Letter: Willard Seiberling to the Seiberling family

Letter

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

Name/Title

Letter: Willard Seiberling to the Seiberling family

Entry/Object ID

A 2025.16.b1.f5.37

Description

The letter is addressed "Dear Family." The writer opens the letter sharing they slept in and learned that the post office would be closed on Monday due to Columbus Day, so the letter is a quick one to make sure they get to the post office before noon. The writer shares about taking Judy to Fairview to pick up a weaving machine from Aunt Margaret, but it did not fit in their station wagon, so Judy returned in a U-Haul. The writer shares the importance of hobbies and mentions an enclosed clipping about a local resident, Mrs. Oliver Birge, who has two weaving machines, although the writer makes a handwritten note in the margin that they do not have a clipping "for you or Pen" and one is not enclosed. The writer also mentions visiting Mrs. Birge to see her workshop and learn about her weaving. The writer signs the letter "Hastily," and signs "W" in blue ink.

Subject Person/Organization

Seiberling, Willard Penfield

Collection

PERMANENT COLLECTION

Cataloged By

Katrina Neff

Acquisition

Accession

A 2025.16

Source or Donor

Unknown

Acquisition Method

Found

Letter Details

Letter Date

Oct 6, 1973

Sender

Name

Willard Seiberling

Primary Language

English

Transcription

Irene Saturday morning, 10-6-73. Dear Family,- Each workday this week my alarm has been getting me up at 6:30, so this morning I slept in. When, after a late breakfast, I picked up my mail, I learned that the Post Office would be closed next Monday, October 8th, to commemorAte [sic] “COLUMBUS DAY.” (Age is creeping up on me - it’s just terrible the way my memory is slipping - I thought Columbus discovered America on OCTOBER 12th, and last February I was shocked to find that my memory of Feb. 22nd and 12th was all wrong because Washington and Lincoln were born on the same date, and it was not either of the dates I remembered.) If I don’t get this in the P.O. before noon (closing time on Sat.) it won’t go out until next Tuesday, so excuse the “Quickie.” When I was in Akron for my mid-September business session, I took one day off to drive Judy up to Fairview for the purpose of bringing back in my Station Wagon the big weaving machine Aunt Margaret has had for years. We had an enjoyable visit with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Chuck, but the machine was too big to go into the Station Wagon. Now I believe J&J have made a return trip to Fairview with a rented U-Haul It and soon Judy should be able to devote a Family Letter to her new hobby. Hobbies are important - particularly for your years of retirement. Everyone should have at least one hobby and better still, several hobbies. Some hobbies can become income producers. In a recent issue of the Weekly Wave they devoted the front cover and the middle double page spread to hobbies of 8 or 9 local residents. From the enclosed clipping, I don’t have a clipping for either you or Pen, you will see that Mrs. Oliver Birge has two weaving machines. Knowing the Birges well, as I do, I dropped in for a visit and got Mrs. Birge to show me her “work shop” and tell me about her weaving. Judy, you’ll be very interested to talk with Mrs. Birge and have her show you how she operates her two different weavers. Now to get this over to the P.O. before noon. Hastily, W

Transcriber

Cindi Roke

Language

English

Research Notes

Research Type

Content Research

Person

Katrina Neff

Date

Jul 29, 2026

Notes

Willard references the celebration of both Columbus Day and President's Day and insinuates that he forgets they are no longer celebrated on the actual dates of Columbus' discovery and Washington's birthday. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act which transitioned both holidays to Monday dates went into effect in 1971.

Created By

[email protected]

Create Date

June 24, 2026

Updated By

[email protected]

Update Date

July 29, 2026