Lantow Postcards (To Kate)
7 gelatin silver prints, inkjet prints on vellum over found postcard, typewritten text on aged paper; 2019.
In collaboration with Hugh Hoagland.
1 (original found postcard)
Mexico Mo. 4/8-19
Dear Mother, I hope this day will make you feel better and stronger, so you may live to see many more birthdays are the wishes of your son and family.
Gus
2
6/18-22 Mexico Mo.
Mother,
We are prospering here. The end of the war has brought us waves of jubilance. Gertrude has recovered from her bought of influenza. We are well here. Delphin speaks of you in great fondness, and wishes to visit again soon.
Kind regards,
Gus
3
Mexico Mo. 11/13-28
Mother,
As I eagerly await your correspondence, you have disappointed me yet again. Are you well? Work has been sparse, so I cannot afford to visit this month.
Sincerely,
Gus
Write here…
4
Mexico Mo. 3/31-30
Dear Mother,
We have been evicted. I now have no address to give you. The Hoovervilles of St. Louis beckon, though we will move south-west instead. I hear of a great dam that is being built; Delphin and I seek to find work there. There is no need for a plasterer in this town.
Be well, mother,
Gus
5
Truesdail Mo. 10/6-41
Mother,
Your gravestone is well tended. Gertrude and I have decided to remain here momentarily. Delphin must soon report to the draft in Kansas City. We already fear for the worst, and yet our fears continue to worsen. I miss you dearly, mother.
Love,
Gus
6
7/19-43 Springfield Mo.
Mother,
As you permanently rest in Truesdail, I have followed Gertrude to Springfield. O’Reilly has kept her mind away from Delphin at the warfront, though she is terrified of seeing our son among the wounded. He ought to be a father, but instead is forced to fight for our nation. Who will fight for him?
Love,
Gus
7
Warrensburg Mo. 4/8-46
Dear Mother,
Your birthday has come once again. I write in poor health. I am very weak, but I am thinking of you. We still await Delphin’s return from the war, though it ended many months ago. We do not know where he is at this time, and so we pray for our son. I long for my family to be together.
Yours,
Gus
Augustus “Gus” Lantow was born in 1870 or 1871 in Missouri.
His mother Kate was born in 1846 in Switzerland and immigrated to the United States.
Gus married Gertrude in 1900, and in 1907 they had a son, Delphin.
In 1910, the family lived in Johnson County, Missouri, about 65 miles southeast of Kansas City.
Delphin died on July 30, 1916 of appendicitis. He was nine years old.
By the end of the 1910s, Gus and Gertrude had moved to central Missouri.
Gus sent this postcard on April 8, 1919 from Mexico, Missouri. His mother lived about 65 miles southeast of Mexico, in Truesdale. She lived with her daughter Josephine and her family. The postcard was sent on the occasion of Kate’s 73rd birthday.
In 1927, Gus and Gertrude were recorded living in Topeka, Kansas, where Gus was an instructor at the Capital City Commercial College
Gus worked several jobs in his life. He was a teacher of penmanship, a plasterer, and a penman.
Gertrude died on February 15, 1930 in St. Louis, age 55. She and Gus had lived in St. Louis at the time, and he continued to live in the city for some time. After Gertrude’s death, Gus married a woman named Viola, and they moved back to central Missouri.
Kate died on February 25, 1937, age 91.
Gus died on February 3, 1954, age 83. He lived in Warrenton, adjacent to Truesdale, where his mother lived. He is buried with Viola.
Gertrude, Kate, and Delphin are buried near Gus in the Warrenton City Cemetery.