Sat, Jan 15, 1944: half century

"I'll take this occasion to wish you a happy birthday, Dad, since I notice that the 19th is this week.  Fifty sounds old, but, unlike most men of that age, you look and act like a comparatively young man -- no white hair, bald head, etc.  A half century is a long time and 50 candles on the birthday cake should provide enough light to dispense with the expense of electric lights for a while."
-- Letter from my father, Sidney DeVere Brown, Cape Girardeau, Mo., to my grandfather, Leonard Reeves Brown, Bloomington, Kans., Saturday, January 15, 1944.