- Date: Tuesday evening, probably 11 January 1938 (estimated)
- Written at: New York, New York
- Stationery: Hotel Taft, 7th Ave. at 50th St., New York
- From: Joseph “Joe” Sharmer
- To: Ruby
- Condition: Complete — 2 pages; envelope not found
Each page of the original is shown beside its transcription. Click a page to enlarge it.
PAGE 1
Tuesday Eve
N.Y.
My Own Darling — (Convict Catcher) —
Boy was I happy to get your Friday letter Special — I could of cried — You are a Sweetheart if there ever was one you Darling. Dont fool around with those crooks — I am bad enough but Roe [?] I think is worse — That was to close for comfort and Honey please dont take any chances like that because those fellows might come back and lay for you at night & I want to spend many, many more happy hours with you Dear — I have only known you for a short time but Honey you have brot me more happiness than I have ever known and I dont want anything to happen now because I love you to much — and I would go haywire if any thing did happen to you Lover — Ill bet you got quite a thrill hearing your name over the air — Eh Dear — From what you say I guess it was a couple of bad guys — eh. I am worried now to beat Hell Dear — Imagine them coming back again that night — Please Be Careful Dear —
PAGE 2
So Mrs. Gap bot the Parkview eh — Well I guess J S B has another land mark to his credit — I cant imagine where the U.S News comes from — but you can keep it Dear — J S B wrote me he wouldnt do any thing about pruning until after Jan 1st but he tells me all they are shipping so I thot all the boys would have plenty of work — So Haywood is infanticipating eh — God I wish it was me cause I would like to have a little boy — but I know he will be happy & that may be another monument to J.S.B. and Ill get back as soon as possible to take care of Cannery — Isnt he a little stinker however I told him when I left that if he got lonesome or hungry to go to you as you were my Sweetheart and ½ of him belonged to you — so I guess that is my fault he came over — He is pretty cute and I know you are good to him Dear — You are so kind & good to all and I love you for it Dear
Keep writing here Dear — No letter today
All my love as I have to write J S B. More later Dear and I love you Dear
As Ever —
Joe
Notes & context
The date. Joe wrote only “Tuesday Eve, N.Y.,” on Taft stationery. He was at the Taft on the Tuesdays of 4, 11 and 18 January 1938. The 4th is unlikely: that evening he was at the hockey game, and the next morning he called Ruby’s latest letter “very short” (Fighting Those Subways). The 18th is ruled out because a letter from her reached him at noon that day, while this one says “No letter today” — and Joe’s letter of that Tuesday evening survives (Top Hats and Orchids). Tuesday the 11th fits a special she mailed on Friday the 7th, so the letter is placed there; the date is an estimate.
“Convict Catcher.” Ruby had written that she had a brush with “a couple of bad guys” in Planada and that her name had been mentioned on the radio, evidently for helping to catch them. Joe was proud and frightened at once: “those fellows might come back and lay for you at night.” As postmaster (The Postmaster of Planada), Ruby may have been involved through the post office, but the details are not yet known. A newspaper search of Merced County papers for early January 1938 may turn up the story.
“I am bad enough but Roe I think is worse.” A teasing aside; who “Roe” was is not known, and the name is an uncertain reading.
Mrs. Gap and the Parkview. Ruby had reported that a “Mrs. Gap” had bought “the Parkview,” perhaps a local hotel, apartment house or ranch, and Joe credits J.S.B. with “another land mark.” Neither has been identified, nor “the U.S. News” Ruby had been receiving.
Pruning and “the boys.” J.S.B. had told Joe he would hold off pruning until after New Year’s, but that “all they are shipping,” so Joe expected the men to have plenty of work. It supports the family’s memory that J.S.B. was connected with the fruit growers in California.
“Infanticipating.” A word popularised by the columnist Walter Winchell for expecting a baby. Haywood, evidently another man who worked under J.S.B., was about to become a father. Joe’s “I would like to have a little boy” is poignant in light of The Little Granddaughter; Joe and Ruby later had sons as well.
Cannery. Joe’s cat (see the People page) had taken himself over to Ruby’s while Joe was away. Joe had told him “if he got lonesome or hungry to go to you as you were my Sweetheart and ½ of him belonged to you.” The family remembered Joe writing “Don’t worry about Cannery” in A Dead Ringer for Mama.
The two pages. Page 2 is marked “2” at the top and is on the same Taft stationery; page 1 ends “Please Be Careful Dear —” and page 2 opens on news from home, so the two sheets are taken to be one letter.
Uncertain readings: “Roe,” “Gap” and “Haywood” are how the names appear on the page.
