The Fish Letters #1

In honor of what would have been Helen's 98th birthday today here is #1 in an occasional series I'll refer as the "Fish Letters." Helen and her mother dug a fishpond in their back yard in 1933. Last spring I found where it was and started to excavate it back out. It had been filled in for over 40 years.

Since the upstairs attic was their archive, (with 1200 sq ft of space nothing was ever thrown away) I found among all the papers a series of letters dealing with fish for the pond. Here is the first one:

October 21, 19933

My Dear Miss Fox,

We do not ordinarily advise that the goldfish or fancy goldfish be placed in the same aquarium with the tropicals. Goldfish require a cooler water temperature than tropical fish and also more water per fish.

Tropical fish, which have asterisks in front of their names, are not scrappy and will live peaceably with others, providing that the temperature of the water is maintained at 72 to 75 degrees. We therefore, do not recommend that you keep the two varieties together. Keep them separate.

At present, you could obtain an excellent pair of Calico Veiltails at $3.00 per pair, Japanese Veiltails at $3.00 per pair, Veiltail Moors, Medium at $3.00 per pair, Veiltail Moors, Large at $5.00 per pair and Lionheads at $2.00 and $5.00 per pair.

We trust that you will be in the market for some of these beautiful fish and may we have the opportunity to serve you.

Very truly yours,

WILLIAM TRICKER INC
J T Charleson (Signature)
Manager

jtc/ac


And like so many other companies I've looked for in the history of Foxcroft William Tricker, Inc. is still in business! The patch I put in the bottom of the pond last fall seems to be holding, maybe I'll order some plants from them. We did put in two goldfish from the local pet store, one survived the summer, but I haven't seen him lately in the tank in the basement...