545 2/8/1944 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 1414 Cole St., Lake Charles, Louisiana Tuesday, February 08, 1944

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks, Your nice letter came yesterday with the trunk key. The things haven’t arrived yet but should any day and thanks so awfully much for going to all that work. We moved into the new apartment Sunday and I’m getting pretty well settled now. It seems impossible that I had all this stuff in one room because I have it spread all over four rooms now. Gilliards, our landlords, are so nice. They could have rented this apartment in a hurry without doing a thing to it but they fixed it all up. They painted the kitchen and bathroom and bought a brand new stove and dinette set. The rest of the furniture is nice too. They fixed everything that needed fixing. The wallpaper is bad but they are going to paper if they can ever get a paper hanger. Elmer told Frances exactly what he thought about her and the living arrangement there and the price. She blamed it all on her sister and brother-in-law and said it was all their doing. Some friends of theirs rented the house. I stopped over there yesterday and Frances had taken the day off and she and the maid were really housecleaning. She certainly didn’t do that before we moved in. If something isn’t done about the ants and roaches there they will eventually destroy the house. It’s a shame because the house is new. The ants were so thick they were in our clothes and food and just all over and the roaches just ran wild. We have just a few here but I’m sure we can get rid of them although this building is old. Frances never did get the O.P.A. slip fixed up right but Elmer finally signed it because he was disgusted with the whole thing. She got it all fixed right except that she shared the house. I still think she must have a pull with someone on the O.P.A. to get by with it as she does. Was it hard to fix the padlock on the trunk. I’ll take good care of it and whenever you want it, it is always yours. I’ll let you know how everything came through and how much it cost. I know it will be plenty but we can spend extra in moving to this place because the rent is 25 dollars a month less and the utilities won’t be so high. Jimmie’s front tooth doesn’t seem to bother him but at first it cut his tongue. I will be through with the dentist next time. I bet his bill will be awfully high. This apartment is only three short blocks from the lake. It is an old neighborhood with huge pecan trees in all the yards. It isn’t a pretty neighborhood because the houses are old but Elmer says it looks homelike. Just around the corner is the park square with swings and slides and a pool for children in the summer. Jimmie loves it over there. Then right across the street from the park is the milk company and they have an ice cream parlor which is open all day and evenings and Sundays. Next to that is a confectionary store with cakes and magazines and a rental library and papers and things like that. The there is a nice grocery store and a swell meat market. All that is just a real short block from here. Out at the other house we were outside the city limits. It was a new district with no trees and that terribly dusty dirt road and far from everything. Frances had no idea we were looking for a place and was plenty surprised although she said she didn’t blame us for wanting to move. I’m sending you some pictures. I think they are real good although Jim looks so serious. Jimmie has had a haircut since then so doesn’t look quite so much like a girl. We had to get rid of his dog because it killed the neighbor’s chickens. Jimmie was crazy about him and I hope he can have a nice one sometime. Well Folks I guess I will go to bed now. Your letter came Monday, our first real day here and I was so glad to see it in the mailbox. Thanks for everything. Love, Helen