Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to family, ""Mom-Ber-Dad,"" March 29, 1940 |
Previous | 1 of 3 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
Loading content ...
(3)
Berlin, Germany
March 29, 1940
Dear Mom-Ber-Dad:
I am dashing off another letter to you because a friend is leaving for Italy today and will mail it from Rome. I have been wondering whether you are receiving my letters. I haven't had any word from home in months. Christmas cards are continuing to trickle in but not letters.
Since I last wrote you, things have been more or less at a standstill. I haven't had a chance to get out of Berlin, so it has been a day-in, day-out office routine most of this month. I had two days off over easter. One I spent at home, and the other visiting. We celebrated Easter by eating our allotted can of peas. Frau Volmer is visiting with her daughter in Cologne for
a few days. Her son, Norbert, who is stationed somewhere on the West Front, managed to get a couple of days furlough and joined her there so they had a little
reunion.
We have a new man in the office again. He is taking Whiteleather's place who wont be back for some time - if at all. The result of all this was that a little wind-fall came our way. The new man brought us
several pounds of Maxwell House coffee and soap which our boss in New York sent along for us. We divided that among all the boys in the office. Then Whiteleather
cabled that we should liquidate his stuff. Because he had been in the states late last year he still had a supply of soap, toothpaste and a little canned goods, especially fruit juices, as well as several bottles of wine, whiskey and cognac. We divided all that among us also. It sure is strange how tickled and pleased everyone is these days when he gets a few simple things like that.
Our new man, his name is Grover, really was assigned to Copenhagen but the Finnish-Russian war ended before he got there so New York assigned him to our office. He can't speak or understand a word of German which just about makes him helpless for our purposes. Through him we've been catching up on what has been happening in the States. It's surprising how far behind we are in the news. Frequently we catch up on the news by reading the captions on pictures which arrive from New York. We'll find a reference to the "late so-and-so" or something like that to discover that some prominent person died.
We are looking forward to some very busy times soon. In a way we will all welcome rapid-fire action again. Time flies then and we don't have time to think about all the little inconveniences, difficulties and sometimes even hardships. We still are without warm water at home. I've just nibbled on the last of my Easter candy ration. In all there were about fifteen pieces of
assorted chocolates - the first since Christmas.
Vacations are going to be a problem this year. We were told to take them as early as possible but so far only two of the staff have been able to get away. It isn't so easy in war-time to travel and frequently the
visas necessary require weeks to get. By rights I am due to get my six weeks leave in the states late this year - sometime after the first week in Spetember.
Whether I will be permitted to return, however, is another question. We wrote a long time ago to find out whether my vacation in the states would be approved
but we haven't had an answer yet. A staffer in Budapest was turned down.
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | Letter from Edwin A. Shanke to family, "Mom-Ber-Dad" March 29, 1940 |
| Description | Typewritten letter from Edwin A. Shanke to his family, "Mom-Ber-Dad" March 29, 1940. Shanke is writing from Berlin, on slow news days and AP office happenings. |
| Creator | Shanke, Edwin A. |
| Date-Original | 1940-03-29 |
| 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 2 |
| 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 family, "Mom-Ber-Dad" March 29, 1940 |
| Page No. | p. 1 |
| Identifier-DigitalFile | MUA_EAS_00148 |
| 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 | (3) Berlin, Germany March 29, 1940 Dear Mom-Ber-Dad: I am dashing off another letter to you because a friend is leaving for Italy today and will mail it from Rome. I have been wondering whether you are receiving my letters. I haven't had any word from home in months. Christmas cards are continuing to trickle in but not letters. Since I last wrote you, things have been more or less at a standstill. I haven't had a chance to get out of Berlin, so it has been a day-in, day-out office routine most of this month. I had two days off over easter. One I spent at home, and the other visiting. We celebrated Easter by eating our allotted can of peas. Frau Volmer is visiting with her daughter in Cologne for a few days. Her son, Norbert, who is stationed somewhere on the West Front, managed to get a couple of days furlough and joined her there so they had a little reunion. We have a new man in the office again. He is taking Whiteleather's place who wont be back for some time - if at all. The result of all this was that a little wind-fall came our way. The new man brought us several pounds of Maxwell House coffee and soap which our boss in New York sent along for us. We divided that among all the boys in the office. Then Whiteleather cabled that we should liquidate his stuff. Because he had been in the states late last year he still had a supply of soap, toothpaste and a little canned goods, especially fruit juices, as well as several bottles of wine, whiskey and cognac. We divided all that among us also. It sure is strange how tickled and pleased everyone is these days when he gets a few simple things like that. Our new man, his name is Grover, really was assigned to Copenhagen but the Finnish-Russian war ended before he got there so New York assigned him to our office. He can't speak or understand a word of German which just about makes him helpless for our purposes. Through him we've been catching up on what has been happening in the States. It's surprising how far behind we are in the news. Frequently we catch up on the news by reading the captions on pictures which arrive from New York. We'll find a reference to the "late so-and-so" or something like that to discover that some prominent person died. We are looking forward to some very busy times soon. In a way we will all welcome rapid-fire action again. Time flies then and we don't have time to think about all the little inconveniences, difficulties and sometimes even hardships. We still are without warm water at home. I've just nibbled on the last of my Easter candy ration. In all there were about fifteen pieces of assorted chocolates - the first since Christmas. Vacations are going to be a problem this year. We were told to take them as early as possible but so far only two of the staff have been able to get away. It isn't so easy in war-time to travel and frequently the visas necessary require weeks to get. By rights I am due to get my six weeks leave in the states late this year - sometime after the first week in Spetember. Whether I will be permitted to return, however, is another question. We wrote a long time ago to find out whether my vacation in the states would be approved but we haven't had an answer yet. A staffer in Budapest was turned down. |
