Pipe Smoking and Insurance - 10/25/1917

Camp Sheridan

Montgomery, Ala.

Oct.25, 1917

My Dear Dad: -

I rec. Marion's letter of the 20th, yours of the 21st and Mothers of the 22nd last evening.

I would like your advice immediately on the Gov. Insurance proposition adopted for soldiers. This is the proposition. Insurance taken out by soldiers is convertible at the close of the war. It can be converted into 20 yr. paid up, endowment, or straight life policies, in nearly any of the insurance companies. The full amount or any part of it may be converted. Ten thousand dollar policy in the Gov. during the war would cost be about $6.00 or $6.50 a month, during the way & when converted it would cost me a flat rate, minus all overhead expenses, which would be between 25 or 40% cheaper than I could take out a regular policy in any of the Ins. Co's. Do you think it would be a good plan to take out $10,000? The premiums would be taken out of my pay monthly. I think it is a very good proposition.

How did it happen the Buckeye did not move into the Nicholas Bldg? As I was told they intended doing.

As to the Liberty Loan, the 148th Amb. (the old 1st) subscribed for over $20,000 worth of bonds. I took two fifties, which will be another $10 a month out of my pay.  However I had not intended to tell you, I arranged to have the bonds sent to you when they are paid up, which will be about next July. Now what do you think of that?

As to the cigars, I still have a few, but since you sent that can of tobacco, I have been smoking my pipe nearly altogether.

There are about a dozen or more take The Blade, News Bee, & Times, and I can see theirs so hardly think it necessary to have it sent to me.

I went up-town last evening and had a good hot bath, then went to a movie. It is the first hot bath I've had since I came here. Our hot showers are not completed yet.

Tell Mother to send me Giles' address & I'll write him a letter. I did not give Mr. Keith a picture before I left, I forgot all about it, and I was so busy. Give him his choice.

Tell Marion, that I tried to get some sugar cain for her, but I guess I was a little too late in the season.

Well I'd better close & get back to Hdq. as it is nearly time to go after mail.

Love to All

Howard

 

 

 

The above image is from Stanford's library. I was curious about Howard's pipe smoking, so I did some research and I learned another tidbit of interesting history I never thought I'd know: the history of tobacco and cigarettes in America. From Cigarette Pack Collectors Association (another website I never thought I'd visit): "When the United States entered the war in 1917, the sale of cigarettes was illegal in eight states and legislation to prohibit them was pending in twenty-two others. Across the nation, the smoking of cigarettes was generally looked upon with disdain. It was associated primarily with eastern European immigrants living in urban centers or so called “city dandies”. Evangelist, Billy Sunday expressed the general sentiment when he said: “There is nothing manly about smoking cigarettes. For God’s sake, if you must smoke, get a pipe”.

As you can guess from the image, the general public was asked to contribute to provide tobacca for the troops. Smoking cigarettes eventually because en vogue as the government provided them for the soldiers. Understandably, they were easier to use and carry in the field.



 

On another note, this letter is another example of why Howard ended up being such a good businessman in his later years. I imagine most 18-year olds would be plotting how to spend their pay on cigars and trips into town. Not ol' Howard though - he was intent on focusing on insurance and bonds.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Congress approved Howard's life insurance program because many commercial life insurance companies refused to sell insurance to soldiers due to the increased risk of being in a war zone. In 1919, the plan evolved into the U.S. Government Life Insurance Plan. The program offered plans through 1951, and there are still almost 8,000 policies still in force today.

Don't Forget the Lion Store - 10/15/1917

Camp Sheridan

Montgomery, Ala.

Oct. 15, 1917

My Dear Dad: - 

By Golly! I never though of your birthday being so close, until this morning.

I rec. your letter this morning and rec one from Mother, & Jim also. I was very glad to hear from you.

And, say - darn it - I nearly forgot what I was writing you about, "I wish you many happy birthdays."

As to Lt. Shaffer, I think this trouble is going to turn out O.K. He was ordered to retain his command until it was investigated. The first one, ordering him to give up his command was recinded. 

However, if they change their minds again, we will only be able to get him back thru outside help, as you see we dare not get up any petitions or say a word about it to "higher ups".

This is an ideal day and the air here is great. 

Sunday I wrote letters to Aunt Anna, Miriam Good, Uncle Glen, Lion Store, and several others.

Must close for this time. Hope this finds all O.K.

Love to All

Howard



Photo from the Toledo Blade archive of Lion Store in the 1920s.

So, maybe it's because I'm behind on my posts, but the only thing I seem to find interesting here? Why is Howard writing letters to the Lion Store? Perhaps they had a mail order catalog that sent him some of those fancy white collars he mentioned earlier.

It was a fun bit of nostalgia for me to research though. As a small child, I remember sitting on the golden lions in front of Lion Store at Southwyck Mall. I didn't realize that Lion Store had roots as far back as the 19th century in Toledo. Back then, patrons were buying dry goods instead of Esprit bicycle shorts, but we all shared the same retail heritage, I guess.

Promotions and Cannings - 10/12/1917

Camp Sheridan,

Montgomery, Ala.

Oct. 12, 1917

My Dear Mother: -

Rec. a letter from Leona today, but have not heard from home but once.

Believe me we have had some busy time in camp since yesterday noon. The outlook of losing Shaffer was very bad however it has cleared up considerably. I think he will get to stay unless they change their minds again. Many of our telegrams were answered today and if they decide that he must go we feel sure that we shall have enough influencial men back of us to get up a petition to go to Sec. War Baker, urging his reinstatement, that will cause some action.

I guess there is no chance to get off of the Staff. one of the others tried to get off & Major Wilson said "Nothing Doing."

They made some promotions yesterday. I'll underline all of the men who were promoted. To Sergeants: Lloyd Walker, Robert Symons, Frank Fisher, Clyde Brown, Micheal Figy, Carl Forster. To Corporal: - Fred Johnson, Harry Manson, Warren Sherman, King Conkey, George Brownwell, Lynn Tarbell.

You see what the old men got out of it. Manson only got a corporalship. Clyde Brown, Lisle Elliot, some others & myself got nothing.

Well my job on the staff is pretty soft so I am satisfied to stick.

Tell Dad that if they cann Shaffer I'll look to him for some help.

Am feeling fine

Love to All

Howard

"Nobody has any pull around here except the horses" (Alabama Department of Archives and History)

I did a good amount of research to see what I could find about Shaffer but didn't land on much. There was a C.J. Shafer listed in the University of Cincinnati's Alumni directory at the Base Hospital at Camp Sherman, but I can't say whether it was him.

As far as Sec. War Baker goes, I found that, as an Ohioan, it looks like he was getting lots of requests from his Ohio cronies to pull strings. However, according to Lawrence Kaplan's thesis, it looks like he took the straight and narrow and generally went through the proper channels to get things done as they should have been.

Interestingly enough, Howard felt like his good ol' Dad could do something in this case. I really wish I knew what kind of pull that John had in the community and what was going on behind the scenes at this time. He must have been some kind of a big deal if Howard thought that he could get a guy his job back in the National Guard all the way in Alabama.

The Dirty Dozen and other Dirty Deeds - 10/9/2017

Camp Sheridan

Oct. 9, 1917

My Dear Mother: - 
I rec. your letter of the 6th this A.M. and one from Leona this P.M. Those were the first two letters I have rec. since coming here, but suppose you have been very busy owing to Dear Old Grand Dad.

I spent most of this evening over at Company A. Signal Corp, with Frank Cullen, Earl McBride & Harry Van Hoesen. Thursday Eve Frank Cullen & I are going up to the city, they have two good shows up there, like the Alhambra.

One of our fellows, named Bachman, who seemed very despondent, disappeared from camp Sat eve at 6:00, he left without his coat or hat after searching his personal property we found his razor missing, today we got word that he was found in a hay barn with his throat cut. He is now in the Base Hospital. I am unable to get any definite information as to the truth of the entire story on the seriousness of his condition.

I wish you would look up Elwood Tyler's mother & let him know how she is. She was very low when we left and he has not heard from home since we left. Please do this immediately as he is very downhearted over affairs.

Everyone else is well & happy. In the tent with me are: Harry Manson, Stewart Donaldson, Clarence Keiser, Don Tubbs, Hoyt Holton, Hugh Neff, Lester Elliott, Erle Walton, Lyle Rothenberger, John O Jesse, and Charles Ellis. The "Dirty Dozen"

They won't allow us to wear white collars and leather putters uptown. I guess they are sore because some of the fellows look neater than the officers.

I must write to Leona so will close.

With Love for All

Your Son

Howard

Just in case you're wondering...above are WWI-era "leather putters" with a bonus pair of spurs. It took a lot of wading through golf sites on Google to figure out just exactly what Howard was talking about. And where did Howard wear these devilishly handsome legwear? To the theat-ah, of course! He mentions the "Alhambra", which was a theater that was built in 1911 in Toledo. It has since been demolished.

As a mother, this post really cut me to the core. I can't even imagine what Howard's mother could have been feeling, imagining her child a situation so hard enough that a friend would want to take his life. Or, even that Howard would have had to deal with the emotions of the aftermath, still only being a teenager. I suppose it was nothing compared to what was still to come. 

And poor Elwood's mother - and Elwood himself - dealing with being apart without the benefits of any communication to even know how each other are even coping. We vilify our smart phones and pine for the romantic days of letters, but an excerpt like this makes me grateful I can reach out so easily to those I love.

Back at it in Alabama - 10/7/1917

Camp Sheridan, Ala

Oct. 7, 1917

My Dear Mother. - 

I rec. Dad's telegram this A.M. Will probably telegraph this evening. Was very sorry to hear of GrandPa's death. Sorry I was absent, and send my sympathies.

Everything in camp is going along just fine and last evening I went to Montgomery. The city is not one half as large as Lima, and is absolutely dead. I sure was disappointed in it.

I am just getting ready to go up to the city this evening for supper so will close. Love to all.

Howard.

P.S. I have plenty of money & expect to get paid about the last of this week.

The above postcard from Troy University's Archives wasn't Howard's, but it is dated from October 1917. We can assume it would be a similar scene to the "dead" Montgomery that he described.

Howard's estimate that Montgomery wasn't half as large as Lima (Ohio) likely wasn't right. They were actually likely around the same size, population-wise. However, Lima probably did seem to be much more alive than Montgomery at the turn of the century. Because of Standard Oil, there was a lot of money running through the Lima at the turn of the century, which afforded a richness of its arts and culture. By 1907, Lima had both an opera house and a movie theater - quite the accomplishment for a town of not even 30,000 people. Lima was also a railroad crossroads. This included the Broadway Limited, which was the high-speed, first-class passenger train between New York and Chicago. (Wikipedia).

I'll admit I was a taken aback by the shortness of Howard's response to his grandfather's death. At first, I wondered if he just wasn't that close to his grandfather, George Washington James. Born in Pennsylvania, George had lived in Lima going back at least 45 years according to census records. He  was a "proprietor of marble works" or "monumental dealer" by trade. George's mother Effie was one of his seven children, one of two daughters. I can only make guesses, but my research tells me that George was likely close to Effie. Effie was one six of George's living children in 1917, yet she was the one who signed his death certificate.

Although the 1910 census shows George living with his other daughter Mable Rohn and her family in Lima, he was in Toledo when he died in 1917. Perhaps he was living with Effie and John at the time? Also, considering that Harold seemed to know the town of Lima pretty well, my guess is that he was pretty close with his mother's family and visited often. I'll give Harold a break and just chalk his shortness of words up to decorum of the time.