Nov 24, 1934
My dears!
Yesterday I received Doddo’s nice letter. Thank you for the photos from your new apartment. It looks very nice.
I am looking forward to some home-baked cookies from you. Here I get nothing home baked and the stuff they sell I do not like very much, which is just as well so I do not gain too much weight.
I have not met anybody who could advise about Lou’s [welding] business. Did he receive the folders I sent from the fair?
And now to a very interesting week
And now to a very interesting week. After I finished my letter in Leonard’s office on Sunday night we did a little more straightening out and then walked home. He lives only about ½ mile from me and always walks me home first.
Monday, as usual I went to work. As usual for lunch I had 2 cups of milk and 2 sweet rolls and in the evening Aunt Henny visited me in my castle. Since I have an unusually big bed she spent the night with me and we slept very well together.
We all four went together to court.
Julius without dark glasses or cane.
The only thing the 2 lawyers agreed on was the fact they both wanted me to be heard as a witness. When the judge saw me he said, loud, “A nice looking bone of contention!”
After several questions the judge asked me where I learned my English and declared that I spoke better than some of the lawyers. The Judge and I mixed a lot of German into our questions and answers. He is Jewish and from Germany too, close to 70 years old.
I let him know that I did not want to testify against Julius, since after all he had signed the papers for me to come here. Anyway we [Henny] won. Julius is supposed to pay Henny a small amount every week and pay her lawyer.
After court, Henny was herself again.
After leaving the court building Henny was herself again, just like when I first came here. She was so happy it was all over. Mr. Grossberg then took all of us to a very fancy lunch.
Since I had a terrible toothache and the day was ½ done anyhow, Henny took me to a dentist who took an x-ray for 50¢ and pulled the tooth which was very infected.
It was pouring rain and since I was not very careful I have been running around with a swollen cheek for several days from a cold. I have swallowed more aspirin, etc., in the last few days than I have in my whole life. How I was wishing Dr. Samuel was here. Tonight I bought another pain killer which was supposed to be 25¢. I only had 17¢ on me and the druggist let me have it anyhow on my promise to pay him the 8¢ tomorrow.
From a Delicious Dinner to a Drugstore Counter
A Walgreens Lunch Counter (1930s)
We went to see a lousy movie and then went for a bite to a drug store. No matter how I describe this I do not think you can picture it. We sit on a high stool at a long bar table and eat or drink–no liquor. That is the way I ate my dinner last night, before I went to visit Aunt Fanny, finally.
Continued Sunday 11/25
Aunt Fanny is a Very Nice Lady
Aunt Fanny is a very nice lady. She sends her very best regards to you. She has 2 daughters and 1 son and 1 adopted child from a sister. Besides she has 10 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.
She of course told me why she and Aunt Jenny are not speaking. But actually I could not care less. Each tells me her side of the story and I am no judge to figure out who is right and who is wrong. Actually I believe Fanny more than Weils. She is more down to earth like we are. I spent a lot of time with her. She had so much to tell me. What she had to go through during the 5 years her husband was sick etc.
Palm Room, LaSalle Hotel
Unfortunately none of the children were there. One had to stay home because her husband is sick. The other and the son live too far away. We went to visit the 3rd one in her beautiful millinery store just 2 blocks away. Her nephew Alfred Schmidt, son of Kathe, was supposed to come that evening but he had to work late as a waiter in the beautiful La Salle Hotel. She thinks he is a very nice young man. Exactly the opposite was Weils told me. It is too bad when sisters are so unfriendly to each other. It was a real nice evening and now that I know her I hope to see her more often.
They are not rich people but very nice
Slowly I am learning to know my family. They are not rich people but very nice. She asked about everybody. Some I knew and some I have no idea. She only corresponds with Aunt Dortche and not very much.
It is too bad she lives so far from me. It always takes so much time to go from one place to the other. Chicago is sooo big. It’s lucky that it only cost 7¢ from one end to the other.
The Boss and the Night Watchman
That evening my big 75 yr old boss even paid for my carfare. I had to finish some work and was the last one to leave. While I was getting ready to leave I talked to the night watchman and found out he too came from Germany. He told me that the boss, who was leaving at the same time talks German too. He and I got on the same streetcar and had a nice conversation. That makes the trip seem much shorter.
From The Merry Widow to a MidSummer Night’s Dream
In the evening we met again the portrait painter and [his friend] and we went to see A MidSummer Night’s Dream under the direction of Max Reinhard — excellent — at the Auditorium Theatre.
Auditorium Theatre
Today I slept almost all day
Today I slept almost all day. As you can imagine I really needed it. Now since 6:00 p.m. we are both working in Leonard’s office. I really wanted to use the typewriter but I think it would take too long. I still write faster by hand. Does by any chance my book on shorthand still exist? Last week I was going to make myself some notes in shorthand but I seem to have forgotten how, completely.
Yesterday I received a card from Ladislaus Justus. I wrote him a postal card 2 months ago. He asked me to write to him real detailed about the past few years. He would like so much to hear from us again. Is it not comical what correspondence I am having? I also heard that Hans Wertheimer who is in Chicago since a very short time. He is staying in one of the most expensive Hotels here. This really has been a hectic week but I think I reported enough to you. Now I do not know anything else to tell you.
Please ask Liss what will happen to the goose for my birthday this year.
Greetings and kisses,
your Trudelchen
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