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Rare WWII Era Handwritten Letter – Black Vaudeville / Chitlin\' Circuit / Home-Front History
Original 5-page handwritten letter written from Racine, Wisconsin during World War II by an African American chorus dancer/performer named Arlettato famed vaudeville and Chitlin\' Circuit performer \"Cousin Ida\" (Ida Mae Lester).
Arletta details her career in showbiz, mentioning touring burlesque shows out of Buffalo, chorus line work in Cleveland for Betty Taylor, and club spots like Club Bali (famous Black Broadway venue in Washington, D.C.) and the Moonglow.
Contains vivid descriptions of daily wartime struggles in the Midwest—waking up at 7 AM to \"hunt meat and fight your way in stores,\" severe pork shortages (\"I\'ve eaten so much fish I can swim side ways\"), and military allotment disputes with her husband deployed in France and Germany. Mentions local passings (Hattie Rose, Baby Smith), club license losses, and her relationship with a white Canadian soldier.
Dear Cousin Ida,I\'m tired of you writing post cards when I spend my hard earned money writing letters to you and buying stamps. Do you like it in Washington. All the entertainers that I have met that have been there don\'t like it. I hear Club Bali is a fine spot.Freeman took his show on the road from Buffalo. He played a week there at the burlesque house and the show was fairly good. I have been home two weeks.And I haven\'t even been to Milwaukee it\'s so sad. I stayed in Akron a month. I went for my girl friends birthday. I had a grand time. Hattie Rose died and Baby Smith got killed.I\'m going to Cleveland the 11th to work for Betty Taylor at a theatre in the line. Mother is in St. Louis my grandmother is ill. I\'m keeping house for daddy and it\'s getting on my nerves. Cleaning and cooking, scrubbing and washing and ironing are bad enough but I have to get up at sevenAnd hunt meat and fight your way in stores. I\'ve forgotten what a pork chop looks like. I\'ve eaten so much fish I can swim side ways.
Not much news. It is pure winter here. Tell Cousin Mitch hello. Please write a letter.Fondly,ArlettaP.S. I haven\'t heard from Gene in quite some time. I still write to him. He\'s sore at me because I wouldn\'t send him $50 to pay a gambling debt after he won over athousand dollars and sent it all home to his folks. Mel told me she thought he had sent me some. He cut off my allotment, I don\'t care. He was suppose to come home and he got sent to France then to Germany instead. What you sow so shall you reap. If he wants a divorce he can have that too. But he\'s Catholic and he can\'t divorce me, goody. (ha ha) I got a white Canadian soldier wants to marry me. I met in Montreal. He had afurlough and he came to Buffalo to see me. Once a month he sends me money. Cal has opened the Moonglow. Mayme lost her license. She can\'t even go in the joint. What\'s Eva doing
