These wonderful letters came into my possession in December of 2014. I was visiting a popular vintage market in Chicago. One booth had these stacks of old letters, about 3-4 in a group tied with decorative rope. I thought they might be fun to read on the train ride home with my best friend who also purchased a set.
We read each letter aloud as quiet as we could and found that a couple of the letters were by the same writer, a Daisy writing to a John in letters dated in 1907. We both awed over the affection and love that emulated from those couple of letters and were a little sad that we only had this small piece of their story. We must have been reading louder than we thought because when we stopped, the woman sitting in the opposite aisle turned to us and said “is that all you have?”
I decided to reach out to the vendor who had the letters the following week to see if she happened to have more…..and she did……many more. So I couldn’t help myself and ended up buying the rest that she had for a total of 109 letters. And I was in luck. Each letter was still in it’s original envelope (with its 1 cent stamp), so each letter had an address as well as a postmark with a date, so I was able to put all of them in chronological order. 109 letters that spanned from 1905 – 1910.
When trying to get a history of the where the letters were found, I was only told they had been discovered in an old trunk of a buyer who was interested in the history of a particular town. He just wanted the trunk and instead of throwing the letters away, he returned them to the seller who decided to put them out at the next vintage market.
I only have the letters that Daisy wrote to John. They are in such good condition that I feel they must have been very treasured by this man. I hope you enjoy their story!
Hi,
Could you also add a picture/scan of the original letter with the transcription. That way people can read the actual letters instead of just the transcript. That, I feel, will give a more personal tone to it. Looking forward to the rest of the letters.
PS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3204121.stm
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I agree with Sahyadri. A pick of the actual letters would be nice.
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I agree with Sahyadri, a pic with letter with each post would be nice.
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The new theme looks cool. Your brother has done a good job.
Also, thanks for taking my suggestion. Now i feel like i want to feel the letters and smell them.
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Thank you for suggesting it, and I will pass along the compliment to my brother. Thank you for reading!
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Enjoyed reading the letters! Please keep up the work! I too would love to read the originals but maybe post them next to what your writing so everyone would have a choice to which to read.
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I would like to see a picture of John and Daisy. Maybe you will get lucky. What a wonderful tribute to their love!
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Thank you so much for sharing these letters with the world! I am hooked and can’t wait for the next one!
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OK, I am hooked.
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I’m hooked already….what a great view to the past. Love hearing the conversational English of the day.
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I love hearing these letters! Thank you for doing this! Do you know how old Daisy or Tom were at the time of your first letter? I can’t wait for the next one!!
Thanks again
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I am looking forward to a day off work when I can read more of these letters! Enjoying them already!
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What a joy to read the thoughts of people from the past. I love it! I smell a movie in the making!
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I absolutely love this and can’t wait to read more. I am curious as to where John lived?
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I am thrilled that you found and are sharing these letters!! Thank you so much.
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I love it! The wording she uses and its so proper and courteous which we lack now a days.
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i’ve only read the first… i will read one a day, that is, if i can control myself and not devour them all one of these days… maybe today. shoot. i’m gonna read just one more. ❤
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I just started reading your post today and it is lovely. Have you found or received information about John and Daisy, such as birthdates, etc? If you haven’t, I found some interesting information I’ll gladly share with you. Please let me know.
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I would love to hear of any info you have. I am totally interested in this love story. Thanks so much!
Sherry
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It appears that someone has been following your story and posted snippets along with a picture of John and Daisy’s final resting place:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=79268162.
Fitting tribute! Thanks for sharing this historic love story, I am looking forward to reading all 109.
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Is May 29, 1906 the last letter to date? I just want to make sure I haven’t missed any…I am not real computer savvy. Lol
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Very fascinating and thank you for sharing! I wonder if the letters from John are still around in an old attic somewhere?? It would be the “love story” of the century if someone came forward with them!
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Simply by accident I found your blog. I’m enthralled and can’t wait to read more. I love memoirs, true stories, history. This is perfect! Thank You!
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I found your site while I was browsing MSN, and I am completely enraptured by these letters! I cannot wait to read more!
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Love this! I google earth the addresses and I can just picture Daisy walking to the mailbox. 🙂 Cant wait til you post more!
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Love the letters, thank you for sharing. I have info on John & Daisy’s later life together. John only completed his 2nd yr of college and went on to do a variety of jobs, including auto mechanic, Dept Manager, night watchman, linoleum worker, electrical appliance salesman, as well as working for a tobacco company & running a tourist house. He signed up for or was drafted into WW1 & WW2, but didn’t serve. He & Daisy had no children. On his draft card he is noted to be tall with blue eyes & dark brown hair. Daisy died from heart disease & John suffered a cerebral vascular accident (stroke?). He was in a nursing home at the time.
{All info courtesy of Ancestry. Com}
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As always, thank you! Here is a link to the herb she speaks of. Tree bark or resin, really.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/guaiac42.html
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Very interesting. I think I read about your story in the Chicago Tribune. I’m glad I checked out your website. I live in the northwest suburbs and have enjoyed reading about this.
Thanks!
Reid “Dutch Lion”
http://www.dutchlionsports.com
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Thank you so much for reading, and I am so happy you are enjoying the story! I don’t read them before I publish them so each letter is a surprise for me as well.
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