Name/Title
Spalsbury: #26 Letters Home July 26,1943Entry/Object ID
2021.2.270A-GScope and Content
Letter Home from Pvt. Robert C. Spalsbury, STAR Unit 3906, 1905 Lincoln Avenue, Pasadena, California to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George C. Spalsbury, 806 South Eleventh Street, Saint Joseph, Missouri. Post Marked JUL 26 1943, Pasadena, Calif., 6 cent Air Mail stamp.
Robert has moved from basic training at Camp Callan, CA to ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program).Context
Sunday Evening - July 25th
Dear Folks,
I took the bus to Santa Ana this morning at 11:00 in hopes of seeing Duane, but didn't get to. I noticed on the bulletin that some classification squadrons, including 26, were still in quarantine. From what I hear new comers are in quarantine for 21 days, and are not supposed to be visited during that time. However, I was talking to Paul Leibowitz a while ago, and he saw his brother Selwyn, who's also only been there a short time. Paul hitchhiked down there last night, so had much more time than I did. We had to be back by 6 p.m. this evening, and I got in at 6:05, which was O.K.
I spent $1.50 for the round trip ticket, and was riding practically all the time from 11 till 6. L.A. County is really just a bunch of suburbs, so the bus made numerous stops and couldn't go over 35 m.p.h. It was really hot - the weather here doesn't compare with that at Callan.
Oh, I had the best time last night. Rudolph Haglund, Frank Hanlin and I took the bus downtown, then took the bus to Hollywood, about 10 miles west. It was the oddest thing - I saw John Shinabarger, his wife Margorie Schoenberg, and I guess the girl's mother, standing on a corner when our bus made a stop. I called him over to the window, and talked to him for awhile. He said they live in Glendale now. It was fun, seeing somebody from St. Joseph way out here, even though I never knew him very well.
The bus went over suicide bridge, a long, high structure. The little man I was sitting next to informed me that suicides from the bridge used to average one a month, but now that they've put up a high fence of barbed wire on each side, there haven't been any for some time.
We drove past the Brown Derby Restaurant, a quaint looking thing. Oh, yes, there were literally blocks of antique stores along the way to Hollywood.
We got off the bus at Hollywood and Vine, and after going to the USO and finding directions to the Hollywood Bowl, we walked down Hollywood Boulevard and up another street till we reached it. God Almighty, what odd people we saw!!! Why, we saw 70-year old dames with the brightest platinum blond hair you ever saw, and movie -struck young girls who think they're Veronica Lake or Katherine Hepburn. I can hardly wait to get back to Hollywood next weekend, just to stand at a busy street corner - Hollywood and Vine is the best -and watch the mob go by. It is a veritable kaleidoscope of human nature, varied as it can be. It really put me to wondering about the human race. Some of the clothes they wore! Big flowered prints, and hats of all sizes, colors, and shapes. However, this is one thing I like about California - the dress is so liberal. People stroll down the streets in shorts, slacks, and sometimes even bathing suits.
Servicemen, we were admitted free to the Hollywood Bowl, although we had to sit fairly close to the top. To me it didn't seem much larger or nicer than the Krug Park Bowl. Of course there are seats from the very bottom to the top of the Hollywood Bowl. The program last night consisted of the Russian Ballet, with Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra furnishing the musical accompaniment. Three ballets were presented: "Aleko" (Tchaikowsky), "The Three-Cornered Hat" (DeFalla), and "Bluebeard" (Offenbach), but we just stayed for the first two. They were sort of fascinating, although we didn't understand them very well. The costumes were very colorful, and the scenery quite good. But we skipped "Bluebeard" in order to have more time to spend downtown. We stopped in a cafe and had some eats. I liked the waitress - she was a card. She called me "honey," and when I said something about drinking some wine with french fries (I was kidding) she said in a motherly tone, "Now, listen, you boys are away from home and I have to look after you." She told me my stomach would be upside down if I ate that combination. So I took coffee instead. She reminded me of Zazu Pitts. I think a lot of stage-struck nuts go to Hollywood to work to try to push themselves into the movies someway or other. ---We bought some peanuts and popcorn, walked the streets awhile, then crowded onto the very crowded bus back to Pasadena. I crawled into my bunk at 2:15 a.m., and got up this morning at 8:30 a.m.
Oh, yes, we saw Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the autographs and hand and foot prints of all the stars in the cement of the lobby floor. Very interesting.
I wrote a nice letter to Uncle Robert night before last. I never had answered that letter I received from him in May or June.
Received your letter written last Sunday night at mail call yesterday, Mom.
Oh yes, I went before the Examining Board Saturday, and they said the Army needs me more as an engineer than as a linguist. Besides, Spanish only ranks 3rd or 4th in importance; the Asiatic languages have A-1 priority now. But I got a good score on my Language Aptitude Test, so maybe there's a chance of being transferred. What did Jack Sewell get into?
Love, BobCollection
Marshall WhiteLexicon
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Category 08: Communication ObjectsArchive Items Details
Title
Letter Home from Pvt. Robert C. Spalsbury, STAR Unit 3906, 1905 Lincoln Avenue, Pasadena, California to his parents Mr. and Mrs. George C. Spalsbury, 806 South Eleventh Street, Saint Joseph, Missouri. Post Marked JUL 26 1943, Pasadena, Calif., 6 cent Air Mail stamp. Robert has moved from basic training at Camp Callan, CA to ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program).Description
Handwritten letter home to parents back in St. Joseph after being called up to serve in the US Army during WWII. Pvt. Spalsbury, at the time of this letter, has completed Basic Training at Camp Callan, California and is serving in a STAR Unit for ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program) soldiers in Pasadena, CA.
The letter is three pages, all front & back written in blue ink pen on plain stationery. The letter was mailed in an regular envelope with a 6 cent Air Mail stamp. The stationary matches the envelope, folded in half fitting perfectly.Condition
Overall Condition
Very GoodRelationships
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Person or Organization
Robert C. Spalsbury
