but maybe I was still shy around strangers.]
I don't know what to tell you about the fever. I don't have it every day now, and according to the thermometer it isn't even over one hundred. I will watch it closely. It probably has something to do with that cyst.
[It might be a tumor.]
I know what you meant about books that call a spade a spade. I have run into several. It seems to me that authors just see how many bad, dirty words they can get on one page and how many obscene "word pictures" they can get in each chapter. I've read only one book that was nice and that was an old one, "Leave Her to Heaven." I'm hooked on Kyle Onstott books now - "Mandingo," "Drum," "Master of Falcon-hurst," and "The Mustee." All have some of the same characters and they take place in Alabama during slavery time. They _are_ dirty, but how could they be about slavery and not be? I also bought "The Honey Badger." I really enjoy having time to read.
["The Mustee" was actually written by Lance Horner, who co-wrote "Falconhurst Fancy" with Kyle Onstott.]
[If you didn't at least smile when you saw that Mom bought "The Honey Badger," then you don't spend enough time on the internet.]
Well, it seems this letter was longer than I expected it to be. I have finished washing clothes so I guess I will cook my green beans for supper now. Write soon.
Love,Linda
Letter postmarked August 18, 1967 (written August 17):
Unlike the previous letter, Mom forgot to put the zip code on this one. Tsk tsk!
Dear Mother and Mike,
How are you folks? Mother, are you sticking to your diet and pills? I guess Mike just zooms around in his new car. Be sure to take care of the hamsters because David Wayne wants one. This next sentence is contributed by David Wayne himself: Be sure to take care of Taffy!
[Wow, it sounds like they had quite a collection of animals at my grandmother's house, with our dog, an iguana, birds, and now hamsters.]
The weather here has really changed. The last two weeks have been hot! The nights are cool, but the daytime is unbearable. The temperature is only 90, 91, 83, etc. - but it must be the humidity that is worse than Texas. Needless to say, our daily walks have ceased. I had to go to the store yesterday and since I didn't feel like walking, I actually got the car out of the garage and drove! Of course, I couldn't get the car back in the garage and had to leave it parked on the street, but Dave was pleased that I had tried. He even (since the car was already out) took me to a Penney's store.
On the way home we drove by Griffith Park. This time we drove into it and found a zoo. It is a beautiful drive through the park, all shaded and green. On the weekends, of course, this is where the hippies have their "love-ins." I'm glad we saw it once uncontaminated! At this same park is an observatory with a planetarium show and also the Greek Theater. Harry Belafonte is at the theater now until September 2.
[Below is one of the postcards I have from Griffith Park. It shows the entrance with the observatory in the background. It does look very pretty and is uncontaminated by hippies.]
[Fun Fact #1: Griffith Park is named after the man who donated most of the land for the park to the city of Los Angeles in 1896, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith.]
Man, did we have a weekend. None of us are fully recovered yet. First of all, Saturday afternoon we took David Wayne to the Alligator Farm. You just can't imagine how much he (we really) liked it. We saw big goldfish - bigger than the ones I had once! There were all different colored ones - black, pink, speckled. We saw baby alligators and crocodiles. We saw many of the reptiles that are in David Wayne's book - gavials, iguanas, all kinds of snakes, turtles. The big event though was the feeding of the alligators. Can you imagine one man walking into a pen with 250 hungry alligators? He must get a big salary! He next went to the crocodiles - four of them. One of the crocodiles had just had eggs. The minute he walked in the pen that old crocodile was after him. He couldn't talk much for keeping out of her way. They even had a trained alligator show. The alligators would crawl up the ramp, slide down a slide, and splash! into the water. Some of the alligators had been in fights. Their feet were gone, half the tail of one, and two had broken jaws. As we left, we got an alligator bank for David Wayne. He is really proud of it - already has it filled up, too. No wonder Dave and I don't have any money.
[Another mention of the Alligator Farm and the bank I got there. I bet I was fascinated by the guy walking into the pen with all the alligators. Below is a scan of the inside of the tri-fold brochure, showing the layout of the exhibits.]
[My commentary on the brochure:
1: Although gavials only eat fish and aren't dangerous to humans, I'd still be a little nervous swimming or walking around one.
5: No reptile stops growing. Interesting . . .
9 and 16: Whenever I see the phrase "Nile Crocodile" I think of the song "King Tut."
14: Alligators are cannibals.
15: Alligators are not very bright and don't have much energy.
17: The title character in "The Happiest Millionaire" kept alligators as pets.]
Dave was in such good spirits Saturday he was going to buy me a dress. We shopped for hours, but he wanted a mini-skirt for me and we just couldn't find one - thank goodness! After shopping we came home, ate supper, rested awhile and then off for more adventure.
[First Mom talks about push-up bras and now she's talking about my dad wanting to buy her a mini-skirt. I think I'm a little young to hear that kind of talk from my parents. I just can't imagine Mom in a mini-skirt, and apparently she couldn't either.]
This time we went to Chinatown. It is really something - especially at night with the lights. All three of us were pretty tired so we didn't see it all. We plan to go back soon. We did get some souvenirs - chopsticks, a yellow paper flower, and a decanter that is really cute. We couldn't find much for David Wayne so we got him a donkey made out of paper, and as you unwrap the paper you find little surprise toys. He enjoyed it but next time I want to get something that will last.
[I'll go ahead and state the obvious punch line here: After we visited Chinatown, my little ass was just full of surprises.]
We came home exhausted Saturday night, but we were off again Sunday. We took David Wayne and Jeffrey (the 10-year-old boy upstairs) to Knott's Berry Farm. The boys had a wonderful time. They rode the merry-go-round, a steamboat, a train ride, and antique cars. We went through a jungle land and Old McDonald's Farm. We bought David Wayne a hat with a looong green feather. That hat was Dave's idea - he said when he was little he always wanted one.
[This particular trip to Knott's Berry Farm was previously mentioned in a diary entry, but since this is another mention I will reward the audience with a scan of another ephemeron. Below are scans of the front cover and a few select pages of the menu from the Knott's Berry Farm Chicken Dinner Restaurant, where you could get Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken Dinner for only $2.75 in 1967. That's $20.09 in 2017 dollars, but my goodness, look at all those extras you get with that, including beverage and dessert. The inside pages give a little history of Knott's Berry Farm and include statements from the couple who started it all, Walter and Cordelia Knott. (Walter turned 78 years old in 1967 and Cordelia turned 77. They lived to the ages of 91 and 84, respectively.)]
This weekend we are planning to visit Little Tokyo. They are having a parade Sunday and we thought it would be interesting. Dave has really surprised me about going places. I think he even enjoys it! Of course, during the week we stay home, but he _is_ working.
[I'm glad my parents were brave enough to go to a parade, given what happened at the last one Mom wrote about (which they avoided). Let's hope we don't run across any hippies or Nazis at the parade on Sunday.]
Did you get your birthday present? I am building up a library of pocketbooks. This week I've read the play "Luv," "Mandingo," and "Leave Her to Heaven." About all I do during the day is read, cook, and mend my britches when I bust the seat out. I am really getting fat. Sego in California just doesn't taste good.
[Fun Fact #2: Harrison Ford had an uncredited role as a hippie in the film version of "Luv."]
[Sego was a meal replacement diet drink available at the time. It was eventually replaced by other products such as Slimfast.]
[Fun Fact #3: Alfred Hitchcock discovered Tippi Hedren when he saw her in a Sego commercial during the Today Show. (Tippi Hedren is Melanie Griffith's mother. Melanie Griffith is Dakota Johnson's mother. Dakota Johnson and Kevin Bacon were both in the movie "Black Mass.")]
I've been watching the mail all week, hoping to hear from you. Have you found out anything about plane schedules? We're still saving Disneyland for you. Besides, I need someone to complain to. Dave just won't encourage me at all, except to say I can't afford to get sick. I've already diagnosed my malady as homesickness so keep the letters coming and put a fire under that little brother of mine.
[Seems like Mom and I are both going a little stir crazy. Hopefully we'll start doing more during the week now that Mom is driving the car.]
Love,
Linda
Letter postmarked August 11, 1967 (written August 10):
As you may recall, the previous letter ended with this request from my mother:
Send me Your Zip Code!
That must have worked because today's letter did include my grandmother's zip code in the destination address.
Dear Mother and Mike,
Congratulations on your new car! It sounds dreamy. Maybe you ought to "test-drive" it out to California. Seriously, what are your plans about coming to visit us? Does the new car shoot your finances and stop the trip? If so, I hate the car! I may not even want to drive it.
[For those of you who are unaware, as far as I know my grandmother never drove a car or had a driver's license. So my Uncle Mike would have been the sole driver of the family car, since the family at this point was him and my grandmother. Per my uncle, the dreamy car referred to here was a maroon Chevy Impala with white interior and 3 on the column. Maroon was definitely not his first choice of color since he knew he'd be taking that car to college at The University of Texas in Austin, and maroon and white are the colors of their longstanding rival, Texas A & M. But, it was a good car and it lasted through most of his time at UT until it got wrecked.]
I hope you all had fun in Houston. It sure sounded funny - my mother talking about her "roommates." With my mother getting younger and my son getting older I am very perplexed as to where that leaves me.
[My grandmother graduated from Texas Women's University in Denton (after returning to school in her late forties) and then worked in the journalism department there. The trip to Houston was for some sort of convention she was attending related to that, and she roomed with one or more TWU students. Hence the comment about her getting younger.]
I have started running that fever again. Every morning this time, not every evening like it was before. It certainly couldn't be nerves this time, because I'm not pressured with one thing. I guess they have doctors in L. A. but not _my_ doctor. Besides they cost money and Dave hasn't gotten over the last $23 bill.
[Although most of us would be happy to pay only $23 to visit the doctor, $23 in 1967 purchased about as much as $168 today.]
[Sadly I have a special understanding of Mom's comment about not having her doctor in L. A. I still remember the day (early 1970s) when she found out her doctor (who saw her through two pregnancies) had been killed while piloting a small experimental airplane that crashed. To say she was devastated when that happened would be an understatement.]
Poor Dave! He did take us out to eat last night. Why? I just didn't cook him anything! A lot of good it did me though. Of all the exciting, exotic, elegant places to eat in Los Angeles, he took me to the nearest Sizzler. They have one of those in Farmers Branch!
[Dad was a steak and potatoes kind of guy, so Sizzler had everything he needed. And I'm sure the price was right.]
How did Mike like his birthday present? Or has he had time to even open it? I have one for you, Mother, and have had it a couple of weeks. I can't seem to get it to the post office. David Wayne hasn't cared to walk much lately.
[I probably saw Mom's blisters from all the walking we had been doing and didn't want that to happen to me.]
Do Wayne and Linda need anything for their house? I would like to send them a housewarming gift, but I don't have any idea what they would like. Linda says Wayne is very industrious about the yard, but I don't think grass seeds would be appropriate.
[The comment about my Uncle Wayne is interesting, since it wasn't too many years later when he began living full time up at "the farm" as we have always called it, near Valley View, TX.]
I have really been reading this week - 3 books in 4 days. I read "Divorce, American Style" (very funny), "Drum" (too dirty, you can't have it) and "Brave New World" (interesting). Dave wanted to read "Drum," but I hid it. These pocket books are expensive though, so I don't know how long it will last. You should see the pained expression on Dave's face when I finish one.
[I can definitely understand my dad's pain here.]
In the absence of playmates, David Wayne's imagination has taken over. There are mother, daddy, and a baby rabbit in the closet. Skunks in the bathroom (smells logical), beavers in another closet, and sloth in the kitchen. His little friend upstairs is even moving in a few days, so no telling what we'll have then. He still carries his gun to shoot hippies and plain-clothes hippies.
[That's quite an assortment of animals. What kind of weird kid has an imaginary sloth?]
[Since Jeffrey (friend upstairs) moved within a month of our arrival, that explains why I don't remember having a playmate in the apartments.]
[Regarding the gun, well, one must be prepared for hippie encounters at all times, mustn't one?]
Patsy, my neighbor, wrote and said that the owners came over and cleaned up our yard. She said they worked _all_ one day - five of them. I bet they were furious when they saw the neglected flower beds and fallen trellis. Oh well, maybe they saw the well-fertilized area around dog house. I told Patsy to let me know if they put our furniture in the street. You might check, too, around October 1. (That's when our lease is up.) If they do throw us out, just have a street sale. We'll probably have to go on a burial run as soon as we get back - so what do we need a house, furniture, and dishes for?
Love, Linda
[When we moved to Los Angeles we continued to rent the home where we were living in Carrollton, with the intention of moving back there upon our return from L. A. The family on one side of us was Patsy, her husband, and their two sons. The comment about the "burial run," for those of you who have not seen that previously, refers to my father's job as an Insurance Examiner with the Texas State Board of Insurance. In addition to examining large insurance companies located in major cities like Dallas, Houston and Austin, examiners would sometimes have to examine smaller insurance companies headquartered in small towns throughout the state. These small insurance companies were often located in the same buildings as funeral homes (and likely operated by the same people), so the examiners making these trips to examine several small insurance companies over the course of a week or two got to spend a lot of time hanging out in funeral homes. Hence the phrase "burial run."]
Diary entry for August 11, 1967:
Bought more books today. Stayed home at night. David Wayne watched TV with Jeffrey.
Perhaps my grandmother's book recommendations have already been received. Too bad we don't know the eclectic mix of titles Mom purchased this time. Maybe she'll mention them in the next letter.
Did someone say letter?
Diary entry for August 7, 1967:
Very ordinary day. Bought three books. I read today - "Divorce American Style." Started another - "Drum." The other is "Brave New World."
"Divorce American Style" was made into a movie starring Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds. "Drum" was written by the same author as "Mandingo" (Kyle Onstott), with a similar storyline from the same era.
"Brave New World" is Aldous Huxley's 1932 masterpiece, which I read in high school but couldn't tell you much about right now other than I really enjoyed it. But here's a sentence from a synopsis I found on Amazon: "Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New World likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites." Hmmm . . .
