Letter 7, from Joan aka "Dusty"

[3 of 5. Written March 18, 1949]

Friday Night

Evenin:

How you all? I'm fine now thank you. You can't keep a good man (I mean girl) down.

You should see Moody Street now. It looks sooo funny. They tore down Woolworth's completely and Parke Snowe's and Bell's look lost now. They're supposed to rebuild and from what I hear, it's really supposed to be somethin.

We haven't started graduation songs yet, but we are going to start next Tuesday.

II

We graduate June 2. We're supposed to have outdoor graduation. Mr Huff says he really wants to make it a big affair. We'll be the hundredth class to comgradulate ya know!

Guess what? We had April showers here today. It really poured and then the sun came out.

Excuse me bunny but I have to get up awful early tomorry so I'll finish this letter in the morning after I get home okey?

Good night now.

III

Good morning. It's nice out today. The sun is (oops it just hid behind a cloud) out. It's kind of chilly out but we can't complain.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, and we'll all go to church and get our palms. I hope it's nice out. Then next week is Easter. My, my “how the time goes by.”

Now, the little matter of the picture. I'm in an awful fix. You see it seems I promised more pictures than I had. I had fifty made and I have two left. The trouble is though I've promised about seven more people. Honestly, Sal,

IV

I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't afford to have any more made. How does a snapshot appeal to you? Let's put it this way, if I give you a big picture, it will take up more room, but, if I give you a snapshot, you can just file it away someplace. Now, if it so happens that certain other people forget I owe them a picture then you'll be first in line. Okay?

I can't remember what I wrote in shorthand last time so I can't explain it. As for Joyce, I'm sorry. I won't say another word about it.

As Ever,

Joany alias Dusty

Tel. Wal. 5-6917-M

I almost forgot to give it to you

Telephone numbers sure looked a lot different in 1949! This letter is a little bit of a downer, though I can't quite put my finger on why. Is it the fact that Joan (aka Joany aka Dusty) tells Sal that he didn't make the cut for a photograph? Or is it the mention of Joyce, and ensuing apology? Or perhaps it's the baby talk and the diminutive term "bunny"? What do you think?

Information on Mr. Huff or the 100th graduating class of Waltham High School is eluding me. I would have liked to include some sort of image with this post, but all I have found is this old postcard of WHS:

I also tried to find a photograph of the old Woolworth's, Bell's, or Parke Snow's, but could only find images of what they look like now as a Dollar Store and a Mattress Giant. So if anyone has photos or information on any of the above, I would be thrilled if they shared it. So for now, I 'll end with the song "My How the Time Goes By." I have to admit that I was shocked to see blackface in this video. But it's an interesting (if not disturbing) relic of the time, and actually a good song. The set and costumes (minus the blackface, of course) are also delightful.