Florida Moon

Lake Worth, Fla.  February 11, 1942

407 N. “M” Ave., Lake Worth, Fla.

I would like to hear from you if you have time.  c/o Mrs. Camp

Dear Irene & Dear-


Well I got here fine & on time.  Are having loads of fun but still can’t believe we are ourselves.  Went swimming in the salty brine Tuesday & got in our eyes, nose and mouth.  It smarts too.

Gee the town is just beautiful.  Palm trees with coconuts, hibiscus in bloom & several other flowers.  Are going to drive to Palm Beach this P.M.

Gee this card doesn’t hold much.

Love Vicki

P.S.  We will see no full moon while here now.  Shucks!

Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Miller

141 Goldsboro Pl. N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Vicki, tantalized by the beautiful full moon on the front of her inadequately spaced postcard, suddenly realized that she came to Florida for the moon!  Vicki-  it's called "the Sunshine State" for a reason!  Still, Vicki's style of writing calls to mind some fast-talking dame of a 1940's movie, with just the right balance of poetry and interjections.

Sadly, Vicki's winter getaway is now a parking lot for the Sacred Heart School which opened about two years after this postcard was sent.  As discovered in previous posts, the Miller's residence suffered a similar fate, so it's difficult to discover exactly who the Millers were, even though we now know Mr. Miller's wife's name.

Municipal Auditorium, Lake Worth, Florida

Lake Worth, Fla., February 17, 1942

Dear Irene:

I am a lovely shade of pink today- just mild case of sunburn.  No matter how careful I am, I manage to resemble a well-cooked lobster.  I was going to write before, but I couldn’t because I didn’t get sunburned until today.  We’re still enjoying every minute here.

Love- Ubendeer?

Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Miller

141 Goldsboro Pl. N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

This is on the top of the list for the lamest excuse for not writing.  I didn’t get sunburned, no obviously I couldn’t write.  I can only put pen to paper unless I am going through horrific agony with lasting and perhaps permanent damage to my skin.  At least she's not "Great Balls of Fire" like Vicki was in yesterday's post.

By now, the Millers are probably horrified that the unforgiving sun is charring and disfiguring their friends in Florida.  Since Miller is a common surname, and Grand Rapids is a fairly large town, I still have not found any credible clues to their identity.

The Municipal Auditiorium in Lake Worth, FL (incorporated as Lucerne in 1912 by the Palm Beach Farms Company) is now home to City Hall and is one of the prominent points of their Historic District.

Florida's Stately Royal Palms

Lake Worth, Fla. February 17, 1942

The palms are beauts!  You are good.  You get 2 cards from me.  Lucky devils

L.W. Fla. 2-16-42

Dear Irene & D.

Well, Irene how does it see, to be a stay-at-home for a change.  On the 13^th I remarked that was the last day you worked.  Al wouldn’t write what I told her to write you so I will say it.  Right now I feel like great balls of fire but am as brown as a potato. Ran into Theda Koeze? Waolker? This P.M. at the beach.  The only day she expects to spend in Lake Worth.  Strange?

82 degrees here today- still zero up there?

Love Vicki

Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Miller

141 Goldsboro Pl. N.E.

Grand Rapids, Michigan


I don't know if I've ever described a sunburn as "Great Balls of Fire," but Vicki must have had a deep tan from that burn.

The Royal Palms pictured here are native Florida species, and were planted to line the streets in many south Florida communities.  I'm sitting under one right now.

As to the Miller family- we ran across Beatrice Miller yesterday, living in Lebanon, PA.  The Michigan Geneaologist from the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries lists a Miller and Cochran Furniture Store from 1894.  Their house no longer stands, most of it developed into a large campus of an unknown organization.  Another interesting coincidence is that a Dr. D.W. Miller, Jr. wrote a recent paper against water fluoridation that began in Grand Rapids, MI in 1945.