[Partial translation]

8 February 1926 [Mother]

We received your letter dated January 18th on the 6th. Thank you very much. Father tells me to thank you for the birthday wishes and the money you sent him. His birthday went by without much fanfare. The district synod was held here on the 19th and 20th of January. We had guests as well; the Reverends Ösch and Schödel stayed here. We spent a few very nice days together and saw and heard a lot of interesting things. Reverend Schödel’s brother is in Finland again. He does not seem to be very happy and would prefer to go to America as well. It seems that, over there, he would be more likely to find work. The economic situation in Finland appears to be quite bad as well. Reverend Schödel had heard about you from his brother. He was happy to hear how well things turned out for you. Reverend Ösch thought that your chances of making it in America were very good. He enjoyed the food at our house very much and was glad to eat something other than the same old flour-based flummery he was used to getting. He said he really missed American food. He also told us that he has been to Green Bay and Forest as well. Ösch gave our youth a piece of his mind, too. At an evening session, the topic of keeping the Lord’s Day holy came up. This provided the perfect occasion to talk to the young people. However, whether it had any effect is another matter. Reverend Ösch is a very nice man and a very gifted minister. We got to know our Synod President, Nickel, as well. He is quite old already, but a very good orator. He currently holds Reverend Löffler’s post in Hamburg. Unfortunately, the days of the synod passed too quickly. […] Our cat is still doing fine, but no longer wants to go outside. […] You are wondering about Hermann Mehl’s trial. As you know, Father testified that young Mrs. Mehl had told Johanna that Hermann Mehl had beaten her. The trial took place on January 20th, and both were found guilty. In the meantime, the attorney representing the boys has entered another motion. Now the boys are being questioned again. Even Johanna will have to testify in court on February 22nd – imagine that! She is very upset about it. Someone needs to take care of the boys, hence the new trial […] Mrs. Ritterling asks about you regularly and tells us to send you her regards.

The Singer Company moved its stock out of the storage room on the 1st. Now Father is considering setting up his shop in the storage room plus the small room. We are currently trying to find a renter for the shop area and the basement. We are asking for 1,000 marks per year. Right now, Father is still installed in there. If we do not find a suitable renter, everything will stay as it is, and we will offer the small room for rent again. Our chairs are finished as well now. Father used leather for upholstering them and did all the work on his own. On the 1st of the month, Johanna started sewing again. Now she wants to mend our clothes once more. We are having a new, lightweight, gray coat made for Father for spring. That way, he will be able to wear his old clothes underneath and still look good. We had the fabric sent to us, and Mr. Wibben is now sewing the coat. The fabric cost 9 marks. Wibben has been unemployed since before Christmas as well; he receives 18 marks per week. You cannot imagine the rampant unemployment here. At least 80% of skilled workmen are without work. The unemployed workers do receive at least some unemployment compensation. However, none of the self-employed businessmen get anything. Father has not had any work for weeks, either. He has Hermann stay at home; if Hermann did go along, all he would do is stand around uselessly. Finding work in these times has become a very difficult task. […] Paul Schmidt, together with his wife, is going around looking for work everywhere: at City Hall, the Landeshaus, and the State Bank. However, he has not found anything yet. These institutions currently need workers because of the revaluation. Paul does not receive any unemployment compensation, either. […] You have more than enough food, and here we have family meetings over every quarter piece of sausage.

The photos of Lenchen and Max arrived here last week. They are very nice[…]if Lenchen had married here, she would not have been able to get such a nice wedding dress. It would be impossible for a young man here to earn enough money for something like that. Johanna went to Nordenstadt yesterday in order to see the photos they had received there. […]Ernst built a radio as well; he had taken a course in it. They did hear something, but not very clearly. He needs to get a stronger receiver. All this is quite expensive. Father heard something about 60 to 70 marks. But Petter absolutely wanted to have it; he would not let up until they got it.

Here in Wiesbaden, we have not had much luck yet. Supposedly, a radio transmitter will be installed in Frankfurt. Many people are now hoping that they will be able to hear the radio broadcasts more clearly. Instead of a radio, we bought a new gas stove with an oven for baking. The old one no longer worked. It cost 160 marks. We made a down payment of 28 marks; now we have two month’s time before we need to start paying the remainder in 10 monthly installments. On Sunday, we baked our first cake; it turned out very well. […] Your pants are getting worn. I am not surprised since they were not in the best state when you left. […] What do you owe Willy for the trip? Are you making progress with your English, can you speak it already? […] Imagine, Willy still has not sent Father any birthday wishes. Father felt quite hurt because of it. You would think one’s father would be worth a letter of congratulations!