Send a text

Show Notes:
January 13th, 1953 — Joyce’s world is equal parts chaos, comedy, and contemplation. She begins with gossip from home: her engagement announcement with Earl has made it into print — badly. The photo is grainy, the wording confusing, and she’s half amused, half mortified. Meanwhile, her mother still hasn’t sent the professional picture she’s waiting for.

From there, the letter spirals through the rhythms of dorm life: missing equipment (and mysterious tubes), prank wars involving smoked herring, and Joyce unleashing a few well-earned curses. Between all the noise, she turns to her studies — philosophy of childrearing, history lectures “slower than molasses in January,” and her upcoming piano lesson for which she’s only half-prepared.

Her insights about children — how they learn through association and shared responsibility — show a teacher’s heart years ahead of her time. She writes about Peter, a child she once cared for, as though she’s discovering her own maternal instincts on the page.

By the end, she’s back in her familiar cycle of humor and longing: turning down a symphony invitation, missing Earl’s voice over the phone, and worrying about a lump under her jaw. Her tone is half domestic philosopher, half lonely lover — a young woman balancing thought, mischief, and tenderness in a world that never quite slows down.

Topics Include:

• Engagement announcement in hometown paper
• Dorm pranks and frustration
• Humor and language in 1950s college life
• Teaching philosophies and parenting reflections
• Music, piano practice, and upcoming lessons
• Symphony plans and Delta Omicron alumni call
• Long-distance phone calls with Earl
• Health worries and fatigue
• Humor, chaos, and love in college dorms

Support the show

Send us a text

Show Notes:
January 12th, 1953 — Joyce writes from Denver with a head full of possibilities and a heart full of longing. Her letter to Earl begins with cautious excitement — two potential organist positions, one at the university chapel and one at a Lutheran church. Either could change everything: steady income, time to teach piano, and maybe a little freedom from waitressing. “If they did,” she writes, “I could take on more piano pupils and wouldn’t need to work at anything else.”

But beneath her optimism is fatigue — the slow grind of small rooms, crowded dorms, and endless searching. She combs through newspaper ads for apartments she can’t afford, sighs over shared kitchens where “no one will clean up,” and decides she’s too selfish to eat spinach and eggs at 9:15 p.m. Her humor keeps her grounded, even as she dreams of something better.

Joyce also chronicles dorm gossip (a girl caught sitting on a boy’s lap!), flu outbreaks, and the constant worry over schoolwork — 1,500 to 2,000 pages of history reading and still more credits to manage. Yet as always, she ends with love — looking forward to hearing Earl’s voice and hoping “George stays home this Friday night.” The letter captures Joyce at her most human: hopeful, tired, witty, and deeply in love.

Topics Include:

• Searching for church organist jobs
• Financial independence and limited opportunities for women
• Apartment hunting in 1950s Denver
• Dorm life and behavior rules
• Managing coursework and credit hours
• 1950s student health and flu season
• Humor in domestic chaos and shared living
• Long-distance love and everyday yearning

Support the show

Send us a text

January 5th, 1953 — Joyce begins the new year in Denver with a flurry of errands and anxious hope. She’s back to campus life, juggling scholarship appeals, registration forms, and part-time work at the Chuck Wagon diner. Her letter unfolds like a diary of determination: she’s met with faculty, called the dean, written to a reverend for a reference, and still finds time to call her piano teacher and do her laundry.

It’s a portrait of a young woman pushing forward despite disappointment — her scholarship was denied, though Mr. Piernaud promises to try again, and Dean Federer seems willing to help. She’s taking twelve hours of coursework — American History, Family Life, and Composition — and praying she can afford to stay through the third quarter.

Between the lines, her exhaustion softens into tenderness: she misses Earl constantly and clings to their next phone call as motivation to “live through Wednesday.” Even in her uncertainty, Joyce’s tone glows with grit and love — a woman balancing ambition, financial strain, and the ache of distance with her usual unbreakable humor.

Topics Include:

• Registering for winter quarter at Denver University
• Scholarship rejection and appeal process
• Meetings with faculty and deans
• Writing reference requests to clergy
• Managing limited finances and piano lessons
• Changes at work (Johnny leaving the Chuck Wagon)
• Illness and uncertainty in her friend group
• Balancing school, work, and love
• Hope and perseverance in 1950s college life

Support the show

Send us a text

January 4th, 1953 — Joyce is back in Denver after the holidays, surrounded by dorm chatter, souvenirs, and lingering memories of Christmas and New Year’s Eve with Earl. She’s unpacked her “stuff and junk,” pinned her mementos into her scrapbook — most of them marked with Earl’s name — and taken comfort in the small routines of college life.

Her tone is warm and sleepy, full of quiet gratitude and gentle teasing. She mentions dorm gossip — Winnie’s “engagement ring” is really just an old ruby, and the girls are still showing off their Christmas presents. She jokes about a mysterious wet object in a drawer (a mystery left forever unsolved) and plans for the February hockey games.

But the heart of the letter is love — reflective and sincere. Joyce thanks Earl for making her holidays “the happiest of my life,” cherishing both the gifts he gave her and the memories they shared. As she readies for bed, her words settle into soft devotion — the simple bliss of having someone to love who makes “all the unpleasant circumstances bearable.”

Topics Include:

• Returning to Denver after Christmas break
• Dorm gossip and friendships
• Winnie’s not-so-engagement ring
• Christmas gifts and scrapbook memories
• A mysterious “wet drawer” moment
• Upcoming hockey games in February
• Gratitude for holiday joy and love
• Reflection on the happiest New Year’s Eve
• Everyday comfort in long-distance love

Support the show

Send us a text

December 24th, 1952 — It’s Christmas Eve in Kankakee, Illinois, and Joyce is writing from the depths of exhaustion, love, and heartache. Home for the holidays, she finds herself tending to a sick mother and a failing stepfather, Uncle Marcus — a man too proud, too stubborn, and too unclean for her patience or her mother’s frailty. Joyce’s letter paints an unflinching picture of mid-century domestic labor: scrubbing floors and bathroom registers with steel wool, scouring powder, and soap just to keep the house livable.

Her humor flickers through the heartache. She jokes that everyone’s waiting for Uncle Marcus to die, that her “slooty shoulders” might scandalize the engagement announcement, and that a 17-year-old sailor down the street has a crush on her. Yet beneath the wit is deep compassion — her love for her mother, her worry about the operation she refuses, and her quiet yearning for Earl, whose absence leaves her “90% lonely.”

Joyce dreams aloud about their wedding — maybe small, maybe delayed — and shares her gifts: a silver chest full of Queen Bess silverware, towels with fuzzy flowers, and a 280-pound hog from her stepbrother. Even through the fatigue of caretaking and longing, her Christmas spirit shines in her closing wish: to be in Earl’s arms, pestering him while he reads the paper, feeling life return to ordinary joy.

Topics Include:

• Christmas Eve in Kankakee
• Caring for a sick mother and elderly stepfather
• Domestic burden and postwar caretaking
• Scrubbing and cleaning rituals
• Health worries and aging
• Dreams of marriage and practicality
• The engagement photo and modesty
• Family gifts: silver chest, towels, and a Christmas hog
• Loneliness, love, and longing for Earl
• Neighborhood flirtations and small-town life
• The slow pace of mail and postwar communication delays

Support the show

Send us a text

December 18th, 1952 — Joyce writes late at night from Kankakee, Illinois, balancing exhaustion, work, and homesickness as Christmas approaches. She’s working long shifts at the post office, sorting letters by state, city, street, and block — monotonous, finger-numbing labor she calls “a great big pain in the neck.” The money is helpful, but she misses practicing piano, visiting friends, and simply enjoying being home.

Her mother is ill with a bad cold, her stepfather as difficult as ever, and her sister Ina still finding trouble with men. Amid the chaos, Joyce finds solace in small things — trimming the tree, choosing slippers for her mother, knitting Earl’s socks, and writing to him by lamplight. She muses about family history, discovering her late father had once been a Mason, and reflects on how strange home feels after time away.

Even while she grumbles about sorting mail and her aching back, her humor shines through: she jokes about “bare shoulders” in the engagement announcement and laments running out of the yellow-and-navy yarn for Earl’s socks. It’s a portrait of mid-century womanhood at its most tender and resilient — juggling work, family duty, and love across hundreds of miles.

Topics Include:

• Working temporary holiday shifts at the Kankakee post office
• Sorting mail and the monotony of repetitive labor
• Mother’s illness and family responsibilities
• Planning Christmas shopping and gifts
• Learning her late father was a Mason
• Family tension with stepfather and sister’s relationships
• Missing Earl and Denver during Christmas
• Knitting progress on Earl’s socks
• Worry about yarn colors running out
• Reflecting on engagement announcement and modesty norms
• Practicing piano and preparing music pieces

Support the show

Send us a text

This episode was one of the harder letters to read and place into the world.  There is an example of Hate ( Blue Square) in this episode, due to that fact the publish date was pushed past the holiday season and into the New Year.  We're not hiding from the hate we expose, but I'm sure not publishing it during the holy season.  December 15th, 1952 — Joyce writes from Kankakee, Illinois, still home for Christmas break and sending her airmail letters back west to Denver. She’s surrounded by family, gossip, and domestic dramas — her sister Ina’s birthday slipped her mind, her sister Cleone is clashing with her future mother-in-law, and her stepfather is offering “gifts” that come with strings attached.

Joyce fills Earl in on every detail: the new apartment Cleone and Ray are furnishing, the meddling mother-in-law who lost her house and blames “everyone different,” and her own mother’s declining health — the letter shifts from biting humor to quiet worry as she describes her mother’s serious condition and the strain of caring for her.

Even amid family tension, Joyce’s warmth and wit shine through. She talks of knitting Earl’s second sock, wanting to play organ for Christmas Eve services, and dreaming of Denver — her true home now. She closes the letter missing him fiercely, trying not to feel lonely, and signing off with the tender familiarity of a woman who’s already halfway between her old life and the new one she’s building with him.

Topics Include:

• Writing from Kankakee during Christmas break
• Family drama: Cleone’s meddling mother-in-law and home tension
• Sister Ina’s forgotten birthday
• Stepfather’s manipulative “money with conditions” offers
• Mother’s serious health concerns and medical details
• Knitting Earl’s second sock
• Plans to play organ for Christmas Eve services
• Thoughts on heaven, faith, and family hardship
• Discussing wedding plans for Cleone and Ray
• Reflections on loneliness and longing for Earl
• Reading and favorite authors (Lloyd C. Douglas, The Great Fisherman)

Support the show

Send us a text

December 13–14, 1952 — Joyce’s letter home spans two days and two states, written partly from a jerky train bound for Illinois and partly from her family home in Kankakee. Traveling by airmail for the first time — double the postage at six cents — she’s headed home to her mother, stepfather, and sister Cleone, knitting a sock for Earl as the train rocks along. She jokes about taking off her stockings to be comfortable, washing off her makeup, and trying to nap between stations.

By the next day, she’s home and writing in green ink with her new pen — one of the gifts Earl sent her, along with perfume and sachet. The household is lively: Cleone and Ray are “necking on the Davenport,” Uncle Marcus is frail and irritable, and Joyce finds herself once again navigating her family’s moods. She compares engagement rings (hers, she notes proudly, is prettier), talks about wedding plans, and muses that perhaps Denver — not Kankakee — should be where she and Earl marry.

The letter closes tenderly but with a hint of exhaustion. Between family tension, travel fatigue, and reflections on how distant she already feels from home, Joyce dreams of returning to Denver — to her own life, her work, and the man she loves.

Topics Include:

• Traveling home to Illinois by train
• Writing with her new pen and green ink
• Knitting Earl’s socks on the train
• Family dynamics at home in Kankakee
• Uncle Marcus’s declining health
• Cleone and Ray’s engagement and apartment
• Comparing engagement rings
• Talking weddings and choosing Denver over Illinois
• Remembering family challenges and loyalty to her mother
• Planning future marriage and family life
• Recovering from cramps and travel fatigue

Support the show

Send us a text

December 8th, 1952 — Joyce writes from her Education and Sociology class, balancing her notebook on her lap while Dr. Shiri looms nearby, close enough to notice she’s writing. She sketches the seating chart in her letter, amused and cautious — everyone around her seems to read over her shoulder. She’s wearing her new skirt and belt, feeling “very grad looking,” and musing about how unpredictable Shiri’s tests are — too general in class, too specific on exams.

She apologizes for the short, penciled note, but even this hurried letter feels rich with her humor and detail: a ridiculous class comment about “solving” the southern race problem by “moving everyone north,” her Christmas card list of 31 names, and plans to buy her friend a delicate demi-tasse cup as a gift. Between notes about grades, oral exams, and her trip to Boulder to see Earl, Joyce’s warmth cuts through the academic chatter.

By the end, she’s eating cake and apples for breakfast — a small comfort amid the finals rush — and promises to tell Earl what Piernaut said in her next letter. It’s another glimpse into her everyday world: exams, errands, and the steady rhythm of missing the man she loves.

Topics Include:

• Writing secretly in class with Dr. Shiri watching
• Education/Sociology test worries
• Dramatic Activities oral exam
• Planning a Christmas card list and gifts
• Classmate’s shocking racist remark
• Hopes for final grades in each subject
• Meeting with Piernaut and loan discussion
• Planning a trip to Boulder
• Eating cake and apples for breakfast
• Apologizing for messy, hurried handwriting

Support the show

Send us a text

Show Notes:
December 2nd, 1952 — Joyce is relieved to find a letter from Earl waiting for her at home and dives into another busy day of rewrites and responsibilities. She’s nearly finished redoing her composition, booked an appointment with Piernaut for Monday, and cleaned the apartment herself (minus one room Sandy swept). This week is stacked: finish her composition, complete a dramatics project, see a play at Phipps Auditorium, and play for a Pops course program on Sunday.

Despite the workload, there are bright spots: her Ed Soche report has impressed Dr. Shiri, she’s memorizing more piano pages, and she’s looking forward to the first two hockey games against the University of Toronto. There’s also humor — she jokes about taking her “roll” of film (not “role”) to the drug store, Johnny’s blunders at work, and her own coffee-urn mishap.

She weighs holiday travel plans, train tickets versus rides, and the thought of returning early to the dorm after Christmas. Financial worries loom, but she ends the letter with warmth and anticipation, asking Earl to check the Dean of Women’s office hours and promising hugs and kisses on Friday.

Topics Include:

• Rewriting her composition project
• Cleaning the apartment and juggling responsibilities
• Upcoming dramatics project and play at Phipps Auditorium
• Pops course program performance
• Ed Soche report praise from Dr. Shiri
• Memorizing more piano pages
• First hockey games vs. University of Toronto
• Taking her roll of film to the drug store
• Johnny’s mistakes and coffee urn mishap
• Weighing train tickets vs. rides for Christmas
• Dorm vs. off-campus living plans
• Checking Dean of Women’s office hours for Earl

Support the show