Teens Make Christmas Shopping Easy
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Hill Country Living
By Coulter Fussell
I hope that you have had a Merry Christmas and/or a Happy Holiday! Mine was low-key in terms of shopping because I have teenage kids and all they want is cash. Teenagers just cut straight to the chase, don’t they?
In terms of this column, Santa Clause already brought me my gift this year in the form of an epiphany. A month or so ago it occurred to me that I could use a notes dictation app on my phone to transcribe the Wagner Letters!
I can’t believe it took me so long to figure this out. I will say, when I first got these letters well over a decade ago, voice transcription software was rare and very expensive. You had to buy giant headphones and a microphone set up. And I kept reading that it didn’t account well for regional accents which wouldn’t work well for me because I tend to sound…not like a newscaster.
So, for years I’ve just been propping an unfolded letter up on the arm of my sofa while I read a line, type a line, read a line, type a line and so on until the entire letter is done. It’s slow work and really hard to do when the ink is faded, the letter doesn’t want to stay unfolded and the handwriting is that of a half-literate chicken, which makes it easy to lose track of where I am in the letter. It’s also hard to go back and forth between typing and reading the letter when my eyesight is failing because, according to my eyeballs and math, I’m middle-aged. But now, I can just read the letters out loud into my phone! I’m saving hours of work!
For a meta moment, here is a letter that Daniel Wagner dictated to his secretary (I can tell by the differing handwriting that it was dictated.) I will now dictate the letter it into my phone, which will write it for me!
Water Valley
October 8, 1884
My dear son John,
Your welcome letter came duly to hand, also your report. I was glad to receive both and I must say you did very well and hope you will continue to do so.
Yesterday you were 16! Almost as old as I am. You will soon be a man! You must make good use of your time for in a few more years you will begin the “Battle of Life” and I assure you the better use you make of your boyhood days the better “soldier” you will make.
We are all tolerable well. Corinne mashed her thumb. Jessie is not very well. I am feeling very well. We are all very dry and dusty and business is very dull. Cotton coming in very slowly. The mill is only paying expenses.
We are looking for a letter from you every day. We all send our love to you. George has a velocipede, Calista a new doll, Corinne a ring, and Jessie new paints and books.
Write soon,
Your affectionate Father
