Letters to America

Thursday, March 20th, 1941

Darling Joan,

We have had another letter from you which we received on Monday, and it interested us very much indeed. It was the letter which told us of your idea to write to the King and tell him to give Hitler the land. I expect Auntie Mary has explained to you just why it is not so simple as all that, but still, it was an idea.

I am glad you have received The Book of Ten Thousand Things. One day when it is raining and you have nothing to do you must count them and see if there really is Ten Thousand Things in it since some of them may have dropped out during the long journey to America.

Auntie Mary tells us in her letter that Uncle Carl has written to me enclosing some snapshots of you children and we are looking forward immensely to receiving it. We have been so unlucky with the pictures so far, and we still only have the one taken just after you arrived in America. The babies look at it often and say, “That’s Teddy, that’s our Joan and that’s Sandy”. By the time that you receive this letter you will have received the other letters with the latest photos I have taken of the babies. Don’t you think that they are swell(1)?

We are ever so busy just now putting in seeds, Mummy is doing most of the sowing(2). The babies love going up to the allotment(3) but usually get into some sort of mischief. Last Sunday they found some water and got into an awful mess while Mummy and I were busy.

Give my love to everybody and cheerio(4) until next Friday.

Your loving Daddy
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  1. Swell is informal American English for 'very nice'.
  2. This is connected to the Dig For Victory campaign which encouraged many members of the public to grow their own produce hence reducing Britain’s reliance on imports. During the pre-war years of the 1930s around 75% of Britain’s food was imported through shipping. Without ‘Dig for Victory’ it is very possible that the enemy’s U-boats, which attacked the Merchant Fleet in numerous and dreadful raids, could have resulted in starving Britain’s population and thus forcing surrender. For more information see https://www.bishopsteigntonheritage.co.uk.
  3. An allotment is a small area of land in a town which a person rents to grow plants and vegetables on.
  4. People sometimes say 'cheerio' as a way of saying goodbye, especially in British English.