Dear Mother & Daddy,
"We can hear the officers shouting commands to the soldiers in the gymnasium. They are marching, I suppose. There are hundreds of them here, now. Lots of them come to the studio and some of them are awfully nice. Saturday I talked to an Illinois boy, but I haven't heard of any from Missouri, yet.
Our new boss is just fine. He is English and has quite an accent. He isn't married, but is about 35. He's 4F for some reason or other. Friday night he took all of us girls to the Taft Hotel for dinner. We had a private dining room and the whole thing was quite elaborate.
The Dames meeting was nice this week. The speaker, LeGrand Cannon, is a new author. He is a New Haven person, about 35 years old, and from a well-to-do family. He was very funny and kept everyone laughing. His book, "Look To The Mountain" was book of the month for December. It ran in the paper and I couldn't see much point to it, but maybe someday it will be nice to say that I heard LeGrand Cannon talk.B doesn't have to teach a class at Yale this term so he's going to take a course in German. That will help him a lot.
Last night we saw "Arsenic & Old Lace". It was really funny. I would certainly hate to have to sit across the breakfast table from Boris Karloff for the rest of my days. I feel sorry for his wife, if he has one, because he's the most wicked looking thing I ever saw.
Write again soon."
Lots & lots of love,
B & Bonnie
Note: The stage play, Arsenic and Old Lace premiered at the Fulton Theater in New York in January of 1941, then moved to the Hudson Theater in June of 1944. The film version was released in 1944.
Now I comprehend "why" the cabinets were made of steel, I never connected the phase of metal cabinets with a why. Truly interesting.
ReplyDeleteYour mom had good taste. I love Arsenic and Old Lace too. However, even thow Raymond Massey looked a good deal like Boris in this, I don't think he was in it. :)
I thought that was interesting too. If I ever find time, I'm going to re-watch Arsenic and Old Lace. Karloff wasn't in the movie version, only the stage play as far as I know. I would love to have seen him on stage! Thanks a lot for writing!
Deletei feel as though I've missed something. Why are the cabinets made from steel? Great ad and letters though!
ReplyDeleteMost steel production during the war years was for weapons. What I've read in many old ads however, is that it became very popular for home design, particularly kitchens and after the war, factories looked for new ways to promote steel. Thus, they targeted the American homemaker. It was believed to be hygienic and easily cleaned, and rodent proof. Traditional white painted steel cabinets were a desirable and highly advertised feature in post-war homes and into the 1950s. My mom wanted my grandparents to put steel cabinets in the home they had built, and she loved the clean, "modern" lines. Thanks so much for your comment!
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