I have a collection of letters that Mom wrote to Dad in 1946 and 1947. They met in 1945 when she was living in Leask to attend high school. Dad came to where Mom was boarding to help the owner build a horse shed. It is also possible that he went there because a beautiful young girl of sixteen had moved in, and he wasn’t all that interested in constructing a horse shed.
Mom grew up in the D’Amour district, which is twelve miles west of the village of Leask, Saskatchewan. Dad lived three miles east of Leask. Mom had ten siblings, and Dad had eight.
The majority of the content of the letters is the musings of a young girl in love, but they also provide a glimpse into what life was like at that time. There were telephones then, but one couldn’t tie up the party line with long calls, not to mention the fact that someone could be listening in on your private conversation. Letter writing was more private.
Some of the materials contained in this post are direct quotes from the letters. In other entries, I have provided information to clarify and summarize the context of the letters.
Throughout history, many enlightening facts were gleaned through people’s letters and journals. They are precious recordings of history written in a loved one’s hand.
During the long, cold winters, Dad didn’t have a vehicle suitable for winter travel on rural roads, so seeing each other was difficult. The letters they exchanged were a big part of their courtship, a chance to get to know each other.
It cost four cents to mail a letter, and a picture of Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, was on the stamp. White three by five-inch envelopes carried the messages.
January 7, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
Mom travelled by train to Prince Albert to visit a dentist.
“I’m scared, I hate those drills and pliers, which he sticks in your mouth.”
Mom said that the guys from the hills (D’Amour district) were complaining that the Leask boys were taking all the D’Amour girls and that they would have to travel to Leask to find a girl.
January 30, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
“Boys aren’t good at yards, but good at arithmetic, which girls are not so hot at.”
February 6, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
“That darn mailman never came out on Wednesday again, so I didn’t get your loving letter. If this weather keeps on, I won’t be seeing you or anyone else till spring. It’s cold up here, how is it out there?”
“Now, I better skip off as I am using Ernie’s (her brother) writing pad, and every page counts, ha ha!”
In the letter, they also discussed plans for Valentine’s Day. Weather permitting, they would meet in Leask at the dance or she would go with Ernie to the Iroquois Lake School Valentine's party, with Dad’s permission, of course. She promised she would only have lunch at the party with Ernie.
February 26, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
The winter was stretching out, with no entertainment or transportation, not much was going on.
“Ernie seems to be playing the guitar every time I write to you; he’s now sitting on a chair in the kitchen, scaring the cats into having kittens.”
March 5, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
“I wish it were spring, and we could be together again.”
March 25, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
“The boys butchered a hog for us so we had to can it.”
“The weather is keeping rather nicely, isn’t it? There is no snow around anymore compared to the snow banks we had, and our yard is dry already.”
Mom said a friend of theirs went to town, but her brothers wouldn’t attempt another trip with the team of horses.
September 3, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
Mom completed grade ten and at sixteen moved to Prince Albert, which is fifty-five miles from Leask, to start a business course. She refers to the college as Park City, but I wasn't able to find information under that name.
“If I had this to do over again, I sure would think twice; it is so lonesome for me. The people seem so different.”
“The lady I stay with says they’re short cuts to get to school, but God I’ve heard of shortcuts in our pasture, but not here.”
September 13, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“Dad sent me my ration books.”
Ration books were issued during and after the war (1942 - 1947). They contained removable stamps that were good for certain rationed items like sugar, meat, cooking oil and canned goods. You could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the required stamp.
September 20, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“When will that darn threshing be over, and we can be together in this short, sweet moment when we can forget that life can be anything else but lovely to live.”
September 27, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“The phone number where I am staying is 2597.”
“Imagine I spent a quarter for nothing last Saturday night phoning you, and you weren’t even home.”
October 4, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“How would you like a working wife?”
October 17, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“Wilfred, Peter and Ernie (brothers) were in P. A. tonight. I had supper with them, and we went to the show “Bells of St. Mary’s” with Bing Crosby and Ingrid.”
October 21, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“I am doing very well in my bookkeeping and typing.”
November 3, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
One of Dad’s brothers was away studying at University and said he didn’t have time to date. He commented to Dad, "I guess all farmers have time for girls though.”
November 17, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“I came home on the bus from Leask to P. A. on Monday last, and was the bus ever crowded.”
November 22, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
Mom and Dad discussed attending an upcoming tractor dance in Leask. I deduced that a tractor dance was a type of square dancing.
December 1, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
“Say, darling, you’d better take that deer hunting instinct out of your bones because you need not think for one minute you’ll go hunting, and I’ll stay home and mind the kids. None of that there stuff for me.”
Dad was an avid hunter and fisherman until he was well into his seventies, so I guess Mom lost that debate.
December 15, 1946
Prince Albert, Sask.
Mom was homesick and was struggling with her decision to attend business school. She had decided to marry a farmer and wasn't sure there was any point in continuing her education, but her dad had his heart set on her becoming a business girl. Mom didn’t want to disappoint him.
Mom and Dad discussed marriage plans over the Christmas break.
December 30, 1946
D’Amour, Sask.
Mom wrote to Dad to tell him she had decided not to return to business school in Prince Albert. Her mom had broken the news to her dad and told him that a wedding would be held in 1947. Her dad said she could stay at home instead of returning to college. At the time, Grandpa was the Administrator of the Rural Municipality of Royal, so Mom spent the remaining months until her wedding helping him in the office.
January 4, 1947
D ‘Amour, Sask.
“Very little to do but sit by the fire and embroider and listen to Pa Perkins and Pepper Young’s Family on the radio.”
January 20, 1947
D’Amour, Sask.
“Ernie is playing the guitar, and I don’t mind telling you it sounds like a bunch of timber wolves if not worse but never the lest we encourage him on, who knows he may be a great musician some days, say like Wolf Carter.”
Mom worked for her dad at his office for the rest of the winter of 1947.
Dad proposed by letter on Mom’s eighteenth birthday in January. She wrote back with her positive reply.
They were officially engaged on Valentine’s Day once Dad had purchased the ring. Mom chose a date in June for the wedding.
April 15, 1947
D’Amour, Sask.
“Joe and Jerry (brothers) are chasing gophers; they get one cent a tail.”
May 1947
May was a busy month with wedding planning in full swing.
June 1947
Mom and Dad became husband and wife on June 10, 1947, and at the time of his passing in 2006, they were married for fifty-nine years.
The things that struck me as I read Mom’s words were:
- At that time, you could travel from Leask by train or by bus. The trains and buses were crowded then. Now neither mode of passenger transportation is available from Leask.
- People were quite territorial and often dated within their districts unless the desired females were already dating guys from other areas. They then had to look elsewhere. The grass always looks greener.
- A girl going out unattended was frowned upon.
- Mom appeared to be testing the waters when she asked Dad how he felt about having a working wife.
- She called the entertainer Wilf Carter, Wolf Carter.
- Mom refers to the famous actress, Ingrid Bergman, as simply Ingrid, as though they were old friends.
- It was perceived that boys couldn’t look after a yard, and girls couldn’t do math.
- They talked a lot about the weather as we still do. Some things never change.
- She was comfortable taking a shortcut through a remote pasture, but not in the city.
- Many people played musical instruments, sewed or embroidered to pass the time.
- A pen and some paper were treasured items.
- The abbreviation for Saskatchewan was Sask. not the SK we use today.
- The phone numbers consisted of only four digits.
- Families were tight-knit, spending a great deal of time together, labouring side by side to keep up with the farm workload.
Originally consisting of symbols or tokens, the art of writing was developed by ancient civilizations and was shared around the world by traders and merchants.
History shows that handwritten works live on. Where will the emails, text messages, and social media posts we are making now be in seventy-five years?
Mom’s brother Ernie, my parents and Dad’s sister, Elsie
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