Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Title

Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family

Creator

Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958

Identifier

WWP23133

Date

1928 January 10

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

Tues. evg.

Dearest;

I went today to see the Shurholz home which as I said before is situated in a newly developed part about distance Charing X to Hampstead and was quite favorably impressed with it. They are I think about in the same position as we are, it is situated on the edge of the Grunewald, pine trees all round, small garden at the back abutting on neighbours’ garden and houses almost exactly like the H. Garden suburb, central heating &c. simply but tastefully and comfortably furnished. It turns out they are Roman Catholics, but of a very liberal kind and leave everybody perfectly free. Wolfchen, the little boy, is a dear little chap of 3 1/2. He has a play room and there is a nice little bedroom, (central heated) for Mary (if she eventually takes the job). They now have a lady teacher of languages who is German who has been long in England, France and Italy (but) who has this room au pair, but as she goes out to give lessons, they get little benefit of her in the house, so it was the idea to have a young English girl to help light duties; the servant sleeps in. Now of course they want to wait till this teacher is able to get fixed up elsewhere.

I am told classes in stenography are held in the neighborhood which Mary could attend but they are not prepared to make the change until April as they are going to have a holiday first; they didn’t have one last year because they had just got into the house.

We agreed to let the matter rest for say a fortnight until I can hear from you, also something else may meanwhile turn up. I think it will be a good plan to have Mary in my pension here for a week at least before she starts a job, to familiarize herself with the town. I hope she is meanwhile getting up as much German as possible. I shall also make some private enquiries about the family although from all appearances they are quite honest people. Mrs. S. has also studied and was an assistant at a university until she married. She was at a school at Ryde and at one at Mark Cross near Tunbridge Wells, she said, adding that they were not great meat eaters (the English of course having that reputation). They find it healthier to eat meat every other day. That, I imagine, would not constitute a bar.

Let me know how this strikes you.

Mrs. S. said that in the forenoon the little boy was off their hands as there is an agreement with other families who in turn take all the children together for one week and amuse them, indoors or out of doors, so that each faily’s turn comes once in ten weeks. This gives the mothers a chance the other nine weeks. I thought this a good arrangement and it seems to work all right.

There is a nice little bathroom and a large balcony facing west where they have meals in summer, also a verandah. The garden is still somewhat primitive, pine trees are in it and Mrs. S. is very fond of gardening.

By the way, Mrs. Bodker does not agree with Mrs. Johnson of the Morning Post about getting fitted in London. She says everything you get in London you can get here at about the same price, in fact much of the things you buy in London are German, and silk stockings are certainly cheaper here. So she says, and she adds that she is an experienced shopper and knows what’s what. So that’s that. I don’t know anything about it.

You can look up the locality on the map. It is Marienburger Allee, near the West End station on the way to Spandau, also a little distance from the Reichskanzler platz, (a tube station) on the high road running through Charlottenburg.

I think that’s all for the present. I suppose you are all worked up in London about the flood disaster. I have read long stories about it in the German papers.

Love to all,
Doc

Original Format

Letter

To

Bouman Family

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1927-01-10.pdf

Citation

Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958, “Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family,” 1928 January 10, WWP23133, Jon Anthony Bouman Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.