151 3/11/1948 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 4008 Randall Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis 16, Minnesota Thursday, March 11, 1948

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, I'll try and get a few lines written before I have to stop and get supper. There is a gang of kids down in the basement playing and as soon as they come up I will send them all home as it is almost five o'clock. I have been typing all afternoon and have 300 left to do tonight. They are so rushed that now I have been typing 500 every day instead of having two days to do that much. We have a boy from the office who picks up and delivers the work so that makes it much nicer, especially for Elmer, as he took my work back and forth before. Yesterday Selma and I had planned to go down town for lunch and do some shopping but when we heard it was 10 below in the morning we called it off and then this morning it was 27 below. Doesn't that seem impossible though. It is the coldest March day in history for Minneapolis and I'm not surprised. Mr. Carlson had an operation on his kidneys last week but went home yesterday but still doesn't feel so good. Now they found he also has a rupture which should be taken care of when he recovers from this. When you once start going to doctors there seems to be no end to it. Elmer put the chains on the car for me last Saturday as we had another terrific snow so I was able to take the kids to Sunday school. They love to go so it is too bad when they have to miss. Rose said Mary certainly seems to know what it is all about. Jimmy is learning the Commandments now. I hope you folks don't buy a new car because they cost so awfully much now and yours still looks good both on the outside and the inside. Besides there are always repairs on new cars too and you can spend out an awful lot on an old car and still have a lot more than when you have to pay on a new car. We sure need one, although it works o.k. when it is above zero, except for repairs quite often, but our car looks like the dickens. A paint job would fix it up on the outside but the upholstering is so bad on the inside. Tuesday Dolores came over and spent the day with me. She did all my ironing for me which included 7 shirts. She and Bob have a two-room apartment down on 25th and Lyndale in an old rooming house. There is no water in their rooms and they have to get it from the bathroom which they share with several others. They have to pay 55 a month for it and Bob only gets 105 dollars a month. I don't know how they are going to manage. Of course Mr. C. is still trying to talk them into moving in with him. I don't know how it will turn out. Here are the pictures of our house. It looks just terrible on account of the yard but we can't have it graded until the ground thaws. We plan to get awnings for the windows so that will add to the house too. The painting is coming along slowly since Elmer can work on it just weekends. He will put the second coat on this weekend, at least start on it. He isn't hurrying too much about it because we aren't anxious to have to furnish our living room right away anyway. We want to pay for the furniture as we get it so won't get everything at once. I got your picture card you sent from that big ship. It certainly looked swell to me. It must have been fun eating there. The Minneapolis schools are out on strike but that doesn't affect the St. Louis Park schools. The schools have been out for about two weeks now and there is no settlement in sight. Well Folks I had better stop and get something ready to eat but I hope you are fine and I'll get more written soon. With Love, Helen