Family News from Bude Haven

Date: 1942-02-03
Sender: Ada
Recipient: Clare
Location: Rosemary Cottage, Granville Terrace, Bude Haven, Cornwall
Original scan: 1942-feb-3-ada-to-clare-family-news-bude-haven.pdf




---

Summary

A letter from Ada in Bude Haven, Cornwall, to Clare, dated February 3rd, 1942. Ada discusses the health of the children, particularly Gilliam's earache and Penna's recovery from a cold, and her own lingering cold. She mentions sending a parcel with eggs, the ongoing rationing, and a church service. The letter also includes anecdotes about the children, Penna and Joan, and a cartoon depicting a child's scene.

---

Transcription

Rosemary Cottage,
Granville Terrace,
Bude Haven,
Cornwall.

7 p.m. - Feb 3rd
1942.

My own Darling Clare -
I've just rung you up - & got Possiter!!!
Then turn to my letter & see you are at a parents' home.
I'm so glad and do hope it is a
good one -
Of course I ought to have read your letter more
carefully & known - but I really have not had
time to read it straight through till now - after putting
the call on. This morning I was away after talk.
Gilliam & school mate Brenda's & dinner & Joan
did the laundry & I also made up & posted your
parcel - your letter of this a.m. before we as I
made the pie dishes - Then Gilliam came home
crying with earache - and has kept me on the
go ever since - I gave her Empirin & [unclear: Todal]
and it eased the pain a bit. + put in drops
of H2 O2 - as Dr [unclear: Hoddy] advised & the other -
Tonight her temperature is 99.4 - (in groin)
I gave her another ½ tab Empirin when I put
her to bed - she seems to have settled down -
It is just 4 weeks today since I first
heard, a hoarseness in her voice that sounds
as tho it came from her chest. Had she been
easier to manage I should have put her
to bed that day instead of two days later

2.
Penna seems to be quite well now (except
for a little bad temper which I hope is
just a sign of her being better & not
anything else - I'm quite well today at
last - It has not been a serious cold
in a way - but so difficult to throw
off - no head cold of any of us at any
time -
I've got some Rose Hip Syrup now - as the
long promised oranges have not turned up
yet - Mrs Butler says we may have them
this week end -
Now for your letters -
I hope you had a nice service on Sunday
at Little St Marys - after seeing the [unclear: billboard/billiard]
- and so glad you had 3 ½ hrs sleep in the
afternoon. I hope your own cold is better -
your first letter came this a.m. & second
this afternoon - The latter with its lovely enclosure
was shared by Gilliam who was in the [unclear: Cove]
with us -
What a day you had on Friday - how do you
like the Ration Commission week - ? So glad
the bulk parcel came at the right time. I've posted
this weeks parcel to you - smaller this time - but
with 2 eggs - This is because [unclear: H.M. Bowden]

Here are some Children stories - Feb 1942 3.

[Drawing of two children, one spanking the other. Speech bubbles: "yes on your mackintosh!!!" and "Malek is me Penna!"]

A true Bathroom scene -

Another Penna Story -
Joan was alerted & the nursery fire. I
heard Penna say "Joan, On the Carpet!!!"
I went to see & Penna speaking in a shocked
tone - for all the world like Gertrude Bush &
pulling the Coal Shuttle off the Carpet -
She had never heard me say that for he never
seen Joan put the Coal Shuttle on the Carpet -

---

People mentioned

- Clare
- Possiter
- Gilliam
- Brenda
- Joan
- Penna
- Mrs Butler
- Dr Hoddy
- Gertrude Bush
- Malek

---

Topics

- family life
- children's health
- earache
- colds
- fever
- rationing
- parcels
- rose hip syrup
- church service
- children's stories
- discipline

---

Uncertain words / phrases

- Todal
- Hoddy
- billboard/billiard
- Cove
- H.M. Bowden

---

Archivist notes

- Page 3 is explicitly numbered '3.' in the top right corner, despite a handwritten '5' appearing next to it.
- The cartoon on page 3 depicts a common scene of child discipline.
- The pronoun 'he' is used in the last sentence of the transcription ('for he never seen Joan'), which appears to be a grammatical error in the original text, likely intended as 'she' referring to Penna.

---

Processing stats

- Input tokens: 1337
- Output tokens: 1341
- Total tokens: 6238
- Estimated cost: $0.000503