Tadashi Nagamori
Headingly, MB on August 3, 1942
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: P.O. Box 23
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: Headingly Man.
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: Aug. 3, /42
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: Dear Joan--
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: Many thanks for your most welcome letter. I received it with greatest pleasure on the 24th. Every letter we’re getting now is cencored [sic] and just to send a letter 30 miles it takes over a week, because every letter we write goes back to B.C. to be cencored [sic].
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: Thanks for the compliment of my letter I didn’t know I write such a letter myself Gee but I sure adore your heavenly letter
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: To-day we have just finished our thinning and at last I’ve found time to scribble few lines
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: We have had one terrible weather for a spell One afternoon the thermometre [sic] climbed over 100° then that evening we had a painfull rain and wind storm. But now the weather have seemed to have settled down.
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: The strawberries and cherries are very scarce out here. The price we pay for a lb. of cherry here is 25 cents. I wonder how the farms are like now. I heard the government have
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: sent [mind-nites?] over to take our place on the farm.
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: The government is now planning on sending more Japanese from the coast for the harvest here. Even the farmers now are getting called up, they are taking mens to about 37.
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: To tell you the truth, the most I’ve earned in a single day was $10.00 for hoing 3 1/3 acres. There are five of us looking after 60 acres.
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: Boy I bet you raked up fat dough in picking strawberries I heard it was 40 cents a crate for picking and 40 cents for loose packing.
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: The mosquitoes are quite bad yet - especially just before and after rain.
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: It must have been a fair size mosquitoes to bite right-throw [through] your underthing. Yes it does get you sore when it gets that fore, doesn’t it.
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: Oh yes we got a privilege to own a radio and a camera here. We had both radio and two cameras there but we had to leave it in the hands of the R.C.M.P. I believe the custodian is now looking after it. That radio wouldn’t be in any use here I don’t think because the dials are different here
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: We have sent for our camera about two weeks ago but it still hasn’t arrived
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: There [sic] both swell cameras too. One takes a card size picture and the other takes 1 1/4 x 1 3/4 picture They both had a nice leather case to it. We have bought one lately to take souvenir pictures and we have already taken 5 rolls of it. This is a bullet type camera that takes a picture size approx 1 3/4x 2 1/2. Soon as we get these rolls developed and if it turns out O.K. I’ll send it.
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: Gosh I’m just waiting for your glamorous picture. Boy but I’ll bet you had a good laugh at my school-day pictures We’ve got piles of those old school pictures too.
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: Dancing would be fun with you Joan, if I know how to dance. My brother took a lesson at [Lallas Moors?] in Vancouver late last Autumn. He tried to teach me then but I wasn’t crazy over it so I couldn’t quite get to dance. Gee but I’d like to know how now.
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: One trouble is we haven’t any radio yet.
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: Your [sic] more up to date in show than I am, the last time I seen one was almost
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: three month [sic] ago when we were stationed at the Immigration Hall. We stayed at this place for about a week and we sure used it went to a show almost every day I think every picture Vancouver gets comes over a month or two later here in Winnipeg.
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: Do you like the Hawaiian Guitar. This is one instrument I wanted to learn for a long time. Gee I’d like to start in on it this winter. Can you play any instrument? I’d like to have some kind of a music around. Gee I bet you just love singing. I like to have you here just to sing for me. I can play a mouthorgan, this is what I learned when I was a small kid.
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: This song (“I like New York in June, How about you?”)
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: I think I could remember Judy Garland sing this in the show called (“Babe on Broadway”)
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: You asked me what the last two pages in your letter reminded you of. The closest I could get to it is. The one you Love. No I can’t think of anything else.
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: Gosh I sure do enjoy the Union steamship. I’ve been on one of these This was on a B.+A. picnic to Bowen Island. It sure is nice along the coast -- isn’t it.
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: Right here you see nothing but a wide piece of land with few houses here and there.
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: When I think of the B.C. I really don’t feel like staying here for the next minute.
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: About that firefly I was going to send you. Gee I’m sorry I promised you but it doesn’t seem to be flying around now. Gosh but I should have saved one for you before. I just went out to look for one but all I could see is the stars. And boy the moon is out nice and bright.
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: Joan you write a swell letter. I’m just wondering why I can’t write any better than this.
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: Your letters getting more and more interesting and I’m glad you like writing to me too. Well I guess I better close here for its past midnight. Bye.
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: Yours As Ever
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: Tad
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: P.S. Hoping to hear from you soon I’ll be expecting your picture at the same time
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: I hope you didn’t mind my poor grammar and cross-outs ect. [sic]
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: About that drawing, I aint much of a drawer but if you can stand it to have it around I’ll try and do one for you.
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Preferred Citation
Nagamori, Tad. Correspondence from Tad Nagamori to Joan Gillis. 3 August 1942. RBSC-ARC-1786-01-63. Joan Gillis fonds. University of British Columbia Library Rare Books and Special Collections, Vancouver, Canada.