Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Sepia Saturday - 241 16 August 2014

Letters home.  Ah yes.

"I like the storytelling and reading the letters, the long distance dedications.  Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you're really connecting." - Casey Kasem

It's all about communication.



SEPIA SATURDAY





Post Office in Fort Davis, Alabama


Our theme this week is "Remember to Write that Letter Home!"











So many sorts of situations lurking about the world in regards to sending letters home.


Here are just a few.


Soldiers writing home.  Australian Army Y.M.C.A. in Julis Camp soldiers writing home from their "Y" hunt between 1940 and 1946.



Another view of those soldiers.






Photo by the Archive.



Some letters written for home are incredibly funny!








Soldiers in Texas writing home.  April 24, 1914.




Mail orderlies at Hampton Roads between 1890 and 1901.





British and French prisoners assorting mail.
Between 1914 and 1915.






Between 1940 and 1942.  Writing letters for home.  A day with the tanks in the Western Desert, writing home before their day's work on patrol wearing mosquito nets to keep the flies away.


14 comments:

orchid0324 said...

Oh, I like the sepia color of all the old pictures. I remember laughed when young, seeing my father's young day wearing old glasses in the sepia picture p;) 15th was the anniversary of the end of World War II in Japan and lots of letter reading on TV.

Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

Little Nell said...

Thanks for the BBC link, not seen before, and the game of 'Spot the Difference'! The child's letter from camp reminds me of the old comedy song.

Alex Daw said...

Hi Karen - that article about WW1 soldiers' wills was fabulous. Thanks for that. I LOVED the letter from camp.

TexWisGirl said...

i used to love getting letters from my mother and writing her as well.

Jackie McGuinness said...

Great selection for this week.

I remember having pen pals, such fun getting letters.

Annesphamily said...

I love letter writing, always will! NO matter the cost of a single first class stamp! One of my dearest friends, was my pen pal at age 13! She is 61, me 60! The photos are so glorious and makes me think, what were they writing in those letters home? I have lots of hand written cards and letters from my mom and my relatives no longer with us. When the original Twin Towers were built, my mom;s oldest sister, my Auntie Mary visited them with her son who lived and worked in NYC. I still cherish that hand written postage, date stamp still intact with a photo of the two towers on it! Bittersweet memory! Hugs, Anne

ScotSue said...

A wonderful set of photographs reflecting this week's theme.

sage said...

Neat old photos... I still like writing and sending a handwritten letter

La Nightingail said...

That letter from camp said it all & rather succinctly! Very funny. :) The first partial letter, however, really brings home the awful reality of war. A soldier writes home, & five months later he's dead. Will there ever be a time when the whole world will at last be completely at peace? Given human nature, it seems impossible, but we never seem to quite give up hope & that's a point in our favor, I guess.

Unknown said...

That's a very interesting link to the BBC with the WWI letters. It brings the ravages of war a lot closer. And I like the post office at the top, in Amersfoort nearly all post offices are gone (due to cutbacks).

Mike Brubaker said...

In earlier wars, soldiers were usually without paper, pen, pencil, or even money to buy them if they could. The letter supplies from the Red Cross or YMCA were a priceless gift for soldiers then, and now for family descendants too.

Wendy said...

"HATE!" -- what a funny letter!

But I'm intrigued by the mail orderlies in Hampton Roads because that's where I am. Hampton Roads is a general term for this whole area comprised of about 7 big cities (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk). I wonder which city and if the building is still standing.

Sharon said...

I enjoyed the trip on reading this post. Very enjoyable. Thank you.

Sherri said...

The BBC News article about the WW I wills was powerful. Mr. Cooksey says it all: "These men were leaving families behind, they were part of the fabric of their community. Their deaths were felt by whole villages, towns..."