Burroweb

"I meet Aileen" 

by Larry Burrow

(excerpt)

"One day in the latter part of November or first part of December 1932 while on duty at the radio station at Nome, Mrs. Woods the wife of the Operator in Charge called my attention to a telegram that we had just received. It was a wire to the Nome school board saying a new school teacher would be arriving soon. Mrs. Wood said, 'now there is a nice girl for you.' Asked her how she knew. Mrs. Wood said she knew her family in Ketchikan. Mrs. Wood was raised at Craig, Alaska, the daughter of a missionary. Craig was only about a hundred miles from Ketchikan and all the mail was routed to and from Craig through Ketchikan.

"I didn't give it any more thought, just that another married woman was trying a little match making. A few days later Mrs. Wood said the new teacher was on the way and that her name was Aileen Spaeth. My reply was, 'So what?' I should have known better, you can't fight city hall.

"On New Year's Eve one of the big dances of the year is held. That is where I first saw Aileen. Like any new face in town and especially a school marm, they are much sought after. I think the ratio of men to women (unmarried) was about 10 to 1 which included the older high school girls. School teachers and nurses if single when they arrived, lasted about one year before they were married. The mortality was high. Had a dance with her. She don't remember it, but I do. Even know the dress she was wearing was a black velvet one.

"During the winter months we had a indoor baseball league which consisted of four men's teams plus a married women's team and a single girl's team. We played our games in a big hall dating from the gold rush days. It was known as the Eagles Hall. Had balcony, box seats plus a big stage. It took four big coal stoves to heat it, one stove in each corner. I was captain of the Federal team, all players were in the Coast Guard, Alaska Reindeer Service, Marshal's Office, Alaska Road Commission and Weather Bureau. One day I was approached by a couple of the girls from the single girls' ball team and asked if I would coach them a little. Seems the married women were beating them all the time. Also they complained that their coach was a married man and his wife was a player and believed pressure was being brought to bear on his coaching by his wife. So I consented to help them out. At the practice was where I met Aileen for the second time. We got acquainted at the practice games which led to dates. Incidentally the girls won the rest of their games with the married women. The biggest dance of the year is 'Washington's Birthday' and held at the Masonic temple. I had been initiated into the Masons the year before so Aileen was my guest. From then on things were pretty much on a going steady basis."

Aileen meets Larry

(first mention of Larry in her weekly letters home)

"There was a local talent follies production last night & I honestly think it was about the best thing of the type I ever saw. The banker's wife directed it & the children & girls who took part sang & danced marvelously well. The movie folks also put on a skit that was a good laugh, & I enjoyed the whole program a lot. I went with our baseball coach, a young fellow who works in the Signal Corps. He seems like an awfully nice kid so I don't mind his showing an interest in me, but I suspect I'm about 5 years older than he. His name is Larry Burro, & on the back of the sweatshirt that he wears at baseball, he has a picture of a burro's head."

Aileen Spaeth, letter to mother, Lucy Spaeth, in Ketchikan, February 12, 1933

Hollywood comes to Nome

The MGM movie, "Eskimo," which won the first Academy Award for film editing, was filmed in the Nome-Teller area during the winter of 1932-33.  The film was based on the writings of Danish explorer/writer Peter Freuchen, who served as technical advisor and played the part of a sea captain in the movie. (Freuchen devoted two chapters of his autobiography, Vagrant Viking, to the making of "Eskimo.")

Together with fellow teacher, Mona McCausland, Aileen hosted Freuchen for dinner in her room at Nome's Pioneer Igloo Hotel:

"Mona & I entertained together at dinner tonight - or rather she furnished dinner & served it in my rooms. She has only one room, & wanted to invite Mrs. Yager, our landlady and her husband, so I offered to go in with her. She insisted on providing the dinner herself, tho, and it was a very good one. We had another unexpected guest, too, and one who was very interesting. There is a motion picture company at Teller now filming a play called "The Eskimo" and our guest was the author, Peter Freuchen, Arctic explorer & author, of Denmark. He's way over 6 ft. tall, I think, at least he seemed to about fill my little room when he stood up, has regular "House of David" whiskers & long hair, and an artificial leg - probably had his own leg frozen. He has lived in Greenland & explored around Hudson's Bay & Baffin Land for years - has been to the Magnetic Pole - so you can imagine how he interested us, to say nothing of his picturesque appearance & manners. He entranced both of us by kissing our hands when he was introduced - an act neither of us had experienced before.

 

"The whole movie company is going to move down here as soon as the planes can fly again - would have started today, in fact, if it hadn't been for the storm. This Mr. Freuchen & two others came yesterday, & all that Mrs. Yager has room for will stay here at the Igloo. I guess there'll be some high old times here for a while, then. They are going to build a whole village of snow igloos about a mile from town, for the films. They'd have finished up long ago if there'd been more snow, but I guess we'd more here than at Teller, so that's why they're coming here."

Aileen Spaeth, letter to Mom, January 29, 1933

"One morning I woke up about 3 am smelling smoke. I had bachelor quarters in the radio station and parked my car behind my bedroom window. I looked out and could see smoke coming from it. Was able to put it out. Evidently a match had gotten between the seat and the back and had been smoldering for some time. By this time a couple other men had seen me putting the fire out. They also knew that Aileen had been out to a party or dance that evening. I always had to make the 1 am weather schedule so I never did get to bed until after 1. Anyway one of the men (one of the other radio operators) spread the word that the reason the car caught fire was the torrid necking that was going on in that car. I never did live it down."

Larry's 1928 Overland 6, and dog "Shep" on running board, Nome, 1933.

 Aileen gets first ride in Larry's car & Larry accepts baseball trophy

"Last Sunday shortly after I finished my letter, Larry drove up in his car, having just got it out of the garage. He hadn't driven a gearshift before, so he was glad to let me take the wheel for our first ride - out to the airport, about 1 1/2  miles from town. The seat was so far from the pedals that I had a hard time reaching, and the next day my arms were lame from holding myself up to the wheel. The only road open yet is out to Little Creek, about 3 or 4 miles away, and I guess Larry has made good use of it because he has almost 100 miles rolled up on his speedometer already. 

"Wednesday night there was a dance for all the baseball players & their friends, and the trophies were awarded to the winning teams. Our team got a cup standing about 5 inches high, including the pedestal. We don't know what to do with it because we have no headquarters, but Florence, who was our captain, has it at present. She wasn't able to be at the dance so, Larry, as our coach, had to receive the cup when it was presented. Naturally he got lots of cheers & applause as the representative of the single girls, and was not a little embarrassed."

Aileen Spaeth, letter to mother, May 14, 1933

First ships of year break through ice to Nome

"Such excitement as there has been in town the last couple of days! The "Victoria" got in yesterday afternoon, and the Coast Guard flagship "Northland" came sometime in the night. It & another boat have been held up by ice for about a week, and then when the "Vic" came along she came right thru without a hitch. It was beautiful weather, & we watched her from the time her smoke was visible until she dropped anchor. The ice had been clear out of sight here for a long time, but now a lot of it is drifting around again.

"The stores all have their green stuff out, and I bought a cucumber & some oranges to start with. I have boiled a piece of reindeer meat & tomorrow I guess I'll get some carrots, & cabbage, etc. & have some stew. I didn't get to do much today because I was out in the country. Yesterday I tried some baking again, but am afraid I'll have to give up. I tried Ruth Lokken's recipe for date cakes, but altho I baked them for hours the bottom refused to cook, & the top got scorched.

Aileen Spaeth, letter to Mom, June 12, 1933

(Click images to enlarge)

Aileen squirms on marriage prospects

"There is a current rumor that the "Vic" is going thru the inside passage this trip, but I didn't know it until we'd started ashore yesterday. If she does I'm sure the girls will try to look you up, especially Florence, and by then you will have met all my fellow teachers except Jean. I don't know what kind of reports they'll give you about Larry and me, but whatever they are, don't let it bother you. Since school is out it seems as tho we've been together a great deal, and I know that to some folks in town we're just as good as engaged. But as far as we're concerned, there is no more prospect of that than there was the first week we knew each other. If there were I'd tell you long before I told the people in Nome."

Aileen Spaeth, letter to Mom, June 18, 1933

Aileen says Yes

On August 6, Larry was transferred to a one-man radio station at Candle, a small village northeast of Nome near Kotzebue Sound. From there he wired his proposal of marriage to Aileen in Nome, on August 27. She wired back her acceptance, quit her teaching job, and, a week later, on September 3, flew to Candle where they were married that evening. 

Aileen tells Mom

"I'm awfully glad I've already told you how interested I am in Larry, because what I have to say now won't be such a shock to you. His having to go to Candle has changed our plans a great deal, and after three weeks separation we know just what to do. By the time you get this letter I'll be in Candle and you will have to address my mail to Mrs. Larry Burrow. You probably wonder why the rush, but if you can form any idea of what kind of place Candle would be I think you'll understand - not more than 20 white people there, probably, so it would be mighty lonely for a young fellow who wants to live decently. As for myself - Larry has asked me to come and I want to - that's all that matters. I thought I should stay here at least long enough to pay off my debts, but that seems to be a secondary consideration to him. He has plenty of money to take care of it and buy all the furnishings we'll need, and still have some left.

"All this has happened in the last 2 days and I've been so excited I hardly know what I'm doing. I hadn't had any letter from him since he left here, and then Sunday I got a wire asking if I'd come on the next plane. We made all our arrangements by wire, with the kind help of the new chief here, and nobody else knew about it until I had decided to go. This man is the one Larry replaced at Candle so his wife is able to tell me what I need to take for the house. I handed my resignation to the school board this morning and the member I talked to didn't seem at all surprised to get it.

"There are a lot of things I have to think of and do in the next few days, and as soon as I can organize my brains a little better I'll add something to this letter."

Aileen Spaeth, letter to Mom, August 29, 1933

"Guess I didn't tell you that Florence (last year's 7th & 8th grade teacher) was in Nome last week on her way to Kotsebue where she is going to teach this year. She stayed with Jean & they gave a shower for me Friday evening & tried to surprise me by pretending Jean was entertaining for Florence. Shirlie was in on it, too, and it was her job to keep me from getting there too early. There were 10 ladies there & they hemmed dish towels & made two aprons for me during the evening. There were packages concealed in various places about the house and I had to find them, with the aid of some appropriate jingles and whatever hints I could get from the others. The jingles all had allusions to certain things Larry & I had done together, such as fishing, baseball, hunting etc., and were very clever. Most of the gifts were very useful and included some pillow-slips, towels, a tea set, a cotton blanket, lunch cloth, housedress, a lovely wool comforter covered with green rayon-taffeta on one side and orchid on the other, and a big basket that came from Noonivak Island, I think. It was from Gore's and is practically round, & large enough to use for a clothes hamper."

Aileen Spaeth, letter to Mom, September 7, 1933

The "appropriate jingles"

(Click images to enlarge)

Larry tells Dad