Letter 11, from Joan aka "Dusty"

[2 of 6]

Wednesday morn

Hi Sal:

It's only me Dusty Marin. We have all this week off from school and seeing that I don't have to go to work till two, I thought I'd answer your letter right away. I'll mail it on my way to work. (See how good I am to you?)

It's beautiful out today. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and it's not too cold. Beautiful day for a nice drive in the country, and I had to go and let

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the chauffeur take my convertible.

I have the radio on right now and they're singin “Tulsa” have you heard it? It's cute.

Pretty soon I'll be a grad of W.H.S. My how time flies. I'm getting old. I'll be 18 pretty soon. It's pretty tough.

You tell your bunkmate I said to let you use the table, after all we can't have you all knotted up ya kno.

Did I tell ya that Moran's Market burned down? Well

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anyhow, there building a new one right around the corner from my house. In fact it's all built. It will open around the 28^th. Real sharp.

Right now they're playing “The Mood I'm In.” And I am too. I think I have spring fever or somethin.

Went to the tote last nite to the Newton Fireman's Ball. It was pretty good. They had some nice entertainment. I was going to sing for them but I didn't feel like it. They had one gal there that

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played music on some cocktail glasses. She was really wonderful. “Just Reminicin” (I don't know how to spell it.) That's what they're playin now.

So you're bashful huh? Well, well, so am I so don't feel too bad.

When I take some more snaps I'll send you another one so you can get rid of that one you have. We couldn't take any Sunday because the sun wasn't out.

Guess that's all for

now.

As Ever

Dusty

I'm going to post this one with no commentary. This time, I'm going to let other people comment. What do you think of this letter from Dusty?

Letter 10, from Joan aka "Dusty"

[no envelope. Group of letters written in May 1949]

[1 of 6]

Tuesday Nite

Hi ya Sal:

How's you? I guess I was wonderin wha happin to ya. I kind of figured you did somethin like that though. Of all things.

The weather here hasn't been too bad. We had a couple of real hot days then it sort of cooled off.

I heard “Gee but It's Cold Outside” I think it's really cute.

Looks like I'll have to come down and take care of that bunkmate of yours. You tell him he'd better

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watch out or I'll come down there and take care of him.

TIF.S.R.LH.H. Means this is for Sal, rush like holy heck.

Can't say that I like that there hillbilly music. Give me popular or light classics any day.

I didn't take any pics last Sunday. I just keep putting it off.

Aha. So you might get home next month. I don't know about sendin me folks out. Besides my mother is only a little girl 4 feet 11. Nothin to worry about.

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I think the prom is around the twentieth or the 24^th. I'm not sure.

We graduate the third. Class day is the second. Just 14 more days of school. Gee Sal all the homework we get. It's awful honestly. I have practically no time to myself at all, but, as you would say, what are ya gonna drew?

My boss asked me today when we get out of school. I said around the sixth. So he said good you can start work full time on the

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seventh. Isn't that awful?

Well Sally I guess that's all for now.

As Ever

       Joany

        --- alias

               Duss

p.s. What happened between you and Joyce?

What does G.W.T.S.G.L. mean?

What happened, indeed! There seems to be a lull in their correspondence (March to May), but we may never know what happened to cause it! Was it problems with the bunk mate? Was it being moved from boot camp? Was it being on the ship? I love Joan's feisty spirit, and I bet she was (and probably is!) a lot of fun. It sounds like she knows just how to get around pushy teenage boys who want to get her alone!

This is a short letter, but it sure does bring up a lot of questions. I mean, what does GWTSGL mean, after all?

Letter 9, from Joan aka "Dusty"

[5 of 5. Written on March 19]

Saturday

Howdle de do,

Guess what!!! We had another snow storm. How do you like that? Here is the first day of spring (so called) around the corner, Monday to be exact, and we have another snowstorm. It makes me so mad.~

Went to the show last night ~ “The Wake of the Red Witch” was playing. It was okey but nothing to really brag about ~ Naturally I got scared stiff when they showed the octopus ~ In fact I was practically underneath the

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seat ~

Just +5 more days till we graduate ~ My how time flies~ It seems it was only yesterday we started school, then it was Christmas, and, after Christmas, the time certainly flew by~

Seeing that we haven't met officially, I shouldn't even be writing to you now should I? ~ I thought Jack introduced us, but I guess he must have overlooked that little article~

Woody was home again last Sunday, and naturally Vivian was in her glory ~ He must be stationed right around here huh ~

Before I forget, I'm sorry for calling you Mr. But gee whiz snooky you never put S.N. on your letters. How's I supposed to know?~ I put Mr. cause I didn't want to be impolite. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry ~ Forgive me?

Now about your rubbers, I'm still looking~ are you positive you left 'em here? ~ Maybe it was over to Gloria's house you left em huh? ~

You know what you can do for me? ~ You can send me some snapshots of you, if you have any handy.~

Too bad you can't be home for Easter, but if you're taking a leave a little later on maybe it would be silly. ~ Are you by any chance coming home in May to take a certain person to the prom?

Well Sally oops scuse me Sal Guess that's olly for now ~

[shorthand writing]

As Ever

Joany

  alias

  Dusty

    alias

    “The Girl with the Green Hair.”

Well, I finally decided to look up when "rubber" started to be used as a slang term, and wouldn't you know, it began in the 1930s. In this letter we realize that neither one of them could have left their rubber boots at the other's house (seeing as we learn here that Sal and Joan haven't officially met in person), so therefore this back and forth about the rubbers, well I'm sure you can agree that it's good old teenage humor at work! We think of kids from the 40s as so wholesome, but I think we can safely say that kids throughout history are up to mischief. But I do wonder what leaving one's rubbers or losing one's rubbers is supposed to be a euphemism for...

Wake of the Red Witch came out in 1948, and featured John Wayne and Gail Russell:  "Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Didneye for the woman he loves, Angelique Desaix, and for a fortune in gold aboard the Red Witch."

  Click here to see a clip of the movie (spoiler alert!).

I was interested to read that WHS seniors in 1949 would be graduating in late March. That's awfully early, isn't it? I assume that the rest of the school went on until summer, wouldn't they?

Is it me or does our friend Joan seem a little more interested in this letter? After all, she does ask for a photo of Sal. And is that a hint there for him to take her to the prom? 

The end of this letter features short hand. Since I transcribed the letters and don't have scans, I am not able to get the short hand symbols translated. Perhaps in a later post!

Letter 8, from Joan aka "Dusty"

[4 of 5. Written March 19, 1949]

Saturday Morning

Hello honey bunny,

How you all? Got yr letter (as you can see) and thought I'd write this morning before I do my shopping.

My Mom is sitting here racking her brain trying to do a puzzle. She says it's the craziest thing. Scuse me while I look up a word in the Webster.

Okay, here I am again. There was a dance last night at the High School sponsored by the Commercial Club. It was pretty good. We had loads of fun. Joyce was there too. Next time I see Woody I'll say

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“hi” to him for you.

Now about those rubbers, honestly sugar foot I can't find neither hide nor hair of em. You won't be needing them anyhoo now that Spring has sprung, the grass has riz I wonder where the flowers is. (I had to put that in. corny huh)

If yr havin troubles with yr face, Woodbury won't help. In fact it will make it worst. I can't use anythin but Ivory on my face. Those Woodbury Cocktails taste like anicette. It makes you sick. Bea gave me some once. I'll never drink it again. Oh! Horrors. Anyhow,

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Sal don't worry too much about the pimples. They'll go away in due time. The only thing you can do (here's some nursely advice) is to drink lots of milk and water, cut down on sweets, and get plenty of fresh air and especially sunshine. The sun dries them up. (I'll send you a bill for services.) Try it though, I'm sure it will work. (I think)

It's really beautiful out today. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and everything looks grand. It's really nice and warm. These are the kind of days I could just walk and walk and walk especially in the country.

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Know what bamby, I think me is getting spring fever. Nothin to worry about though. I gets it every year.

Now Sal, don't go saying things like that after all you hardly know me. How can you all be interestin in me?

The girl I had in mind as a “certain girl to the prom” was Joyce of course. I thought you were going to take her if you got home. I don't know if she's been asked yet or if she's accepted.

Bye for now honey-bunny. I could read the shorthand perfectly. Youse is pretty good at it ya know.

As Ever

Dusty

Attempts to discover what the "Commercial Club" was have failed, so if anyone reading this knows what they were or what it was about, please comment! I also tried to find any sort of image from a Waltham school dance in 1949, to no avail!

Woodbury was a brand of soap, founded in 1870. Their wikipedia entry states that, "In 1936, Woodbury soap was the first product to use a picture of a nude woman in its advertisements." They had a product called Woodbury facial soap that was very popular, and though I couldn't find anything online about a tonic or medicine that one might drink, they were indeed "brought to court for practicing medicine without a license" so maybe that's the anisette-tasting cocktail she refers to.

But all that is not to be confused with Woody. Woody's given name was George, and he hung around with Sal's "gang" (as he called it).

Again with the rubbers talk! I think he may have actually forgotten his boots. But still, I suppose it could be an inside joke. What do you think?

As I suspected, it appears that Sal might have been a little more sweet on Joan (aka Dusty) than she was on him. And notice that she doesn't ask him if he would like to take her to the prom! But yet, she is sure laying on the affectionate terms. But she broke her promise not to mention Joyce again.

One thing I learned is that (at least at one time) Sal could read and write shorthand!

In the previous post, I couldn't find a photo of Woolworth's and the surrounding stores. Well, here you go.

Woolworth's in 1909:

And in this photo from the 1950s you can see Parke Snow:

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.

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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.

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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,

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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. 

Letter 6, from Joan

[letter 2 of 5. written March 16, 1949]

Wednesday Nite

Howdy do Sugarfoot:

Here we are down here and we just had a nice big snowstorm, about six inches. The most we've had this year ain't it?

I'm glad you see that my beauty exceeds that of Ava Gardner (ahem, who you trying to kid? Certainly not me, I hope.)

Gee, that was a swell walk we took, weren't it? I never realized Washington was soooo beautiful. I guess we'll never find such lovely places in Waltham, so a walk wouldn't be quite

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as nice here. Still, our little city has some interesting places hey what? Anyhow I guess I just love to walk.

How do you know what kind of eyes I have? You've never been that close, and don't tell me you saw me in your dreams.

You know what? I tried wheaties but it don't work. My hair is still just as dull and drab as ever. Oh well, who cares (me) (I mean I)

Saw your brother couple of times as I was shopping.

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In fact, I saw him just Saturday.

The mardi Gras was last night, and they crowned the Queen; namely Anna Mula. I understand she is very lovely, but, of course you already know that. I didn't go to that one because I went to the French Mardi Gras (shux I din't win the television)

Before I forget, I left my rubbers up there? Will you bring them to me when you come home? Gee, tanks

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I saw Joyce today, and she said that she wrote to you I imagine you have the letter by now. So you can see she's not mad at ya (now you can sleep nights again)

Still haven't heard “Gloria” but “I'll See You in My Dreams”

Joany

p.s. Thanks for the tip but I use Revlon.

This letter reveals young Sal's obvious attempts at flattery and flirtation. But I fear that he may have been so over the top that he missed his mark. Joan doesn't want to accept that she might look so nice as Ava Gardner (pictured right)!  And flattering the beauty of her eyes didn't seem to work, either! She really was a tough sell, it seems. 

Still, Joan seems to have made a visit from Waltham, Massachusetts to Washington DC, and they seem to have had a lovely walk. But are you wondering what I'm wondering? Is it possible that leaving their "rubbers" is an inside joke of some kind? Or could both of them actually have left their galoshes at the other's place?

And we get a bit of a glimpse of Joyce again. Clearly, there was some sort of misunderstanding between her and Sal. We may never know what it was, but it may have had something to do with her unceremonious treatment of Vic.

The "p.s." in this letter is also quite funny. I guess Revlon was a popular brand even back then! Now, for the songs. First, here's the sad song, "Gloria," recommended by Sal, followed by "I'll see you in my dreams."