Letters from Grace...

There were a couple of challenges I had to deal with to work with these letters.  First off was the fact that they were written  by a 7 year old so it was important to me to create a book that reflected that.  I didn't want anything too sophisticated looking so I decided to use cork paper and chalkboard cloth for this project.  The second challenge was that there were no envelopes for these letters.  It appears that they were all opened and stored flat because there are no real creases set in any of the papers.  So I wanted to bind them into the book without folding them.  This meant that the book had to be a little bit bigger than the ones I've done in the past which I think actually helped to add to the overall cohesiveness of the project. 

This book measures 11" X 8"x 1" closed.  Upon opening the book you'll find a note from me:

That says:

Grace harding wrote these letters to her mother and daddy over the period of 1927 to 1929 while she lived at Mrs. M. Lewtas Burt's School for Tiny Tots in Peekskill NY. 

Grace was an average student who got along well with her class mates and seem to enjoy her time at school.  She writes of sleigh rides, birthday and Halloween parties and her part in the school play. She was a thoughtful and caring little girl and in her letter to santa after asking for a sled, a book, a game and some dishes she hopes that she has not asked for too much.

Grace fell sick several times over the school year with whooping cough, the measles and other general childhood maladies but through all of them she continued to write to Mother and Daddy asking them to come see her during the upcoming weekend. 

Grace was 7 years old in 1927 and these are her letters...

There are 38 letters and two of her report cards in this book. 

On another note:  I want to thank all of you who wrote to me about the death of my dog Robin last weekend.  Your notes and emails meant a lot to me and I appreciated every one of them.

Comments

[judy hartman]

Another wonderful book! I love kids and it must be fascinating to read about the life of a young girl during that time period. Again you've put these letters in a beautiful, safe context.

[Alis Clair]

Sue, this is a wonderful tribute to this little girl. A wonderful way to show her letters.
Her writing is so beautiful, a work of art in it's own right, and very fitting it should have your beautiful book to keep it safe.

[Linda Walsh]

Good morning, Sue:

I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog and gave your blog an award on my Linda's Blog (http://lindawalshoriginals.blogspot.com) today.

Thanks for always inspiring me.

Have a wonderful day.

Linda

[Mags]

T love the work you are doing using those letters Sue. Tricia mentions in her comment that her mother was born in 1927, so was my SIL, Muriel. I'm sure she would have kept any letters sent to her during her lifetime and she has also kept meticulous Diaries all her life. Those would be so interesting.

[Melissa]

wow sue -
what a wonderful tribute to this little girl's letters. you made a beautiful work of art.
melissa

[michele]

When I saw the heading for your last post, I had to stay away. I am terribly sorry for your loss. I am extremely sensitive to the loss of pets, and could not read it. I wish you the best, and to hold the dearest memories of your sweetheart with you always. michele

[Sandy Jandik]

YOu really captured the feel of the letters in that book. That's perfect.

[Terri]

Oh wow Sue! This is such a special and meaningful book. You have been creating such wonderful books with these old letters.

[Tricia Cook]

Hi Sue,
I was just reading the details of Grace's Letters and realised that you were talking about a little girl who was almost the same age as my mother.
I don't know how things were in NY in those days but I do know things were difficult in the Uk. Between the wars there was quite an awful depression in this country. Times were extremely hard.
My mother's parents were travellers my Grand Father was from a true Romany background.
Well, I'm not sure if you would be interested, but as you like ephemera I thought I would send you a link to my post from one of my blogs. If you scroll down you will see a picture of my mother taken in 1928 in York, with her parents. I have documented the details of the photo on that page. I went on to make a piece of work inspired by this photo and it is on the next blog in that month, in April. Well I thought that you just might find it interesting, here is the link:

http://lets-create.blogspot.com/2008/04/tif-challenge-for-april.html

I hope you find it interesting Tricia