Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Title
Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family
Creator
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958
Identifier
WWP23066
Date
1919 September 16
Description
Letter from Jon Bouman to his family.
Source
Gift of William C. and Evelina Suhler
Subject
Correspondence
Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920)
Contributor
Rachel Dark
Denise Montgomery
Language
English
Provenance
Evelina Suhler is the granddaughter of Jon Anthony Bouman and inherited the family collection of his letters from the years of World War I. She and her husband gave the letters to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum in 2013.
Text
13 Place de la Bourse
Paris Sept, 16, 1919
Dearest;
As the pound sterling is getting dearer every day, I have just bought your draft for pound 50, costing 37.80 francs per pound! The normal rate is 25; it is really getting serious. Fortunately we are paid at the rate of the day so that we don’t lose. Of course that is allright for those of us who spend all their money in France. They get an enormous number of francs for every dollar or pound, but when you are sending it out of the country, that is where the pinch comes, for a franc will now not buy anything like what it used to. Fortunately again, I am guaranteed by the A.P. against loss on the transaction, but neither do I benefit by a single centime. However I am glad enough to be able to send you remittances as I am doing.
Moroney has bought a second hand motor car, he has got the craze badly; talks about nothing else. His wife has some money, I believe.
I have got a beautiful brass shell case, decorated by hand by a Russian soldier. Miss Baulard, the typist, has a French grandmother, who lives in what was occupied territory. When she visited her last she saw a decorated shell which she was told the Russians made in their ample spare time, and sold for 5 francs. So at my request she wrote for me and I got it today. It is beautifully worked and the price is of course ridiculous. It ought to be 25. I am sure you will be delighted with it. The Russians had a camp close by and they have gone now, so it was a lucky chance. It will make a delightful flower vase.
As I wrote last Sunday, I haven’t much news today. Nothing more from Roberts yet. Hope to have good news from you again soon. With much love to all,
Thine, Jack
Paris Sept, 16, 1919
Dearest;
As the pound sterling is getting dearer every day, I have just bought your draft for pound 50, costing 37.80 francs per pound! The normal rate is 25; it is really getting serious. Fortunately we are paid at the rate of the day so that we don’t lose. Of course that is allright for those of us who spend all their money in France. They get an enormous number of francs for every dollar or pound, but when you are sending it out of the country, that is where the pinch comes, for a franc will now not buy anything like what it used to. Fortunately again, I am guaranteed by the A.P. against loss on the transaction, but neither do I benefit by a single centime. However I am glad enough to be able to send you remittances as I am doing.
Moroney has bought a second hand motor car, he has got the craze badly; talks about nothing else. His wife has some money, I believe.
I have got a beautiful brass shell case, decorated by hand by a Russian soldier. Miss Baulard, the typist, has a French grandmother, who lives in what was occupied territory. When she visited her last she saw a decorated shell which she was told the Russians made in their ample spare time, and sold for 5 francs. So at my request she wrote for me and I got it today. It is beautifully worked and the price is of course ridiculous. It ought to be 25. I am sure you will be delighted with it. The Russians had a camp close by and they have gone now, so it was a lucky chance. It will make a delightful flower vase.
As I wrote last Sunday, I haven’t much news today. Nothing more from Roberts yet. Hope to have good news from you again soon. With much love to all,
Thine, Jack
Original Format
Letter
To
Bouman Family
Files
Collection
Citation
Bouman, Jon Anthony, 1873-1958, “Jon Bouman to the Bouman Family,” 1919 September 16, WWP23066, Jon Anthony Bouman Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.