[Letter to Clara Breed from Fusa Tsumagari, Arcadia, California, May 22, 1942]

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[Letter to Clara Breed from Fusa Tsumagari, Arcadia, California, May 22, 1942]

Maker Tsumagari, Fusa

Date1942

Mediumpaper, ink

DimensionsH: 10.5 in, W: 7.25 in (sheet); H: 4 in, W: 7.5 in (envelope)

ClassificationsArchives

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Y. Yamada

Object number93.75.31Y

Description1 letter and envelope from Fusa Tsumagari to Clara Breed.;Transcription:
Santa Anita Assembly Center/Barrack 31 Ave. S. Unit 3/District 6/Arcadia, California/Dear Miss Breed,/Thanks very much for the pictures. We just laughed and laughed and laughed over them. The funny smiles on our faces really had us in fits./The last two or three days has been terribly hot. According to our thermometers it's been in the 100 degrees. Golly, it certainly is tiring to have such a sudden heat wave. Right now it's rather on the chilly side. I read in the papers that San Diego had only a mild 79 degrees./You know, things here are changing all the time. In regards to your plans for coming here, I'll have to be a wet blanket again. An announcement came out that Districts 1, 2, and 3 may have visitors on Sunday this week, and the rest of the districts must have visitors on Saturday. Then next week it will be in reverse. Why don't you plan to come up on the 31st, a Sunday. The visiting hours are from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Since you mentioned the fact that you would like to come in the morning, maybe we could arrange to have it that way. Please let me know what you have decided to do. One thing is certain though, I can't meet you this Sunday./Another announcement just came out stating the fact that we cannot receive any perishable or non perishable food here. The only thing we can bring in from the outside is candy. Gee, that really makes me mad. On top of that, the Canteen has stopped selling cookies, sandwiches, cakes and all sorts of sweets except candy. We have all come to the conclusion that the mess halls will have to serve us better food. Gee, I like stew, but I don't like to eat it three meals in succession. Gee, I always get onto the subject of food-----well, don't blame me too much as it is about the only thing we think about./We've moved again. This makes the third time we've moved inside this camp. We're now in smaller rooms. We no longer live in the stables, but in regulation army barracks. The only difference is that these barracks originally had three large rooms, now they have been partitioned into six rooms: three large ones and three small ones. We live in one of the smaller ones since there are only three of us. The room is ideal for two, but is rather crowded with three. We have one large shower and one large laundry room. We certainly don't see how they expect over 16,000 people to be clean and also have their clothes clean. Many of the women get up about 5 a.m. and go to wash. If you try to go about 8 a.m. you're bound to have to wait a good hour or more. However, this is being quickly remedied for we can see three construction on their way up. They're (so we've been told) all for showers and laundry rooms. Anyhow we certainly hope so. The only thing they don't have here is a dry cleaners. I don't know how to get my things really clean. We use gasoline and also a wet cloth, but it just doesn't seem to be really clean. /The library here is progressing nicely. We've had many books donated from the nice San Diego people. We've had some from some of the State College teachers, and of course, some very nice books from you. A girl friend of mine told me that they had the whole office full of books to be filed and set up for public use. The head librarian is Anna Morikawa. I believe you may know her. She lived in Old Town, and I used to see her at the Children's Library once in a while. She is a very soft spoken person with the cutest dimple. I don't know if that helps any though./I see Tetsuzo once in a while now. I used to see him every day, but I was transferred to another district and and don't see him very often./I was thinking about your being on a sugar ration. At first I thought that we had it pretty soft because that was one thing we didn't have to wait in line for. About a week ago we had sugar for breakfast, but none for lunch or supper. Then, this morning we didn't even have any sugar for breakfast. The waitresses told that they had run out of sugar. I guess you people are better off in the long run./You asked me what kind of magazine I like. Well, I like any kind which concerns the home and clothes and looks. Well, you know, for example the "Goodhousekeeping" "Ladies"s Home Journal", etc. One magazine I would like is one full of crossword puzzles. My friends in the office are just crazy over cross word puzzles. I'm not very good at them, but it's a lazy person's method of increasing the vocabulary./I guess my typing must be just driving you crazy. I make so many errors that it really isn't funny any more. Can You imagine, I used to be able to type very accurately, once. I can't blame it on the typewriter because it's a brand new, well, it hasn't been used very much, -----Royal. I guess it's just me!/Thank you very much for everything. I really appreciate your very kind interest in me./Yours truly./Fusa Tsumagari