January 11, 1930

Dear Parents,

I received your letters of Dec 12 and Jan 1. First of all, many thanks for the cookies, pralines, and gingerbread. It was all very tasty.

We had a white Christmas here. About 40 cm of snow. It was somewhat unusual. The first deep snow in 15 or 20 years. Car travel was difficult, trains were delayed 12 or more hours, and the streetcars here were not running for two days. All mail was delayed, including your letter of Dec 12. Presently there is a lot of ice.  Lots of trees limbs have broken under the weight, and most of the telephone and telegraph lines are damaged. The rivers are all high and many streets are flooded.

On Christmas and before we had to shovel snow in front of our house for 8 days, but overnight the wind would blow all the snow back. It rained all New Year’s day which caused the flooding. We Germans celebrated New Year’s Eve together. We were up all night and went hunting in the

morning. We collectively shot 5. It was even too wet for the rabbits. At times we were knee-deep in water and mud.

I got a pair of shoes from Uncle and a bathrobe from Aunt and underwear and two nightshirts. From friends I got 4 ties, one silk handkerchief, 1 shirt, and 1 silk robe.

Dear Mama, I am glad that you liked my pictures. I am admittedly a bit overweight, but I will likely lose weight on the ocean crossing.

I receive a letter today from North German Lloyd in Chicago with information about the trip. I will likely be on the steamship "Bremen" leaving from New York in May. I am not yet sure of the date. The ship departs on the 3rd and the 21st of May. The fare for the ship is about $200, my pass about $10, the roundtrip train fare from here to New York $65, and the train fare from Bremen to Windsheim and return about $40. All in all, it will come to about $350.

I will let you know as soon as possible the date of my departure, etc.  Most likely I will take the steamship "Bremen". It costs nearly $20 more, but then it is so much faster than the others.

I think two other Germans will accompany me. One is thinking about taking his car along, should the freight costs not be too high. I have therefore sent another letter to N.L. and will know more in a few days.  

It is very nice that Papa plans to meet me in Bremen, and I will give him the exact date of arrival. There are also two Germans here who just arrived last year. They are from Meppen, Hannover, and I will probably need to look up their relatives. Also, Pauline Link (Veigel) will probably ask me to visit her relatives. I will make a stop for a few hours in Meppen after arriving in Bremen or when I return, and I should be able to find time for the others.

I hope to receive my citizenship paper in April. Without this, I will have to write to Washington for a re-entry permit. But since I will have been in America for 5 years on the 22nd of February, I should be able to manage.

I received a letter from Marie today. Philipp wrote me several days ago, and I will answer these letters next week. I also got New Year’s cards from Frau Pfister and the Buettner family.

All my best to Philipp, Marie, Schorsch. Also say hello to Herr Krasser, Schlee Heiner, Richard Engelhardt from Gunzenhausen (he used to be with Meister in Schwabach) and has been writing me for a long time and I need to write to him again soon. If this continues, I am going to need to hire a secretary.

Your Son.