July 16, 1943. A letter from Anna to her brothers. Eddie is still on vacation and has been going fishing “practically every second say”. As far as Anna is concerned, once his vacation is over “he will have to stay at home and be a good boy.”
Baby Theresa continues to delight. Having some time off, Eddie and Anna took her to Trojan Pontiac where Eddie works and “showed her off.” They made other stops along the way to visit with other friends. Anna says of Terry, “She certainly looked sweet all in pink and little white shoes. Everybody likes the curl which she has on top of her head. It seems that every place where we go people notice it immediately. I have to admit that it becomes her very nicely.” The baby continues to be a stronger walker with every passing day. As Anna tells it “all you have to do is set her on the floor and she starts and darn good”
An advertisement for Trojan Pontiac from the May 5, 1941 edition of the Troy Times Record. Uncle Eddie worked here during the war years.
The baby still plays with the stuffed rabbit that Dad had sent her as an Easter present a few months ago. Apparently the rabbit is a little worse for wear. Anna writes, “He is a mess already. She broke a wire in one of the ears and the poor ear keeps on swinging from side to side and that attracts her attention and she keeps on pulling it all the more. Lately she discovered that he also has a tail – something that she hasn’t got – and she keeps on picking it with her two fingers and twisting it. She also bites and chews on it. Poor rabbit. On top of that he gets his daily punches and socks. He probably is covered with black and blue marks by now…. She kicks him also in the stomach and below the belt. What a baby… Pretty soon the poor rabbit will also be blind because when she finds out that he has eyes she will peck them out. And when finally in the near future you may smell sawdust think of the poor rabbit back home and then you will know that he has come to his end because Terry has finally ripped him to pieces.”
Anna closes the letter with the thought that, “We don’t have to go to the circus or the carnival which are in town to get a good laugh. We have a one man circus. This morning Daddy was in the bedroom and he said to me that the circus was in town. Baby had her feet in the air under the blanket and it looked like a tent.”