The Forties Room

I picked up (via an antique-sellers group on Facebook) three letters to Santa Claus that were written by some kids in Nebraska City, NE in 1933.  They’re really unique and in great shape on 7.5″ x 9.5″ paper.

Here is my attempt at transcribing them:

Santa Claus,

North Pole.

 

Dear Santa Claus,

Since you visited me last I have

tried to be a good girl, and studied pretty hard

in school, so I would like for you to call on

me this Christmas and please bring me the

following gifts:  a pair of green beads, a box

of handkerchieffs, 2 prs of stockings, a wrist

watch, some candy, oranges, nuts, gum, and

some fruit.

 

Your little friend,

Violet(?) Storger.(?) 

Dear Santa Claus

For Christmas I want a 22 repeating

rifle and a red slede that is the most

important.  And I want two double spring

traps and one single spring trap.

I wan some candy nuts and a football

suit.  I want a hunting knife a hunt vest

and a box of 22 shells

 

Yours friend

John Harg..(?)

Dear Santa Claus:

I am been a very good boy and

I would like to have a ball mit and a ball

mask football baseball and suit(?) and bat. And

dond’t feargit to stop.  We will have a nice

Christmas tree for you.  If you get stuck you

just call 4930 and I will come and pull

you out.

your little friend

Hoyt Merwin Scharp

Since the last letter had a name I could read, I Googled it and found this sad article about him.

Total spent today: $20

Another Etsy find was this 1941 Sucrets tin.

Total spent today: $8.50

I recently discovered that Etsy is a good place to find things for the room.  Just searching for “1940s”, I found some chauffeur badges (i.e. taxi cab permits), but headed back to eBay to get a better price.

Total spent today: $4.94

For Father’s Day, one of the things I wanted to do was go antiquing, but instead of going through all the hassle of packing up the baby and spending hours out and about, Jenny and I decided to break out our laptops and hit up eBay.  We found this 1940s Bingo set in perfect condition.  It’s absolutely beautiful and I was the only bidder on it!

Total spent today: $19.50.

Jenny and I hopped on over to Jantiques in Council Bluffs, IA and they had hundreds of postcards from as early as 1900.  I was really hoping to get some early 1940s Christmas ones, but I couldn’t find any.  I picked up these racy ones though.

Total spent today: $6

We went to Joe’s Collectibles in the Old Market today and picked up 3 ticket stubs from two showings of Gone with the Wind on May 2, 1940.

Total spent today: $15

Jenny and I haven’t been to Lake Manawa Antiques in over a year so since we were in the neighborhood, we popped in and picked up a program for the first concert of the 1941-42 season of the Omaha Little Symphony.  It’s in really good shape and what’s really cool is that there is a list of patrons that include some prominent names in Omaha: Mr. and Mrs. W. Dale Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Doorly, Mr. Eugene Eppley, and others.

Total Spent Today: $10.70

My parents were in town so Jenny and I got a date night while they babysat. We went to dinner and then to the Brass Armadillo which is open until 9pm daily (yay!). I found some cool luggage tags and a copy of The Night Before Christmas, copyright 1936.

Total Spent Today: ~$22

We made the one hour drive to Walnut, IA where once a year the entire town (population: 776) turns into a giant flea market of antiques.  Their website says about 20-30,000 people visit each year, but this was a first time going so we were excited, especially since they vet the dealers so the quality is there.

I was dead set on getting a chair of some kind, but I didn’t find one.  I don’t think anyone wants to haul a lot of big stuff out to the middle of nowhere.

Anyway, I didn’t leave empty-handed: I picked up a 1940 license plate in good condition, some coupons for ice, and although it doesn’t necessarily fit that well in the room, I picked up a high school “senior handbook” from 1949.  This book was owned by a Helyn Eagle from Clifftop, WV.  I found enough information on her online to know she was either a politician or a secretary for one from at least the mid 60s to at least the early 80s and she’s probably still alive and I think I’ve found her current address.  I don’t know what to do about that though.

Total spent today: $28

Jenny and I were out and about when we saw a sign for an estate sale so we went and I picked up a box for a doctor play set.

Total spent today: $3