Letters 1 from the 30s

Evergreen 252

Rockwell, Alabama. 650200

09/20/1931

Dear Jim:

It has been a hard time to look for some paper to write you this letter; we need all the material we can get to repair the holes in the roof and walls and using paper for writing is a thing we cannot do all days, but I needed to write this for you to know the condition in which we are living here in Rockfell.

Last months have been horrible, the great crash affected us a lot because now our crops are worthless and apart from that, no one wants to buy nothing. Furthermore, the sandstorms had beaten up our home and our whole neighbourhood leaving complete families below the sky.

First, I must describe mi house, or well, what is left of it. First of all, our “door” is made of newspapers that remember us everyday of our condition; the windows are not more than holes in the walls that don’t let the light in because they are also closed due to the absence of glass. In the summer the air is suffocating inside, and in winter is freezing, despite that it is an adobe house, that prevents the great temperature oscillations, because the adobe left by the storms id very small, the rest of the house is of recycled materials like newspapers, plastic, old clothes and even with bathroom paper; and we must continue closing holes because also the people in the neighbourhood tries to enter and steal things.

The neighbours aren’t better than us, they are always complaining of rats in the houses, because they don’t have the luck that we have. Their walls are with holes and they don’t have materials to fix them, so the rats  enter and leave the entire place filthy and for worse, eat the food.

I’ll write you soon, now I have to work


Sincerely, Bart