Sepia Saturday 704. Seventeenth in a series about letters from my dad’s brother Frederic Mason Charboneau while he was in the US Army during WWII.
On Dec. 3 and 13, 1942, my paternal uncle Frederic Mason Charboneau sent holiday messages home to his family. Service members were advised to write early in hopes their letters could be delivered during the holiday season.
Since his earlier letters, Uncle Fred had moved from England to north Africa — a total change from snowy Otter Lake, N.Y., where he grew up. Yet when holiday time rolled around, his thoughts, like those of many service members, were with family back home — as reflected in letters to his mother Mary (Owen) Charboneau.
Uncle Fred’s first holiday letter
“Somewhere in North Africa, Dec. 3, 1942. Dear Mom, Well, it has been some time since I wrote you last. As you can see, I have moved from the last place and I am now in Africa the land of sunshine. It is nice here during the day, although the first few days we were here we had the usual rain that we always seem to get whenever we move, but the nights are quite cold.”
“By the time you get this letter Christmas will probably have come and gone. If you have already sent any packages OK, but I would advise you not to send anymore unless you insure them. I still have that other carton of cigarettes coming and also all the packages that have been sent. I’m not the only one. All of the fellows here have packages coming. Your loving son, Fred. P.S. Have you received the Christmas cards and also the other money order that I sent?“
A second letter home
Ten days later, Uncle Fred sent a second holiday-themed letter in hopes it would reach his family by Christmas. It contained a poignant message, in bold below.
“In the field, somewhere in North Africa, Dec. 13th, 1942. Dear Mom, We have been promised that if we get this letter in that it will get home by Christmas. Here’s hoping anyway. First of all if you haven’t received a Christmas card I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and wish I could be home but I know you will have me in mind when you open your presents.“
Two evocative passages
In the same letter, Uncle Fred wrote two passages that evoked his experience during that winter and resonated with memories of my own childhood holidays.
“I am spending my nights now up in the radio room,” he wrote. “There is quite a crowd there and we spend our time playing pinochle and listening to programs from the states. We hear Harry James, Glenn Miller and others and the other night on a special program we heard George Burns and Gracie Allen.”
Card playing and music listening were, and still are, a holiday tradition in my extended family — as was catalog shopping to look for gifts to exchange and to ask Santa for. So I was pleased to read (below) that Uncle Fred enjoyed catalog shopping, too!
“By the way, I saw one of my favorite reading materials a couple of days ago. A Sears and Roebuck catalog one of our officers got. I haven’t had a chance to look at it real good as yet, but the first chance I get I’m going to ask him to let me borrow it for a little while and look through it cover to cover.”
The huge Sears and Roebuck catalog was an amazing dream book for sure — and especially so for Uncle Fred when he was stationed so far from home in December 1942.
Happy Holidays and New Year from Molly’s Canopy!
Up next: Back to chronological order with the second half of Uncle Fred’s Sept. 25, 1942 letter. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the other intrepid bloggers over at Sepia Saturday.
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