Hi everyone! I am very excited about today’s special post. Today we have an interview wth Jason the creator of the blog, “Little Blue Suitcase“.
ABOUT (from the blog):
This blog is about 2 people who found each other during a time when the world did not know if it would end, or if it was a new beginning.
From the basement of a house in East York Toronto, the letters were found in a little blue suitcase by the grandson of this loving couple and he decided to share their story.
Each week I will update the site with new correspondences between my Grandma and my Papa and how their lives were ever changing during this time of separation.
I found Jason and his blog (which we are going to learn all about in the interview below), in a Facebook group I am part of that is all about the 1940s. He had posted about his new blog and what the premise was and asked that we all check it out. Well that was not going to be a problem because he had me at “Love Story”, “Love Letters during WW2” and “Toronto” (because that is my hometown). Sold! So I checked it out and boy was the first letter a delight to read (you are going to love it readers!). I was hooked and now we are here with all of your today.
Okay friends I think we are ready to delve a bit more into the “Little Blue Suitcase”.
THE INTERVIEW
Q: Please introduce yourself and your grandparents.
A. My name is Jason McDowall and I have a wonderful story to tell you about how I found a Little Blue Suitcase and how this discovery changed my life. My grandparents are Bill and Doreen Lewis (below).
Q. Tell my readers about how your grandparents met. How long they had been married for, where did they live? Anything that would set the scene for your blog.
A. My grandparents met when they were 15 and the best part of this story is that my grandfather was the paper boy and he would deliver the paper to my grandmothers and he finally after years of delivering the paper he got up the courage to ask my grandmother out for a date.
They lived in Toronto a few streets from one another, and once they started dating their families became very close.
They were married for 77 years until my grandfather passed away in September 2019. My grandmother moved out of their house in East York where they had lived for 55 years.
76th Wedding Anniversary
Q. How did you / where did you find the letters from your grandparents?
A. When we had to clean out the house and get it ready to sell it, my Mother and I found the suitcase in the basement of their house. We always knew that the suitcase existed, but we had no idea that there would be over 500 letters that they exchanged between 1941, before they were married, through to 1946 while my grandfather was stationed in London England.
Q. Why did you decide to start a blog? And what can we find in the blog when we visit?
A. At first, I wanted to share this love story with immediate family members so that they could read the letters and allow them to have a peak into my Grandparents life. In some cases, they were cousins, aunt and uncles and of course my mother.
But when this started people were responding so well to the initial letters on the blog that I thought sharing it more widely would give people a story that they could relate to, specifically during a time of Covid where we all cannot be together.
Here is a Snippet from a recent post:
November 3rd, 1942 (from Bill):
Hello Darling:
I received your swell letter yesterday dear, and I really am sorry that I didn’t answer it last night. I went to the station show and I came back but, there was a blackout for the rest of the night and I couldnt get it started after all that.
The weather down here has been great too dear, it has been warm and even at nights, but I hope by the time that you get down here dear the nights will be cooler so we can lie close in bed together. It is so nice that the darn flies are bothering me something awful while I’m writing this.
Darling that $60 that you received is all yours and you do just what you want with it. I think myself, taking out a War Bond is a good idea and if you want any clothes or anything go ahead and get them darling.
Well let me see what I’ve done since last wrote. Oh yes, I went to the show on Saturday and saw “Forest Rangers” it was pretty colourful picture with wonderful scenery, but there wasn’t much of a story and darling, you certainly remind me of Paulette Goodard, no kidding. But I think you look a lot smarter and I wouldnt trade you for anyone dear and I mean that always darling. Continue Reading HERE
Wedding day August 5th, 1942. STUNNING 1940s Wedding Fashion. Bill & Doreen look so lovely.
Q. How long did it take you to organize the letters?
A. It took only a few days to catalogue the 500 letters that were exchanged. Once we had them in His/Her piles it was all about putting them in chronological order and then matching up the correspondence.
Q. What has finding the letters meant to you and your family?
A. The letters have meant a lot to my family in several ways. First, we get to know my grandparents are young adults. They have hopes, they have dreams and they have not had a lifetime of experiences to cloud those dreams. They are looking forward to the rest of their lives. Second, we all get to meet a cast of secondary characters who had passed long before I and others were born. We get to meet them as they come in and out of my Grandparents letters and that too has been a real treat. But most importantly, I know how the story ends. I know that they had a daughter, 2 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. But I now get to understand and know how the story started. That has truly been the real gift.
Q. Your grandmother is still alive, what does she think about the letters being shared?
A. Yes, my grandmother is 99 on her way to being 100 in October 2021. We have told her that the letters are being shared to which she has said, “why do you want to read those, nothing important in there” But in fact there is so much richness and details about life in Toronto and Halifax during the 1940’s. And of course, the true love story of my grandparents.
Q. I understand that you are not reading ahead and discovering as you can just like your readers are, but have you have read anything that you were surprised to know about so far?
A. I think a few things surprised me. The first thing was how much time they all spent together as an extended family. There were always folks visiting one another in person. Not over the phone, not using technology but in fact in person. They took time to do drop in and see each other and chat about they days events. Second just how funny my grandmother is in the letters. From simple things like explaining her day or the office gossip, it continuously makes me laugh.
Q. Anything else you would like to mention to my readers?
A. Simply just enjoy as the story unfolds and see how love grows from kids being in love, first kisses, marriage, a honeymoon, separation, and a reunion. It all just warms my heart (I so agree Jason!).
Thank you so very much to Jason for sharing his Grandparents love story with the world, I know I have been enjoying every letter as it has come out and I really hope all my lovely readers will as well. As a reminder HERE is where you can find the ‘Little Blue Suitcase‘.
Thanks for dropping by!
Further Reading:
- World War 2 Women’s Contributions & Homefront Posts
- The Canadian “Rosie the Riveter”-Veronica Foster
- The Bomb Girls Of Scarborough, Ontario Canada-As Seen Thru Vintage Photographs from the 1940s
- The Halifax, Nova Scotia Women Volunteers of WW2
- Canada’s WW2 Home Front Effort: The Small Arms Inspection Building
- Vintage Photo Tuesday: Canadian Women on the Home Front during WWII
- Vintage Photo Tuesday: Women of WW2 “Do Your Part!”
- Lets Play Ball! The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League
- “WW2 Air Force Uniforms for Canadian Women”-Guest Blog Post
- Vintage 1940s Images-Love in the Time of War
- Vintage Images of 1940s Canadian War Brides
Liz
