Letter postmarked January 8, 1968:
The CCZCC extends its winning streak to 15.
Dear Mother,
I'm way behind on answering letters, but at this time of the day I don't feel like writing to anyone but you. I've enjoyed receiving so many letters from you this week - wish you had more holidays.
I just came back from the doctor for my last shot of the week. The nurse thought that I should be feeling better, but I informed her otherwise. My complexion still resembles that of "Casper the Ghost" without the smile! But I am doing no work or running around so I should be better by next week. While there, I checked on the results of David Wayne's (wee) test. He checked out fine and he isn't anemic. He certainly doesn't act tired.
We had a blow today. Yesterday a notice came that we had a certified letter to pick up. Today I went to get it and guess what - the Pontiac people are notifying all 1965 Pontiac owners (that's us) that they have discovered these cars are faulty. Just a minor little thing - the steering wheel may separate from the wheels so you could still move, you just couldn't guide a car. Dave is going to have ours checked tomorrow - or either take the car and live in a motel! If there is something wrong, we won't have to pay to get it fixed.
[Now we know Dad's car was a 1965 Pontiac Bonneville, similar to this one which has been nicely restored:]
[If you want to see more pictures of that one, and a list of features, check out this link: https://www.conceptcarz.com/gallery/10944/pontiac-bonneville.aspx. If you imagine that car with a red interior, that was our car.]
I'm glad you understood about the puppy situation. We have been had for the last time - at least by those two. I was afraid (after I'd already written) that you might think I was just acting pregnant, you know nervous, irritable, etc. But really Dave feels the same and he certainly isn't pregnant. Suzie did come over yesterday (without pup) and asked me if I felt like going to a movie. It was one I really wanted to see, "Valley of the Dolls," so I went. It was not a show to take David Wayne to, but I did this time. From now on though, I'll stick to Walt Disney movies. I am planning on taking him to "Sound of Music" next week and "Dr. Doolittle" the week after.
Suzie's whole personality was different yesterday. I imagine she's pretty upset with me, but that's fine. She didn't rough-house with David Wayne and he acted much better than usual. They haven't been over at all this week at night - before it seemed they were dropping over constantly. I have a sneaking suspicion my husband took care of that because of my "illness." Your comparison of them to Pat Neale was absolutely perfect.
[It sounds to me like Suzie was trying to mend the friendship and is treading lightly.]
Speaking of old friends . . . I got a letter from Joan Gambill today. It's the funniest thing I've ever read. When I get through answering her, I'll try to remember to send it to you. She hasn't changed one bit. She did inform me that Sandra Smith and Mary Jane McDuffy are divorced. I had no idea. When you read the letter, be sure it's on a day that you can snicker off and on all day without people wondering about you.
I mailed Dave's sweater back today. Probably you will not need a ticket because they are the only store in town that will carry that brand. It is a lovely sweater. If you can't get exactly the same one, color and all, we'll understand.
I'm worried about your floor furnace. Can the plumber try to light it again? Didn't this same thing happen last winter? I can't advise you on getting another one. I hate to see you go in debt, especially with Mike beginning college soon, but after all, you can't freeze. Sears sounds like the best deal but they have such high interest rates - you know that better than anyone though.
[We'll find out in a future letter that the winter of 1968 started off about as cold as the winter of 2018, in North Texas, at least.]
About ol' Mike - - - I wish he didn't have so many activities and could get a part-time job. He would sure learn the value of a dollar that way - and really I don't know of any other way to learn it. I was very proud of him about Key Club, DeMolay, etc., but I just wonder now if that was the best thing in the world. It seems to me that it's just been expensive on you and work for you, too. And he can't be making any more lasting friendships than I did in my little I.D.K.D.Y. club.
To answer your questions about David Wayne's toys - he loves everything. The dunking bird fascinates him and he shows off the bathroom stuff to everyone he can drag in there. David Wayne was very pleased with the cars, but Dave and I noticed he wasn't playing with them or the road set he got. Finally, last night we had the opportunity to sit down with him, explain the road signs, show him to keep on the right side of the road, etc. Can you believe it? He did not know how to play cars. I guess children learn that from playing with other children. Now, he has all cars on the road, his train track crossing it, all signs in the correct space, built buildings and houses with his Lego building toys, and is having the time of his life creating incidents. We had to teach him how to play cars!
[What a weird kid, not knowing how to play cars. Sounds like I was a quick learner, though. And as my four-year-old grandson can attest, I still enjoy creating "incidents" while playing with cars or trains. (Think Gomez Addams.)]
The Lego building toys were what Nate and Judy sent. They thought for David Wayne, but Dave has enjoyed them more. Some of the pictures are too difficult for David Wayne to do yet. Dave spent two hours one night putting a soldier together. He's just like a kid with them. The cutest, most unusual gift came from Tracey - a Jolly Green Giant footprint rug. It is a bright green and the most hideous looking thing you could imagine. I must get some flashbulbs so I can take a picture to send you. At the moment, it is David Wayne's proudest possession and no one is allowed to walk on it.
[I remember that big green footprint rug. Unfortunately there isn't a picture of it in the photo album, but I do have a scan of a picture of the rug taken on January 14, 1968, with me and Dad sitting behind it. Here it is:]
[In case you can't tell, Dad has a cigar in his mouth and I am pretending to smoke one while wearing fake glasses, nose and mustache. And I'm wearing a Batman t-shirt. That's my bed against the wall.]
[Would you like to know how I came to have a scan of that photo and how I know what date it was taken? Of course you would, and I'm going to tell the story regardless. As Mom has mentioned in her letters, she was sending pictures to various people while we were living in Los Angeles. One of those people was probably her father (my grandfather, Papa), who had divorced my grandmother and was living with his second wife at the time. Well, shortly after wife #2 passed away he married wife #3 in 1983. Papa died in 1986 and some family members kept in touch with wife #3 for a few years after that, but then gradually lost touch in the early 1990s. Occasionally her name would come up at family gatherings such as Christmas time, but nobody knew what became of her or if she was still living. That happened most recently in January of 2017, and we assumed she had passed since we figured she would have been over 100 years old by then. Well, we were right about her age but not about her status. She died the following month at the age of 101.]
[Fortunately, Papa had kept a box or two of keepsakes such as photos going back to at least the early 1940s when he was serving in the Navy. Fortunately again, wife #3 didn't get rid of those items when Papa died in 1986, nor after she married her fourth husband two years after that. More fortunately, those items did not get thrown away when she went into a nursing home many years later and her house was sold. Even more fortunately, the niece who handled her estate contacted my cousin Steven to see if he wanted these items, and he now has those treasures in his possession and scanned that photo for me. So, to say I'm lucky to have an electronic copy of that picture would be an understatement.]
Another gift you sent for David Wayne has turned into a family gift - the book on ants and bees. I read and my boys sit spellbound listening. If I read while Dave is at work, we have to discuss it at night. Really, all three of us are enjoying it and I hate to finish it.
I will close quickly as we are fixing to leave to go to the store.
[I was in college before I knew "fixing to" was a colloquialism. It was just a normal phrase to me that I heard and used all the time.]
Something has come up about when we are leaving L. A. but it will take a whole letter for that.
Love,
Linda
[I can't believe Mom finished this letter with that cliffhanger and made my grandmother wait until the next letter for the moving back news.]
Letter postmarked December 19, 1967 (dated Tuesday):
The CCZCC has now tied the old record of 11. And there was much rejoicing!
Dear Mother,
[You might think Uncle Mike is slighted once again in the salutation, but this envelope was indeed only addressed to my grandmother. You'll see why.]
I am enclosing this little sock and a check for Mike. Would you mind getting this check cashed and then stuffing the money in the sock? Then you can use your imagination on how to present it to him - hang on tree, put in envelope, etc. I hate to ask you to do this, but we are afraid to send money through the mail. Also, please let me know if and when it gets there as I am just hoping it will make it on time. I'm not too happy about giving Mike just money, but under the circumstances we both think this would be more practical. And if he doesn't appreciate the sock, just save it for me - I thought it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.
This is my big week - a baby, a puppy, and a five-year-old that is excited to death. That's not all, either, as I have to make two trips to the airport with all three - once to take Suzie and once to take Gene.
Yesterday was my first day with the baby and it was just too easy - David Wayne did most of the work and I just sat back and watched. He's just wonderful with the baby. I know Linda Kay will want to "borrow" David Wayne so she can get her house cleaned. The little boy, Eric, is a good baby - eats well, goes to sleep with only a minimum of crying, and has a general good disposition.
All hell broke loose last night when they brought the pup over - the pup was excited (just ran around and wet on everything), David Wayne was excited, and Dave and I were just a wee bit peeved with the Dirrs. We had to put the puppy in the bathroom to sleep as he would just love to tear up packages around the Christmas tree. Yes, she whined all night because she's been sleeping in bed with Suzie and Gene.
[Taking care of the Dirr's puppy is getting off to a good start. This should be a good source of drama.]
I've got to close now because Dave has to mail this for me. It's raining so I'll have to take him to work - with a sleepy five-year-old, and a baby (no car seat - that should be fun).
[Car seats? We don't need no stinkin' car seats!]
[Don't worry about us not having a car seat for the baby. We weren't wearing seat belts back then, either.]
[Before the 1960s, the purpose of child seats in cars was to hold the child so an adult (or larger child) didn't have to, and to prop the child up so he or she could see out the window. That was pretty much it. Child safety seats weren't invented until 1962, and the first car seat regulations were implemented in 1971. Those regulations simply required car seats to use a seat belt and a harness, and no crash tests were required until 1981. Children under a certain age weren't even required to ride in a car seat in all 50 states until 1985.]
I have to keep the car because I take Suzie to the airport (I'll be gone during the time Eric is usually taking his nap). I just don't know whether I'll make this week or not. Oh yes, the Sivells are coming over tonight so when I get back from the airport (if I get back) I have refreshments to make, house to clean and deodorize, and all of this while keeping one eye on David Wayne, two eyes on the baby, and I need a dozen eyes to watch the pup!
Love,
Linda
P. S. Did you ever get the other package I sent you - not the broken one?
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
Diary entry for August 16, 1967:
I drove the car for the first time today - even backed it out of garage. I drove to Von's grocery and then to Beverly Blvd. and got David Wayne a little car. I left the car parked in front of apartment. Dave took us to a Penney's store at night. We got a mattress pad for David Wayne's bed. Then we drove through Griffith Park. We found the zoo. It was a lovely drive.
It's hard to believe we were in the apartment almost four weeks before Mom drove the car. She did like to reminisce about how proud she was of herself for finally getting the nerve to back the car out of the garage. As I mentioned previously, it took some maneuvering to get that boat (Pontiac Bonneville) in and out of the garage under our building.
I guess Better Foods didn't have quite enough foods yesterday so we had to go to another grocery store today.
My bed, as I recall, was a folding metal cot. So any additional padding was probably very beneficial.
No mention of hippies during this drive through Griffith Park. Maybe I scared them all away.
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."]
