Mrs. J. C. Bitterman 1717 Chadbourne Ave. Madison, Wisconsin Jan. 11, 1931 Dear Circle: I have things all to myself again tonight as my "musical" husband is away with the club at Monroe tonight. The weather man predicted rain or snow today but it did not come and they were very glad. I shall be alone much of the time for the next few months except for the students. Cal has begun work for the Gov't that will take him all over Southern Wis. The Gov't Dep't of Highways wants a survey of the various types of roads and an approximate idea of the use of each. So they are having men interview people living in all the various parts of the state and these answers will be tabulated and in this way they hope to learn how much each type of road is used. Cal will work in Dane Co. first, and it is so large it will take him about a month so he will be at home nights most of that time but when farther away will not get home so often. He has done some remodelling of his Chev. for this work. He put in another gasoline tank in the back so he can carry 18 gal of gas (14 cts here now) and he invented & installed a heater, fixed up a wind shield wiper, etc. and has quite an up- to-date car, SEVEN YEARS OLD. He gets 7 cts per mile for the use of his car beside his salary & expenses. This is the case where the office really sought the man. He knew nothing of it till a week ago, and it is new work that the Gov't has not tried before. I hope he can make good. He stood sixth in his Civil Service Exam so that would not have been of any use to him in getting a job in the Capitol. He could have gone on collecting for Manchester's store but he thinks he'll like this work better. He is surely a man who can turn his hand to almost anything. I see this sheet is all about J.C. Bitterman. That wife of his is a STICK. She limps around and gets the little house work done and that's all. Grace & Noel took us to a movie "Charlie's Aunt" last eve & we had a good laugh at it. Of course, there were some shady spots we did not like. Best wishes to Charles for a happy birthday & many more. Love to all from Annie Elizabeth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. Feb. 7, 1931 Dear Circle: This is Sat. morn but I have just found the "Robin" has been here a week without being sent on so I will do that now before I forget it again. We had four inches of fresh show again last night. It had been so balmy for a week before, it seemd like April instead of Feb. I washed on Thurs. & hung the clothes out doors and they were dry in a very short time. It is dark this AM as though we might get more snow. Was glad to see Wendell had written of his travels in the last letter. Ed B.[Bitterman] wrote us of the trip he & Wendell made to Mt. Wilson, also. Ed said Bob Shanks did not quite know him at first but as soon as he spoike, he told Genie he knew he'd heard that "noise" around Nora S. Genie has a sister, a nephew and several cousins near Pasadena. Cal has finished the county territory and will have most of next week to finish the city, then will be sent to some other County to work. Some surprising things are shown by these interviews. We averaged a group of 50 farmers he had seen last week and fifty miles was as far as they'd been away from home in 1930. Many not over 12 to 14 miles away! So it seems it is the city folks that burn up the roads. He has been very glad of this mild winter weather. The Thompson family were here last eve for Noel F's birthday dinner. Grace has had a wisdom toot extracted recently that had its roots hooked under the tooth in front so it had to be taken out from the side, so had to go to a dentist who specializes in that surgical dentistry. She isn't feeling very well yet & has a a bad cold too just now. Little Ellen goes creeping all around now and won't stay "put" any where but in her bed or her little yard. This has been Farmers Week at the Univ. and there seemed to be a good turnout. I went to two programs. I have been able to drive the car more this winter than ever before because the streets have been clear of snow most of the time. I am no good at walking. I get around the house pretty well but tire so soon if I try to walk any distance. However, I think I'm gradually throwing off this stiffness. Am glad to hear the rest of you are well. Must get busy now. Much love to you all. Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. March 4, 1931 Dear Circle: My pen seems rather balky but perhaps I can persuade it to proceed. Cal has been at home since Friday night with an attack of the prevailing "flu". He is feeling some better and his temp. is about normal again but he has a hard cough yet and may not go on the road much this week. He has finished four counties and has five more to do, but none of the others have so much population as Dane Co. has. I think it is fine that Arthur has found a publisher for the short stories he writes so well and it seems an easier way to earn than doing so much driving around as his other work calls for. He'd better "cut out" that lighted newspaper way of starting his car. We had a fine time at Henry's birthday party and I will enclose two of the songs Grace wrote on the spur of the moment for the occasion. Amelia stayed a week after and we had a good time playing around for I am almost back to normal in health again, and felt like a colt let out to pasture after six months at home. So much so that I appeared on the stage in Henry's brown suit in a play at the Woman's Bldg. that week. There were five women in the play and four of us were dressed as men and we surely looked different in that garb. I heard a talk over the radio from the Woman's Club of Chicago today. The lady said "We're getting old and our joints are stiff but we are resolved NEVER to get RHEUMATISM of the MIND." Them's my sentiments too. The rheumatism I had just gradually disappeared with no treatment but a Zoalite infra-red lamp that I used at bedtime and baked my knees & hips. This is drama week here this week, & groups from all over the state are contesting for first place. I heard three plays broadcast today. Two were written by Wis. people. I heard a reader at the Catholic Woman's Club give the play "Disraeli" this week. With no stage make up at all, he represented the various characters SPLENDIDLY and never hesitated for a word in the entire play. He was TOTALLY blind, too. The weather is ideal and Cal can scarcely content him self not to be out at work while it is so fine. He has finally decided to wear bow glasses and now I can see that Dale looks somewhat like his father. Bedtime now, so good night. With love to you all. Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Feb. 18, 1931 Tune: Yankee Doodle Words by Grace Thompson l. O, February is the month It seems we should be born in. The Pickfords keep a birthday club and "In-laws" may be sworn in. The first I know is on the 5th And that belongs to Rollo. Noel next comes squeezing in, So closely does he follow. 2. Gerald comes on old 13 And Henry five days later. And Ritch comes crowding after him And he is Merle's head waiter. 20th is a busy day-- Of course there's Davy Steven And Dickey Smith and Aunt Myrta-- I can't make this come even. 3. Sally chose the 23rd She isn't superstitious. And Florence took the 24th She has our happy wishes. Roswell, Lincoln, Washington, Yes, all the great men gather. And if your poem's worst that this I really wouldn't bother. Tune: Polly-Wolly-Doodle-O. Words by Grace Thompson 1. Oh, Aunt Ella caught a fellow When she lived in Monticello And his name is Henry P. And she took him to the alter And put on him a halter And they've raised up children three. Cho: It is well, it is well, that we all can be here today. Their children all are happy And we all tell their "pappy" "Many glad returns of the day." 2. Oh! They didn't take to farming, But the children took to learning, So they quit the farm one day. And they came to 4-Lakes-City Where he & "Mitty Pitty"* Do seem to have made it pay. Cho: All is well, all is well, they have come a long long way. Now she's giving him a dinner That will make us all no thinner. And now, I've had my say. *"Mitty Pitty" is what the neighbor's small child called Mrs Pickford when she began to talk. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. May 10th 1931 Dear Circle: Once I thought I'd go to bed and then I remembered I had not written the "Robin". Those of you who have lived absolutely alone in a house know how still and sort of blank things get after dark and every one else seems to have some thing to do or some where to go. Of course the radio helps a good deal but it's not like another person. My student doesn't come in usually till near midnight and Cal is out at the farm for a few weeks just now, after finishing his Gov't work. I went to church this AM and over to Grace's for dinner & for a ride this PM. They gave me a new flower vase and a new rose bush for "Mothers day" which I like very much. We invested in an extra ton of coal a week ago and I've used a lot of it keeping comfortable the past few days. The garden is at a standstill & I shall plant nothing more until it gets warm. The fruit trees in nearby yards have been white with bloom of late but no bees were out to work among them, it was so cold and rainy. Have rhubarb and asparagus from the garden. I will finish quilting a quilt tomorrow which I am intending to give to little Ellen Thompson when she is one year old on June 9th and my thumb is so pricked up that I can scarcely hold this pen. It has taken me eight days to do it. Our Woman's Club has a convention here on Wed. & Thurs. this week & I have promised to entertain two delegates so I must get that quilt off the frame in that room before then. I have not thought of washing our house OUTSIDE, Rufus, tho' I think it would benefit it but I know I'll never do it. Some of the light colored houses here look terrible this spring. I wonder if these oil burners have anything to do with it. We have several very near us. We are all well here and hope to see you all at the re- union in Aug. Much love from Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. June 17, 1931 Dear Circle: Have been over at Grace's as nursemaid today, while she went to a party at the home of a friend in Ft. Atkinson. Noel James had his tonsils and adenoids out on Sat. and Ellen Grace had her adenoids removed so both were not quite so peppy as usual but are coming along all right and we hope they will be benefited by the removal. Ellen loves to creep all around the house upstairs and down but has not the courage to start out alone to walk yet. Cal and Wendell & Jean came home over the weekend and I was very glad to have them. Cal has evolved a bright idea of driving out to Ruth's during July and has about persuaded me to fall in with the idea. He says we will not be likely to be in any better health in later years and he, not having regular work, can get away now as well as he ever could. So I guess we will try to leave on June 28 and visit Yellowstone Park on the way & be back the first week of Aug. We plan to have as much fun as possible on the trip and do it as economically as possible by sleeping in our car but taking our meals at hotels. Henry & Ella found their children all well at Cedar Rapids and got back from their week end on Monday PM. Cal says he filled his Chev. gas tank (about 9 gal) when he started for the farm Mon. morn & it took the three of them to within a half mile of the farm before the supply gave out. Some record, eh? [230 miles, gives 25 mpg. and 9 x .14 is $1.26.] We were very sorry to hear that Amelia and Edith have been having the "flu" and hope both are in normal health again by this time. Much love to you all. from Annie - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. Aug. 24, 1931 Dear Circle: I got the "Robin" yesterday from Henry who suggested that Amelia & I write our sections AT ONCE so as to correct the lapse of time from the time he got the letter till he sent it on to me. He is always very clever about arranging about the time my letter should be sent on! We enjoyed the re-union and were only sorry that ALL the relatives could not be present. The "Journal" here had notices of various family reunions yesterday but they were held only ONE day. Betty Cass in the "Journal" wrote of one family reunion where there were 80,000 there. She (a little later) explained that the family name was Thousand & that there were 80 there. Amelia has spent a few days here since coming back from Eau Claire and today we are invited to a one o'clock luncheon at Ella's. Noel James is staying for a few days with us as he has not been here much this summer and school begins about the 8th of Sept. He will be in 1st grade this year so will be busy after that time. Three grand children of ours are to be in the 1st grade this fall. Little Ellen has begun to walk alone now, but has had a hard cold since getting back from the week end at the farm. Ruth writes that they are all well but that Ralph has not yet the courage to start out alone across the room. We would have enjoyed seeing Paul's and Florence's [Wilkinson] little folks at the re-union, also Rollo's trio. We gather from Henry's letter that "Uncle Arthur was again sitting still 'Gainst his will, on a hill. Uncle Arthur sitting still O, lonesome day. and Uncle Wendell walking back To get some gas to make that pass. Hunting for that Indian shack Ten miles away." Cal says Wendell should be able to coast from one filling station to another in this part of the country if he continues to forget that an auto needs gas. Well live & learn. We went 6600 miles without forgetting the gas. All well here. Love from Annie. I am enclosing this article that seems to us to strike the key note of what will bring back good times again if generally put into practice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. Sept. 21, 1931 Dear Circle: We are having a fine rain at present; in fact, we have had rain most of the time for more than a week, so the lawns are green again, & our cistern runs over merrily. The comical thing about it is, that just when it began to rain, Cal got busy on making a sprinkler system for gardens and has it finished and it surely looks foolish to see it being tried out shooting jets of water clear across the garden in a REAL rain, but of course it is not to be used this year but will be ready for next year. Our garden did very well considering the hot season. I canned 21 pts of string beans since coming home from the west and we still have tomatoes, beets, carrots & lettuce to use. Was glad to read of Rufus & Myrtas trip. When the children move away we manage to see something of these W. States in going to see them. This is registration day at the Univ. and until Tues. noon, but so far, I have not had one girl come to look for a room. Had hoped to have my rooms filled but there are so many dormitories built up near the campus that the girls are not coming out so far as this, I guess. I think I'll list my rooms for men next year. Have kept girls for 15 years. The Univ. plans to house all students in dormitories on the campus eventually. I think those stories Arthur writes are VERY good, and the family history he wrote for his children is ESPECIALLY INTERESTING. Cal is away at the Mozart Club tonight. The first practice meeting of the fall. They had Ladies night last Mon. evening. Bedtime now. So Goodnight. Annie - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. Oct. 20, 1931 Dear Circle: I see it is a week since Henry wrote his sheet but I was away keeping house for Grace while she and Noel were in Chicago a few days last week end. The student girl she has wanted to go home to Milwaukee that week end also, so I got my hand in again doing housework while looking after two lively youngsters. But they were very good and I enjoyed them and delivered them safe and sound to their parents. Cal got his own meals on Fri. & till Sat. night when he came out to Nakoma to eat supper with us and also had Sun. dinner & supper with us. He has only half an hour at noon when he is working at the lumber yard and they get thro' at 5:30 PM. So he thought he couldn't get out to Nakoma & back in time at noon. He has been driving a truck delivering lumber for a month for the Gateway Lumber Co. and expects to go on for some time as one of their men is in the hospital having his eyes operated upon for cataract. It is pretty strenuous days for him, from 7 AM to 5:30 with only 30 min. at noon. But he says he will go on for a time while the weather keeps fine. Today, I picked string beans, enough for dinner and also ripe tomatoes & lovely dahlias & cosmos. No frost so far, but it is predicted for tonight. Nakoma was taken into the city of Madison last week. Grace says she hopes they get mail delivery twice a day now. This fine fall weather is splendid but there is a good deal of infantile paralysis in Madison tht would disappear if the weather was frosty. I have a cold in the head today which I hope I shall not pass along with this letter. Good night and love from Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. Nov. 29, 1931 Dear Circle: I see I've had this letter a full week, but I'll send it on tormorrow. Well, we had a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner and supper and a very pleasant time at "Bungalowen." Some three tables full of us. But Ray and Theo know how to handle a big group easily. The cottage was very comfortable with bign logs in the fire place & a fine new heating stove at the other end of the room so the porch could be used as in summer. So we had plenty of room. Grace & Noel & Ellen were not present because Ellen developed a temp. of 102 the night before and was kept in bed on Thurs. to get back to normal. She had a cold and was getting some teeth so that may have been what caused it. She is about back to normal again now. They have been here to dinner today. Cal is still with the Gateway Lumber Co. They are taking inventory now. He has done all their delivering the past two weeks. Our weather has finally got cold enough to freeze the ground and the very last of the chrysanthemums and the parsley are gone now. We wish Gerald and his new wife would call to see us on their way to Washington, D.C. We wish them a long and happy married life together. [Rufus' son Gerald Pickford m. Madeline Klamt Nov. 2, 1931.] Wish Wendell would give us an inkling of the plan of his new house. They are using one of those plaster bases on one of the houses Cal has been hauling lumber to. The carpenter said it did away with the lathers, who ask $13.00 a day here. Two weeks ago, two boys enrolling in the Short Course in Agric. here came & rented my double room for 15 weeks, and today a young woman who is selling cosmetics in Madison took the other room. I don't know how long she will stay. The first roomer I've had who was not a student. Don't know how I'll like her, but she may not stay long. Have had some very good music this evening over the radio. Bed time now. So goodnight. Love from Annie. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Madison, Wis. Dec. 27, 1931 Dear Circle: Well, Christmas is gone and the year is nearly done. I hope you all had a happy Christmas. We did. Our family party was only Grace's family and Cal and I, but we enjoyed the day. Henry & Ella went to Theo's for their tree Thurs. eve. Then they took them to the train to go to Eau Claire and at once began to get ready to DRIVE to Eau C. themselves, hoping to reach there in time to meet Henry & Ella at the train in the morning and give them a real surprise. We had our gifts on the tree out at Grace's Christmas eve. Noel James opened the program by singing a four stanza song "In Bethlehem" very nicely accompanied by his mother on the organ. We were all well remembered and one big surprise was a new Kennedy radio for Cal & me from Grace & Noel & Ruth & Dick; one of the table models with very good tone and selectivity. So our old timer was at once discarded, tho' it still worked but did not have all the new improvements. Cal thought to make a record for this section of the country by planting a walnut tree on our lot here on Christmas day, and there was no frost in the ground. Our one little snow storm was all melted in about a day a week or so ago. Trullie [Bitterman] Shulte writes from California that they are having cold weather out there. The air is cloudy with the smudge fires they have to keep going so much to protect the orchards, and her flowers are killed. They were to spend Christmas at Mary & Levi Hendricksons, as usual. That bridge across the Miss. River can't be finished too soon to suit us. The eight hours will be just about what it will take to go back and forth to our two homes. Thirty years ago Madison was a long way from Nora S. and it took all day to go to Mason City & do a little trading & get home in time for supper. We usually had gone without dinner, too, to save time and money. We are all well here and hope the coming year will be one of health and happiness and prosperity for all. Love to you all from Annie.