Thursday, September 30, 1937
Waterloo weather [research]
Category: Research
Waterloo East High School Football Game
Friday, October 1, 1937
Who played East High School at home? What was the score? [research]
Charlie McCarthy and Freddie Martin
Sunday, October 3, 1937
Ding references Charlie McCarty, who I believe is Charlie McCarthy, the dummy puppet of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen on “The Chase and Sanborn Hour.” I found an episode listed for 10-3-37 that featured guests Sally Eilers and Rudy Vallee (guest host) in a book called, “Radio Series Scripts, 1930-2001: A Catalog of the American Radio Archives.”
Ding also references hearing Freddie Martin (I believe this is actually Freddy Martin.) I am trying to find a song named, “Josephine,” which I believe is Ding and Dorothy’s song.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0552303/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
Phil Rausch
Monday, October 4, 1937
“Phil Rausch called me and wanted to play poker.”
Was he the founder’s husband of the Junior Service league of Waterloo?
$5.00 in 1937
How much would Ding’s $5 bet from 1937 be worth in 2017 dollars?
A. $50
B. $100
C. $85
Answer is C. $85, according to the inflation calculator found on site www.in2013dollars.com.
East High v. West High
Friday, November 12, 1937
Ding and Dorothy had a date for this game. I assume it is basketball this time of year. Ding bet $5 on West High. Who won?
President’s Birthday
Saturday, January 29, 1938
Not sure if this is what event Ding went to, but the only president that I could find with a birthday on Jan. 29 was William McKinley, who was assasinated in 1901.
It all began in 1937 …
Major News Stories of the day included Amelia Earhart, Hindenburg Disaster, Memorial Day Massacre, Joe Louis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dust Bowl Storms and Mississippi River Flooding
… but in east central Iowa, the budding relationship of Ding and Dorothy was just beginning
This blog that is about that relationship, a specific past of two people. A past relationship, a romance spanning more than two years. The romance is preserved via letters. Letters from a man to a woman. In the late 1930s, in rural Iowa. Letters that reveal ups and downs, starts and stops, dances and parties. But we only have one side of the relationship – his side. His letters asking for dates, showing bravado, sharing everyday details.
So what to do with these details? I’m going to see what happens through this blog.
This is what I’m doing so far:
- Posting the letters with the punctuation, spelling and spacing as in the original letters. [category: Letter from Ding]
- Documenting get togethers that are pieced from comments in the letters [category: get togethers]
- Researching items and asking the online community for information [category: research]
- Discovering details of words and behaviors that I don’t know [category: details]
- Noting the happenings mentioned by Ding [category: event]
Read the style notes that inform the way the letters are shown.
So, engage with me. Would you like to write Dorothy’s response to the letters? I could start a Fan Fiction category. Would you like to see historical context? I could start a current events category.
Let me know in your comments what piques your curiosity.