Mamie's Letter - Page 5

(From last page: "It’s going to eleven o’clock now and I intend to get up at five in the morning to go fishing so I think")

I’ll get to bed. It’s getting warmer. Isn’t it.

If this letter don’t reach you alive then I’ll say it with flowers. Don’t let anyone else see this letter not that there is anything in it but please don’t. But I’ll know you’ll be stubborn and do just the opposite and don’t forget to write back to me as your letter will give me a chance to spend more time

Here’s my address

Joe Ion

c/o Michael Collins

Paris, Ont.

Be sure and address it right.

Well I guess I’ll jump off here

(over)

We did some research about "I'll say it with flowers". It's a popular enough saying, but we couldn't find reason why he'd mention that in such a non sequitor fashion. Maybe it was a song lyric or a film title that was popular at the time, but we couldn't dig up any reference. It may be an inside joke!

One last thought before we post the 6th and final page of the letter: "Don't let anyone else see this letter..." ... Oops.

BHS Autumn Cemetery Tour

Exciting news, friends!

The BHS is hosting a bus tour of interesting cemeteries around Paris, Ontario. Join us for a crisp fall afternoon tour of some of the older burial grounds in the county.

We'll be visiting four cemeteries, each with something unique or unusual to offer. Guests will be given a research package with info on each of the sites, interesting stones at each location, and the history of the symbols on Victorian-era gravestones and Victorian funeral customs.

Historical!

Guests will board the shuttle at Myrtleville House Museum. You're welcome to bring your cameras and your own stone-rubbing tools such as tracing paper and charcoal.

The site list includes the well-known and highly-visible Paris Cemetery, as well as some older, inactive cemeteries off the beaten path. We'll be sharing local ghost stories and tales of old cemetery superstitions en route.

After the tour, the shuttle will return to Myrtleville House Museum for some light refreshments. 

Call 519-752-2483 or email carlie.myke@brantmuseums.ca to RSVP!

Event Details: 

Saturday, October 12 2013 1-4pm, 

Shuttle boards at Myrtleville House Museum at 12:45 sharp!

BHS Members Admission: $20

Single Admission: $30

Double Admission: $45 - Bring a friend and save!!

Mamie's Letter - Page 4

(From last letter: "I think it was mean of you to take that cigarette I had Saturday night because I haven’t had a smoke since...")

because you can’t buy any smokes out here except tobacco which is strong enough to kill a horse, so I might as well tell you that I've quit smoking.

Say, do you like bees, well if you do there is loads of them up here. It was just today that my uncle was cutting weeds when he disturbed a nest of bumble bees and one stung him on the forehead.

Gee but this a great life if you don’t weaken I don’t think I've done anything yet but go fishing.

It’s going to eleven o'clock now and I intend to get up at five in the morning to go fishing so I think...

Some people may recall an older family member quipping "It's a great life if you don't weaken", or you may be familiar with the phrase from the Tragically Hip song "It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken". The phrase was initially coined by John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, 15th Governor General of Canada who was a politician and novelist of Scottish origin.

Mamie's Letter - Page 3

(From last letter: "Say, the next time I ask you to go to the show with me I expect you to go and not say you can’t...)

Like you did that night at the carnival.

I think Joe is waiting for Amy to come back to take her. Is she back yet? Have I spelt Amy right? It’s the first time I ever heard of such a name.

Gosh, but it’s lonesome up here at night to sit and hear the crickets sing and that’s when I wish I was  back home having some fun on the commons with you.

I bet your chickens are all dead by now because you fed them so well.

Have you read that Buffalo Bill story I gave you? It’s a lot of bull isn't it.

I think it was mean of you to take that cigarette I had Saturday night because I haven’t had a smoke since...

In case you missed them, here are pages 1 and 2.

Mamie kept chickens on Sheridan Street apparently. When did it become a by-law that people couldn't keep chickens within the city? If it's not a by-law, I want to start keeping chickens!

We also found it interesting that Joe had never heard the name "Amy" before.

Stay tuned for page 4 on Thursday!

Mamie's Letter - Page 2

Like Whiteman’s Creek, only the creek is practically a river.

I’d like you to see some of the big black bass I caught up here.

The threshers were up at the neighbour’s farm to-day and I had to pitch hay and managed to get my eyes full so I don’t think I’d make a very good farmer.

So Charlie said he was going to fix up a bogus letter and send it to you and sign my name so as to get you mad at me so if you get an extra letter you’ll know that one is a fake.

I suppose you go over on the commons every night with Ron Fraser or Barney.

Are you still mad at Joe or is it he that is mad at you

Say, the next time I ask you to go to the show with me I expect you to go and not say you can’t.

Last week we posted the first page of a charming letter written to a young Miss Mamie Woodard from a lad named Joe Ion. This is the second page of the letter, which details Joe's futile attempts at farming, his concern with what Mamie thinks of him, and possibly a bit of jealousy at Mamie's being able to go to the commons with other little friends. 

What do you think of this line: "Say, the next time I ask you to go to the show with me, I expect you to go and not say you can't". Way to be bossy, Joe!

Watch out for pages 3 and 4 next week, which will be posted on Monday and Thursday!

Paris, Ont. Aug. 1921

Paris, Ontario,  Aug  1921

Dear Mamie,

In the first place, I’d like to know if I made a mistake or not in saying “Dear Mamie” and then if I spelt “Mamie” right.

I suppose you still think I went to the Allen on purpose Saturday night to meet you, but I didn’t. I went with Charlie to see Harold Pearcy.

Say, your cousin Dunham told me something about you that makes me think a lot better about you.

This is a great place up here and I am having a great time. Last night we had a picnic about 20 of us, old ladies and all and a friend of mine invited me. We played baseball and football and after lunch went up the river on a bicycle boat which can be hired out. We had smores too, and I certainly had a good time. This place up here is much (over)...

Dear Mamie...


This letter was written in the summer of 1921 by a young man called Joe to a girl named Mamie. Research shows that Mamie would have been about 15 years old at the time, and was living on Sheridan Street in Brantford. Joe was visiting Paris, Ontario over the summer, possibly to visit family and to go camping with his friends; the lad appears to be the same age as Miss Mamie.

Check back next week when we'll be posting Page 2!

Dear Mamie...

Envelope, in poor condition, dated 1921

Imagine if an email or text message of yours could end up in a museum 90 years from now. What would researchers find? What sort of little things do you mention to friends on a daily basis? If my text messages from this past week were to be uncovered, people would see quick messages from my mum before she caught a flight home, giving directions to a colleague, and texting a friend back and forth about getting together to make peach jam (it's canning season, after all).

But digital communication is so ephemeral. What will future generations know about us and how we communicated? We (most of us anyways) don't print off our text messages. What clues will future people have when they are conducting their own research? We're fortunate to have letters, a form of communication which has mostly fallen by the wayside excepting for business and sometimes legal reasons. Letters are lovely. They are solid, physical pieces that can be examined for the kinds of clues and hints that researchers love.

This letter, addressed to Miss Mamie Woodard and dated summer 1921, was one of the very first things I catalogued when I started working at the Brant Museum & Archives as a summer student a few years back. I was so charmed by the little note (which is in fact several pages long) I spent some extra time researching the details and carefully scanning the pieces for our digital database.

Check into the BHS blog every week: we'll be releasing new pages of this letter in a 6-part series along with transcriptions and research notes.

In the meantime, do the future a favour: send a couple letters, and maybe keep a few of the letters and cards you receive for later generations. And for goodness sakes, put a date on them!

- Carlie