Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958

WWP23043

1919 May 31

Letter from Jon Bouman to his family.

Gift of William C. and Evelina Suhler

Correspondence

Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920)

Rachel Dark

Denise Montgomery

Austin Shifflett

English

Evelina Suhler is the granddaughter of Jon Anthony Bouman and inherited the family collection of his letters from the years of World War I. She and her husband gave the letters to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum in 2013.

My dear bairns,

    I must no longer put off thanking you, Mary and Betty, for your letters and the poems about the trees which I like very much, for trees are my friends and I always felt sorry when I saw, those ruined parts of France, to see fine trees splintered by bullets or hacked down just for mischief, by the enemy.

    You wrote your letter very nicely Mary dear, quite like copperplate, and the coloured drawing of what I suppose is a rhododendron in a flowerpot was very carefully done. For that you shall have the blue --- tut, tut! I nearly told you.

    Betty’s song about the trees was very good too, only as she always picks holes in my spelling about Doggy Diarlog I will pick holes in hers too, because she writes about the trees coming out in a string instead of in the spring. Ha ha!

    I hope it won’t be very long now before I get home to you. Mary tells me my room is white and green, but I shall refuse to live in it if the green doesn’t match my eyes. My bloodshot green eyes, do you remember them? I suppose Bill remembers me sometimes although he doesn’t write often; I heard from mother his composition about an enchanted garden was read to the class. And what about your photographs you had taken at Easter or thereabouts? Do tell mother to hurry them up, because I want to see your bobbed heads.

    Paris is full just now of little boys and girls who have been confirmed, that is, they have become members of their church and they go out visiting. The girls are all in white with long gauze veils that float after them and cunning white caps and white shoes, just like little brides, and the boys have black clothes with a large white sash pinned to their arms.

    I discovered another fair quite by chance when I was out for a walk the other day. There were the usual roundabouts with pink pigs to ride on; they make me laugh because their faces are made to laugh and they have great pink tongues lolling out of their mouths. I also discovered some shooting booths so I had to have some shots at little balls on a jet of water. I made six hits right off, rather good, eh Bill?

    I wonder if you are having plenty of strawberries and cherries; they seem to be very plentiful here, I have been having them since the beginning of May, they come from the south of France, - lovely!!!

    You must tell mother not to work too hard on moving the furniture in, because I don’t what her to be ill. I have just heard you have got another little baby cousin in Newcastle. I wonder what his name is going to be.

    Yesterday I bought some more presents for you. Of course it is a secret, so I’m not going to tell you what they were. So wait until I get home, what times we shall have!

    With lots of love and kisses to mother and all round,

Letter

Bouman Family