Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Fine art of letter writing, Part 2

While my brother Iilya was busy writing friends about our latest (er, ongoing) revolution, I was practicing the best manners any granddaughter could have - I was writing a 'thank you' note to my grandparents. I had met these grandparents just once, and I was scared to death of them.  I didn't know if I had much in common with them, so I told them about our dog, Frieda or Frita or whatever the spelling of the day allowed.

(enlarge the letter, if necessary)
Betsy McCall paper dolls, a pretty teacher, and a pistol of a dog were important to me... After all, I was in first grade and I had priorities. Armies, navies, tanks and submachine guns didn't bother me at all. A polite salutation, a proper thank you, a bit of local gossip, and a personal ending were much more important.


More lessons on the 'fine art of letter writing' will follow.

11 comments:

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

I love getting thank you notes from my nephews. This reminds me of them. I imagine I wrote similar ons (sans the Betsy McCall paper dolls!)

Banjo52 said...

Ah, the obligatory thank you note. What a classic kid's letter. Great! However, "pistol of a dog" is rather precociously creative, isn't it?

Remington said...

I am sure that letter meant the world to your grandparents....I cherish anything I get from my grandkids!

Dog Trot Farm said...

Your post brought back memories of visiting my grandparents in the city of Portland. It was a big deal to leave my home on the Island to spend a weekend visiting with them. I too received Betsy McCall paper dolls and indulged in Drakes Devil Dogs as a tasty treat. My grandmother kept every note I sent her.Thank you for bringing back those long ago memories.

Barb said...

So precocious - and cursive in first grade! I bet you still like to read.

Tash said...

An example of all a girl should be. Sure do like the "pistol of a dog" phrase...ditto on Banjo52's comment.
In old Yugo, there was a kid's magazine (that's still going in Serbia). They would have all sorts of paper dolls cutouts, including lots of cartoon characters. I loved those. I used to create new outfits for them.

Brenda's Arizona said...

Aren't thank you notes from children just the best mail?

My "monkey" and "pistol" descriptions of our dog were obviously ones I heard from our parents or my brother. And I am so glad some remember Betsy McCall paper dolls. Did they come in McCall's magazine? Tash, I would have been your BEST friend!

Thanks, all, for reading and commenting.

Kathy said...

I remember Betsy McCall paper dolls. I don't remember them coming in McCall's magazines because I don't remember my mother reading McCall's. She was a Redbook fan. I think we got them at the dime store in the paper doll section. I was always so excited when they got in a new shipment because I usually managed to collect all the various issues. I had shoeboxes full of paper dolls. Wish I could remember some of the other names.

Anonymous said...

This is so cool. Something tells me you've got a bottomless trunk of memorabilia that you haven't looked into for a long time.

So someone must have called your dog a pistol, and you reworked that to pistol of a dog. Love it.

Elaine said...

Lovely thank you note and one any grandma would be happy to get. I had Betsy McCall paper dolls too, and I know I got some of them from the McCalls magazine. My folks didn't have a lot of money and I didn't have a lot of toys, but paper dolls were affordable. I had a big collection.

How Sam Sees It said...

I think I had those same letters growing up - I still have them when I write to my Aunt in Germany! She is very proper!

Sam