Old Times Remembered 3

Old Times Remembered (1945-1949)

Mary Alice Hearn Heard

Letters written during the years 1945 through 1949 show that Florence and Aubrey were extremely busy, though Aubrey did not travel quite so much as in previous years. On his road trips Aubrey conducted training classes in churches, trying to build up the Training Unions and helping to secure workers. He continued his paid position at Immanuel as the church's Training Union director, a job which involved making sure that workers were present for each class and programs planned. He also wrote a book on the evils of tobacco, sold tickets for Community Concerts, wrote free-lance articles, and drummed up interest for the two trips abroad that he conducted during these years. An avid reader, Aubrey read several books a week Florence bore the brunt of caring for the family and the house. She had no clothes dryer and no transportation except the city bus service. When Aubrey was gone during the winter months she had to stoke the furnace and feed the chickens. To help make ends meet the family took in a succession of boarders: Arlena Smith, Miss Mae Holt, Mrs. Beanland, Josie Pile, Ann Huguley, Doris Monroe and Fran and Bebee, Mr. And Mrs. Kelly and Skippy, Jim Furman and Sally, Mary Ruth and J.B. Brew, and others. Florence cooked two meals a day for them, often cooking for as many as 16 people, and if they fell ill she became their caretaker as well. Added to these daily chores were treating the children's frequent colds, keeping them clothed, and supporting their school activities. In 1949 her last child, Suzie, was born. Scrapping for money became a way of life for Florence too. As the boarders gradually found apartments elsewhere, she began writing songs and lesson materials for Training Union publications. Though reading Mother and Daddy's letters has been a joy, we present them with some sadness. I always gave Mother a chance to preview the excerpts so that she could decide if some selections were too personal for public reading. I hope she would have approved of these choices [this excerpt prepared after Florence Hearn's death in April, 1995].
AUBREY Spartanburg, SC. February 7, 1945	Next month I believe we can reach the goal of $1000 (counting maturity value of bonds) which I hope will be the foundation for our educational fund. My next goal will be $1000 in war bonds and $500 in savings, which we should reach before the end of this year. But next month I want to start also an automobile fund. All of these savings accounts will run concurrently. What you are doing has made possible about all the savings we have. But I don't think it is fair to you or the children for you to continue carrying such a burden. So I want us to begin taking over the rooms one by one beginning in the summer. Be sure to look after all the chickens and give them water and food. I hope the hen will hatch all her eggs, as I want the children to have the chickens for pets.
AUBREY Ft. Worth, Texas June 30, 1945	Will you please phone Mrs. Walters at the church and give her a message? . . Tell her Mrs. Wayne Barber will sing, "If I Could But Tell All the Glory" in the assembly for July 8, and Paul Hatcher will preside. Please do this without fail.
AUBREY Cincinnati, Ohio August 6, 1945	The turkey generally gets out of his pen every night. Just corner him, catch him, and put him back in. He won't hurt you.
FLORENCE Nashville August 10, 1945	I'll bet you and your. . .classmates aren't discussing the alcohol problem tonight. I've been listening all day to the radio on Japan's peace offer. I imagine you have been talking about that some too. It may be that by Sunday peace will have been reached. That will be a momentous occasion for you to be in the pulpit of any church. I do hope the news will come tomorrow.
AUBREY Washington, D.C. August 15, 1945	Pandemonium broke loose in Washington last night. I have never seen such unrestrained celebrating. For three hours I was right in the thick of it--looking on. Service men were kissing all the girls in sight, whether they wanted to be kissed or not (not many protested). Everything that would make noise was used by the celebrants. Yelling, whooping, drinking, and minor acts of vandalism characterized the crowd. I didn't get in until 2 a.m
FLORENCE Nashville January 7, 1946	The furnace is still out. The water was down to two inches about suppertime. It has continued to rain all afternoon so it goes down slowly. I called Mr. Myatt to see if he thought I might try the stoker. He said I could and could cut it off if it began to smell. But I was afraid to do that. He said it was likely that water was thrown into the motor when he heard that buzzing sound. He will come out first thing in the morning and get it back by one o'clock. We can manage until then, I think. We had a series of blown fuses tonight. We blew about four, I think. I finally decided that basement light was the cause, or maybe overload from the electric heaters. I believe it won't happen again tonight, and I hope not because the last fuse is in.
FLORENCE Nashville January 8, 1946	The second hardest day I've ever spent has just passed so I'm really ready for bed. I've been tired many nights but never quite as confused all day as I was yesterday and today. . .It rained again all Monday night so it stayed around three inches deep at the foot of the steps. Tonight it is less than one inch deep so I phoned Mr. Myatt he could come in the morning. He didn't come this morning because of the continued rain. He won't take the motor out if he has to stand in water. . .A fire in the living room, the stove in the kitchen with the electric heaters for the bedrooms have been enough. Sadie will come tomorrow and help me get things straightened out. I am starting the New Year off pretty badly by not going to my music lesson. I phoned Miss Throne and told her I simply couldn't make it. I need to be here to get the clothes situation straightened out. With no Bendix Sadie will have to wash some things by hand.
FLORENCE Nashville June 24, 1946	It is hard to tell whether I enjoyed yesterday or not. I set out to do a lot of things and I did them all but with much hardship to me. Since it was Skippy's birthday I wanted to have a nice supper for them. Then everybody was away except Mae, Dot, and the Kellys. I hated that, so suggested that Mrs. Kelly invite her sister and Miss Mary (the friend who keeps Skippy sometimes and always eats dinner with them on his birthday). They both came. We left home at 3:00 for the church, so I had to cook the supper, clean up the house, dress the children and myself before that time. I also washed about three times in the Bendix. Marcia stayed at my side all day saying and crying, "Let's go to the park." I wished I had not told her about it. . .I had a good supper readyfor those who ate here last night. Mrs. Kelly put it on the table and then washed the dishes for me. She seemed to enjoy the evening very much. . . When we got ready to leave for the picnic it began to pour down rain. We got three umbrellas and went on to the bus stop. I had to carry Marcia. My arm is sore this morning. We had to wait fifteen minutes on the bus. By that time it had stopped raining. It did not rain any more all afternoon. It had not rained at the church or east of there at all. We had to carry the three umbrellas all afternoon. We also took a cake as our contribution to the picnic. They did not get the bus as planned because the company could not spare one at that time. There were not enough people anyway to fill a whole bus. But when we got there at four o'clock all the cars were full and there was not room for us. I wished and wished we had stayed on the bus and gone on to the park. I felt very bad about it. Mrs. All came back for us, but I was sorry she had to do it. We had to wait at the church an hour, and the children got very tired of it and restless. Three other children came up (Stooke children and another child from Belle Meade), so it was a good thing someone was there. The older children had a good time but Mildred, Marcia, and I didn't enjoy it very much at first. The place they had reserved was by the lodge with a high bluff on one side and a busy road on the other. Marcia and Mildred would dash out between parked cars and cross that road. It kept me busy watching them. I just said hello to a few people but didn't get to talk to anybody. The babies got hungry before they served supper. Mary Lib gave them some popcorn, which helped. The supper was wonderful, but I couldn't eat peacefully. We had to stand in line and I was near the end but Charles was first! (He would be.). . .I am not going again until Marcia is five or six unless you are here. . .Nancy and I took the babies by the lake where we fed ducks and then went to the playground. They enjoyed that the most of all. We didn't stay long there but walked on up to the bus stop. We rode the Shelby bus to town, transferred, and got home by nine o'clock. . .We ate some of Skippy's cake and ice cream and went to bed dead tired.
FLORENCE Nashville July 1, 1946	I don't know why it is that I miss you so very much while you are on this trip. I might be accused of being mushy and sentimental if I don't stop writing. But I do wish I had you here this very minute to tell you how much I love you. Yesterday I tried to teach Marcia Lou to answer questions like, "What is your name?" "Where do you live?" "What is your Daddy's name?" Every time I would come to that last question she would answer "Sweet Daddy" without fail!! We all adore you and will be happy, happy, happy when we are together for the summer.
FLORENCE Nashville undated	Yesterday on different occasions I had to leave my kitchen work and go out to stop the following: 1. Robert K. [Keathley], C.O., Larry, Skippy, Marcia, and Mildred were behind two wagons (forts) throwing gravel at each other--all over the lawn. 2. Larry and Skippy were grabbing hats and purses away from Mary Alice, Marcia, and Mildred on the front porch and playing football with same. 3. Innumerable fights or squabbles in the basement.
AUBREY Ridgecrest, NC July 12, 1946	I went to our cottage yesterday and found that it had been cleaned thoroughly by the Ruhama group. It is called Kamp Kontent and is one of the most conveniently located cottages on the grounds. . .The cottage has 4 double beds and 1 single. The stove is a 4-burner kerosene. Hot water heater is kerosene. We have to buy ice for the refrigerator and the kerosene but electricity and water are furnished. The cottage has some laundry equipment, including an electric iron.
FLORENCE Nashville Sept. 10, 1946	Mrs. Moore and Merrill, Jr. Came to see me yesterday after lunch. Both babies were asleep. They wanted me to give Merrill, Jr. piano lessons. I explained how impossible it is for me to teach while the children are around. Music teaching is certainly not a money making business. I have a better business, I think. I am making $340 by doing the work I would have done anyway. It is no easy job to serve dinner to sixteen people. But teaching would take as much nervous energy and would not bring in as much. Mrs. Lambdin just came over to ask if I would like to work on teaching suggestions for Bible Heroes. You certainly are a schemer
AUBREY Savannah, GA October 22, 1946	There were 64 in my class last night. It's the best class I have ever had in this book. We are taking up various problems--last night smoking, tonight drinking, etc.
AUBREY New Orleans, LA Nov. 27, 1946	Mildred and I have been quite busy since we arrived here. We went to the Q & P Station and checked our bags, then had breakfast at Morrisons. We went to the docks and saw a banana boat unload. Then we rode twice across the river on the ferry boat.
FLORENCE Nashville January 6, 1947	There are many things we should discard. . .I still want to cling to our letters though. I never have time to look at them now, but some day I will read them and relive those days.
AUBREY Ruston, LA January 8, 1947	I've finished compiling my income tax figures. They are revealing. They show that our income was about $6500 last year, or approximately $550 a month. If we can pay all charge accounts and small notes we can really make progress in debt retirement this year.
AUBREY Joplin, MO March 1, 1947	I am writing Andrew Tanner to check up on qualification papers for the election [for city council race] in case Dr. Holcomb gives me permission to run. My first step, however, will be to draft a platform, which should be easy.
AUBREY Joplin, MO March 2, 1947	Yesterday I sent orders for five more [Community Concert] tickets to Mrs. Gamble, making 22 in all I have sent in. All you send in will be in addition to this. We should have at least 30 and maybe 36.
FLORENCE Nashville July 11, 1947	Charles was desperate for some money today so he could go [to the movies] in the morning. He had a quarter for his ticket but no bus fare. I wouldn't give him any. So he scouted around and found a lawn to mow. He mowed the front yard of Miss Anna Compton for 50 cents. Larry did the back yard for 50 cents. Charles worked hard on it, clipped around the walk and raked up the cut grass. He also mowed some on ours but it didn't really need it very much.
FLORENCE Nashville July 12, 1947	As I told you, Betsy spent the night here last night. I got them all dressed this morning and went to town before nine o'clock. When we got there [to the movie theater] we learned there were no tickets for sale. All the seats had been sold out. So we had to come back home. The little children were so disappointed that I took them to the Happiness Club [at the Belle Meade Theater] this afternoon. As Marcia said, they kept "fowing" chairs and racing horses. The serial is the chair-throwing kind. I well remember when I used to be so thrilled over them. The picture was a Gene Autry. It was western, and Marcia loved the horses. But there was no drinking or smoking in it at all--just dynamiting, pistol shooting, and chasing on horseback after the villain. The good men won, of course
AUBREY Charleston, SC October 19, 1947	Thelma wants you to write a quarter's copy for one department of the Story Hour Leader. The pay is $125 for the quarter. I'm hoping to write an article this week. I must do more free-lance writing
FLORENCE Nashville Nov. 3, 1947	In the morning I am planning to practice organ from 8:30-10:30. Did I tell you that I had a pretty good lesson Friday with only two hours of practice? Mr. Hinkle was well pleased with my pedal studies. I believe I am going to learn to be at ease at the organ. . .It is wonderful to have more of the house. I am enjoying it so much. My aim now is to get it clean as soon as possible so that I can concentrate on something constructive or rather creative.
AUBREY Phoenix, AZ January 23, 1948	The amount of my raise was $400. With the various deductions I get $408.50 a month. The actual, tangible increase was about $25 a month.
FLORENCE Nashville June 9, 1944	We spent all Monday morning cleaning the two bedrooms and bath and hall upstairs. The Furmans got here after supper that night but I saved dinner for them. I helped decide where to place furniture until late. Tuesday I spent the day getting long dresses ready for the recital that night. The girls played pretty well but not perfectly. They did better than I expected them to.
FLORENCE Nashville Sept. 14, 1948	Tonight my shoulders are tired because I typed for nearly four hours today. I handed in the first program--finished, I hope. I went to your office and used Betty's typewriter. Around three thirty I went to see Dr. Kirtley. He examined my legs at great length and thought a lot about it. He finally said he would tie the veins in four places. He said injections or rubber stockings would do me no good now. He also said that if it were not done now, by the time the baby came they would be so bad he would have to strip out all these outer veins. Anyway, he is going to do it Thursday morning in his office. I can come on home and walk as usual. I may have to wear some pressure pads for awhile or something to help me. I did not mention the hospital or insurance to him. I believe you can get something toward his fee for surgery even in an office. . .If I went to the hospital the extra on a room, operating room, and what I would pay Sadie for staying here would take away anything we might save on insurance.
FLORENCE Nashville April 11, 1949	I am going to finish my proof reading today and then concentrate on my unit for the balance of the week. I guess I will have to get up in the middle of the night in order to be able to think. Marcia gives me no peace anymore. And when Suzanne is not awake, Marcia is talking, singing, yelling, or playing the radio. Even when Sadie is here Marcia will not stay with her but pesters me.
FLORENCE Nashville Sept. 12, 1949	I've been thinking that if I were teaching music I would make at least $2.00 an hour. And are they thinking about paying 50 cents an hour for proofreading? Not that I am thinking about teaching music, but I was just thinking. I gave Mildred a lesson this afternoon and practiced 45 minutes with Charles. Tomorrow I plan to get Nancy started. Suzie was an angel today. She is sweeter all the time. I am sure she misses you but she doesn't say so. But I do and I say so, too! I love you very much.