Silent Night Socks
Started: 8 January 2024
Finished: 15 January 2024
Pattern: Plain Old Socks (my pattern)
Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Signature Sparkle in “Silent Night”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: My notes say I picked this up at Seeded when visiting the husband while he was on assignment in the UK. I really do enjoy picking up yarn when I go away from home because I get to enjoy it when I purchase it, then knit it, and then wear the knit item later. It’s like a memory that keeps giving. Anyway, show me a glitter yarn and I’m going to buy it every time, so it’s no surprise this was one of my choices!
Fontaine Cantini, Marseille
I LOVE postcards with views that I can hunt down and see what they look like today. This postcard was sent from grandpa to grandma while he was serving in France during World War II. The back is dated 5 April 1945 and there’s no postmark since he either hand carried this home or sent it through the US Army Air Force mail service. The back also has printing that marks this, “520. Marseille – Place Castellane et Fontaine Cantini.” The printer is A. Tardy, “Photo-Editeur, 551 Rue des Minimes, Marseille France. Below, you can see the same side of the fountain as found on Google Maps.
Michel Lefebvre – Letter #2
Well, just when I thought the one letter from Michel Lefebvre in France was a one-off, I found two more, one of them is here. The postmark on the envelope indicates it was sent from Bourges in Cher, France on 14 March 1951. Two 15 franc stamps are on the front.
Here’s a transcription of the letter, to the best of my abilities. Spelling and grammar errors left as they were written.
Dear Clarice,
I remark since your last letter there are many things changed while your patient Jud Westover is died and you have a new job.
Between this time, I leaved Percy Hospital near Paris where I have spent four months, for the Military Hospital of Bourges in the department (district) of Cher. I am separated of Paris from two hundred kilometers but chiefly I had rather to rest in a special house or at home and I might be glad. It’s raining since a week that I am arrived and after the people say: the weather will not change afore one or two months.
My illness is not worse, I am spending all day long between rests of two or three hours and small activities such as reading, walking limited by walls of the hospital, inside games and hobneys [?]. I have not any treatment, I like very well this and I feel better. I do not know how many long I am about to stay here but I wait principally on my boxes a departure in a time so that [this?] possible.
I went in Borgest next Sunday, it is an old town with irregular paving stone streets, the cathedral dating in the Middle Age is in good state what is astonishing with the two international conflicts, you might see it from the card that I like is in the letter. Borges has a great historic past, it was a royal town with Louis XI’s [crowd?] and Jacques Coeur the famous treasurer. In spite of this there are more squares and gardens what turn over the aspect of the town.
I hope that your job is liked by you and I wait the pleasure to read you.
Your Sincerely,
Michel
Michel did enclose a postcard of the cathedral which was kept with the letter. Apparently Clarice told him about Judd Westover, who I believe she cared for after high school and before her career as a nurse. I remember going through a box of photos with her once and she pointed out the Westovers, and I *think* that photo exists in the collection on my hard drive somewhere. If I find it, I’ll put together a post and update this post as well.
UPDATE: Information/photos found, and that post will be coming shortly, here – https://www.sheetar.com/2024/02/19/the-westovers/
Coalport Ambulance – c 1960
This photo was found in a box from grandma, no date, no place, nothing on the back. The only identifying mark on this is the word “Coalport” on the old fashioned ambulance. This looks roughly like it belongs to a set of photos from the 1960s or 1970s, or at least it was taken with the same format of camera (same photo size, similar quality, etc). If someone is a car enthusiast, let me know and I can update the post with the right information on the make/model of the vehicle! Even though I don’t have a lot of information to add here, this was just too neat not to post.
Marseille
A brightly colored postcard of Marseille, France for today’s post. This is another in the set of postcards sent from grandpa to grandma during WWII. In the center is a black and white photo of what looks like a harbor and some sort of ship which looks to be a civilian cruise ship to me. The back isn’t posted since it contains personal information (even though grandma and grandpa have passed, it just feels insensitive to post the messages), but it is stamped with “Carte Postale <<Naarbo>>” at the top and the Narbo logo with “Modele Depose” dividing the message from the address. Grandpa noted the date as 1 April 1945, and there’s no stamp, so he either brought this home or it was sent via the US Army Air Force mail service which didn’t require postage. I really love the colors on the front and the font for “Marseille” and this one jumped out to me as a good one to post today!
Stormy Sea Socks
Stormy Sea Socks
Started: 5 January 2024
Finished: 8 January 2024
Pattern: Plain Old Socks (my pattern)
Yarn: Cascade Heritage Prints in color #56, “Stormy Seas”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: I tell you what, I was on FIRE in January with the sock knitting. I think I picked this up at the local 4H club fabric sale just a few months prior, and it was too good a deal to pass up for a yarn that I know performs well for handknit socks. No major mods to the pattern, but I did knit the heel flap with the other end of the skein so that the striping pattern was preserved on the top of the foot.
Michel Lefebvre
This one is a real mystery. I tried to do some searching for this fellow, but the name is apparently common enough that I was coming up with too many results and had too little information to really narrow things down and be sure I had the right person. I’m basically putting this out on the internet in case someone is searching for their ancestor and finds this post – if this is you, send me an update!
Grandma saved this letter from a man in France in 1950. She was 19 at the time, so this may have been a high school pen pal or letter exchange program? There’s not a lot of information here to really know for sure, but he sent her photos of himself and (presumably) his parents. Let’s start with the envelope.
It’s addressed to Miss Clarice Spicher, and the postmark is from Clamart, Seine, France. The stamp has been cut out of the front. On the back, the return address is Mr. Lefebvre Michel, Hopital Percy, Pavilion 10, Clamart, Seine.
The front of the card features a boy playing a violin to little birds with a message, “Meilleurs voeux et Souhaits,” which Google Translate tells me says, “Many wishes and greetings,” in French.
The inside message is dated at Clamart, 18 December 1950. Here’s a transcription to the best of my ability with the handwriting. I’ve left in misspellings and errors exactly as written.
Dear Clarice,
In this end of year, I wish you a happy and merry xmas, by the circumstance I show you my wishes of good health and perhaps of happiness, in any case of Peace for 1951.
The dark cloud of the War is rising and everybody in the world wonder if nothing of ugly and redoutable is not going happen? Against that I am happy that President Harris Truman has taken strong measures so as to renforce Peace.
What are your intentions now? Is your house ended or nearly?
Presently I am treated by streptomycine and a product called in French P.A.S. para amino salyscilate di sodium and I am better.
Even I shall have the joy in returning at home for New Year, this shall change me of this annoying atmosphere.
I remarked this year in France that big Christmas-trees will be put on the largest places such as Obelisque Opera, in Paris, enactly like in U.S.A.
I do wait impatiently an of your letter.
Your Sincerely,
Michel
The drug he references seems to be a drug used to treat drug-resistant Tuberculosis, so it seems like our soldier was hospitalized and being treated for Tuberculosis when he wrote the letter.
He also sent along three photos. The first is of him in uniform and what looks like barracks in the background, and the back inscribed with, “To my American friend, 1949.” The next is a more formal portrait, dated on the back 7 September 1949, and “to my friend Clarice.” And the last one I would imagine is of Michel and his parents, no date, but, “To my American and to our friendship.”
It’s a really neat capsule of a piece of correspondence and I’d love to know more about Michel if you happen to be connected to him! I’d imagine he was a young man, probably early 20s at the time this was sent.
UPDATE: It turns out there were more letters from this same man in her collection, so I’ve added those to other posts. They can be seen at the tag here: https://www.sheetar.com/tag/michel-lefebvre/
Walker Family
I usually try not to post about living people since it feels a little insensitive, but on the other hand, living people might want to find and see these photos, and I did see a great news story about a group of people who post photos from lost phones and cameras and try to reunite them with their owner, so in that spirit, here’s a good one! The Walker family isn’t related, though my grandmother knew them and even saved some photos of them. I realized recently, when scrolling through the thousands of scans I have from her that I had both the printed photos and the negatives, AND they had labels on the back!
So, we have two photos that appear to be taken in front of the same house, labelled as Davie and Susie Walker. Assuming this was about 1950, grandma would’ve been about 19-20 or so. Then I realized there were negatives that matched, and there were originally more in the series (click the smaller thumbnails to see the larger images).
The film size for these was 616, so they were probably taken with a Kodak Brownie Target 616 camera or equivalent. They’re just massive negatives, but they scan up really beautifully. Having all these photos, I went hunting down a census, bearing in mind this was probably in/around Clearfield County, PA, and the kids should be on the 1950 census. Walker was a pretty common surname, but Clearfield County is fairly sparsely populated in comparison to say Philadelphia, so it should be possible to narrow this down. Hit paydirt pretty quickly and found Ivan and Florence (Broberg) Walker with two children, Susan K and David Lee Walker, ages 8 and 2 respectively in 1950. In the photos above, the teenager in the peasant top and skirt is my grandma, and I’d hazard a guess that the man in glasses is Ivan Walker. The house was a bit tricky to track down since a lot of those roads weren’t named/numbered until the last decade or two, but fortunately the census taker was pretty great at writing down directions. I did manage to find it at 12 Walker Street in the Houtzdale, PA mailing zipcode. The census refers to the location as “West Moshannon” and I actually know exactly where this house is located since it’s off a fairly major road I’ve traveled over many, many times. They were living across from Florence’s parents as per the census, and there are two more photos from the film scans that appear to be taken the same date/time given the lighting conditions. The first house below is the one just to the left of the Walker residence, now 28 Walker Street.
I couldn’t identify the house photo on the right since there’s no google street view out in that area (it’s fairly remote), and it’s possible that in the prior 70 years, it may have been demolished or renovated extensively. She may have taken the photo How grandma knew these folks, I’m not entirely sure. It’s possible it was through church or family friends or something, but they were important enough to her to capture on film and tuck away in a box of memories!