Helen Rex's 1937 trip to Los Angeles. Concluded.

 “Anyway I think I was pretty brave.”

You most certainly were brave Mother--you traveled alone on a bus from Randolph to Los Angeles in 1937. That’s pretty brave in this daughter’s eyes. And then you found yourself a nice hotel apartment in downtown Los Angeles to live in during your stay.

Continued from here

Apr 4 1937 letter from Helen to her brother Harold in Brazil, describing her trip to Los Angeles to visit Glenn Frazier.

Friday we went to Santa Monica, Ella, Mrs. Eastman, Glenn and I. We had lots of fun. We had our lunch in the nicest café. From the window where we sat we could look right out over the ocean, and we had fish. We saw Betty Davies Home there. It is right on the ocean shore. There is a boulevard goes right around the coast line. We drove around it and saw some of the most beautiful views of the ocean. Then we came out in Beverley Hills and saw Will Rodger’s Polo field and ranch. I can’t explain it to you, you really have to see it all. We will go someday together I hope.

I forgot to tell you, Thursday night, we went to the Palomar dance hall. It is hardly as large as Cocoa Nut Grove in Salt Lake, but more elaborately decorated. Ted Fio Reto’s Orchestra was there. We dance up close to the orchestra pit and watched him p[lay the piano. That was sort of a thrill.

Something else.  I saw Mary Pickford on the porch of her home, and we were driving home Friday night and saw Errol Flynn. Were we excited? Oh, no. Ela, Glenn and I all said at once. “That is Errol Flynn.” I don’t remember whether he was very popular when you left, but he has made some good shows. On Friday night we went to a theatre in Hollywood and saw Romeo and Juliet. It is wonderful. Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard play in it. I hope you can see it someday. This theatre is a Chinese theatre, and in the cement walk in front of it, are the hand marks and feet marks of the movie stars. Janet Gaynor’s Bill Hart’s, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and lots of others. It is quite the thing.

Saturday we went to Exposition Park. The Los Angeles Colosseum is there, where the University of California and Southern California play football. It is simply huge, and that doesn’t explain it. Glenn says he is going to see a football game there next fall. Then there are buildings there with plants, minerals, and all kinds of things telling of the history of California. There is the skeleton of a huge elephant unearthed there someplace. It was all so very interesting, and we had to go through it in a hurry.

Sunday I checked out and started for home, it was awful. I left there at 6 p.m. and arrived home 11 p.m. Monday night. We crossed the desert in the night and with a full moon. It was a beautiful sight.

I also saw the sight where the Mormon Temple is to be built. It is near the University of Southern California. They purchased the land from Harold Lloyd Estate. It is in the beautiful part of the city. You see Hollywood, Beverely Hills and Westwood village are just suburbs of Los Angeles.

There were lots of other things I saw, but heavens I have written nearly three full pages, and I’ll bet while you have been reading this yarn you should have been studying, so must be stopping. The folks will be writing also.

When I came through Salt Lake, I saw Winnie. We had a stop of an hour and a half there. She is fine. She is the sweetest kid. Always has a smile on her face. I would liked to have stayed longer with her, but couldn’t. She is planning on coming home soon, so we will have a good visit. She is taking her vacation in August. Wish you were going to be home, so we could have a good family reunion. Maybe I won’t be home when you come back. If all goes well until fall for us, I think I’ll be making a new home. Glenn has done fairly well so far. There are so many strikes down there, it is rather a hard pull. When you come home, I hope these things are settled up. The place he is working at, has been under strike for two months. If it goes another month, and nothing more happens, then legally the strike is supposed to be over. He will then have a chance to work steady. It isn’t hardly what he wants, but it will be something to live on until he gets into a Diesel Company. It is with the Pacific Freight Lines, but they use Diesel trucks. He wants to work into a company where they sell the Diesel tractors, and all that.

We have been having some lovely rain storms here. Everything is nice and green. There was a dance last night, but didn’t go. I’m still recovering from last week.

Well old dear, We love you heaps and do miss you. Oh, say Willard Tingey has his release and will be home next month some time. One year from now, we can be saying it won’t be very long before Harold will be starting toward home.

Love & Kisses, Helen

Two years ago Winnie’s daughter wrote about her mother and posted here on her blog a lovely picture of Winnie. That is the girl Helen greeted on her trip home to Randolph.