Letter from Alma to Mama Margaret: 8/15/1910
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A letter from Alma, who is sightseeing in Marburg, Germany, to her mother, who is staying in the Canton, Ohio area with Laura, Alma's younger sister.
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EnvelopeImage #1 of three for this letterScroll down for the audio readingand for the transcript.
Left:Page 2------Right:Page 1Image #2 of three for this letterScroll down for the audio readingand for the transcript.
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1910-08-15: tour stops---images---audio---~TRANSCRIPT~---notes---links---site navigation
Marburg Germany
Aug. 15th 1910
Dear Mother:
This is meant to be a birthday letter but I am afraid it will be a trifle late. I enclose a frequent present in the form of a piece of heather. There are large patches of heather on the hills and it makes them a beautiful purple.
We have been having beautiful weather for the past week and I have made a number of small trips around here. Laura and I climbed to Spiegelslust on Saturday. It is about as high as Bear Mt. but one can go up by a gradual carriage road instead of straight up in the air. It was cloudy on Saturday so we did not have as fine a view as from the Schloss on Wednesday. I have gone out in the morning with Mrs. Buck several times.
I shall enclose some post cards showing the peasant costume in this region - or at least one of the costumes. The general style is the same but the details vary in the different villages. The chief thing is the very full skirt. The women wear as many skirts as they can afford - that is the way they show their wealth. They say that some of them wear fifteen or sixteen skirts. Those who can't afford so many skirts get somewhat the same effect by wearing cushions around their hips to make the skirts stand out. The women from one village usually dress in black with skirts to the knees. They wear heavy white woolen stockings and low shoes. The old ladies look very queer. Most of them wear their skirts a little longer and of gay colors. Bright green - Irish green - is the favorite color for the skirt with a band at the bottom of blue, scarlet purple or any color. The waist and the apron, which is worn even to church, are usually alike and may be of any color, without reference to the color of the skirt. The caps are usually black with elaborate decoration in colored beads. They have wide black ties which float back over the shoulders. It is a curious costume, and looks fearfully warm. The children dress just exactly like the women. The women are very brown from working in the fields.
I received a letter from Miss Grace Smith of Smith College asking me to stop in Brussels on my way back to England to have a visit with her and to see the place. I think I shall as it is a very interesting place and I shall have to go through Brussels to get to Ostend.
I am reading lots of German and attending lectures whenever I have a chance. I went to one on St. Elizabeth's church last week. It is a beautiful church on the outside but I don't care much about the inside. It dates from the 13th century from St. Elizabeth who was the wife of the Landgrave who lived in the castle we visited on Wednesday. It seems strange to hear so many people speak about her. Everyone talks about her as if they had known her. She was very beautiful and died at the age of 24. The Schloss has a great many interesting historical associations with the Reformation, but I'll tell of them later. With much love,
Alma.
Aug. 15th 1910
Dear Mother:
This is meant to be a birthday letter but I am afraid it will be a trifle late. I enclose a frequent present in the form of a piece of heather. There are large patches of heather on the hills and it makes them a beautiful purple.
We have been having beautiful weather for the past week and I have made a number of small trips around here. Laura and I climbed to Spiegelslust on Saturday. It is about as high as Bear Mt. but one can go up by a gradual carriage road instead of straight up in the air. It was cloudy on Saturday so we did not have as fine a view as from the Schloss on Wednesday. I have gone out in the morning with Mrs. Buck several times.
I shall enclose some post cards showing the peasant costume in this region - or at least one of the costumes. The general style is the same but the details vary in the different villages. The chief thing is the very full skirt. The women wear as many skirts as they can afford - that is the way they show their wealth. They say that some of them wear fifteen or sixteen skirts. Those who can't afford so many skirts get somewhat the same effect by wearing cushions around their hips to make the skirts stand out. The women from one village usually dress in black with skirts to the knees. They wear heavy white woolen stockings and low shoes. The old ladies look very queer. Most of them wear their skirts a little longer and of gay colors. Bright green - Irish green - is the favorite color for the skirt with a band at the bottom of blue, scarlet purple or any color. The waist and the apron, which is worn even to church, are usually alike and may be of any color, without reference to the color of the skirt. The caps are usually black with elaborate decoration in colored beads. They have wide black ties which float back over the shoulders. It is a curious costume, and looks fearfully warm. The children dress just exactly like the women. The women are very brown from working in the fields.
I received a letter from Miss Grace Smith of Smith College asking me to stop in Brussels on my way back to England to have a visit with her and to see the place. I think I shall as it is a very interesting place and I shall have to go through Brussels to get to Ostend.
I am reading lots of German and attending lectures whenever I have a chance. I went to one on St. Elizabeth's church last week. It is a beautiful church on the outside but I don't care much about the inside. It dates from the 13th century from St. Elizabeth who was the wife of the Landgrave who lived in the castle we visited on Wednesday. It seems strange to hear so many people speak about her. Everyone talks about her as if they had known her. She was very beautiful and died at the age of 24. The Schloss has a great many interesting historical associations with the Reformation, but I'll tell of them later. With much love,
Alma.
1910-08-15: tour stops---images---audio---transcript---~NOTES~---links---site navigation
1.
The envelope shows that Alma sent the letter to Laura's address in Alliance, but that the letter was then forwarded to a Canton address. At the moment I know nothing about that.
2.
Aug. 15th 1910
Dear Mother:
This is meant to be a birthday letter but I am afraid it will be a trifle late.
Mama Margaret turned 66 on August 15, 1910, so yes, the birthday letter was a trifle late.
3.
I enclose a frequent present in the form of a piece of heather.
I keep wondering if there are laws now against sending plantstuff from Germany to the US like that.
4.
Laura and I climbed to Spiegelslust on Saturday. It is about as high as Bear Mt. but one can go up by a gradual carriage road instead of straight up in the air.
I don't know who this Laura is. Maybe someday.
As for Spiegelslust, this seems to be the usual description, not from Wikipedia but from a tourist site:
The Kaiser Wilhelm Tower, popularly known as, Spiegelslustturm is tower situated in Marburg. It was built from 1887 to 1890, is 36 m high and has 167 steps inside.
I think it must be that the tower is on top of a hill.
5.
I have gone out in the morning with Mrs. Buck several times.
I don't know who Mrs. Buck is.
6.
I received a letter from Miss Grace Smith of Smith College asking me to stop in Brussels on my way back to England to have a visit with her and to see the place.
I don't know who Miss Grace Smith is, but I suspect she is the Miss Smith whom Alma met at an American Association for the Advancement of Science in California five years later. See:
7.
The only mention of this trip to Germany that I've come across in Alma's other letters is here:...when Alma and Mama Margaret were taking the train home on their California trip:
I never saw so much hand luggage except in Germany.
The envelope shows that Alma sent the letter to Laura's address in Alliance, but that the letter was then forwarded to a Canton address. At the moment I know nothing about that.
2.
Aug. 15th 1910
Dear Mother:
This is meant to be a birthday letter but I am afraid it will be a trifle late.
Mama Margaret turned 66 on August 15, 1910, so yes, the birthday letter was a trifle late.
3.
I enclose a frequent present in the form of a piece of heather.
I keep wondering if there are laws now against sending plantstuff from Germany to the US like that.
4.
Laura and I climbed to Spiegelslust on Saturday. It is about as high as Bear Mt. but one can go up by a gradual carriage road instead of straight up in the air.
I don't know who this Laura is. Maybe someday.
As for Spiegelslust, this seems to be the usual description, not from Wikipedia but from a tourist site:
The Kaiser Wilhelm Tower, popularly known as, Spiegelslustturm is tower situated in Marburg. It was built from 1887 to 1890, is 36 m high and has 167 steps inside.
I think it must be that the tower is on top of a hill.
5.
I have gone out in the morning with Mrs. Buck several times.
I don't know who Mrs. Buck is.
6.
I received a letter from Miss Grace Smith of Smith College asking me to stop in Brussels on my way back to England to have a visit with her and to see the place.
I don't know who Miss Grace Smith is, but I suspect she is the Miss Smith whom Alma met at an American Association for the Advancement of Science in California five years later. See:
7.
The only mention of this trip to Germany that I've come across in Alma's other letters is here:...when Alma and Mama Margaret were taking the train home on their California trip:
I never saw so much hand luggage except in Germany.
1910-08-15: tour stops---images---audio---transcript---notes---~LINKS~---site navigation
DOCUMENT LISTS FOR PEOPLE:
- ALMA: DOCUMENTS ----- Outgoing
- LAURA: DOCUMENTS ----- Related
- MAMA MARGARET: DOCUMENTS ----- Incoming
OTHER DOCUMENT LISTS:
- DOCUMENTS SORTED BY WHERE THEY WERE WRITTEN ----- Miscellaneous - Germany
- DOCUMENTS SORTED BY SOURCE ----- Barbara
- AUDIO READINGS OF THE DOCUMENTS: 1910-1919
OTHER RELATED DOCUMENTS/PAGES:
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