Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother - July 9, 1918
Transcript
[American Y.M.C.A. letterhead] June [July] 9th 1918 Dearest Mother - My permission is now in full swing and I am having a great time. I spent two days in Paris with the Birkheads and this morning arrived at Aix les Bains. The government puts us up at good hotels and pays all bills. The food is excellent. The YMCA has taken over the Casino and provides us with dozens of amusements to pick from. Dances, trips of all kinds, tennis, baseball, theater every-
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thing. There are lots of nice American girls here but not nearly enough. Jack Carter is here on permission that makes it nice. Billy Claubaugh is also here then in Paris met Clarence Gill and Bill McSorley both of St. Louis and fellows I used to go to school with. It really looks like all the American men are here one sees them everywhere and so many of them. The French are wildly enthusiastic over America, Americans and our president. I have never seen anything like it. It's nothing faked but real enthusiasm and lots of it. I believe their morale is higher now than it has been in all the time I have been over. I think they rather expected us
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[American Y.M.C.A. letterhead] to take a long time to show real fighting they expected our first battles would be bloody mis managed failures and instead we know what a success it has been. I had good news concerning our section the impediment is to be removed (probably is by now) and that means we will get a division and action soon. Everything is breaking right now. Speaking of high prices they are surely soaring. The other night I had to pay 65 francs for a dinner for two and we only had four dishes. Six francs an order for melon and four francs for drinking
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water. I don't know what the bill would have been if I had ordered wine. It's worth it though to have a really perfectly served dinner in a beautiful place. I am crazy about some of the French restaurants no noisy music of punk cabaret but a perfectly cooked perfectly served meal out under huge trees the only light a small shaded lamp on each table plenty of room so you don't have to take in the conversation at the next table the gardening so planned that you think you are in the midst of a forest and not in the heart of Paris. When it comes to the art of living the French have us skinned forty seven different ways. Lots of love, Towner
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[censor’s signature]
Details
| Title | Sidney Towner Phelan letter to mother - July 9, 1918 |
| Creator | Phelan, Sidney Towner |
| Source | Phelan, Sidney Towner. Letter to mother. 9 July 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 described his leave. He spent two days in Paris then he went to Aix les Bains. Phelan also wrote about the YMCA and all the things they provided for the soldiers enjoyment. |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918--France; World War, 1914-1918--War work--Y.M.C.A.; Military leaves and furloughs |
| 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 | July 9, 1918 |
| Language | English |