Handwriting
Learn more about the book "Marcel's Letters" and the font P22 Marcel Script, which is based on the handwriting of conscripted WWII laborer Marcel Heuzé
Carolyn Porter, Marcel Heuzé, Marcel's Letters, Handwritten Letters, World War II, P22 Marcel, Typography, Love Story, Reunion, Daimler, Berlin, Marienfelde, STO, Forced Labor, Service du Travail Obligatoire, WWII
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December 23, 1943: “Hoping…the bad moments that we are all going through will soon be ended.”

Front and back of yellowed postcard written December 23, 1943

Lyon, December 23, 1943

My little Etta,

I hope that this card will give you the most sincere wishes that I am sending, hoping that the new year will be good for you, and that both of you will enjoy good health and that the bad moments that we are all going through will soon be ended.READ MORE

December 21, 1943: “tender kisses that I form very far from you but are no less sincere.”

Front and back side of handwritten postcard from WWII

December 21, 1943

My beloved little darling,

I was happy this evening to read your letter of December 6, learning that you received your money order and yes, my darling, so far I have had a good amount on pay day but believe me, your words of thanks touched me also this evening. READ MORE

December 17, 1943: “Seven more days of shopping until Xmas”

Four page handwritten letter, written December 17, 1943

Friday, December 17, 1943

Dear Maggie, 

There is still very little to write about and we’re all getting a little bit tired of this riding but guess we’ll make out all right. I won’t be able to mail this for some time yet but am writing anyway. Will send you a number of letters in one envelope as I did the last letter I sent. I’m going to try to send a wire soon so stand by. READ MORE

March 24, 1918: Letter written by Emery Porter who was “Nowhere in France”

This letter was written and mailed by my grandfather, J. Emery Porter, to his sister, Lois Bayley. Forty or so of Emery’s WWI letters to Lois have survived (read more about these letters here). On the back of the envelope (shown above), he included a return address: “Pvt. Emery Porter, 646 Aero Squadron, American Expeditionary Forces, via New York.” I never met my grandfather, but I heard he was a life-long French speaker and unabashed Francophile, primarily due to the experiences he had while stationed in France.

 

“Nowhere in France”
March 24, 1918

Dear Sister,

I was the happy recipient of your letter today. It is the second I have received from home folks. I received one from Mother two weeks ago this morning but nothing since. Evidently you have written others which I may yet receive. This one was dated March 2nd or 3rd. Emily K. has written six but I have received two so far so you can judge why I don’t respond often.

READ MORE

“My father was friends with Marcel Heuzé”

Our conversation began with this astonishing claim: “My father was friends with Marcel Heuzé.”
(Cue the sound of a needle scratching across a record.)

Let me back up. Two weeks ago, I picked up my office phone to hear a 90-year-old woman with a crisp French accent state her name — Nelly Trocmé Hewett — followed by the astonishing claim her father had been friends with Marcel.READ MORE

December 26, 1944: “Somewhere in France”

12/26/44
Somewhere in France

My Dearest Wife:

Well Christmas is here an gone. It didn’t even seem like Christmas just like another day. Christmas Eve we didn’t get in till about six. After we ate I washed and shaved. Was [illegible due to paper damage] to a little party they were having over in his Co. Then we were going to go to midnight services. READ MORE

December 24, 1943: “I’ll say a prayer for the best little family in the world.”

24 December 1943

Dearest little Mother,

Just a short time ago we finished with morning (9 A.M.) sick call. I have had indications that today might be a very busy one so thought I’d better get off your daily letter early.

Tonight is Xmas eve and I can just see you hanging up a little pair of stockings by the chimney with care. What are you giving Mike for Xmas dear? Pretty hard to think of things for a little tyke like that isn’t it? Gosh I’d certainly like to be with you tonight. I will in spirit anyway, especially when I am in church tonight. I’ll say a prayer for the best little family in the world.READ MORE

December 22, 1942: “I wish I could put into words what I have in my heart.”

Dec. 22, 1942

Dearest Wilma:

Received two letters of yours, today. One written the 23rd of November, the other a v-mail letter written the 31st of August, the new and the old.

Don’t you ever change the way you have been writing your sweet letters! I’ll admit they just about knock me off my feet, but it’s just what I want to hear. I wish I could put into words what I have in my heart and mind, but I am afraid I would make a mess of it. Perhaps you’ll remember some of [the] things I told you a long time ago. It all goes double, now.READ MORE

Interview with Ann Marie Ackerman, author of Death of an Assassin

 

CP: Congratulations on the release of “Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee” (Sept 1. 2017, Kent State University Press). This fascinating story would have been entirely lost to time if you hadn’t put together these German and American puzzle pieces — congratulations! Tell us a bit about the mystery you solved:

AMA: Thank you, Carolyn! Actually, it was two mysteries, one on each continent.READ MORE