Sun, Feb 1, 1942: quite a crowd

"There was quite a crowd at Aunt Flo's to-day.  All Flo's brothers & sisters & families (except Harlands) were there, of course you weren't and Elaine has chickenpox so Wilma Jean stayed home with her.  Then Tommy Hall's, Ernest Price's and Wilber Barnes' were there too.

"Had a fine dinner but of course ate too much."

-- Letter from my grandmother, Bloomington, Kans., to my father, Southwestern College, Winfield, Kans., Sun., Feb. 1, 1942.   
     This quote says something about gender roles in 1940s Kansas, where home was seen as women’s domain and work as men’s domain -- a framework that’s less sharply defined these days, but certainly still present.  Both my grandparents were one of eight siblings.  The family had big gatherings almost every Sunday at my grandmother’s place or at one of Dad’s aunt’s houses.  They always referred to those houses by the aunt’s name, not the uncle’s (“Aunt Flo’s,” not “Flo and Everett’s,” “Uncle Everett’s”).  Grandmother’s letters are filled with lists of attendees, such as this one, and just a little about her work as a schoolteacher.  Grandfather’s letters, by contrast, were filled with details about farm work, and just a little about family gatherings.