September 9, 1915 - All men are alike. It is almost useless to try and please them.

This letter started as a bit of a mystery because as you can see from the envelope there is only part of the date; the year. It took reading and thinking about a few things before I have come to what I think is the correct time of the year. First, it was sent to Lakewood, NJ where Helen would go in the summer with her family. Second, he spoke of the New Year. With the previous clue I decided he must have been speaking of the Jewish New Year. In looking up when that fell in 1915. Erev Rosh Hashanah was on September 8,1915. Here is the handwritten letter with the transcription below.

Friday

Dear Helen,
The last Fra had a quotation to the effect that “work is a blessing, and that winter and rain are as necessary as summer and sunshine. By a similar course of logic, sickness is as necessary as health; but whether that is so, the fact nevertheless is true that there is a large percentage of sufferers here from colds, grippe and pneumonia.

Barnet and his mother are just convalescing, and Myra is producing a new tooth daily, having about six.

I had a good laugh when I received your letter. Many things caused it. Primarily your remark “I can’t understand it, but all men are alike. It is almost useless to try and please them.” Are you really sure about that? The word “almost” implies a doubt. And the Proverbs say that “doubt is the beginning of wisdom.”

And even if all men may be alike; I shouldn’t say that regarding women. If anything, no two are alike. I can quote from the Bible down through Ella Wheeler Wilcox to prove it. For example, Solomon – the wise King- had 1000 wives, and he gave it as his experience that no two were alike. Why multiply illustrations?

Which brings me to the second cause of laughter. Remember Shylock’s

“the villainies you teach us, we will execute And the execution, better the instruction”?

 Well, when I wrote an apparently plain letter that our train service was all broken up by the storm and suggested that possibly I wouldn’t be in New York as a result; you drew more conclusions than a magician does rabbits from a hat, and with equal dexterity. Yet when you replied and appeared offended, and as you say didn’t intend to say aught but reply briefly, and I thrust a critics knife into the letter to show that if you are looking for reasons you’ll find them, and so exposed a few nerves, you seemed amazed that any such ideas could be gathered from your remarks.

I’m a bit afraid to say more, because I don’t just know how or what it will convey to you, no matter what it’s intended to do.

However, you’ve no time for this kind of stuff, trying as you are no doubt to take advantage of the holiday season.

New Years is at hand. The last one was good because we here have had peace, health and an opportunity to work. What more can one want?

May the New Year to be ushered in be a very happy one and on this, I hope every deduction of happiness possible may come true.
Sincerely,
Joe

As we can see from this letter there was a dialogue going back and forth from previous letters. I now know that the letters before this were lost over the years. From his comical and somewhat sarcastic response to Helen's letter we get the teasing and flirtation they treasured using their intellect as the base.

The next post on the blog will be on September 24th with an article from the Sentinel.