Dear Miss Blue,

I am so happy to hear from you since the last few days have been quite dreary; even though spring is here, we are still having cold weather, wearing our winter coats and scarves.  

Now I will admit, Miss Blue, that I have been hoping to have some excitement in my life so that your letter with the picture of the beautiful Sing So Long inviting us to the Orient in June was a blessing!  I have already set aside my silk scarves and gowns with designs by the famous Chinese designer Cha Cha Ling.  I do want to make the proper impression when we are in the Orient.  Do you remember my darling skirt pleated in sixteen gores?  It flared out when I walked fast and everyone watched while I stopped and twirled around and tossed kisses with my hand.   Do you remember my silk kimono, Miss Blue?  It was a creamy ivory color and I loved wearing it around the house and often would stand in front of my full length mirror feeling beautiful in my kimono (made in Japan, of course).

We always have such good times when we are together, Miss Blue and I will reserve a seat on an overseas plane soon. 

Love, Pearl 

PS  June is the time of roses and if they are in bloom I shall bring a large bouquet wrapped in red tissue paper.

Dear Pearl,

Our dear old friend Sing So Long has invited us to the Orient for June. She is still arranging maple leaves for the Emperor's floral arrangements, as you can see from the photo she enclosed with her letter.  We always had such a good time with her, didn't we, Pearl?  Those pot stickers she made for us whenever we were blue.  And the teakettle cozys sewn to look like little kimonos.  My feet always ached after wearing the silly wooden sandals she loved to share with us. And what pleasure she took in Russian Teacakes and Spritz cookies!  She said they sounded like characters in a spy novel!  I hope that you will be able to come with us - it's only a month, after all, and most of your clubs shut down for the summer, don't they?  

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

Tulips growing in a roomy pot here on my porch, Miss Blue, the bulbs planted in the winter so that they can bloom just in time for Easter Day and every year the blooms surprise me with their long stems and vibrant color; sometimes  red and then yellow.  Their stems are very strong so that the tulips can stand up straight and show off their beauty.  I must tell you, Miss Blue, that I have a beautiful heather plant; It is called Erica Heather native to South Africa.  Long ago, the musical Brigadoon was playing on Broadway in New York and I hurried to buy a ticket so I could hear that mesmerizing song, "The Heather on the Hill." Music keeps memories alive and even now I find myself singing and humming "The Heather on the Hill."  

Always the young students of the best Art Schools bring their education and ideas of making everything more beautiful and smart; industrial design I would say, exciting and contemporary.  Good for Eleanor and Esther.

All my love to you and Melba and Fanny, Pearl   

Dear Pearl,

It is wonderful to be at home again!  Spring has arrived and the daffodils and early tulips are poking up through the old matted vegetable material. . . Mrs Highbottom's nieces skated over yesterday on their way home from the Academy.  Both are studying to be interior decorators of the most refined kind.  At a glance they can tell a Louis XIV from a Louis XVI leg!  Eleanor is predicting that indoor gardens will be the next big trend.  And Esther thinks that curtains for mirrors will take off as a decorating idea.  I would be very interested in that!  Think of how lovely it would be to look at yourself only when you actually intended to do so!  A very organized way to live, don't you agree?

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

Reading your letter about the visit to the circus with the orphans from the Kinder Orphanage brought back memories for me.  Mainly about the elephants that were trained to perform with the friendly visitors, especially children who only knew about elephants from their storybooks. So Dieter was brave when he sat on the elephant's trunk as the elephant walked to and fro.  Franz offered a peanut or two to Jumbo, very diplomatic for so young a boy.  

The Detroit Zoo was built in late 1928 and we visited once every summer.  The concept for running a zoo was not to keep the animals in cages but allow them to be in their own natural environment - moats, rocks, caves with, of course, a barrier to keep people and animals safe. One of the most cherished memories is of the elephant ride; for a nickel, sitting on a bench on the back of the elephant, along with five or six other children and strapped in so we wouldn't fall off the elephant's back, we sang and clapped our hands and the parents watched and took pictures of us.  My father with his new Kodak was very thrilled about it all.  He had the pictures developed and I have one still, somewhere in a box along with other long ago moments. 

This very day  when I'm out and about, I'll stop at my favorite liquor store and bring home a bottle of Singer's Lament. How nice that the brewery named their beer after you, Miss Blue.  

Love, Pearl 

Dear Pearl,

Yesterday I took the children from the Kinder Orphanage with me to visit the circus, Pearl.  They were so excited to have the day off from all those lonely things orphans do normally that they were very delightful company indeed!  Franz and Dieter fell in love with the elephants during the performance and were so obviously entranced that the Indian fellow who trains them invited the boys back to see the goings on under the pachyderm tent.  Dieter was so brave he let Jumbo pick him up with his trunk!  Franz was not as brave, but he did allow Jumbo to eat a peanut out of his hand.  I'm very glad the children liked their time with me!  I miss Fanny and can't wait to get back home.  Melba has finished her family tree investigations and has already left for home.  I'll take the train that leaves the day after tomorrow. . . I'm the guest of honor at the brewery where they have named a beer after me - Singer's Lament, they call it.  Very sympathetic of them, don't you think, Pearl?

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

How sad that your vocal chords were strained so that you weren't able to sing as beautifully as you always do.  And how nice that Boris had a few horehound candies there in his vest pocket to offer you.  Horehounds are soothing to the throat and I always buy several bags and keep them handy whenever my voice begins to sound sharp and weary. A product of the 1920's, Miss Blue. The 1920's were a happy time. We loved to dance to the music of the Charleston; skirts held up a little and arms criss-crossing at our exposed knees and we would sing and dance to the Charleston. We wore dresses straight and slim and middy blouses with sailor collars and bobbed hair. Caruso was singing on stage with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and my father even named our canary after Caruso. And that is how it was long ago in the 1920's.

Love, Pearl

Dear Pearl,

I did not claim first prize at the Lohengrin competition, Pearl.  That silly high C when the Mad Hatter is throwing the cups at Alice?  It came out sounding squeaky.  I knew at the time, too, and just forced myself to get through the rest of the performance.  The judges did mention that I had very good posture and that they liked my earrings so I felt they did appreciate my being there. . .

The party the next night was completely wonderful!  The decorations were lavish - champagne bubbles and streamers galore.  I danced with Boris, a smooth talking impresario from Stuttgart who worked his way through music school working at the brewery that Frieda started. When he realized we were practically family, he offered to sell me the very same cough drops that Caruso uses to keep his vocal cords slippery!  

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

I loved reading about the brewery, a very smart idea from from Otto Stuttgart as Frieda discovered! Of course, driving around in a convertible does tend to make an impression on the folks there in Lohengrin.  I hope that the brewery invited Frieda to tour and taste their golden colored German beer. The German people are very gracious; always wanting to show the most sincere hospitality to visitors and even offering several bottles of beer to take home - a gift, of course. I can imagine that after a few miles Frieda simply had to pull over to the side of the road and park, probably under a lovely shade tree, and take a sip or two right from the bottle.  That's how it is, Miss Blue, the Germans love their beer! And whenever I am out and about I always order beer over wine!  Sometimes the menu offers stuffed cabbage with the beer - another German tradition and a favorite of mine - a perfect tasty lunch.  I love it!

Love, Pearl

Dear Pearl,

Melba, too, is convinced she has branches of her family tree in Lohengrin.  She has left in the convertible to interview the relatives of Otto Stuttgart, her great great great uncle on her mother's side. Although the Stuttgarts had been farming the area around Lohengrin for generations, it was Otto who had the very good idea to switch from soybeans to hops.  His green thumb made the family wealthy and his daughter, Frieda, started the brewery that continues to this day!  If you happen to be visiting while Melba is there, do drop in on Frieda and the beer works.  A cold frothy beer makes total strangers family in a hurry!

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

I loved your letter about Lohengrin, Germany. I visited Lohengrin many years ago to find out about my relatives who had lived there and farmed the land and grew all the food they needed. They canned the many varieties of vegetables and stored them in their food cellar underground, a place with a very heavy lid that was hard to open. A grownup had to lift it, so if we children were sent to bring one of the items in the cellar to the kitchen, we needed one of the aunts or uncles to help us.  My aunts made everything - bread, coffee cakes, and the best cookies, Lebkuchen, a Christmas tradition with a lot of honey!

And finally I want to tell you that I can hardly wait to hear you sing the Mad Hatter song made famous in the Broadway production of Alice!  I will sit right there in the front row, Miss Blue so that I can enjoy your elegant voice! 

And now, an afterthought:  Wouldn't it be great if we traveled to Lohengrin this Christmas? Let me know so that I can brush up on my German.

Love from Pearl

Dear Pearl,

Lohengrin is turning out to be the most charming place, Pearl.  The villagers are so nice and they include me in all their invitations - last week I didn't have a single cup of tea alone in my room!  I'm trying hard to keep my vocal cords as slippery as possible for the competition on Friday.  There's no heat in my room so I've adapted my rabbit fur muff into a muffler for sleeping.  It's a little tight around my neck but it preserves my high C.  I'm singing the Mad Hatter aria from "Alice."  I won't have all the props I usually use - the flamingo croquet mallets and the rain of cards - but I will strive to seem to be utterly and completely, truly, madly, deeply, MAD.  Wish me luck, dear Pearl.  If I win, I'll be coming to The Met for a performance and we'll be able to revisit all the gay scenes of our early days!

I Remain as Always, Your Devoted Miss Blue

Dear Miss Blue,

I am so happy to hear about the kittens romping about and loving their new names, not that they had any previous names, only now they are true citizens of the world!  March has many references. In my school long ago we always recited "March Winds and April Showers, Bring Forth the Bright May Flowers." I loved reciting that verse in front of my homeroom class. Everyone loved the verse and on my way home from school, whatever month, I just kept reciting it over and over again.  
I am not surprised that Melba fashioned a Toga to show off in the Ides of March fund raiser.  I imagine Melba hurried to the department store nearest your house to buy the perfect white percale cloth for her lovely Toga (I really had to research Toga-making since I have never seen anyone wearing one - not even on Halloween at a Halloween party.  Of course, wearing a Toga in the chilly month of October would have to be at a Halloween party. Costumes in my day were all about witches and clowns and black cats)

I would love to be able to show a picture of Melba in her fashionable Toga, Miss Blue. It would be Sensational here at the Lanterns. One of my neighbors sews her own clothes and they are very smart and elegant. I'm sure she would be willing to supervise a Toga making class including visits to the Fabric Store close by to buy the just perfect cloth for our Togas.

Sending you love, Miss Blue, and hoping to hear from you soon.

Your Pearl