July 22, 1954
Hi Peoples!
Got your (Mom’s) crushing letter yesterday, so have already set about canceling my reservation [on the Lurline]. ’Course I'm disappointed, but am resigned to the fact that it would be best. I really do see your point and all, but – oh well. C'est la vie, so the trite saying goes.
Since I last wrote things have been going at an even faster and more hectic pace. I'm actually becoming another Mrs. Albert T. Lily CC. Ho Quon herself – that is running all the time from place to place like crazy. But I like it, at least for one summer anyway. It'll be almost a welcome change to sit down and relax a while. But from the looks of things from your various accounts of the activities going on at home it seems as if relaxation is void in the schedule.
To answer all your questions and requests, first of all I told you, Linda is at Hilo, Hawaii, the farthest away Island from Oahu. So it's rather difficult to squeeze in the time to hop a plane over, take her to the beach and fly back. But in the event that I go to the other Islands, I will look her up for sure.
I saw the Watumulls last Monday. Rhoda picked me up and took me over for dinner. [...] Goma and Ellen [Watamull, Rhoda's parents] send their regards. Lila [their other daughter] was also there just home from a vacation in Hong Kong which she described as “divine!” We had a delicious ham dinner, then saw “Prince Valiant”. I mentioned your anniversary, but they said nothing definite concerning their plans. I guess you'll just have to write and get the dope yourself.
So far as that quote “fat boy friend of mine” is concerned, he can drop dead. If he feels that I don't like, he's pretty close. No, really. He's not too bad of an egg and I've been as nice as I know how whenever I see him. My roommate can vouch for that. I can't include him in most of the things I do because 1) I usually go to peoples’ homes or on separate dates, and 2) I rarely see him. The times I do see him he's at the dances I would have included him in. And, if he's not old enough to take care of himself, I hardly think it's my duty to do so. Honestly, he has absolutely no grounds on which to say he feels I don't like him, because I'm a pretty good faker and it's not really true anyway.
As to your last question about love affairs, you know I won't be satisfied with anyone except Howard, the Stone Age kick-back. The first look at his masculine breadth simply swept me into another atmosphere where I still tread this moment. But he's done something which absolutely tears at the very depth of my soul.....he left for the Mainland today to take a course at Stanford. If you're all very lucky, he may stop in L.A., then maybe you can share in the thrill of seeing this grinning geek. Since the dinner dance, I had to go out with him twice. He laid the calendar open for anytime I’d say, morning, noon or night. Not having enough gumption to say to anyone, point blank, I'm busy all the time, I had to go. [...] I'm really not exaggerating about the oddity of this boy. Everyone laughs outright whenever his name is mentioned. In fact several have said there's something wrong with him and I more than believe it.
Now I'll sorta go thru all the days and tell you what I've done since I last wrote.
Friday the 9th Bob took me to the Dole cannery where I finally got to have my long desired drink from the pineapple juice faucet. That night I went to the Lums’ for dinner with about 100 others. After a buffet supper, the adults went out to dance. They're really hep, they've been taking dancing lessons and so were really bopping it up, doing the tango, jitterbug and what have you. What were we kids doing? Naturally, we were inside playing bridge! Crazy evening.
Saturday, the Lums took me to a family picnic, held at the Kapiolani Park. It was one of those deals where all the adults talked and the kids fooled around so Tan and I and a few others were blopped in the middle doing nothing. That evening I went to the 49th Star, a light opera, completely produced, written, acted, directed, etc. by local people. It was fair, but lacked the professional polish seen in Mainland productions. This boy Kim took me, and we doubled with another guy, Jerry, and his date. Afterwards we went to the South Sea for the floor show and Kiwalo Inn for dancing.
Sunday, S.K. Ho [Lily's cousin] and wife took me to lunch at Lau Yee Chai. S.K. looks pretty weak and thin, and Alice is just as dowdy as ever. They took me to their home carefully mentioning it was nothing compared to ours. Gosh! what are you s'pose to say in situations like that. Then we went visiting. Saw Uncle Ben [Soong] where he lives in very comfortable and modern bachelor quarters. From there we proceeded to Aunt Lucy's where I again went through my song and dance about the whereabouts and happenings of each member of the family. Aunt Lucy kept offering me (in a not too tactful way) some mangoes to take with me and I kept declining to be polite. Finally Alice pops up and says, “Lucy, you don't ask her whether she wants some, just get ’em and she'll take them”. Honestly, I didn't have my usual greedily hungry look on my face either. By the way, my gallant intentions of losing the weight I gained since Sept. have all gone to pot, my pot that is. I've gained 2 more pounds already. This is bad business, but you have to eat to flatter your hostess, and I comply quite unplaintively.
Monday was very uneventful. I actually stayed home. I didn't remember what my roommate looked like, so I thought it'd be a good idea to stay home and see her for a change.
Tuesday I had lunch with Snooky and about 20 other young married women. Seven of them were pregnant and most of the rest had 1 little monster. So as usual I felt sorta out of it having not been pregnant even once! Snooky is expecting another in Nov. She's put on weight all over, so looks a little chunky. That evening was my memorable date with Fred. I had a legitimate excuse for coming home early as my exam was the following morning. So that night I madly tore through gales of anthropology.
The exam was a killer subjective. When they were handed back the next week the prof spent about 15 minutes cushioning the shock by saying none of us could write comprehensively and that most of the grades were mere gifts. Then he put the range of grades on the board 4A's, 14B's, 18 C's, 28 D's, +10 F's. All this time I was in sheer agony. I nearly flipped when I got mine back with B+. So never fear, you see, I am getting something out of summer school though it doesn't appear so on the surface. I found out tho, that Oxy [Occidental College] will transfer nothing higher than a C. So whether I get an A or a C, it's a C on my record. Isn't that chintzy?
That evening I went with Kenny Fong to a movie. Saw “War of the Worlds”. It was terrible. Even though all the shows are a few months older than those L.A. I haven't seen any of them.
Thursday, Julia Sia [daughter of Lily's cousin Mary Sia] picked me up in the morning to see the Eastman Kodak pageant. It's a show with hula girls entertaining for the main purpose of letting people get colored pictures and movies. It was very colorful and picturesque. That evening Minnie had me for dinner.
Friday Bob took me to the Hawaii Fisherman's Wharf for seafood dinner. Then we went to see “Caine Mutiny” put on by a local cast. This production, unlike the other opera, was well done and very enjoyable.
Saturday, Sadie [Lily's cousin] had me for dinner because she wanted me to meet “a boy from Boston”. She's just as bad as you Mom, always trying to match people up. He turned out be a local boy going to school in Boston. Poor T.C. [Sadie's husband] was delegated as chief cook so without a murmur he turned out a wonderful Chinese meal. There were some gals from Texas, very wide-eyed and dimpled with an unmistakable Southern accent. They were saying the only difference between L.A. and Dallas was the Cadillacs in Dallas were paid for and the cads in L.A. weren't. Outspoken Sadie pipes up, “Jeannette's Mother's is paid for though.” Also, she always introduces me as coming from “Hollywood”, as she says that she wants me to sound more glamorous! After dinner, the boy Ed Kam took me to a dance sponsored by the American-Chinese Association. I've never felt so old at a dance before in my life. The majority of kids were high school or first few years in college. It really seemed funny not to have married couples and all. In Ed's Cadillac a bunch of us went to the Royal Hawaiian for a coke.
Sunday morning Florence [aka "Simmy", Auntie Elsie's sister] and Mun Kin and the kids picked me up and we went driving around the Island. Mun-Kin lived up to his reputation as being so good looking and virile. Those young gals sure know how to pick them. We stopped at a park on the other side of the Island where we swam and had a picnic lunch of fried chicken. Afterwards they dropped me back at the dorm to change. Then Florence and Mun Kin picked me up to eat dinner in Chinatown. We went to a show and saw a crazy Bob Hope movie. The whole family was so nice. It was loads of fun.
Monday was the Watumulls' dinner which I've already described.
Tuesday, a bunch of gals my age met at the Royal for luncheon and the fashion show. They took me shopping later in the Waikiki district. Saw only 2 dresses I liked, exquisite, but naturally expensive. One was $72 + the other was $90. Darn you, Mom, for instilling such budget-breaking taste in me. (Incidentally, I didn't get them.)
This morning, after class I went to the beach with Jerry (the boy who doubled with Kim and I one night). I came back early because he works in the pineapple factory at 3:00. Practically all the kids get summer jobs doing this.
Well, that brings me up to date on everything up to now. Jacqueline called this evening to ask me for dinner, but can't make it. She's by far the worst gossip of the whole bunch so I'm really watching my step with her.
She told me how completely inhospitable everyone was to her in L.A. and blah, blah about this one and that.
All these folks tell me their gripes about tourists, so I try to take them in and avoid these particular peeves in their presence. They say how ungrateful + unimpressed people are when they try to show them a good time. So when I go anywhere, I pretend to be in a constant state of delirious ecstasy, ooing and ahhing over everything. They always point things out to me in pride thinking there're none in L.A. so I just go along with it and say, “How amazing”, or just gush it up in general. It's funny how most of the folks think we live in a sorta barren place with a few skyscrapers looming above the thick blanket of smog.
Don't worry about my rooming accommodations when school is out on Aug. 3rd. I haven't decided anything definite but I have more than enough offers. Priscilla's parents have a little apartment-like place kinda attached to their home. Since she's about my age and we get along so well, I might stay there. They've been so nice that I really feel funny. They're having a party on Aug. 14 in my honor at their home. So, whatever I decide, I’ll let you know.
VERY IMPORTANT! Would you please send me my white net formal (jeweled top), blue satin stole, and silver sandal heels. I've worn everything I have to shreds and I don't want to buy anything new, especially for a formal. I need it for the evening of July 31, so it'll probably have to be air mailed. But if you don't think I'll get it on time or if it's too expensive to send, don't bother. I'd like it, but it's not imperative.
Also send me a Christmas card so I can show people my excuse for looking the way I do.
This overgrown letter has taken me hours + my hand is positively numb – so
THE END
Loads of luv
The poi pot girl
(this is no lie, you should see me)
Got your (Mom’s) crushing letter yesterday, so have already set about canceling my reservation [on the Lurline]. ’Course I'm disappointed, but am resigned to the fact that it would be best. I really do see your point and all, but – oh well. C'est la vie, so the trite saying goes.
Since I last wrote things have been going at an even faster and more hectic pace. I'm actually becoming another Mrs. Albert T. Lily CC. Ho Quon herself – that is running all the time from place to place like crazy. But I like it, at least for one summer anyway. It'll be almost a welcome change to sit down and relax a while. But from the looks of things from your various accounts of the activities going on at home it seems as if relaxation is void in the schedule.
To answer all your questions and requests, first of all I told you, Linda is at Hilo, Hawaii, the farthest away Island from Oahu. So it's rather difficult to squeeze in the time to hop a plane over, take her to the beach and fly back. But in the event that I go to the other Islands, I will look her up for sure.
I saw the Watumulls last Monday. Rhoda picked me up and took me over for dinner. [...] Goma and Ellen [Watamull, Rhoda's parents] send their regards. Lila [their other daughter] was also there just home from a vacation in Hong Kong which she described as “divine!” We had a delicious ham dinner, then saw “Prince Valiant”. I mentioned your anniversary, but they said nothing definite concerning their plans. I guess you'll just have to write and get the dope yourself.
So far as that quote “fat boy friend of mine” is concerned, he can drop dead. If he feels that I don't like, he's pretty close. No, really. He's not too bad of an egg and I've been as nice as I know how whenever I see him. My roommate can vouch for that. I can't include him in most of the things I do because 1) I usually go to peoples’ homes or on separate dates, and 2) I rarely see him. The times I do see him he's at the dances I would have included him in. And, if he's not old enough to take care of himself, I hardly think it's my duty to do so. Honestly, he has absolutely no grounds on which to say he feels I don't like him, because I'm a pretty good faker and it's not really true anyway.
As to your last question about love affairs, you know I won't be satisfied with anyone except Howard, the Stone Age kick-back. The first look at his masculine breadth simply swept me into another atmosphere where I still tread this moment. But he's done something which absolutely tears at the very depth of my soul.....he left for the Mainland today to take a course at Stanford. If you're all very lucky, he may stop in L.A., then maybe you can share in the thrill of seeing this grinning geek. Since the dinner dance, I had to go out with him twice. He laid the calendar open for anytime I’d say, morning, noon or night. Not having enough gumption to say to anyone, point blank, I'm busy all the time, I had to go. [...] I'm really not exaggerating about the oddity of this boy. Everyone laughs outright whenever his name is mentioned. In fact several have said there's something wrong with him and I more than believe it.
Now I'll sorta go thru all the days and tell you what I've done since I last wrote.
Friday the 9th Bob took me to the Dole cannery where I finally got to have my long desired drink from the pineapple juice faucet. That night I went to the Lums’ for dinner with about 100 others. After a buffet supper, the adults went out to dance. They're really hep, they've been taking dancing lessons and so were really bopping it up, doing the tango, jitterbug and what have you. What were we kids doing? Naturally, we were inside playing bridge! Crazy evening.
Saturday, the Lums took me to a family picnic, held at the Kapiolani Park. It was one of those deals where all the adults talked and the kids fooled around so Tan and I and a few others were blopped in the middle doing nothing. That evening I went to the 49th Star, a light opera, completely produced, written, acted, directed, etc. by local people. It was fair, but lacked the professional polish seen in Mainland productions. This boy Kim took me, and we doubled with another guy, Jerry, and his date. Afterwards we went to the South Sea for the floor show and Kiwalo Inn for dancing.
Sunday, S.K. Ho [Lily's cousin] and wife took me to lunch at Lau Yee Chai. S.K. looks pretty weak and thin, and Alice is just as dowdy as ever. They took me to their home carefully mentioning it was nothing compared to ours. Gosh! what are you s'pose to say in situations like that. Then we went visiting. Saw Uncle Ben [Soong] where he lives in very comfortable and modern bachelor quarters. From there we proceeded to Aunt Lucy's where I again went through my song and dance about the whereabouts and happenings of each member of the family. Aunt Lucy kept offering me (in a not too tactful way) some mangoes to take with me and I kept declining to be polite. Finally Alice pops up and says, “Lucy, you don't ask her whether she wants some, just get ’em and she'll take them”. Honestly, I didn't have my usual greedily hungry look on my face either. By the way, my gallant intentions of losing the weight I gained since Sept. have all gone to pot, my pot that is. I've gained 2 more pounds already. This is bad business, but you have to eat to flatter your hostess, and I comply quite unplaintively.
Monday was very uneventful. I actually stayed home. I didn't remember what my roommate looked like, so I thought it'd be a good idea to stay home and see her for a change.
Tuesday I had lunch with Snooky and about 20 other young married women. Seven of them were pregnant and most of the rest had 1 little monster. So as usual I felt sorta out of it having not been pregnant even once! Snooky is expecting another in Nov. She's put on weight all over, so looks a little chunky. That evening was my memorable date with Fred. I had a legitimate excuse for coming home early as my exam was the following morning. So that night I madly tore through gales of anthropology.
The exam was a killer subjective. When they were handed back the next week the prof spent about 15 minutes cushioning the shock by saying none of us could write comprehensively and that most of the grades were mere gifts. Then he put the range of grades on the board 4A's, 14B's, 18 C's, 28 D's, +10 F's. All this time I was in sheer agony. I nearly flipped when I got mine back with B+. So never fear, you see, I am getting something out of summer school though it doesn't appear so on the surface. I found out tho, that Oxy [Occidental College] will transfer nothing higher than a C. So whether I get an A or a C, it's a C on my record. Isn't that chintzy?
That evening I went with Kenny Fong to a movie. Saw “War of the Worlds”. It was terrible. Even though all the shows are a few months older than those L.A. I haven't seen any of them.
Thursday, Julia Sia [daughter of Lily's cousin Mary Sia] picked me up in the morning to see the Eastman Kodak pageant. It's a show with hula girls entertaining for the main purpose of letting people get colored pictures and movies. It was very colorful and picturesque. That evening Minnie had me for dinner.
Friday Bob took me to the Hawaii Fisherman's Wharf for seafood dinner. Then we went to see “Caine Mutiny” put on by a local cast. This production, unlike the other opera, was well done and very enjoyable.
Saturday, Sadie [Lily's cousin] had me for dinner because she wanted me to meet “a boy from Boston”. She's just as bad as you Mom, always trying to match people up. He turned out be a local boy going to school in Boston. Poor T.C. [Sadie's husband] was delegated as chief cook so without a murmur he turned out a wonderful Chinese meal. There were some gals from Texas, very wide-eyed and dimpled with an unmistakable Southern accent. They were saying the only difference between L.A. and Dallas was the Cadillacs in Dallas were paid for and the cads in L.A. weren't. Outspoken Sadie pipes up, “Jeannette's Mother's is paid for though.” Also, she always introduces me as coming from “Hollywood”, as she says that she wants me to sound more glamorous! After dinner, the boy Ed Kam took me to a dance sponsored by the American-Chinese Association. I've never felt so old at a dance before in my life. The majority of kids were high school or first few years in college. It really seemed funny not to have married couples and all. In Ed's Cadillac a bunch of us went to the Royal Hawaiian for a coke.
Sunday morning Florence [aka "Simmy", Auntie Elsie's sister] and Mun Kin and the kids picked me up and we went driving around the Island. Mun-Kin lived up to his reputation as being so good looking and virile. Those young gals sure know how to pick them. We stopped at a park on the other side of the Island where we swam and had a picnic lunch of fried chicken. Afterwards they dropped me back at the dorm to change. Then Florence and Mun Kin picked me up to eat dinner in Chinatown. We went to a show and saw a crazy Bob Hope movie. The whole family was so nice. It was loads of fun.
Monday was the Watumulls' dinner which I've already described.
Tuesday, a bunch of gals my age met at the Royal for luncheon and the fashion show. They took me shopping later in the Waikiki district. Saw only 2 dresses I liked, exquisite, but naturally expensive. One was $72 + the other was $90. Darn you, Mom, for instilling such budget-breaking taste in me. (Incidentally, I didn't get them.)
This morning, after class I went to the beach with Jerry (the boy who doubled with Kim and I one night). I came back early because he works in the pineapple factory at 3:00. Practically all the kids get summer jobs doing this.
Well, that brings me up to date on everything up to now. Jacqueline called this evening to ask me for dinner, but can't make it. She's by far the worst gossip of the whole bunch so I'm really watching my step with her.
She told me how completely inhospitable everyone was to her in L.A. and blah, blah about this one and that.
All these folks tell me their gripes about tourists, so I try to take them in and avoid these particular peeves in their presence. They say how ungrateful + unimpressed people are when they try to show them a good time. So when I go anywhere, I pretend to be in a constant state of delirious ecstasy, ooing and ahhing over everything. They always point things out to me in pride thinking there're none in L.A. so I just go along with it and say, “How amazing”, or just gush it up in general. It's funny how most of the folks think we live in a sorta barren place with a few skyscrapers looming above the thick blanket of smog.
Don't worry about my rooming accommodations when school is out on Aug. 3rd. I haven't decided anything definite but I have more than enough offers. Priscilla's parents have a little apartment-like place kinda attached to their home. Since she's about my age and we get along so well, I might stay there. They've been so nice that I really feel funny. They're having a party on Aug. 14 in my honor at their home. So, whatever I decide, I’ll let you know.
VERY IMPORTANT! Would you please send me my white net formal (jeweled top), blue satin stole, and silver sandal heels. I've worn everything I have to shreds and I don't want to buy anything new, especially for a formal. I need it for the evening of July 31, so it'll probably have to be air mailed. But if you don't think I'll get it on time or if it's too expensive to send, don't bother. I'd like it, but it's not imperative.
Also send me a Christmas card so I can show people my excuse for looking the way I do.
This overgrown letter has taken me hours + my hand is positively numb – so
THE END
Loads of luv
The poi pot girl
(this is no lie, you should see me)
Summer of ‘54: The Scene | 1: Al: Have I been busy | 2: Jigi: Orchid leis | 3: Lil: Go crazy, kid 4: Wally: Don’t change | 5: Ron: Damn nice of you | 6: Mom: A grand success | 7: Mom: My fashion plate | 8: Lil: Who’d’ve understood? | 9: Jigi: The sexy bastard | 10: Mom: That gleam and glow | 11: Mom: So proud of you | 12: Al: Fast Casanova | 13: Lil: Free coaching | 14: Mom: Simply heartbroken | 15: Al: Most scandalous | 16: Lil: Men!! | 17: Jigi: Gush it up | 18: Mom: Keep it to yourselves | 19: Lil: Bitter today | 20: Lil: Your future brother-in-law | 21: To the convent | The Anniversary Party