6. The Early Days

Esther's homemade Christmas card

Byron and Esther had $25.00 to spend on a honeymoon, which consisted of one night in a nice hotel in New London, New Hampshire, and sailing on Lake Winnipesaukee. After that it was back to Byron's job Monday morning. For the first month of their married life the Bristols lived in Harold's apartment, sleeping on a twin bed in the living room. But they soon moved into a one-room apartment of their own on Park Drive in Boston.

A year later the Bristols decided to take the first big adventure of their married lives and go on a real honeymoon. They had managed to save up a whopping $500, and it took them over 6,000 miles. For three months they drove from coast to coast visiting national parks and two World's Fairs! Much of their trip was spent in California, where they sampled the pleasures of the West Coast, including freshly squeezed orange juice for 10 cents a glass, the excitement of Hollywood, and the wonders of Yosemite. They ate at beautiful restaurants and went to a theater in Los Angeles to see the movie "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" starring Robert Donat. After their excitement-filled trip around America, Byron and Esther returned to Massachusetts, all aglow with the memories of that wonderful honeymoon.

A housewarming party given by the neighbors
with Byron and Esther in the foreground

The young couple soon began looking for a house to buy. No doubt picturing a small starter home, they were surprised and thrilled when they found themselves the proud owners of an eleven room brick colonial style mansion in Boxborough, Massachusetts. When Byron and Esther first saw the place, they were sure that it would be far too expensive, especially when they found out that it was for sale at the enormous price of $9,000. However, amazingly, Byron was able to talk the realtor down to a mere $3,500 for the house and grounds! The young couple settled in and named the old house 'Brickwood'. They were convinced that they would live there for a lifetime, seeing their grandchildren slide down the polished banister and play in the orchards.        

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 Byron soon found work with a man named Neil Tillotson. Neil had invented the first latex toy balloon and had a booming rubber business; he was looking for someone to create a line of rubber toys. Neil asked Byron to design a prototype so that he could look it over. Upon submitting his work, Byron was immediately hired.

After working with Neil Tillotson for some time, Byron went into the rubber business for himself. He specialized in making figures out of rubber and selling them as displays for shop windows. 

As for Esther, she went into freelance artwork. Her first real commission was to illustrate a furniture catalog. She worked long and hard on the project for very little pay, but she knew that it was a start and could propel her into steady work in the world of commercial art. 

Esther discovered that she was especially adept at illustrating children's books. With a few deft strokes of a pen, she could reveal entire worlds of vibrant imagination, and it was exactly what many people wanted. The Bristols were busy doing what they loved and everything seemed to be going right.