Name/Title
Letter: Willard Seiberling to Irene Seiberling HarrisonEntry/Object ID
A 2025.16.b1.f5.1abDescription
Letterhead is Princeton University and handwritten in black ink.
The writer opens the letter stating they had "a little retouch of the flood excitement" from seeing the Dayton flood at the movies. The writer infers it was much worse in Dayton than in Akron. The writer mentions parts of the movie showing a tenement district and the destruction it caused to the homes, often leaving them upside down. The writer compares it to the Upside-Down House on the Pike at the St. Louis Exposition. The writer then shares details of being "Up North," meeting Princeton girls on vacation, and joining them and fellows for a picnic across the lake featuring club sandwiches, coffee and cake, and taking an eventful short-cut through the woods in pitch dark back to the road. They then went to one of the girl's houses and danced and ate again. The writer and friend called three times while the girls were there. The writer describes during one evening they saw The Family Magazine, full of patent medicine adders and a story of drunkard whose wife concocted a home remedy and the drunkard advertising desiring to place it into the hands of every drunkard. The writer and friends wrote a masterpiece letter to send to the drunkard and can't wait to see what it will bring. The writer closes and signs the letter " With lots of love, As ever Willard."Subject Person/Organization
Seiberling, Willard Penfield, Harrison, Irene SeiberlingCollection
PERMANENT COLLECTIONCataloged By
Katrina NeffAcquisition
Accession
A 2025.16Source or Donor
UnknownAcquisition Method
FoundLetter Details
Letter Date
Apr 15, 1913 - Apr 16, 1913Postmark
Date and Time of Postmark
April 16, 1913 at 8 AMPostmark Place
City
PrincetonState/Province
New JerseyCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaStamp
missingSender
Name
Willard SeiberlingAddress
Princeton UniversityAddressee
Name
Miss Irene H SeiberlingAddress
158 E. Market St.
Akron, OhioPrimary Language
EnglishTranscription
Transcription
Tues. April 15th
[1913]
Dear Irene,---
I had a little re-touch of the flood excitement last night—saw the Dayton flood at the “Movies. ” I thought it was thrilling enough home, but our water exhibition was a mere side show compared with Dayton’s. One stricking [sic] picture was of a tenement district. You know how a whole block of crowded tenement houses will often be all exactly the same if built by the same concern. Well, in this picture there were two rows of chimneys and roof peaks running down what appeared to be a lake as far as the picture was clear. All these symmetrical house top with their chimneys popping up out of the water at regular intervals did look so funny. The current just picked up whole houses and took them bumping down the middle of streets. The heavy slate roof always made them float upside down so that when the waters receded, these houses were always left lying on their roofs. They reminded me of that crazy upside Down House [sic] on the Pike at the St. Louis Exposition. One ghastly picture was of the removal of the drowned houses from the streets after the flood had gone down. The street was literally strewn with carcasses.
Had my the first taste of “Up North” life again the other day that I have had for a long which. Five of the Princeton girls home from boarding school for vacation and five of us fellows went on a picnic way up to the other end of the lake. We prepared some mayonnaise dressing at home and then by toasting bread and frying bacon on the picnic, with the aid of lettuce and the dressing, we had some real club sandwiches. We had two little fires for cooking purposes and a big bon-fire to sit around and eat. It was pretty cold so that the hot coffee and cake for desert [sic] just touched the right spot. We started homeward about eight, but tried to take the short cut through the woods and across the fields. As it was pitch dark, naturally we didn’t go straight with the result that we were stumbling over logs, wading thru brush and crawling under or climbing over fences until we finally hit the road. It was lots of fun. We stopped in at the house of one of the girls and tore up the rugs for about an hour of dancing and then we all went out in the pantry and had another little feed. ¶ Jim and I went calling three times while the girls were here and the last Sunday afternoon before their vacation was over, there were thirteen fellows at one girls’ house. Think of one girl having that many callers to entertain all at one time.
To night one of the fellows got hold of the craziest magazine I ever saw. The Family Magazine, 25 cents a year. It’s just full of patient medicine ads, and special offers, most of the dope being given away free of course. One ad was the personal and sad story of a drunkard. It ends up that his wife by a home remedy of her own concoction cured him as soon as she invented it. He now wants to give others the great blessing of her secret. He is not doing it for money. His new life is such a marvelous change that it has inspired him with the noble desire to place the remedy that saved him into the hands of every drunkard, free. All the ads are about this same type. Well we dope out a letter, telling how low the writer was and how he wanted to be saved from this curse of drink. The letter is a masterpiece, and we are all simply dying [written along edge of last page] to see what results it will bring.
With lots of love
As ever
WillardTranscriber
Cindi RokeLanguage
EnglishCreate Date
April 10, 2026Update Date
June 10, 2026
