Month: April 2012

Diary

Our Car Gets A New Motor

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on April 10, 1950, Dale labored all day at the alcohol plant installing a new motor he had ordered from Montgomery Ward in his 1939 Mercury, below.  He spent a lot of time keeping each of his cars in good working order, even to tracking down and eliminating squeaks and rattles.
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Diary

Jettie Takes The Train

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Wednesday, April 9, 1952, Dale took the afternoon off of work to drive his mother Jettie to the Burlington train station. She had been visiting since the previous weekend.  The train departing at 2:25 would take her home to Osceola, where that train station was just one block from her daughter Marie Kimmel’s house.  Below: the Osceola train station.
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Diary

Dale Likes To Go To Movies

by Editorial Team
In Minneapolis on Monday, April 8, 1957, Dale wrote, “Letter from Stan.  He will be up from Muscatine on the 22nd.  I went to a show, ‘Battle Hymn.’”
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Diary

I Was A Teenage Driver

by Editorial Team
On Tuesday, April 7, 1953, Dale and family drove home from Osceola to Muscatine.  I got to drive part of the way.  This was good training, since many Iowa highways at the time were narrow, two-lane roads, so learning steering techniques to stay in lane at highway speed was important.  Learning when and how to pass other vehicles was critical.  Dad was a good teacher, since we all survived my driving.
Diary

Dale Gets The Mumps

by Editorial Team
On Monday, April 6, 1936, Helen and Dale arrived in Washington, DC, on the train from Osceola, for Dale to start his new job as a Civil Service File Clerk.  Wayne Lambertson, a Civil Service employee, met them at the train and helped them find an apartment, where Dale was immediately confined to bed with the mumps.  His new job was delayed two weeks.
Diary

Dinner With A Gauger-In-Training

by Editorial Team
In St. Paul on Sunday, April 5, 1942, Dale wrote, “Stanley and I went down to the Jewel Hotel and picked up Merle Osterquist.  He had dinner with us.”  Merle was a Gauger-in-training with the Alcohol Tax Unit who, with his wife Beulah, became life-long friends of Dale and Helen’s.
Diary

Temporary Roommates?

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Saturday, April 4, 1953, Dale was recovering from his leg problems and wrote, “Talked to Jim Chasteen on the phone.  May room with him in Omaha.”  Dale and Jim had been co-workers, and since Jim lived in Omaha, Dale thought his reassignment to Omaha would be easier if he could stay with Jim temporarily.
Diary

A Very Important Telegram

by Editorial Team
In Osceola on Friday, April 3, 1936, working at the Puritan Café, Dale received a telegram telling him to report at once to Washington, DC, for a File Clerk position.  He and Helen quit their jobs at the Puritan Café the next day, packed their belongings, and left town on the train that evening.
Diary

Nip and Tuck

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Thursday, April 2, 1953, Dalene bought two little chicks.  She named them Nip and Tuck.  There they are, below:
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Diary

What’s Halfway Between Chicago and Milwaukee?

by Editorial Team
In Muscatine on Tuesday, April 1, 1952, Dale wrote that Helen’s nephew Don Schaffer and his wife Opal and their children dropped in for supper on their way from Libertyville to Osceola.  Libertyville, Illinois, is halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee.
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