Dot’s in a playful mood as she writes about all the excitement at 115 Mason St. First, his phone call, followed by three letters that arrived today. But the really big news benefits Betty. She received a long letter from Gordon, accompanied by a $100.00 money order! I guess in 2014 dollars, that would be a tidy sum. Dot says it’s obvious there are no restaurants in the South Pacific because if there were, a man who likes to eat as much as Gordon does would never have been able to save that much money.
Next, Dot orders Dart to return the package she sent him. I think she’s referring to his Christmas box. Apparently she wasn’t thrilled with the contents anyway, but now she discovers that the best item as been duplicated by other people. She’s concerned primarily with the billfold. If he sends it back she can get him something else or combine his Christmas and birthday gift on something special.
She continues that if people keep giving him things he’s not allowed to use, he should have a complete wardrobe by the time the war’s over. She says if he needs a suit, he can just send her his preferred size and color – hopefully not Navy blue!
She confirms that his mother had sent her copies of the same photos Dart received. Dot hadn’t mentioned them to him because she thinks they look terrible. In her words, “They look too much like a young girl trying to make an impression on the son of the president of Ipana toothpaste.”
To prove that wishes do come true, she is happy to provide him with more of the lyrics to “Lovely to Look At,” which he had mentioned in a previous letter.
At her job, she’s assigned all sorts of tasks, from running the elevator to running errands. Then, when she has to turn in her sales tally, the management questions why it’s so small. Still, she must not be doing too badly because when Mr. Goldstein was offered another man to work in the Young Men’s department, he said he was quite satisfied with Dot’s work.
She writes that she’s glad he liked her cookies, but she’s sorry they arrived all broken up. “They say it’s the thought that counts, but I don’t see how a little thought could have caused all that damage!”
She’s heard Larry Adler on the radio several times and has always enjoyed his playing. It’s hard to imagine when one hears her playing it that the harmonica can be a beautiful musical instrument. Perhaps if she keeps practicing, her name will be on Broadway in “Dot Chamberlain’s Concerto for Sweet Potato.”
There’s a heck of a storm in Greenwich, with snow, rain and hail vying for supremacy. It makes her grateful to be inside, where the smile of Dart’s picture warms her room.
