Art's Visitors

Art, his mother Ada Belle Price, and his sister Dorothy.

With the wedding tentatively scheduled for September 1, 1951, Art decided to address a long-standing health problem.  He was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in New York City on June 12 for an operation to address the pain in his left knee.

Wednesday, June 13, 1951

Presbyterian Hospital

168 Street, 5th Floor

New York, NY

Dear June:

I miss you so much, darling.  I hope Sunday gets here quick.  I called my folks up at seven.  My sister is coming in with my mother tomorrow afternoon.

I had a visitor tonight – a girl from Southampton who’s training here.  She didn’t stay long because she had to go on duty at 6.  It was nice to see a familiar face.  But don’t worry, darling.  You’re the only one for me.

A guy here who had his knee operated on showed me his scar.  It wasn’t bad.  He had his operation ten days ago and he’s walking around pretty well now.

I can’t seem to think of anything I haven’t told you already so I’ll just say, I love you, I love you, I love you.  I wish you were in my arms right now.  G-r-r-r-r.  You’d better watch out for me when I get home.

Guess I’ll say goodnight now.  I miss you very much, darling.  Be good, don’t worry, and I’ll see you Sunday.

All my love,

Art

(Tomorrow – Nothing could keep me away.)

© 2011 Lee Price

Don't Flirt With the Nurses!

With the wedding tentatively scheduled for September 1, 1951, Art decided to address a long-standing health problem.  He was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in New York City on June 12 for an operation to address the pain in his left knee.

Tuesday, June 12, 1951

126 Lincoln Street

Riverhead, NY

Dear Art,

Well, darling, I was about to write to you when Miss Murray, the teacher who rents the room upstairs, came downstairs to show us the trouble she’s been having fitting a skirt.  Mother and I went up to give advice and stayed to talk.  I’m just getting back to the letter now.

How do you like the ink?  I bought some Parker’s Superchrome Ink today – it’s special for these pens.  I’ve meant to buy some ever since you gave me the pen.  I really think it writes smoother with this ink.

I miss you very much, darling (I guess I kind of got used to having you around!).  But I feel so relieved to know you are in such good care and have such a capable doctor.  I also have a feeling that it won’t be too long, after all.  However long, though, you will be better when you come out and that’s all that matters.  I love you – so don’t you dare flirt with any of those nurses.

Today at work, I asked Francis if she could be a bridesmaid on September 1 – if everything works out alright.  I told her all about your operation, too.  She says that any date in September should be fine.

Good night now, my darling.

All my love,

June

(For Monday – A visiting nurse from Southampton.)

© 2011 Lee Price

The Vital Statistics

With the wedding tentatively scheduled for September 1, 1951, Art decided to address a long-standing health problem.  He was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in New York City on June 12 for an operation to address the pain in his left knee.

Tuesday, June 12, 1951

Presbyterian Hospital

168 Street, 5 Floor

New York, NY

Dear June:

Art on the beach, circa 1950.
His left knee had been hurting
him for years.

It’s so long since I wrote a letter that I don’t know where to begin.  Maybe I’ll tell you the vital statistics again.  Visiting hours are from 2 to 8.  I’m in Room 15 on the fifth floor.  This guy in the room with me seems to have quite a lot of pain.  He’s in a cast from his toes to his thigh.  They did something with his ankle.

My mother is coming on Thursday and plans to stay here for the operation on Friday afternoon.  I doubt if she’s here for the weekend though.  I’ve already had a few needles shoved in me and my leg shaved.

I’m looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, and I’ll call you every day that I can.  I love you so much, darling.  Your picture’s right next to my bed on the nightstand.

Be careful coming into the city.  Good night now, darling.

All my love,

Art

(Tomorrow – Asking a bridesmaid.)

© 2011 Lee Price

Art Hospitalized

Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.

“Art, how is your knee now?  Please, even if it is feeling better, keep doctoring it – after all, I’m hoping to dance the next time we go out.”

                                                                                June Anderson

                                                                                Letter to Art Price, Oct. 1, 1949

June and Art were engaged sometime in fall 1950.  Now we’re leaping ahead approximately nine months to June 1951.  June and Art had tentatively planned a wedding for early September but no definite date had been set yet.  Art decided to take care of an ongoing problem first.

Art had a bad left knee.  He’d lived with it for years but the pain seemed to be increasing recently.  His family doctor referred him to specialists at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, and Art was admitted to the hospital in mid-June 1950.  Considered one of the finest hospitals in the country, Presbyterian Hospital was located on 168th Street in Washington Heights, a Manhattan neighborhood located at the northern tip of Manhattan.

During the winter and spring months when June was working in Westhampton and Art in Southampton, they saw each other frequently and therefore there was no need for their earlier letter writing to continue.  Then Art left town to check into the hospital.  Separated again, the letter writing resumed.  This time, however, Art was in New York City and it was June who waited impatiently for him to return home to the eastern end of Long Island.

(Tomorrow – the letter writing resumes.)

© 2011 Lee Price

The Little We Know About the Proposal

For this entry, we leap ahead from the summer of 1950 to winter 1950.

According to a letter from June 1951, Art and June became engaged on Thursday, December 14, 1950.

Unfortunately, there are no family stories and no written accounts that describe the engagement.

We do know this:  We know that Art proposed and that June said yes.

And we know that this was the engagement ring.

 

(For Thursday – Six months later, Art is hospitalized.)

© 2011 Lee Price

A June and Art Photo Gallery

Pictures of June and Art together in the late 1940s and early 1950s:

(Tomorrow – The proposal.)

© 2011 Lee Price

The World of September 1950

June at the beach.

Skipping ahead to the slightly cooler month of September 1950, we begin building to a big event by first setting the scene.  This was the world that June and Art were living in:

Harry Truman was President.

The Korean War continued to rage on.  September 1950 was the month that U.S. Marines landed at Inchon and and recaptured Seoul after two weeks of hard fighting.  The draft was reactivated this month.

General George Marshall was sworn in as Secretary of Defense.

Joe DiMaggio was the first player to hit three home runs in a game at Griffith Stadium.

Mort Walker’s “Beetle Bailey” comic strip debuted.

The following people made the cover of Time:  Strategic Air Commander Lt. General Curtis LeMay, Admiral Arthur Radford, Berlin’s Mayor Ernest Reuter, and General O.P. Smith.

The following movies were popular in the theaters:  Summer Stock with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, The Black Rose with Tyrone Power, Tea for Two with Doris Day and Gordon MacRae, The Fuller Brush Girl with Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert, My Blue Heaven with Betty Grable and Dan Dailey, and Mister 880 with Burt Lancaster and Edmund Gwenn.

The most popular show on television was Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle on Tuesdays at 8, the second most popular was the Philco Television Playhouse on Sundays at 9, and the third was Fireside Theater on Tuesdays at 9 (doubtless benefiting from its position following Milton Berle).

And “Goodnight, Irene,” performed by The Weavers, was unavoidable on the radio that month.

(For Monday – June and Art romance in pictures.)

© 2011 Lee Price