Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother - January 31, 1918
Transcript
[January] 31, 1918 Dearest Mother, I have made application for $10,000 War Risk Insurance with Janet as beneficiary. It looks like a pretty good proposition though I probably won’t be able to carry that much for the first few years after the war. The mail has just come in---none for me as usual. I think I will begin to write letters to myself. It’s the only way I will get any. I know lots of letters are sent to me but few get to me at all and most of them are months overdue. I wish you would send me an occasional home paper and their censor when some
Transcript
of my friends are in it---give me all the news of home that you can. Don’t ever let anything you ever read in the home papers have any effect on you. They are altogether inaccurate and misleading --- returning slackers pressagenting them-self --- departmental officials boasting over paper accomplishments and hiding faults---hysterical cranks trying to foist prohibition of some other theory on the army or the public. It’s all perfect rot---every paper from home is greeted with howls of ridicule and anger as some fresh piece of idiocy is sprung on the country by the yellow press. We are still very comfortable but bored to death. I have written May Birkhead to send you a beret for Janet. Lots of love, Towner From Sidney Towner Phelan S.S. U. 646 Convois Automobile S.C.M. Paris A.E.F.
Details
| Title | Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother - January 31, 1918 |
| Creator | Phelan, Sidney Towner |
| Source | Phelan, Sidney Towner. Letter to mother. 31 January 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 complained about the lack of mail and newspapers he had received from home. He also explained that the American newspapers were inaccurate and that the soldiers often ridiculed them. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--France; World War, 1914-1918--Newspapers; World War, 1914-1918--Public opinion |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| 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 | January 31, 1918 |
| Language | English |