[Letter to Clara Breed from Fusa Tsumagari, Arcadia, California, August 20, 1942]

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[Letter to Clara Breed from Fusa Tsumagari, Arcadia, California, August 20, 1942]

Maker Tsumagari, Fusa

Date1942

Mediumpaper, ink

DimensionsH: 9.75 in, W: 8 in (sheet); H: 11 in, 8.5 in (newsletter); H: 4.25 in, 5.125 in (envelope)

ClassificationsArchives

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Y. Yamada

Object number93.75.31JB

Description1 letter and envelope from Fusa Tsumagari to Clara Breed + program for a get-together of all the girls clubs.;Transcription: Santa Anita Assembly Center/Dist. 5 F-27-5/Arcadia, California/August 20, 1942/Dear Miss Breed,I guess it must be my turn to write to you because I have not heard from you recently. Thank you for sending me the puzzles and also for going to all the trouble of cutting them out of the daily papers for me./I think that I must have forgotten to thank you for sending me the book, too. I read it and two days later it was loaned out and it has been going around ever since. About ten different people have read it and it is still circulating. It was very interesting and was a little different from most of the "career books" because it told of failure as well as fortune. "Frills and Thrills" really showed the back angle of modelling./One of the advantages in this camp is the time to read some of the classic literature which I didn't read at home. Since there are not many new books I am trying to catch up in the classic literature. I have read quite a few short story books and some fiction books./It seems as though we are going to move soon. We have been having many departmental dances. Last week I went to the Finance division dance and also the Camouflage unit dance. They were both very nice. It was quite a novelty to dance on a smooth floor and inside and also to have eats during the dance. Usually dances are held on the side of the grandstand and under the stars. We never have refreshments except at home. We miss a drive-in or something cool to drink after the dances. The canteens close at 5:30 so it is impossible to keep drinks cool after that./The other night the girls' clubs held a jamboree. It is something like the girls' hi-jinx at school. Our club, the Kappa Gammas were supposed to do a strip tease act, but we backed out. We did help out with decorating the stage, though. It started out rather corny, but as time went on it really was something worth seeing. I have enclosed a copy of the program which I hope you will find interesting. I will tell you about the skits which placed first, second, and third. First was the Santa nooga Choo choo, which part of the girls sang while other brought forth on the stage a choo choo train. As the train was turning round and round trees and cities passed by. It was cute and very well done. During the song some girls kept shouting "Poston, here we come!"/Second, which I thought was the best, was Scrap Fashions. This was really beautiful. It showed that a great deal of work had been put into making the outfits. They were all made of tissue paper gotten from the mess halls and also toilet paper (which we call ration paper). They had a play suit, a date dress, and also a wedding dress. The wedding dress really was a masterpiece. This skit ended with the offer of the whole trousseau to anyone who intended to get married in the near future./Third was "Cindy Ella" a blackface story of "Cinderella." It was cute and very well acted. It was modernized with a geta for the slipper./You must be very busy with the summer vacation coming to an end. You never did tell me about your vacation. My brother got a letter from your sister in Berkeley. I don't know whether he has answered her or not./My sister and her husband are celebrating their first wedding anniversary on the 31st. I am making him a pair of sox, while my mother is crocheting them a beautiful runner. I got my sister some cologne which I think she will enjoy./I haven't mentioned food very much lately, have I? Well, on the whole it is good. We have good and bad days here. I guess we're so used to the food we don't say much about it now. We groan in the mess hall when it is awful, but that's about all. I think that I must have lost a little bit of weight because my wrist watch has moved up a fraction of an inch up my arm. Gee, I'm curious to see how much I weigh now./According to the latest rumors the way we are going to go out is by Id. No. (Identification Number) by which each family was given a different number when they came into the center. As far as we know our Id. is in the Utah group. Mine is 1179 in case you might want to look it up in a future Pacemaker. Gee, such rumors cause more excitement./ We have all been alloted so much money to buy clothes from the Sears Roebuck catalogue. (Certain ones in the catalogue) We have been promised that if we should evacuate before they are issued, the clothes will be forwarded to us. We are grateful for this./Please write to me again soon. I shall be very interested in hearing from you soon./Sincerely,/Fusa Tsumagari