Dec 19 -26
Phoenix Ariz
Dear Hilda
Just a line or two so as you can hear from me before xmas. I expected a letter yesterday but did not get one I got one from Mother & everything is alright at home. if I get a letter from you monday I do not think that I could get an answer to you before xmas that is why I am writing you because I think of you often. I am sitting on the porch in the sunshine writing you. just got home from Priesthood Meeting & sunday school had a good meeting sunday school crowded with Big & Little Folks
I went down town last evening & watched the crowds do their shopping in Kress it is quite a novelty. lots of Indians & Mexicans people here. the weather is just lovely still working but not hard this is a nice rest for me. we are progressing very nicely with the work I do not know exactly when I will get home but sometime next month I know you will like to hear that news won't you Dear. I want you to do something for me that is keep me a piece of your xmas cake as I won't get any here & always like fruit cake. Now say yes. this is just a note so do not announce it. I will write so soon as I hear from you good bye for the Present for you Loving Sweetheart
PS Remember me to Mother & the rest of the folks.
Like all letters - I have an insatiable need to research what I'm not familiar with. In this letter, it's Kress. Kress Five-and-Dimes were variety stores that operated from 1896-1981. S.H. Kress & Company envisioned the stores as public works of art and tried to create distinctive architecture in their locations from Gothic Revival to Art Deco. From my google images search, the architecture looks quite fantastic. (Source: National Building Museum.)
Phoenix Ariz
Dec 20-1926
Dear Hilda
I received your welcome letter which I expected today when I got home from work & was glad to hear from you & that you are all well & keeping busy I know that you are always busy with one thing or another I hope your ward makes a success with the Bazar as I guess they need all the money thay can get to pay on the ward house. I am feeling well and looking forward to coming home again the weather is still fine but I do not care for the place as a whole it is nice for awhile until the newness wears off we have built 2 houses & start a third Tuesday morning they are talking
about bldg 1 more & that's all. they are not as big as the ones we have already built. I went to a meeting yesterday & enjoyed myself very much I do not know whether you will get this letter before xmas or not but I like to write to you I think you was very Obedient to put that package away but I think I may be just as obedient I am not trying to guess what there is in it, just wait. Dear Hilda you asked me if I meant what I said in my last letter (why sure I did) I did not notice the date on that letter until you mentioned it I appreciate the stand you take very much we both realize it takes 2 to make a bargain & things of that nature has to be agreeable as they are not so easily undone
I thought the matter over very carefully & Prayed about it & felt sure that i was doing the right thing & I know that you have prayed about it but seeing you want to wait till you see me & talk the matter over personally it is alright with me but think it over won't you? it seems too bad that you & your sister had to let all your pleasures in life go bye without taking advantage of them & I realize what it is for my Girls but I do know that they do go & enjoy themselves & I love to see them do it in the right manner & I hope that when they get older that they will be able to find a companion for themselves that will make their life happy as I do not want them around home all the time because we all die sometime & they may be left alone in this world & the next with nobody to share these troubles
& Pleasures I realize what that is very much since I have been left alone for 15 months but I appreciate my Dear Children as they are some comfort to me but not like a companion I realize your condition but my father & brother are the same as you are it is not always the outside appearance of a person that makes them & the personality such as kindness love & behavior. the prettiest women in the world are not always the best we cannot help our afflictions but there will come a time when we will be made whole again. this life is just a step to prepare us for another sphere of pregression. as for you trying to care for the home you have done it for a long time & I think you have done your work well but do they appreciate it? you can do so much for people & then they think you have to do it all
the time without a good word to help make life worth living you ought not to worry so much about things at home the home would go on just the same if you were away, now I am not speaking for myself this time HaHa I think we all have our troubles in life but the easier we can make it for one another the better it is for everybody. I think home ought to be the happiest place on earth what is there to look forward to after you have done a days work if the home is not pleasent when you meet there I often think of the song There is beauty all around when there is love at home how true it is. I enjoy reading your letters very much as you are very thoughtful in what you write if I have wrote anything to you that you think is unjust store it up & shoot it at me when I see you again
you wrote & said (you like me) so I think you have a good beginning but we do not know when the ending will be I guess you will think this letter just as queer as yours but I feel just like I am writing to you I am going to walk down town now & mail this about 4 blocks and it is 10oclock so must say good bye for the present. May the Lord bless you at all times & keep you well & strong from your Loving Sweetheart Ben. Don't work too hard. hope you have a good time with the kiddies Remember me to Mother & all
Lots of Love XX
Payback what you sent. Ha.Ha.
Received the Package OK Thanks
Have a good time xmas
I've noticed that in all the letters Ben comments on the quantity of Xs & circled Os that Hilda sends him. It's quite charming and why I'm including his signature pages above. He was clearly smitten by Hilda, and I get the impression she was trying to resist his charms out of fear of leaving her family. I do not know what "condition" Ben is referring to, but it sounds as if she was insecure about her looks for some reason. I'll have to ask dad more about that and see what he recalls.
Until next time...Happy Genealogy Hunting!
ACCURACY NOTE: All letters are mostly transcribed as written. I try to stay true to the writer's penmanship including the spelling & grammar mistakes, missing punctuation, run on sentences and such but, in some cases, I add in periods to make the letter easier to read. These old letters had few if any paragraph breaks, so I sometimes add them by the "page turn" to make it easier to read. And yes, sometimes I make a few mistakes in transcription.
