Thurston's Christmas letter to Mamie 1928

December 18, 1928

Dear Sis,

I am sending you a small Christmas gift.  I hope you will like it.  I know that you do not expect much from me but someday I am going to give you a much larger gift.

I am getting along fine in school work and in other things.

You never mention Cecil's (Mamie's husband) name in your letters.  I would certainly like to see him.  I'll bet he is a good sport.  I would like to take him possum hunting with me sometime, and also I would like to go duck hunting with him.

Sunday I got Uncle Jesse's (Manning's brother) car and went to Cedar Mountain and got us a pretty Christmas tree.

I am 14 years old now and this summer I want to get me a job in the print shop at "The Comanche Chief" (Comanche County newspaper)  I would like to learn the business.  I think you will not find many misspelled words in this letter.  I can spell but can't write so good.

Love

Thurston R. Atwood

Thurston in May 1928 in the Boy Scout uniform Mamie bought for him.

Newspaper clipping from the Comanche Chief, March, 1933

From the Comanche Chief, enclosed in a letter from Mama to her eldest daughter, Mamie who lived in Los Angeles in 1933

Postmarked March 15, 1933

LOCAL BANKS TO RECEIVE GOLD

Gold and gold certificates that have been in hiding for years are being turned in at the two banks of Comanche. One person Thursday deposited a quantity of gold, some of which bore the date of 1850.

The exact amount which had been turned in could not be learned but it is understood to be relatively large. The Government is calling upon all banks to make a report at the close of business today of the amount which has been turned in.

The Government is expected to fix a penalty or make non-negotiable gold and gold certificates that are not turned into the banks, one banker stated.

Hayne and Patsy Reese

Hayne and I met in the summer of 1956. I was still 17 years old. When he was in Comanche we spent a lot of our time together with Joe and Margaret Waring at their home at 501 West Wright St. in Comanche.

We both went off to school in the fall, Hayne to the University of Iowa for his second year of graduate school and I to Texas Women's University. We courted by mail and spent Christmas together that winter. In the spring Hayne gave me a ring and the announcement of our engagement was made in the Comanche Chief newspaper.

Hayne worked most of the summer at a Boy Scout camp in North Texas to save money for our wedding trip.  He taught water skiing at Possum Kingdom Lake.

Sputnik's trail

This is a photo of the satellite trail of Sputnik, the Russian spacecraft.  It is a time exposure made in our back yard.  It was printed on the front page of the Fort Worth StarTelegram and the Comanche Chief newspapers.

My father made this photograph and was very proud of it. Here is the letter he sent to me in Iowa City at the time.

Tuesday, October 22, 1957

Dear Patsy and Hayne,

I am enclosing a picture of Sputnik's rocket, which Bill and I took at 5:02 Sunday morning.  This is a time exposure of approximately 4 seconds while the rocket was directly overhead.  I feel very fortunate to obtain this photo.  To give you some idea of the orbit and the directions…the camera was placed on the rock walk halfway between the house and the back fence  North and South is across the long end of the picture.  The weak beginning and the curved tail are false impressions--due to too strong an action in opening and closing the shutter.

The direction of course, was from the northwest to the south east.  The rocket at this time was 39 minutes ahead of Sputnik.