November 6, 1960 Drama Over the Drapes, Plastic Parties and Bond Issues

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"First, I want to ask for Charlotte's address.  She is going to have a birthday soon and I don't even know where she lives.

This has been a week to beat them all--why, I don't know.  My drapes came from Ward's but they had substituted and sent pairs that didn't match.  The colors weren't good anyway although the drapes were very nice.  I had to send them back.  So I spent a lot of time looking for some in Bloomington.  I would like to have made them but I didn't think I'd ever get it done.  Anyway, I finally found some which had to be hemmed up but I didn't mind that too much.  When I hung them up the panels hadn't been cut the same so the pattern didn't look right.  The store offered to order more but it would take 10 days and I didn't want to wait.  So I spent a day taking out the pleating and cutting one pair off so the patterns match.  I still don't have the big one hemmed up.  At least we have the windows covered and one pair is all pressed and looks real pretty.  I still had a pair of the old ones that I hadn't ruined so I put them in the study and it looks better.

I'm glad you liked my play.  I thought they made it look real nice.  I have a copy to give to Bessie or Ruth, too.  I wrote to Buddy & Bessie and asked them to come for Thanksgiving but haven't had time to hear from them.

I don't like plastic parties at all or any other of those parties.  I can't wash plastic in the dishwasher so I'm not much interested in it now.  My dishwasher is a big help to me and I certainly like it.  It really saves me a lot of time.

I went to a luncheon Wednesday and was co-hostess Thursday afternoon for the women in our department. 

They didn't meet here but I made dessert, took chairs and silver and lots of other junk so it was as hard as if they had come here.  I dashed home from that to get B an early supper for he had to drive 110 miles to give a talk on the school bond issue.  We are fighting tooth and toenail for it to pass next Tuesday.  It's been getting about as much publicity in Illinois as Nixon & Kennedy.

I had planned to finish my drapes yesterday but got a call at noon and had to spend all afternoon shopping for a wedding gift for one of our former teachers.  A big group of people put money together and 3 of us bought the gift.  We bought a silver bowl.

B had a church committee meeting last night and Bob went out to eat and to a ball game with a friend.  Bob had to be at school at 8:30 this morning for some Scout work and then at 11:10 he had to be in the T.V. demonstration.  Ann had to be in one at 10:50.  B and I got to see Ann for a few seconds on T.V. but we had to go to a dedication of our new 10 story dormitory & then to a luncheon.  B & Bob went to the football game but it was too cold for me.  Tonight we are going to a potluck supper & Bob is going to a party.

I must stop and get some scalloped potatoes going to take tonight."

                         Lots of love,

                             Bonnie

NOTE:  The University Bond Issue would allow the state to sell building bonds for higher education.  It passed by more than 100,000 votes.

As for the TV demonstrations, ISNU was experimenting with closed-circuit television in classrooms.  This meant that instruction was delivered (sometimes by student teachers) to children via a TV monitor mounted on the wall.  I thought it was great fun and participated in several demonstrations which were filmed for research use.   During one such demonstration in which the "real" teacher would interject questions to the class, we were told to raise our right hands if we knew the answer, and raise our left if we didn't, in order to appear as if we were all enthusiastically engaged and learning from the CCTV instruction.  All in fun, of course.