This collection contains letters sent to Karl Emmel of Green Bay, Wisconsin, the bulk of which were written by his parents Caroline and Wilhelm Emmel, with additional letters written by Karl Emmel's sister Johanna. Karl Emmel immigrated to the United States in 1925. His parents, Caroline and Wilhelm Emmel, of Wiesbaden, Hessen-Nassau, wrote lengthy letters to their son almost every month until they also chose to immigrate to the United States in 1927. In 1937, the couple returned to Germany and lived there until their deaths. Between 1937 and 1941 they once again took up the habit of writing a letter each month to their son in the United States. The final letter in this collection was written in 1945, just after the end of World War II in Europe. The early group of letters describe Caroline and Wilhelm Emmel's preparations for migrating to the United States. In the second group of letters, their experiences of living with rationing and making do in the context of war are primary themes.