182 9/14/1948 Helen Carlson to Sadie Erwin

Helen Carlson 4008 Randall Avenue, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis 16, Minnesota Tuesday, September 14, 1948

Sadie Erwin Box 44, Enumclaw, Washington

Dear Folks: Tonight after supper we went out to vote and then took a ride out to Hopkins. A Hopkins girl won the Miss America contest and was due back home tonight so we drove out to see if anything was going on. It was about an hour before she was due but the streets were already lined with people and policemen all over. Elmer went to Wisconsin over the weekend with seven other fellows from the office. One of them has a cottage up there so they went on a fishing trip. Elmer had a wonderful time and came back with several small perch. The others were fishing for big fish but we like those little ones fried crisp and they certainly tasted good. We are having beautiful fall weather. The days are warm but the nights turn quit cool. I hope winter weather will stay away for a while. Jimmy is crazy about school. He is learning to read all ready and is gone all day but likes taking his lunch. They have their school savings account too and it is still at the Farmer's Mechanic Bank. Jimmy is the biggest one in his class and we think that is wonderful because we want him to grow up to be bigger than Elmer is. Elmer's height is o.k. but he is built so small. I'm trying to really learn how to cook and it is lots of fun. We got so tired of just plain meat and potatoes that now I'm trying new ways of fixing things and I cut out recipes from the magazines and spend a lot more time fixing supper. Tonight I fixed some left over chicken into chicken croquettes and they turned out just swell. It was the first time I had ever made them. If I'm going to go in for cooking, though, I have to buy more pots and pans. I bought a French fryer last week and it is just wonderful. I fried my croquettes in that. It keeps the fried foods from getting greasy. Selma called up early yesterday morning and said she thought her baby might arrive some time that day and wanted me to come over and keep her company until Al got home at noon, so as soon as Jimmy left for school Mary and I went over there. Nothing happened all morning so when Al came home we left but she went to the hospital that night and had an eight pound boy this morning. She wanted a boy so badly and I am glad she got one. Of course it made me think of Gladys and feel bad for her. It is the funniest thing but jackets have been accumulating around here. First Elmer mentioned he needed a jacket for golf and he didn't have any. Then George came back from one of his trips and there was a good jacket left in the car and it didn't belong to either George or the fellow he had been with so George said we might just as well keep it and it just fit Elmer. Then a few weeks later I saw the dogs running around here with a perfectly good army jacket. I went out and took it away from them and asked everyone I saw if it belonged to them and no one claimed it so finally I put it in the washing machine and washed it and that one too just fits Elmer. Then last week I went to take Elmer's coat out of the closet and here I pulled out another jacket. We were sure this one must be George's as he wore jackets all the time so Saturday I went over there to give it to him but it isn't his. Then I knew it must be Wally's so called Eden but she said it wasn't Wally's. We thought and thought and finally last night Elmer said he bet it belongs to Harold. It must belong to him because I can't think of any other person. I will write to Stella tonight and ask her. The label in it isn't from a store in Minneapolis. The label says Klopfensteins. Is that the name of a store out there? I haven't been downtown for ages so tomorrow morning Mary and I are going down and do a little shopping and then we are going to meet Elmer and have lunch with him. I plan to have ten o'clock coffee with the girls at General Mills too. Last Sunday Jimmy and Mary and I went through the Art Institute and then the Walker Art Gallery. I didn't think the kids would be very interested but they both seemed to like it. It was such a lovely day that afterwards we went down to Lake of the Isles and sat around there for about an hour. Elmer got home about six o'clock Sunday evening. Last week we had several practically cold evenings so I bought a grate for our fireplace and a sack of fireplace coal and had a little fire one night. It hasn't been cool enough for one since, though. The nights here certainly don't cool off like yours do they. Are you having much rain now? I haven't heard from Gladys since before they went on their vacation but they must be back by now. How is Jim treating Ruth. I think of her a lot and like her so much that I hope they are getting along o.k. I sure would like to see little Gary. Well Folks, Elmer has gone to bed to read so guess I will stop and write a few lines to Stella. I hope you are all fine and I'll write again soon. With Love, Helen