Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother - February 27, 1918
Transcript
[February] 27, 1918 [censor’s stamp] Dearest Mother, Yesterday I six letters from you dated [January] 1st to [February] 2nd. That explains why I haven’t been hearing from you regularly. I also got letters from Ellen Hoffman, Val, Charlie Morrison and Mrs. Matthews---all of my St. Louis mail. I am so glad that Val passed his ground school exams. That is some job even for a college graduate. It’s great that Fax is in the engineers now. Thank you lots for that birthday present. It came a little ahead of time. Thank Aunt Jo for sending me the [St. Louis Post Dispatch] I received one edition about 2 weeks ago but not since. Mother, here is one thing to tell everyone you know. Any amount of useless junk is being shipped
Transcript
to soldiers in France. We can carry very little baggage and have just about all we need. Most of what is shipped over we have to give away---and much worse is the inexcusable waste of valuable cargo space. Sweaters and mufflers, sox and gloves are right to send but don’t send too many. When you and your friends send stuff to France the best things to send is foodstuff that can be kept for a long time---cans of peanut butter, and jam, chocolate, cigarettes, salted peanuts, can of coffee, condensed milk, figs, dates, lump sugar. That kind of stuff can always be used. Don’t send any soap, pipes, toilet supplies, or anything bulky. Now that is general advice for everyone. Don’t send Post Office money orders---they are just impossible to cash. Cashier’s checks are much better. Fountain pens and camera films are almost impossible to buy here. Now for myself ---I want some camera films (No. 2 Brownie cameras)---McCampbell’s “Auction Tactics”---playing cards---those P.D. clippings of Drakes’s article (about 15 clippings)--that’s about all. Love, Towner P.S. The most valuable work anyone can do is to preach against the criminal waste of cargo space due to mailing useless junk to soldiers. /the worst are new patented things that are advertized to be sent to soldiers in France.
Details
| Title | Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother - February 27, 1918 |
| Creator | Phelan, Sidney Towner |
| Source | Phelan, Sidney Towner. Letter to mother. 27 February 1918. Sidney Towner Phelan Papers, 1899-1960. A1209. Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | Sidney Towner Phelan, a St. Louis, Missouri native, wrote this letter to his Mother while serving as a volunteer ambulance driver in France during World War I. In this letter, Phelan provided his mother with a list of what should and should not be included in care packages to soldiers. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--France |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I; Care packages |
| Site Accession Number | A1209 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | February 27, 1918 |
| Language | English |