Special Pictures – Lad’s Resume – April 11, 1946

A comment on Friday’s post, from my cousin, mentioned that she didn’t realize her husband’s grandfather was a good friend of Dick’s. I commented back that my Dad, Lad, had worked for her husband’s great-grandfather during the summers as a mechanic from the age of 14. It got me curious and I went to my Dad’s “Important Papers” envelope and came across his resume. It was created after he had been home for about six months after he was discharged. Marian was expecting to give birth to their first child (little did they know that it would actually be twins) and he was looking for a job to augment what he was making working with Grandpa at Guion Advertising.

Tomorrow, I will start posting a week of letters written in the spring of 1943. Lad has been assigned to duty at Santa Anita Base in California as an Instructor to teach Army recruits Diesel Engine Theory, Automotive electricity and engine tune-ups. Dan is at Lancaster, Pennsylvania receiving more training as a Surveyor and Map Maker. Dick is at Santaliza Base in Brazil, serving as an M. P. and liaison between the Army and the local employees. Judy Guion

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Special Pictures – Christmas in Trumbull – The Lad Guion Family – 1947

As I was sorting through some Blog materials, I found a Christmas Card from my cousin, Sharon (the daughter of  Marian (Irwin) Guion’s sister, Margaret). She had come across some old slides her Dad (Cliff Mitchell) had taken when he travelled to Connecticut from California on a business trip. She sent them to me in a Christmas card.

In 1947, Lad (Alfred Peabody Guion) and Marian ( (Irwin) Guion) and their children, were living in The Little House on the Trumbull Property. These pictures were taken at Christmas, 1947. I still remember that child’s table and chair set.

Marian  holding Gregory (4 months old), Lad holding Judy (literally) and Douglas (1 1/2 years old twins).

Judy, fascinated with one of her toys and Doug looking at his Dad, Lad, looking on.

Greg, looking at Mom or Dad.

Tomorrow, more Special Pictures.

Judy Guion

Trumbull – To The Guion Settlers – Greetings – A Birthday Remembrance – September 8, 1940

Alfred Duryee Guion

R-92    September 8, 1940

To the Guion settlers in

the Cook Inlet and Orinoco River Sections,

Greetings:

Nellie ( Nelson Sperling) is home again. He is on leave of absence from the Army for recuperation purposes. He walked in here a few minutes ago. He doesn’t know whether he will go back to his old post or be sent to Kelly Field in Texas. He likes the Army, and the treatment he receives. Mrs. Mantle has heard nothing from Art but as his term of enlistment is about up she would not be surprised to see him walk in any time now.

For the last week we have been having bright sunshiny weather with just enough edge in the coolness to suggest fall days ahead. Alas I cannot take unadulterated enjoyment from the fact because sneeze days are here again and, while each year, attacks seem to be a little milder than the previous year, they are yet bad enough to be unwelcome. Maybe if I live long enough I’ll outgrow the thing entirely. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons why I have stopped taking morning walks. Stirring up pollen or merely being in amidst it in field and wood quickly puts my eyes, throat, nose, etc., in such a state of irritation that all the benefits of the exercise are nullified. Another reason why I discontinued the walking idea in the early summer was because as soon as the mosquitoes became prevalent it took much of the joy out of woods walking and then, as I do not especially enjoyed tramping highways with cars whizzing by at frequent intervals, I strike off as soon as possible into words, roads, across fields, along narrow paths, etc., and I found that early in the morning the dew is so thick on the fast-growing vegetation in early summer that before many hundred feet my shirt, trousers, shoes and in fact every bit of clothing was saturated. I might as well have stood out in the rain. However, I intend resuming walks in the fall and winter.

Following my usual custom in order to celebrate the reaching of another milestone on the journey through life, I have started on its way to each of you boys a little birthday remembrance. ( To celebrate his own birthday, Grandpa always gave his children presents.) Of course it won’t reach you by the 11th but it would be pretty difficult to know when to mail it so as to reach you by parcels post at any designated time. As far as Dave and Dick are concerned, I am considering the possibility of taking them to New York to see some of the current shows, but this is contingent on Dick’s being able to get time off. Dick is talking about saving up his money and taking a hobo trip with Bobby Kascak through Florida.

It looks as though I would have a busy few days next weekend. Mr. Burr has promised to have somebody up here with a power saw so that we can saw up that wood which has been piled up near the barn since you boys took down the Locust trees and it may be that we shall be able to complete arrangements with the Trust Company, to move into new business quarters, and naturally Sunday is the best time from a traffic standpoint to do this.

Gale Brand, Bruce Lee, his daughter and his niece came up one day this week. We were unable to persuade Gale to do any card tricks.

No letter from Lad this week, a short one from Ced and a real letter at last from Dan, very interestingly written and being passed around through many hands. Someday when Dan is famous and his biographer undertakes “The Life and Letters of Daniel B. Guion”, this one will have a place, if for no other reason then it’s dating the time of patent medicine advertisements, Ugda tablets, etc.

Wells, a few words to each of you individually and then I will see what Charlie McCarthy has to say.

DAD

Saturday and Sunday I will post more Special Pictures.

Judy Guion

Peabodys And Duryees – Dear Laddie – A Letter From Aunt Betty To Lad – September 8, 1940

Aunt Betty Duryee

L. DURYEE

72 Elm Ave.

MT. VERNON, N.Y.

Sept. 8, 1940

Dear Laddie,

Your letter of July 28^th, which I received on Aug. 6^th, made me feel ashamed of myself for not answering your former letter to me last May. You certainly returned good for evil and I appreciate it and hope you will forgive me as well.

You see I am trying to make amends by writing so soon after getting the letter and picture of you feeding the deer, it is a very good picture of you, and the deer must be very tame. You spoke of your father mentioning about my saying that I had not heard from you for ages, as I have said, I did get a letter in May. You did say in that letter that you had received a birthday letter, but what I had really meant was whether you had received the account of the Duryee family that I had sent at Christmas time, for since sending that, I have mislaid my copy, so please keep your copy for it is now the only record we have.

Now this letter, which I received on August 6, does answer all my questions and you have indeed thanked me for everything.

Now about the trip on Mother’s Day. It was a lovely Sunday in May and Dad, Richard, Cedric and Daniel came down in a new Buick car he was trying out, stayed to dinner here at the Knolls, then Dad said that being Mother’s Day, they had planned to take me on a trip in the country and that I must choose where I would like to go. Of course anywhere was just grand for me for I don’t get many rides as a rule, so then Dad said, well, he had thought I would enjoy a ride to Newburgh to see the Smiths. Oh boy! I had never thought of anything so delightful so we got an early start and were over the Tarrytown Ferry up by way of, and through, West Point, and then over the Storm King Highway to Fairfield which is the name of the Smith’s place. They were home and so very glad to see us. Elliott had not seen Dad since he was a little boy and he was so glad to have an opportunity to talk to him and to meet the boys. The boys were all over the place and Mrs. Smith treated us to drinks (soft) and cake. We left there about six o’clock and drove back to Mount Vernon and Mrs. Seipp insisted that they all stay to supper which really turned out to be another dinner. Altogether it was a very delightful day.

I do so hope that you will be able to come home soon, anyway the time slips away so fast that the rest of your time will not seem too long, not as long to you as to us, we all miss you. I have been staying in Trumbull the last three weeks in August but it was so cold and damp that we could not be out much, so did not enjoy it as much as usual. The baby is dear, so good and smiles all the time, and only cries when he hurts himself or is hungry. I am glad you can see from some of the pictures that you have a car.

Keep the desire for work with the diesel engine in the back of your mind and I am sure the opportunity to get in to that field will open up for you. What we desire, yearn for wholeheartedly comes to us sooner or later. That mechanic may not turn out to be “so hot”.

I have been to the World’s Fair three times this year, standing one hour in the line to get into the General Motors, and see their exhibition of the Highways and Horizons of Tomorrow. I think it was one of the best in the fair.

I have joined a Willkie for President Club  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Willkie ) and tomorrow am going to get a card for people who are undecided which to vote for, Willkie or Roosevelt, to pledge to vote for Willkie and then see that they are sure to register and turn out on Election Day. I know Dad is writing to you today and telling you all the latest news of Trumbull and also of Dan and Ced, it is fine they seem so well contented. I am so proud of you all, to think you all have gone out and found jobs for yourselves.

Thank you for your very interesting letter.

Lovingly,

Aunt Betty

Tomorrow, a letter from Grandpa to the Guion Settlersin the Cook Inlet and Oronoco River Sections.

Judy Guion

Trumbull – Venezuela And Alaska, All Hail (2) – Individual Notes To Each Son – September 1, 1940

“The Old Swimming Hole” at Anzoategui Camp, January, 1940

Supplement to R-91           Sept.1, 1940

Dear Lad:

Some weeks ago when Arnold and his sweetie were showing me through their trailer they mentioned in the course of a discussion on pots and pans that they would like very much to have some of this new stainless steel ware that lasts a lifetime but that the cost was so high that they did not feel able to afford it except buying one piece at a time. The other day when I was in Read’s (Department Store in Bridgeport, Connecticut) I ran across a beautiful set of two stainless steel pans with copper plated bottoms put out by Revere of Boston. The sets were a double boiler, something I have wanted to get for myself for a long time but did not feel able to afford the necessary $6.50. However I did buy this double boiler as a gift from you to Arnold and from what they said last night when they came over to borrow the punch bowl, it must have been a happy choice. So you are set back $6.50 by your spendthrift Purchasing Agent father. I hope you will think I did the right thing by our little Nell.

I am still holding firm on the purchase of a movie projector, playing one store against another to get the best price possible. I find I shall have to purchase a screen also.

Cedric Duryee Guion

Dear Ced:

Thanks for your last letter also enclosing the note you started in Seattle to tell me what happened to the Willys and never finished. I will await with interest the history you are writing. By the way, the thin sheets ought to have reached you by now.

I shopped around several days last week to try to find a suitable uniform outfit and finally located what I think you wanted at an Army and Navy store. Practically the same thing at Meigs would have cost two or three dollars more. Jacket, pants (which, because of the long legs and narrow waist had to be ordered from the factory) shirt and leather necktie totaled $7.13. This is a couple of dollars more than you allowed and you had better consider the excess a gift from your Dad. I have been after Dick all week to get out the blue dungarees and Brown dress coat and will try to ship them off to you Tuesday in one package.

Daniel Beck Guion

Dear Dan:

I don’t know why I continue to write to you, unless that’s it is that hope springs eternal in the human breast. Saw Barbara (Barbara Plumb, a neighbor and Dan’s girlfriend) yesterday and she said she had a couple of letters from you which were very nice letters but she did not think I would be interested. I would be interested however in hearing from you as to what the contacts you have had so far on the job promise for the future. Do you like the man with whom you work? Are they Army officers and are you subject to Army discipline? Did you have to sign a contract and, if so, was it with the US government, or did you have to enlist in the Engineers Corps? You have told me practically nothing and naturally I am a bit interested. Aside from the present job, have you decided on any more definite plans for the future than you had when you left? Are you going to the University at Fairbanks and if so will you study geology? If not, what line of work do you expect to follow? If you haven’t yet made up your mind, it is about time you got together with Dan and had a quiet heart-to-heart talk and decided something instead of just allowing yourself to drift along. Maybe I’m doing you an injustice to imply that that is what you are doing but, in the absence of any news from you, that is all I can assume.

One other topic and then I’ll stop. That is health, doctors and hospitals in Anchorage. When you were in Venezuela I did not worry because of Ted’s assurance that health was taken care of and I don’t now worry about Lad for the same reason, but I don’t know how good a doctor there is in Anchorage or if there is any sort of hospital. Ced wrote you were laid up a few days ago with a cold. Let me know the dope on this.

DAD

Tomorrow I’ll post the third portion of this letter, a confidential and personal letter to Lad.

I’ll be posting Special Pictures on Saturday and Sunday.

Judy Guion

Trumbull – Venezuela And Alaska, All Hail (1) – Local News Of Interest – September 1, 1940

Alfred Duryee Guion (Grandpa)

R-91

September 1, 1940

Venezuela and Alaska, All Hail:

I’ll take up the photos first because, presumably, you have looked at these already before reading the letter. They are enlargements of small snaps taken either by Zeke or Lois on various occasions. I borrowed the negatives and had these made for your entertainment. At first I thought of putting captions on the back, but decided this was superfluous as what they are is quite apparent and you may prefer to supply your own titles. They were taken in the early summer of 1940. (Which snapshots Grandpa is referring to, I do not know)

Hay fever season is here again and I have started on my sneezing bouts. Does ragweed grow in Alaska or have they some other pollen bearing weed that takes its place? Does anyone have hay fever in Anchorage? In Pariaguan? If ever I decide to visit either place in the late summer this might prove the deciding factor.

Monday Aunt Anne ((Peabody) Stanley, Grandma Arla’s sister) arrived with Gweneth (her daughter), dog and crutches. Her ankle is still in a plaster cast so quite naturally every step she takes has to be with the aid of crutches. She looks better however and says she has gained 14 pounds. She left with both children the next day to return to Virginia via New Rochelle with the idea of getting settled for the fall school term. She is having alimony trouble with Fred right now and although Fred was supposed to contribute towards Donnie’s (Don Stanley, Aunt Anne’s son, who arrived to spend the summer in Trumbull with very little notice) huge capacity for eating while here and Anne was going to see that if Fred did not make good she would, I have so far received only a $12 check from Fred. Due to Don’s visit our plans for the summer were completely negatived, not only by his being here but because of extra financial burdens. Helen also owes $16 yet from the things she bought on my account at Read’s last Christmas. I’m beginning to think (my own fault of course) that maybe the Peabody’s are taking me for a ride and I’m soft enough to let them do it.

Aunt Betty is still with us but expects to go back early next week. She has done a lot of mending, darning, etc. Bruce Lee stopped in one night during the week and invited us all down to Westport Friday night. It seems Alice was away for a few days vacation, and Pat had a cousin, a 17-year-old girl, from Maryland visiting them, and nothing would do but that the girls, without any help from Bruce, prepare a buffet supper. This they did and a good time was had by all. Last night we all went to the movies – – Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sea_Hawk_(1940_film)

The summer, if you can call it such, is practically over. Tuesday or Wednesday I guess it is, Dave goes back to school, and I’ll have to begin thinking about furnace fires and ashes and kerosene, etc. oh, yes, Elizabeth told us that while we were at the movies yesterday, Britta  and Rusty stopped in on their way home from Wakefield.(Rusty Heurlin and his sister, Britta)

We are still dickering with the Bridgeport City Trust Company, who owns the building on South Main St., that we are considering renting. The trouble is that it is up two long flights of stairs, and when we order paper in packages of 120 pounds or when customers like Ashcroft send us 28,000 envelopes each month with four enclosures for each and the truck man has to carry this material up these stairs, there is going to be a sit down strike right then and there. So I am trying to get them to rig up some kind of hoist, but to do that they say it will be necessary to knock a hole in the outside wall and put in a new window which will cost about $80 and could not be done for the rent they are charging. So, we’ll see.

Arnold (Gibson, Lad’s best friend) is to be married today and they will leave in their trailer for a trip through New England. They came over here last night and borrowed our punch bowl. Arvin Zabel (the brother of Raymond Zabel, Elizabeth’s husband) has lately been in his third smashup. Paid a $25 fine for reckless driving. Zeke says he is now thinking of joining the Navy.

And that’s all the news for this evening, ladies and gentlemen. Next broadcast of local news will be one week from today, over, Station

ADG

Tomorrow and Wednesday, two more portions of this letter. Thursday, a letter from Aunt Betty (Bettie Duryee, Grandpa’s Aunt) and on Friday, another letter fgrom Grandpa to his three oldest sons in Alaska and Venezuela. Judy Guion

Special Pictures – Island Sunsets Over The Years

I thought I would give you a taste of some of the better sunsets we have seen from the Island over the years. Enjoy.

Unidentified Year

August, 2015

July, 2022

Tomorrow I will begin posting letters written in 1940. Lad is working in Venezuela for the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Dan and Ced are both working in Anchorage, Alaska, Elizabeth is married with her first son and Dick and Dave are still in Trumbull attending school. Grandpa is holding down the front at the Trumbull House.

Judy Guion

Special Pictures – Kitchen and Dining Area – Before And After – May, 2023

Our Family is blessed with a FANTASTIC WORK CREW. Our Maintenance Chairman. Joe, has a group of friends that love the Island so much that they dedicate 2 long weekends, spring and fall,  to Open and Close the Island each year. They hook up the water pump and make sure it is working, they put the dock in, or take it out, of the water and make repairs as needed. They also make improvements – they have built all the Bunks in the Sleeping Cabin. We used to have accommodations for 8, now we can sleep 12 very comfortably. They have installed new windows and electrical wiring. This is only a partial list of all of their projects.

I cannot begin to express my appreciation for all their time and effort. They do not want anything in return but we let Joe to take them up one weekend in the summer, with their families, to  enjoy the beauty and peace of our “Piece of Liquid Heaven”.

 

The Kitchen – September, 2020

Kitchen with new laminate counters – May, 2023

Old sink with new laminate counters – May, 2023

Old Stove with new laminate counters – May, 2023

The Dining area and Card and Puzzle Table – September, 2020

New Storage in the corner next to the windows – May, 2023

New storage area next to the Refrigerator – May, 2023

Tomorrow, more Special Pictures.

Judy Guion

 

 

 

Army Life – Observations From Normandie After D-Day (2) – Dan Writes Home – August 3, 1944

Daniel Beck Guion

The German soldiers, recently here, were youngsters from 16 to 20 years old. They were largely service troops, and very poorly fed – “even the dogs would not eat their food” said one reliable source. They often became so hungry that they would munch grass! Some returned from furloughs in Germany almost in tears, with reports that their families, their homes, their friends had all been killed or destroyed in the allied air offensive. Germans visiting French homes were quite agreeable when they came along to a house, but if two or more came together they were distrustful – afraid that what they might say would be held against them by the others.

I have taken every opportunity to talk to the people, hoping to become proficient in the language while I have the opportunity. I talk to the washerwomen who come to the stream running below our camp. I speak to the farmers working in the fields near us. I speak to the children who long ago, learned to ask for “shooly goon” (chewing gum) and “bon-bons” (candy) from every passing soldier. I visit the farms each evening and gossip with the families – reviewing the war news, asking for cider or cherries, answering questions about America (“are there many elephants there, and camels in the deserts?”) I help two charming French girls with their English lessons, patiently striving to make them pronounce the “th” without a “z” sound.

It’s a very healthful life, living out-of-doors, getting plenty of sleep, appreciating food that would have seemed unpalatable in London, enjoying every minute of this new and absorbing life. Because things here are more exotic than in England, I count this experience second only to my sojourn in Venezuela, and I thank the fates that pull the world’s strings for giving me this opportunity. Packages received here in France will be much more appreciated than they were in England because here we can buy nothing except cider, cherries and an occasional egg.  All the villages, hamlets and cities are “off limits” to all American servicemen and what rations of cigarettes, candy and toilet articles we receive, are doled out meagerly by the army, free of charge and at irregular intervals with the plea that we take only what we really need.

                  Particular requests

                   Cashmere Bouquet soap

                   Gillette’s Brushless Shaving Cream

                   Chocolate bars

                   Any 35-mm camera film (except type A Kodachrome)

                   Half and Half smoking tobacco

On Saturday and Sunday, more Special Pictures.

Judy Guion

Army Life – Observations From Normandie After D-Day (1) – Dan Writes Home – August 3, 1944

Daniel Beck Guion

Normandie, 3 Aout, 1944

Altho’ much of the novelty of our new surroundings has worn off, I am still impressed by the casual manner in which the people here live their lives while whole villages and towns are bludgeoned into stark masses of rubble and the roar of planes fills the sky and the endless stream of trucks, jeeps, tanks etc. rumble incessantly toward the front, camouflaged in their own tattle-tale dust clouds. Norman folk carry pitifully small bundles that represent their personal possessions are crowded into the steep-sided gutters that line the narrow roads. They are people who are returning to their homes – many of which are mere spectral walls, some of which are miraculously untouched.

In odd contrast to the villages and roads, the countryside has made no compromises with the old man Mars. It is as if he set his feet down only in certain villages which lay along his path, and no evidence of his passing exists beyond the tall, thick hedgerows lining the highways. It is haying time. Fields are dotted with piles of sweet hay, with men kneeling beside them, tying the hay into neat little bundles by a dexterous twist of a strand of grass. These bundles will be fed to the horses and cattle when winter comes, later in the year, to Normandy.

War is fickle. We seem to have been projected into a countryside that scarcely admits the war is going on. I cannot help remembering the day we left London to come here – the sirens were moaning plaintively and we saw several buses laden with evacuee children. Yet here, so much closer to the front, evacuees are returning to their homes! Only at night do we hear Jerry’s planes – usually just a few scattered bomb-reconnaissance planes. We can no longer hear the guns from the front.

I have spoken to many French people since coming here, and I am gratified to know that my French classes at Richmond were thoroughly worthwhile. I have difficulty in understanding French when it is spoken rapidly but that, of course, is to be expected. The following bits of information I was able to catch from those Frenchmen who were persuaded to speak slowly:

Rations under the Germans – 2 pkgs (40 cigarettes) per person per month; 2 small pieces of crude soap per month; no chocolate or other candy. Cider is made in December. If it is made right it will keep for three years (if the Germans and the Yanks don’t get it!) From the hard cider is made “Cognac”, more properly called “calnados” from the country that manufactures it. Even more properly it might be called rot-gut apple jack by those who have the temerity to try it. Eggs are not abundant because it has been impossible to find grain for the poultry.

Tomorrow, I will finish this letter home to family and friends in Trumbull with more observations from Dan.

Judy Guion