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December 17, 1936 A love letter from Trudel’s husband to her family.

17 Dec
December 17, 1936 A love letter from Trudel’s husband to her family.

Letter typewritten on Leonard’s letterhead

Dec. 17th, 1936

Lieber Papa, Doddo and Erna:

Wir haben es gethan! Wir sind Verheiratet, but it is so much more natural for me to love and cherish my Adored Trudel and tell you what I think of the Adler* under the American Eagle, in English. I am a lucky fellow, and all my friends join in approving of my precious Trudel.

LJG LETTER

My Dear Father . . . .


What is so rare as a perfect Love? Not a gilded lily or a crimson rose with thorns, but a Violet, modest forget-me-not of the Garden of Life, with blushing sweetness and poise, eyes dancing with a new light as we were pronounced man and wife, this is a word picture of OUR Trudel for she belongs to me now, tho before Dec. 5 she was yours not mine.

Radiant, gorgeous, lovely Trudel, on our wedding day told me her thoughts were with you, as mine were, and both our thoughts were with our Angel Mothers, May God rest their souls in peace. I know my own Mother would love Trudel for her fine wholesome qualities.

Mother’s sister writes to my own sister beautifully about Trudel after a visit with her, and my darling baby sister, years older than Trudel, is already in love with Trudel tho they have never met, but we are invited to make the trip, down to Sumter South Carolina when and if we can get away, to visit my sister and her lovely family.

For a long time we have looked forward to the day. We could not until conditions got better, take the step, we thought. How foolish. Everything is better from the moment we got married. The world loves a lover, and we are loved by some good friends, and they all think I am to be congratulated on my beautiful and wonderful bride. So may I thank you, dear Papa, who gave her to me, and you dear sisters, for the newest happiness in my life, and my greatest love – Trudel.

LJG-Signature

With Love to you all, Leonard



“Adler” means “eagle” in English.

 
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Posted by on December 17, 1936 in Chicago, family, immigrant experience, Letters

 

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January 7, 1937 – “It was the most wonderful New Years Eve ever.”

07 Jan
January 7, 1937 – “It was the most wonderful New Years Eve ever.”

January 7, 1937

Starting this letter before my husband comes home for dinner, trying to answer your last 4 letters.

Also I gave up my “business” because it was costing too much. I intend to continue making hats here in our 1 room at the Devonshire Hotel.

Room at Devonshire

Our 1 Room at the Devonshire

I even started working again for C-R where I stopped in to just say “hello” and they asked me if I would like to come back to work.

Of course it is better to earn some money instead of playing cards or something and losing money. All I did for the last 4 weeks is moving and I am glad I will have now regular hours again.

C-R

C-R Millinery Co

Ernale’s English gets better with every letter. Keep it up. Leonard is so happy when he can read and understand your letters by himself.

Devonshire Hotel

Devonshire Hotel

Can you keep the letters I write you for a little longer? I would very much like to have them since they are like a diary, but really have no room for them until we move to a bigger place, which we intend to do soon.

[Continued after dinner.]

We finished some duck which we had at Bill Thompson last night. He has a friend who raises fowl on his roof.

Aunt Henny sent us a big box of grapefruit and oranges and Leonard’s sister sent a shoebox full of nuts.

Big Bill

Big Bill Thompson

Hope you started the new year OK. For me it was the most wonderful NY Eve ever. We left our room at 10:30, I in my beautiful brocade dress from 2 years ago and Leonard in a tuxedo, which was awfully tight on him.

First we stopped in the bar here in the hotel and had 2 drinks with some friends in the building. Then we went downtown in a hotel where we had dates with various friends. It was terribly crowded. Then we went to the Morrison Hotel, where I had my 1st date with Leonard, but did not stay because they asked for $6.50 each just to sit down.

We met some friends and the 6 of us went to a very big nightclub where I had not been before. We saw 2 very wonderful floor shows and at 4:00 a.m. we ate breakfast there. At 6:30 a.m. we met our friends again, in our hotel bar. At 8:00 a.m. we went to another place but I had only 1 cup of coffee.

When we came home we ate some herring and bread and butter and finally went to bed at 10:15 a.m. I felt so good, although I had about 18 drinks in 12 hours, that I would have liked to go skiing. But too warm, no snow, no skis.

Love,

Trudel

 
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Posted by on January 7, 1937 in Chicago, diary, immigrant experience, Letters

 

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January 8, 1937 “Trudelchen gets such happiness out of your letters.”

08 Jan
January 8, 1937 “Trudelchen gets such happiness out of your letters.”

January 8th 1937

My dear Father and dear Sisters Lotte and Erna:

Trudelchen gets such happiness out of your letters – she just lights up, and her eyes dance whenever she hears from you – your letters make her happier than anything – and I enjoy them too. I must admit she makes them clearer to me when she reads them to me – for I have forgotten so much of my German that I learned as a student.

I am more in love with precious Trudel every day . . .

But I have a surprise for you. You can never guess – so I’ll tell you. I am more in love with precious Trudel every day in every way! She is so wholesome, so genuine, so fine. We are very happy together. I have just read her letter – or should I say her book – that we are enclosing with this. How many pages she writes, and since I have read it all just now, I must say there is little more for me to add to what she has written.

How wonderful it would be . . .

Business has not been good, but that was no reason to postpone our happiness. We get out of our love, pleasure and life what money can not buy. So we are rich with each other – without money. How wonderful it would be – if things would just get better, and I could help bring you here. But one thing at a time. With God’s help, the things we all want in life will come in their rightful time.

Trudel

Trudel

Should you ask me how Trudel looked Sylvester Abend – I would answer you – There was no lovelier, more beautiful little woman in the country. Trudel was radiant in her metal cloth evening gown and red velvet jacket and cape, and Mrs. Olive McDonnell with us in Blue velvet gown and cape was also lovely. Mr. McDonnell said his wife was the prettiest woman in town. I agreed, that was why I imported Trudel I told him. And beauty is as beauty does, and Trudel does everything beautifully.


A Happy New Year to each of you, in which Trudel joins,

affectionately

Affectionately your son and brother Leonard



  • Erna and Lotte are Trudel’s sisters. They remained in Germany for several years when she came to the United States.
  • LJG refers to the letter Trudel wrote on January 7, 1937, which was posted in this blog on the anniversary of that date.
  • “Sylvester Abend” is New Years Eve.

 
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Posted by on January 8, 1937 in Chicago, family, immigrant experience, Letters

 

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Feb 7, 1937 – Did you ever hear of man-made snow?

07 Feb
Feb 7, 1937 – Did you ever hear of man-made snow?

[This is the second of two letters that I failed to post in sequence. Here is a link to the letter that preceded it, January 23, 1937. LAG]

Feb 7, 1937
I think I need a secretary to help me catch up with my mail.

Ski Jump

Ski Jump at Soldier Field

Did you ever hear of man-made snow? We are having here in Chicago a big ski-jumping show in the stadium. Since it is quite cold now but no snow, they made “artificial” snow. This is all in our big stadium in the middle of town!

Ski Jumper

Ski Jumping over the Skyline.

I would like to go ice-skating some time, but our room is too small to have anything else (no matter how small) to put in. As Leonard says: “We have to step out of the room to change our minds.”

Last week we saw 2 German movies, “Gluckskinder,” with Willy Fritsch and Lillian Harvey, very nice – and “Weiber-Wirtschaft,” playing in the Alps, very funny.

I may go to Sumter S.C. [to see] Leonard’s sister next May. Not definite yet.

Love,
Trudel

Video clip from a hit number from the 1936 German film, Glückskinder

 
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Posted by on February 7, 1937 in Chicago, immigrant experience

 

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May 20, 1937 – Just a quicky today. Back from Sumter. Very busy.

20 May
May 20, 1937 – Just a quicky today. Back from Sumter. Very busy.

May 20, 1937

Just a quicky today. I have been very busy since I got back from Sumter.

zeppln

Hindenburg Zeppelin

Too bad about the Zeppelin. Of course I did not receive the mail sent with it.



Trudel and Madge

Trudel and Madge

Leonard’s grandfather on his mother’s side, Maier Hochster, came from Alsfeld, Germany about 100 years ago. Aunt Flora’s inlaws came from Essingen and Germersheim. The Grossmans from Dusseldorf. Just found this all out lately.

Do you want me to send you a box of men’s clothes etc? What you can’t use you could give to a poor house.

Enclosed are a few photos from Sumter.

 

 Love Trudelchen

Scenes from Sumter in the 1930s

 

 Sumterold pres 02 Sumter=old pres ruins sumter-melton field gates sumterstewards hall no3 Sumter=wade hampton original sumter=flinn hall 1920s sumter libraryscl 1940s


Note: The information Trudel reports about my father’s ancestry differs to some extent from details I have learned recently on Linda Scheffler’s HOECHSTER-HOCHSTER-HEXTER Family from Storndorf, Germany site on MyHeritage.com I must express my gratitude to Linda for the help she has given me with this site and her enthusiasm for family geneology.

It seems Trudel sent most of her photos from the Sumter trip to Germany with her letter and didn’t save many. So I have inserted some photos I found online. See a few photos of the people and places from that trip in Trudel’s previous post.

 
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Posted by on May 20, 1937 in Chicago, immigrant experience

 

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