Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to parents, June 7, 1938 |
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June, 7, 1938
Berlin, Germany
Dear Folks:
I'm writing this letter this afternoon before going to work-mailing day today-with the windows of my room thrown wide open and the sun streaming in. The last couple of days have been beautiful after weeks of
rainy, dreary, cold weather. Sunday and Monday were holidays here-Whitsunday and Whitmonday-so the office had a little breather. I just worked a half day each day. I'm still on the night shift, but with Mr. Lochner due back some time the middle of next week I'll probably being shifted to day work at least for a couple of weeks.
It's been awfully hard since I returned-too much work and not a large enough staff to handle it. To make matters worse one of the German editors
became sick and hasn't been to work since last Thursday, leaving us with three editors to take care of the news around the clock. He's due back tonight,
however.
For a while it looked as though Europe would finally get itself tangled in another war over Czechoslovakia. The first week and a half or so
after my return looked particularly bad. Since then the tension has lessened a great deal but it still is a potential powder keg.
There certainly is a big difference between working here and in the states. In the states you put in your eight hours, go home and forget the office, play golf, go for a swim or something of that sort. Here a newspaperman constantly is on edge. You put in plenty of overtime, get routed out of bed at 4 a.m. in the' morning-as I did last Sunday morning-for a story which New York Wanted, but more than that you always have an uneasy feeling something important may be happening right under your feet. This constant spectre of war doesn't make things any easier. I can think of a good many better ways of seeing Europe, and a good many better places to work.
Life has settled into the routine for me again. Work until 2:30 a.m. or later, sleep until noon (it's light when I go home), eat, read a little or write a letter or mailer and then to the office. It certainly would be nice
if I had a car here and could scoot around a little bit. I believe if I had a chance at a good job back home I'd snap it up.
I told you in my last letter that my electric shaver wasn't working properly, Well, I cleaned it thoroughly, used a little oil on it and after a little more coaxing it began running as well as ever, I haven't had any trouble since.
When you get this, I suppose you will be well into the summer swing of things-scooting out to the lake and the like. Judging from the last letter, Bernice was having a couple of weeks of heavy social activity before graduation. By this time I suppose she has a job, or is she just going to rest after four years of hard work at Holy Angels.
It's too bad I didn't have a chance to see the Griffiths and Behlings, but they aren't the only ones I didn't get around to see. I suppose if I had had a couple of more weeks at home the situation would have been just the same.
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to parents, June 7, 1938 |
| Description | Typewritten letter from Edwin A. Shanke to his parents, June 7, 1938. Shanke is writing from Berlin, detailing his return to routine life after vacation. |
| Creator | Shanke, Edwin A. |
| Date-Original | 1938-06-07 |
| Rights | This image is issued by Marquette University. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please credit: Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Libraries. |
| Subject |
Shanke, Edwin A. -- Correspondence World War, 1939-1945 -- Journalists -- Correspondence War correspondents -- United States -- Correspondence War correspondents -- Germany -- Berlin -- Correspondence Foreign correspondents -- Germany -- Correspondence |
| Format-Original | Typescript |
| Identifier-OriginalItem | Box 1, Folder 1 |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned as TIFF at 300 dpi on Epson Expression 10000XL. Display image is generated from the archival TIFF. |
Description
| Title | Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to parents, June 7, 1938 |
| Page No. | p. 1 |
| Identifier-DigitalFile | MUA_EAS_00084 |
| Rights | This image is issued by Marquette University. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Department of Special Collections and University Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with a staff member. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please credit: Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Libraries. |
| Transcript | June, 7, 1938 Berlin, Germany Dear Folks: I'm writing this letter this afternoon before going to work-mailing day today-with the windows of my room thrown wide open and the sun streaming in. The last couple of days have been beautiful after weeks of rainy, dreary, cold weather. Sunday and Monday were holidays here-Whitsunday and Whitmonday-so the office had a little breather. I just worked a half day each day. I'm still on the night shift, but with Mr. Lochner due back some time the middle of next week I'll probably being shifted to day work at least for a couple of weeks. It's been awfully hard since I returned-too much work and not a large enough staff to handle it. To make matters worse one of the German editors became sick and hasn't been to work since last Thursday, leaving us with three editors to take care of the news around the clock. He's due back tonight, however. For a while it looked as though Europe would finally get itself tangled in another war over Czechoslovakia. The first week and a half or so after my return looked particularly bad. Since then the tension has lessened a great deal but it still is a potential powder keg. There certainly is a big difference between working here and in the states. In the states you put in your eight hours, go home and forget the office, play golf, go for a swim or something of that sort. Here a newspaperman constantly is on edge. You put in plenty of overtime, get routed out of bed at 4 a.m. in the' morning-as I did last Sunday morning-for a story which New York Wanted, but more than that you always have an uneasy feeling something important may be happening right under your feet. This constant spectre of war doesn't make things any easier. I can think of a good many better ways of seeing Europe, and a good many better places to work. Life has settled into the routine for me again. Work until 2:30 a.m. or later, sleep until noon (it's light when I go home), eat, read a little or write a letter or mailer and then to the office. It certainly would be nice if I had a car here and could scoot around a little bit. I believe if I had a chance at a good job back home I'd snap it up. I told you in my last letter that my electric shaver wasn't working properly, Well, I cleaned it thoroughly, used a little oil on it and after a little more coaxing it began running as well as ever, I haven't had any trouble since. When you get this, I suppose you will be well into the summer swing of things-scooting out to the lake and the like. Judging from the last letter, Bernice was having a couple of weeks of heavy social activity before graduation. By this time I suppose she has a job, or is she just going to rest after four years of hard work at Holy Angels. It's too bad I didn't have a chance to see the Griffiths and Behlings, but they aren't the only ones I didn't get around to see. I suppose if I had had a couple of more weeks at home the situation would have been just the same. |
