Distribute the Heat a Little More Evenly

Marvin Dale Miller to his mother, 22 February 1971 — the dry-season heat (the whole company once got sick after a day in the sun), the family's old Ford, and the first plan to pay off the Elderton bank loan so he stops paying interest. A package his mother mailed "quite some time ago" still hadn't arrived.

22 Feb. 71

Dear Mom,

It's very sunny today and more than a little bit hot. I'm glad we spend most of our time in the shade. One time we spent all day in the sun and the whole company got sick. It would be nice if we could distribute the heat a little more evenly.

Was there been any plans for getting another car yet? Does the old Ford ride any better since Dan put the springs on it. I would think that with new springs and shocks that it would ride pretty nice. I can't remember if you got new shocks for it though.

See if you can find the address of Elderton Bank somewhere. I think I have just about enough to pay them back. I thought I might as well pay them off so I won't have to keep paying interest.

Well I wonder if Old Man Winter is letting up any yet. Spring shouldn't be too far away back home.

How's everything back home. I hope everyone's doing O.K. I imagine all the kids will be a little bigger by the time I get home.

I got a letter from you saying that you sent that package quite some time ago. Maybe it will come soon. At least I hope so.

Well I'm going to get this letter ready to mail

Love Marvin

Transcription Notes

• "Was there been any plans" is Marvin's own phrasing, preserved as written.
• A word is crossed out before "kids" on page two (false start), then rewritten.
• Blue ballpoint, two pages. Signed "Love / Marvin." All text clearly legible.

Archivist Notes

The heat — and a company-wide casualty of it: "One time we spent all day in the sun and the whole company got sick." A rare, concrete report of field hardship: a day of heat illness across the whole company during the III Corps dry season. His wry close — "It would be nice if we could distribute the heat a little more evenly" — is the understatement that runs through the letters, turning a genuinely dangerous environmental exposure into a mild joke for his mother. Lines up with the dry-season heat noted in the 28 Feb 71 letter six days later (the rains still three months off).

The Elderton bank — the payoff plan begins here: "See if you can find the address of Elderton Bank somewhere. I think I have just about enough to pay them back … so I won't have to keep paying interest." This is the origin of a thread that recurs across the spring and summer letters: the loan at the Elderton (Armstrong Co., PA) bank he means to clear. By the 13 Apr 71 PS he has the money moving home — "How about paying off Elderton bank for me and banking the rest" — and the broader money-management machinery (money orders, "greenbacks") continues into the 24 Aug 71 letter.

The old Ford — and the car he wants: "Does the old Ford ride any better since Dan put the springs on it." Continues the car-and-money thread from the 26 Dec 70 and 10 Jan 71 letters, where brother Dan is the family's car authority (the new transmission for the old Ford) and Marvin is saving toward a new car for when he gets home — the same savings he now wants to spend down clearing the bank loan.

The kids back home: "I imagine all the kids will be a little bigger by the time I get home." The recurring awareness that the children of the family are growing up in his absence — echoed in the 24 Jan 71 letter ("Are all the kids going to pass?").

The slow package: "I got a letter from you saying that you sent that package quite some time ago. Maybe it will come soon." A reminder of how unreliable and lagging the mail could be — months when a package's announcement arrived well ahead of the package.

Cross-references:

• 24 Jan 71 — previous letter in the archive
• 28 Feb 71 — next letter; the same dry-season heat
• 26 Dec 70, 10 Jan 71 — the old Ford and the new-car savings
• 13 Apr 71 — the Elderton bank loan paid off