1943 ORIGINAL WORLD WAR II HOME FRONT DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A LONELY, WIDOWED DENTIST WHO SHARES HIS MISERY, DAILY ROUTINE AND KEEN OBSERVATIONS WITH PEN AND PAPER

On offer is a fascinating, original 1943 manuscript home front diary handwritten by an unknown 62 year old Iowa widower who misses his wife terribly; writes of her each month on the day of her death; mentions and sometimes rails at the WPA, civilian blackouts, rationing board, Des Moines, Negro Squadron air base nearby [likely the Des Moines Air National Guard Base] and the Colored Air Base baseball team whose games he attends. He also mentions letters from servicemen who cannot say where they are, a serviceman's death in Africa, furloughs, all interspersed with his daily life of work, boarders and sons. The very well filled diary, which is actually a 1940s appointment book, is legible with some practice as he used a pencil for the most part but we note that much of the man's loneliness and frustration with life can be summed up on Nov. 14th, 1943: "We got the Japs, why don't they just surrender?" While the name and exact locale are not specified local historians and researchers should find enough clues to identify the writer: the book was for dentists and the back cover shows an advertisement for the Tri State Dental Laboratories in Sioux City, Iowa [likely he was given the book by the company]; he mentions Des Moines frequently; his wife's name was Ethel, and sons are Pete and Dick. The writer's birthday was Aug. 6th, and in 1943, the date of this writing he was 62 years old thusly born in 1881. His wife died on July 18th, 1941. He also had a sister named Mabel. The 6 x 8½ inch book is overall VG.; Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, IOWA, WW II, WORLD WAR II, WW2, WORLD WAR TWO, AMERICAN HEARTLAND, THE CYCLONE STATE, CORN BELT, RATIONING, NEGRO SQUADRON, DES MOINES AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, DENTISTS, HOME FRONT, WIDOWERS, GENDER STUDIES, MEN'S STUDIES, AMERICANA,HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, AUTOGRAPHED, AUTHORS, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, ARCHIVE, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNAL, LOG, PRIMARY SOURCE, FIRST HAND ACCOUNT, SOCIAL HISTORY, PERSONAL STORIES, LIVING HISTORY, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL,BIOGRAPHY BIOGRAPHICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PERSONAL NARRATIVES