Mail Call: 31 August 1935 (George)

From George Potter in Cabool to his daughter Mary in Washington DC.

One of my favorite old letters, this tells the tale of Gladys Potter tangling with the Cabool School Superintendent over a tuition bill which may keep Marjorie in the Sargent school while David and Florence get to ride the bus to school in Cabool.  The tale is interrupted by other matters but then continues on Page 4 with Gladys coming home in a rage over her disrespectful reception by the Super.  A map showing the Sargent school is at the bottom of this page.

Note: "Draughans" is the business college which Mary had attended in Tulsa.
"Miss Elam" is evidently in charge of bill collection, as Mary's student debt is much in arrears.
"Art" is Mary's boyfriend, whose hometown was Huntington, NY
"Vera" otherwise unidentified.

Sargent School Location..driving Marjorie one way while Dave and Florence take the schoolbus to Cabool
Potter farm was approx. at the end of the yellow line in the NW corner of  map, N of the road. and W or the train tracks.
Credit: www.topoquest.com; fair use claimed of detail of much larger topo map.

Mail Call: 27 August 1935 (Gladys)

Gladys Potter in Cabool to her daughter Mary in Washington DC.

Lining up a business course for David after high school graduation; Marjorie doesn't want to go to Sargent school...and won't study.

Gladys planning to look into a room in town to avoid the costs of driving to/from the Sargent farm.

Mail Call: 19 August 1935 (George)

Letter from George Potter in Cabool to his daughter Mary in Washington, DC.

Written on "liberated" Department of Agriculture letterhead which was probably used previously to wrap up the $10.00 contribution from Mary.



Gladys Potter recommends "Bee Brand Powder" for bedbugs in Mary's Washington DC apartment.  The old farmhouse in Berryville, Arkansas was similarly afflicted.  "Bee Brand" was a pyrethrin natural insecticide, which still reportedly scares off bedbugs (but can't kill them any more.)

"Good Night/Sleep tight/Don't let the bedbugs bite"

Note:  Mary's birthday was May 24, so Florence was upset much too late.
Note: "Gregory" is not ID'd.
Note:  Will Rogers , humorist and actor, died 15 Aug 1935.
Note:  "Art (Stewartson)" was Mary's new boyfriend who she would later marry and divorce.
There are no pictures of him.
Note: "B.Bs" are, from context, bedbugs.