Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Title
Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Creator
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958
Identifier
WWP23088
Date
1920 April 18
Description
Letter from Jon Bouman to his family.
Source
Gift of William C. and Evelina Suhler
Subject
Germany--History--1918-1933
Correspondence
Berlin, Germany
Contributor
Rachel Dark
Denise Montgomery
Language
English
Requires
PROOFREADING
Provenance
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.
Text
Sunday evening
April 18, 1920
Dearest;
I have just come in from my Sunday afternoon’s walk, the only proper walk I get in the week; as I told you before, this is a job that is always going on. Mext week we are going into our new offices in the Woolff building, and then we start a night service, which I am taking on as the only chance to get part of the day off, moreover I shall not be bothered then with people dropping in wanting to know the “noos”. I think it will suit me all right and anyhow it is only temporary after all.
Yours of the 11th I got on the 18th ; glad to hear you are all well. I was also glad of Bill’s letter, and very interested in his doings, and his debating club at the school. I am very pleased they have that, and I hope he will join in, that will be good for him. How awful that he had to kiss the girls – truly a horrible fate, Bill! I truly sympathize with you. I used to be just the same at your age.
We are having another strike here, of waiters and hotel staffs who want more money, and many hotels, including Moloney’s, are out of business temporarily. The Adlon has quickly given in to the men’s demands, and the result is that the dining room is crammed at night with folks from other hotels, where no food is to be had. And on the front door there is a printed notice saying that “in this establishment the demands of the staff have been granted.” As a matter of fact, the proprietor has very little to say in his own house – the hotel employees trade union has only got to put its foot down and out he goes! Tis a mad world! On the other hand, people cannot live on the present fantastic prices and they put the screw on the employees as a matter of course. The Americans here, and I too, often go to a small place in a side street near by, it used to be a cabdrivers’ pub before the war, but the boss there was a wide awake fellow who always was able to get good stuff to eat and now his house has become quite famous. It is still very simple, plain deal tables with tops scoured clean & white, cages of canary birds on the wall, awful prints about “the brigand’s last hour” and suchlike, and an old rusty stove in a corner. But he has butter when the Adlon hasn’t – sells it at 2 shillings a very small pat. Of course that is only two pence to us so it doesn’t matter, Also he keeps good beer; I don’t know where he gets all his stuff from, but he manages somehow. I shall never forget my first introduction to the place, the first night I was here; it was raining heavily and pitch dark, as the strike was on and no street lighting. Enderis led me about; I didn’t know where I was and it was so dark I didn’t see the door even, as no light was shown. He rapped in a peculiar way on the door which opened half an inch. “Dinner for two in half an hour,” he whispered, to the proprietor who only showed one eye and a bit of his nose. “All right Mr. Enderis,” and the door closed again and we hurried off like animals. There was no knowing but that the house might be raided at any time by a hungry mob so they took every precaution. Oh, it was a gay time then! But for Enderis one might have looked in vain for a slice of bread in all Berlin those days. Of course now it’s all different again.
I have been to the Reichstag again and much enjoyed a debate on the new moving pictures law which aims at excluding undesirable films from public presentation. All the lady deputies spoke in favor of it except the redoubtable Frau Zietz, an extreme socialist who sailed up to the Tribune and banged a heavy fist on the table, yelling: “Censorship?? What do we want censorship for?? It’s just like us fools of Germans, who always want to be told by some authority what we may do and not do. Do you want us to have to produce passports with photographs at the door? What about the age limit of 18? Why, some of us are married and have children at 18….” and so on. She waved her arms about, and was very excited about it all. Sometimes the place is just like a lot of rowdy schoolboys; I am sure they behave better on Bill’s debating club, at least I hope they follow the rules of debate there!
I got another Camard last night, thanks very much for sending them on. I don’t know what to advise in the matter of the summer holidays, you will have to be guided by circumstances. No doubt through your friends some solution may be found.
The band has started playing downstairs, so I think I will run down and get a place before I am crowded out.
With much love, dearest, to all,
Thine,
Jack.
April 18, 1920
Dearest;
I have just come in from my Sunday afternoon’s walk, the only proper walk I get in the week; as I told you before, this is a job that is always going on. Mext week we are going into our new offices in the Woolff building, and then we start a night service, which I am taking on as the only chance to get part of the day off, moreover I shall not be bothered then with people dropping in wanting to know the “noos”. I think it will suit me all right and anyhow it is only temporary after all.
Yours of the 11th I got on the 18th ; glad to hear you are all well. I was also glad of Bill’s letter, and very interested in his doings, and his debating club at the school. I am very pleased they have that, and I hope he will join in, that will be good for him. How awful that he had to kiss the girls – truly a horrible fate, Bill! I truly sympathize with you. I used to be just the same at your age.
We are having another strike here, of waiters and hotel staffs who want more money, and many hotels, including Moloney’s, are out of business temporarily. The Adlon has quickly given in to the men’s demands, and the result is that the dining room is crammed at night with folks from other hotels, where no food is to be had. And on the front door there is a printed notice saying that “in this establishment the demands of the staff have been granted.” As a matter of fact, the proprietor has very little to say in his own house – the hotel employees trade union has only got to put its foot down and out he goes! Tis a mad world! On the other hand, people cannot live on the present fantastic prices and they put the screw on the employees as a matter of course. The Americans here, and I too, often go to a small place in a side street near by, it used to be a cabdrivers’ pub before the war, but the boss there was a wide awake fellow who always was able to get good stuff to eat and now his house has become quite famous. It is still very simple, plain deal tables with tops scoured clean & white, cages of canary birds on the wall, awful prints about “the brigand’s last hour” and suchlike, and an old rusty stove in a corner. But he has butter when the Adlon hasn’t – sells it at 2 shillings a very small pat. Of course that is only two pence to us so it doesn’t matter, Also he keeps good beer; I don’t know where he gets all his stuff from, but he manages somehow. I shall never forget my first introduction to the place, the first night I was here; it was raining heavily and pitch dark, as the strike was on and no street lighting. Enderis led me about; I didn’t know where I was and it was so dark I didn’t see the door even, as no light was shown. He rapped in a peculiar way on the door which opened half an inch. “Dinner for two in half an hour,” he whispered, to the proprietor who only showed one eye and a bit of his nose. “All right Mr. Enderis,” and the door closed again and we hurried off like animals. There was no knowing but that the house might be raided at any time by a hungry mob so they took every precaution. Oh, it was a gay time then! But for Enderis one might have looked in vain for a slice of bread in all Berlin those days. Of course now it’s all different again.
I have been to the Reichstag again and much enjoyed a debate on the new moving pictures law which aims at excluding undesirable films from public presentation. All the lady deputies spoke in favor of it except the redoubtable Frau Zietz, an extreme socialist who sailed up to the Tribune and banged a heavy fist on the table, yelling: “Censorship?? What do we want censorship for?? It’s just like us fools of Germans, who always want to be told by some authority what we may do and not do. Do you want us to have to produce passports with photographs at the door? What about the age limit of 18? Why, some of us are married and have children at 18….” and so on. She waved her arms about, and was very excited about it all. Sometimes the place is just like a lot of rowdy schoolboys; I am sure they behave better on Bill’s debating club, at least I hope they follow the rules of debate there!
I got another Camard last night, thanks very much for sending them on. I don’t know what to advise in the matter of the summer holidays, you will have to be guided by circumstances. No doubt through your friends some solution may be found.
The band has started playing downstairs, so I think I will run down and get a place before I am crowded out.
With much love, dearest, to all,
Thine,
Jack.
Original Format
Letter
To
Bouman Family
Files
Collection
Citation
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958, “Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family,” 1920 April 18, WWP23088, Jon Anthony Bouman Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.