Letters to America

Saturday, March 29th, 1941

Darling Joan,

It is a rather nasty and cold afternoon here and Anne has just gone to Dora’s house to play with her. John is looking at the “Sunny Stories”(1) and Mummy is busy in the kitchen. Nanny has gone over to see her new little grand-daughter at Auntie Maud’s house.

John likes to be a soldier and he marches about with your old school satchel(2) over his shoulders for a haversack. When I come home on Sundays they love to carry my soldier things in for me, and have to take turns with the different things.

I am very pleased to hear that you are getting on so well with your music, and we look forward to the day when you will be able to play to us again. It will soon be time for Dora to sit for her examination, and we will let you know how she gets on.

I expect that by the time that you receive this letter it will be really springtime and you will all be playing out of doors. Has it been a long winter to you, Joan? It hardly seems possible that it was summertime when you went away.

Janet and John Kemp’s Mummy showed us some photos that she had received and they were pictures of them playing in the snow. It was about a foot deep, so we know that you have had some jolly times in the snow.

Did you have a grand time at the circus? I think it was very kind indeed of the Doctor to take you all and I do hope that you remembered to thank him nicely.

I think it is a good idea to send you all to the cinema on Sunday afternoons so that Uncle Carl has a little peace to work, and I am glad to hear that you go to Sunday School(3) every Sunday morning. I expect you enjoy them both.

Give my love to those two boys and cheerio(4) for the present,
Your loving
Daddy
xxxxxxxxxx

  1. Sunny Stories was a children's magazine published in the United Kingdom in the first half of the 20th century.
  2. A satchel is a school bag.
  3. Sunday school is a school for religious teaching usually for children and young people and usually a part of a church or parish.
  4. People sometimes say 'cheerio' as a way of saying goodbye, especially in British English.