Letters to America

Wednesday, December 29th, 1943

My darling Joan,

Christmas is over and we are settling down again after all the hustle and bustle. I hope you have all had a jolly time, and that you will write and tell me all you did. We all went down to Auntie Rosie’s Christmas morning, after John and Anne had opened their parcels. Anne’s chief present was a black doll – which of course wasn’t china and not too good, but the best we could do, and John had a destroyer boat. They had one or two other little things, but mostly books. We stayed with Auntie Rose until Monday tea-time and arrived home just in time for the 9 p.m. news. I hated being out in the black-out(1), but we had a good journey really.

Oh! Joan, baby Brian is a perfect darling. I nursed him in the afternoons and I loved it. He is 4½ months old now and always ready to smile and gurgle and such a cuddly baby. Christine is a big baby and must be about 8 months now. On Christmas afternoon John and Anne went to fetch Margaret, and Uncle George played Father Christmas. He pretended he had to go out on business and then knocked on the front door all dressed up. The children never guessed who it was and it was very amusing to watch their faces. Uncle George had got a lovely big Christmas tree and put presents on it and “Father Christmas” gave them out. When he had finished, we gave him “three cheers” and the children were so serious about it – it was very funny – you should have heard Nanny laugh!

Did you have a tree? I expect you had lots of fun with Teddy and Sandy. We played games with John and Anne and they learnt one or two new ones – the favourite being “How, When, Where or Why?” I expect you know it. Daddy is going to try and book seats at the Harrow Coliseum and I want to take Dora and the twins, but time is short and he may not be lucky. School starts again Jan. 5 (next Wed.) and Dora has two music lessons before that. She doesn’t want to miss them because she is entering another exam on Jan. 11. I haven’t heard her play for a long time, but I should think she was doing well. “Snow White and the 7 Dwarves” is on at a London cinema and I wanted to take the twins there – I remember how you liked it (and so did I) but they wanted to see a pantomime so they may as well go to the local one which is usually very good. It’s Cinderella this year. I don’t think you have pantomimes in the States, do you? Did you have a white Christmas? Or had the snow gone? We had a very damp, half-foggy one, which makes you glad of a nice fire.

Well, darling, since I’ve exhausted all my Christmas news and it’s very late, I think I’ll go to bed. Daddy has gone on night duty, so we are all alone. I wish you a Very Happy New Year, with Good Luck and Good Health, and may it bring peace.

God bless you dear.

Lots of love and kisses
Mummy
xxxxxxxxxxx

  1. Blackout regulations were imposed on 1 September 1939, before the declaration of war. These required that all windows and doors should be covered at night with suitable material such as heavy curtains, cardboard or paint, to prevent the escape of any glimmer of light that might aid enemy aircraft. External lights such as street lights were switched off, or dimmed.