2270 South Vine

Send 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 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 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

Send a text

Show Notes:
December 1st, 1952 — On Earl’s birthday, Joyce opens with “I love you very much” and a cheery wish, but the letter soon turns into a portrait of an exhausted young woman juggling school, work, and life’s uncertainties. The apartment is hungover and cranky from the weekend, she’s lost her composition notes and manuscript paper, and she faces redoing her final project from scratch.

Dr. Hulk gives the class an easy morning; the first day of Ed Soche reports goes smoothly; but Joyce must start off tomorrow’s session discussing democratic values. She recounts a missed opportunity at Wells (they want a boy for the stockroom), a fruitless visit to Piernau’s office, and information about DU’s accounting program and CPA credit that sparks thoughts about CU’s setup.

Joyce also looks ahead — a concert Friday night at 8, possible rides home for Christmas, the $45 she’s saved for the bank, and a transfer of $300 (her “crowning glory” of savings). She worries about scholarships, Winnie’s engagement turmoil, Connie’s illness, and mumps rumors. Despite it all, she sends two birthday cards to Earl and ends the night tearfully, confessing how much she longs to sleep next to him and how she didn’t think it possible to love someone so much.

Topics Include:

• Earl’s birthday wishes
• Lost composition notes and manuscript paper
• Easy morning with Dr. Hulk
• Starting Ed Soche report on democratic values
• Wells job disappointment (wanted a boy)
• DU accounting/CPA program credit info
• Friday night concert plans
• Saving $45 and transferring $300
• Scholarship worries and graduation doubts
• Winnie’s engagement trouble and vodka episode
• Connie’s mysterious illness and mumps rumors
• Daydreaming of visiting Earl and taking his picture to bed

Support the show

Send a text

Show Notes:
November 25th, 1952 — Joyce is once again writing from Dr. Shiri’s class, distracted by a student’s clumsy report on sex education, Puritan beliefs, and the meaning of love. Her pencil scrawls between reflections on the racy discussion and her daily life: slow hours at work, May threatening to sell her business and leave Denver, Johnny still waiting for his wife, and Joyce herself preparing for the Thanksgiving rush.

She dreams about a farm with Earl, gets lost in the sparkle of her cleaned ring between paragraphs, and debates whether she’ll continue piano at CU or go back to Oregon. She also grumbles about dorm mates unplugging her desk lamp for hair dryers and irons, and about not being able to come over Wednesday night due to project meetings and laundry.

Underneath the humor and complaints is a steady devotion — even as she writes from class, Joyce is thinking about seeing Earl, planning her moves, and framing her day-to-day frustrations with affection and anticipation.

Topics Include:

• Writing from Dr. Shiri’s class
• Awkward student reports on sex education and love
• Dreaming of life on a farm with Earl
• Cleaning and admiring her ring
• Considering CU piano vs. Oregon
• May’s talk of selling business and leaving Denver
• Slow workdays and Thanksgiving plans
• Project meetings disrupting travel
• Dorm mates unplugging her desk lamp
• Looking forward to seeing Earl Thursday

Support the show

Send a text

Show Notes:
November 24th, 1952 — Joyce beams with pride over an A+ on her genetics exam and looks ahead to Thanksgiving week as a welcome break from the grind. She compares spring vacation dates with Boulder, notes Easter falling on April 5th, and jokes about nearly freezing despite scarves and mittens.

She’s juggling the values project, piano lessons, work shifts, and a roll of film that’s been sitting undeveloped for almost a year. There’s talk of a Thanksgiving night dance at the Union and of returning Pop and Sutt’s books, plus yet another dorm caper — Winnie “getting even” with Peg by holding onto the ringing phone while Peg screamed for Dan.

Joyce debates whether to move to a third-floor room next quarter, knowing it might cause hard feelings. She closes the letter with warm anticipation for the weekend with Earl, describing how she loves to rub his back and kiss him as he naps, and promising to “make up” the letter’s length with kisses.

Topics Include:

• Earning an A+ on the genetics exam
• Comparing spring vacation dates (Denver vs. Boulder)
• Thanksgiving week plans and a Union dance
• Scheduling the values project
• Returning Pop and Sutt’s books
• Finishing a year-old roll of film
• Winnie’s prank on Peg and the phone
• Debating a third-floor move next quarter
• Balancing piano lessons, work, and rest
• Daydreaming about Earl and the weekend

Support the show

Send a text

Show Notes:
November 19th, 1952 — Joyce writes to Earl relieved that her genetics test felt “too easy for comfort” and proud of a composition song whose melody came together in under an hour. She worries it might be something she’s heard before but is still excited to share it.

Campus life churns in the background: Winnie fuming over Bob’s lack of letters, Peg secretly rescuing (and withholding) Winnie’s mail, and the values report still looming but perhaps postponed until after Thanksgiving. Joyce manages her knitting, plotting how to get the line right in Earl’s second sock, and remembers a plant named “Junior” she nurtured as a student at Wesleyan. She dreams of starting another one for their future home together.

Amid anticipation of Christmas, choir programs, and family reunions, Joyce teases Earl about what he wants for Christmas “besides a soap dish” and requests bourbon and 7-Up for Friday night. The letter closes with warmth and humor — Winnie yelling at Peg over the phone while Joyce tries not to laugh — and with her signature promise of love, hugs, and kisses soon.

Topics Include:

• Genetics test that felt “too easy for comfort”
• Composing a new song at the lounge piano
• Winnie’s mail drama with Peg and Bob
• Postponed values report
• Knitting Earl’s second sock
• Remembering “Junior,” the plant she raised
• Anticipating Christmas, choir, and family
• Teasing about Christmas gifts (soap dish)
• Planning Friday night pick-up and bourbon & 7-Up
• Witnessing Winnie and Peg’s phone fight

Support the show

Send a text

Show Notes:
November 18th, 1952 — Joyce writes with an inky, leaky pen, alternating between work at the café and outlining chapters for her upcoming genetics test. She muses about headscarves versus earmuffs for the cold, the beauty of snow on pine branches, and memories of last Easter morning in the mountains.

Dorm politics swirl again as she fills out her apartment preference slip, wondering if Connie might move out and if Winnie might go with her. Joyce debates the freedom of an off-campus room, grumbles about Bob Bishop’s persistent presence, and confesses her preference for chicken over minute steaks. She squeezes in a nickel for the jukebox but can’t be bothered to get up.

The letter blends practical concerns with affectionate touches — knitting Earl’s socks for his birthday, wondering what he’s been doing all week, sending greetings to friends, and closing with a playful anecdote about Johnny jokingly charging her to keep quiet about her “flirting.” She ends the night studying genetics, admiring her ring, and reaffirming her love for the man who gave it to her.

Topics Include:

• Leaky pens and inky fingers
• Cold weather gear choices — headscarf or earmuffs
• Snow on pine trees and mountain memories
• Apartment preference slips and dorm reshuffling
• Considering off-campus housing
• Bob Bishop’s persistence
• Favorite foods at the café (minute steaks, chicken)
• Knitting socks for Earl’s birthday
• Johnny’s jokes about spying
• Admiring her engagement ring
• Balancing work, studying, and affection

Support the show

Send a text

Show Notes:
November 17th, 1952 — Joyce writes this letter from inside Dr. Shuri’s class, half listening to a heated discussion about replacing algebra, languages, and history with a new “core curriculum” of mental hygiene, family training, citizenship, and consumer education. Her thoughts jump between the debate, her own looming values report, and the cozy chaos of dorm life.

She’s delighted with the duck puppet her teacher gave her but confesses she has no idea how to manipulate it — so she “steals” a potato from work to use for the head of her own sock puppet. Dorm rearrangements leave her freezing by an open window while Connie and Winnie are snug in the corner. Joyce debates grad school, Boulder's organ program, and the possibility of an instructorship if the counselor’s job doesn’t pan out.

Evenings are filled with knitting socks for Earl, studying for a brutal genetics test, and laughing off men who try to pick her up at the Chuck Wagon café. But beneath the daily details is a crescendo of devotion — Joyce closes with one of her most intimate declarations yet: that she was born for Earl, that he is the person who gives her life its purpose and joy.

Topics Include:

• Core curriculum debates in Dr. Shuri’s class
• Preparing the values report and genetics test
• Duck puppet for class project and potato-sock puppet plan
• Dorm furniture rearrangements and freezing by the window
• Considering Boulder grad school or an instructorship
• Knitting socks for Earl over Thanksgiving
• No ride to the Mu Phi Epsilon banquet
• Jukebox dimes and men trying to pick her up at the Chuck Wagon
• New apron from her mother
• A powerful reflection on finding purpose and being “born” for someone

Support the show

Send a text

Show Notes:
November 11th, 1952 — Joyce writes in pencil after her bath, determined to avoid another inky mess. It’s been an “ordinary day” full of work rushes, sore feet, and a compliment from Johnny on how she handles the pressure. She reflects on how she hasn’t done anything for herself since school started — no recitals, no swims, no symphonies — but feels grateful to at least keep up with her studies, laundry, and letters.

She’s happy to see her old friend Ray Powell on campus and recounts his financial struggles supporting a wife and new baby without her help. Dorm life remains chaotic: missing dollars, borrowed toiletries, a pilfered tape measure, and Winnie’s habit of flinging windows wide open. Joyce debates whether she can afford to continue at Denver or transfer to Colorado University for cheaper tuition, but for now she keeps knitting, planning a socio-drama for her values report, and hoping for a letter from Earl.

Underneath it all is a pulse of longing: she can’t stop thinking about him, imagines sneaking into his room one day, and aches at the thought of spending her first Thanksgiving away from home. She closes the letter with her usual tender goodnight, clinging to his picture and counting the days until Friday.

Topics Include:

• Avoiding ink spills and writing in pencil
• Handling rushes at work and sore feet
• Seeing Ray Powell and discussing his financial struggles
• Dorm frustrations: borrowed items, missing dollars, open windows
• Planning a socio-drama for the values report
• Considering a transfer to Colorado University
• Hoping for a letter from Earl
• First Thanksgiving away from home
• Missing Earl and imagining sneaking into his room
• Knitting before bed and keeping his picture close

Support the show