Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

This past fall, workers were busy remodeling an old brick house in the neighborhood where I walk our dog, Una. Over the course of a couple of weeks, I found a number of papers in the pile of leaves out front, which I suppose surfaced during the renovation.

They consist of personal correspondence dating over 40-some years, the latest one in 1983. It's impossible to tell, of course, if the correspondent was alive after that date or what the circumstances were of their surfacing now. Were they tucked in a wall or stuck behind a cabinet somewhere? Did they flutter up from underneath a floorboard?

The letters are not terribly personal in nature, but are, instead, mostly businesslike. The first one is the closest to being a personal letter, a postcard addressed to the correspondent, Frank, at an address at Girard College. The note is postmarked Jan. 29, 1947.

Fellow Hummers: -

Will you be kind enough to inform as many of your classmates, as possible, by mail or otherwise that there will be a series of dances at the Alumni House at 1502 Poplar St., Phila., Pa.

Starting Saturday, evening February 8th,.

All Hummers, their wives and their sweethearts are invited, there will be no charge.

If you want an active Alumni get behind its Social committee, Come out, We are planning other affairs for the future.

A little searching with Google reveals that Hummers were boys who had once lived in an orphanage in Philadelphia, nicknamed the "hum". More than one of them moved on to Girard College, a Catholic university.

Apparently, the skill of punctuation was not emphasized in their schooling. Either that, or the note writer had a sticky comma key.

The next letter, chronologically, is from a magazine, World Tennis. It's a business letter, dated October 15, 1970.

Dear Mr. D:

Thank you for your letter of October 8.

We are enclosing samples of classified ads as they appeared in our October issue. These ads run from 1" to 3" (we occasionally run a 4" ad). Classified ads are usually placed in the back of the book but sometimes are run throughout.

If you are having your ad prepared, you may run it however you like, with whatever type border you like, as long as you see to it that we are furnished with offset material. If we set the type for you, it will more or less conform to the samples enclosed (page 68).

The rates are $25 per column inch of $18 per column inch if six ads are run consecutively. All classified ads are payable in advance and no cash discount is allowed.

Our closing date is the 15th of the month two months prior to publication date (November 15 for the January issue). If you are planning to advertise in January, we would appreciate receiving your copy and check on or before November 15.

I do hope that all of your questions have been answered. If we can help further, please let us know.

Kindest regards.

Sincerely,          

L.    M.              

As someone who has worked in both publications and marketing, what's most fascinating about this letter is how much things have changed in the last 36 years. Can you imagine any major magazine today selling ads at the rate of $25 per column inch? I'm sure even classified ads are pricier today.

The letter writer includes a lot of information in this letter, considering that it was typed by hand on a typewriter. One would think it would be simpler to have a preprinted enclosure listing ad prices and policies. Perhaps the magazine was very small in those days. This is supported by the fact that, instead of discarding old stationery with an outdated address, someone took the time to obliterate the old address and stamp a new address next to it.

An undated note from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals in Perkasie is handwritten, stamped "From the Desk of Al Abrevaya", who happens to be the cofounder of the company, sold in 2005 to Mars Inc. There's no indication, though, that he's actually the one who made the notes, since it could easily have been Frank, borrowing some paper from the desk during a discussion.

Coal                                   Hard
                              no absorption

Charcoal
                                                                     Low quality
                                                                      Soft
Hobbyest Grade                                                Floats

Professional Grade                                          Clean

Research Grade                                        Hard
                                                               Dense
                                                                  etc.

It seems as if the note taker was trying to decide which type of grade to use for a project. This seems to indicate the person writing the notes might have been Frank, getting the information from someone at the company.

The final handwritten note also comes from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, but from a different employee there.

FRANK,                                                                                           7-20-83

Please see me ASAP regarding our new catalog. There is a problem concerning the Ammo-Carb copy.

                                                     Thanks,

                                                      L.

According to PetCo.com, Ammo-Carb removes deadly ammonia, toxic organic waste, colors, and foul odors. Keeps aquarium water crystal-clear and ammonia free.

So with these four letters, each of them fairly insignificant, a portrait of Frank emerges. He was an orphan who attended Girard College, had an interest or association with tennis, and worked with the aquarium products industry, possibly in the marketing department or perhaps with development.

Whoever he was, his former home is now getting a new face, and soon all traces of his life will be removed from it. Unless, perhaps, another letter or two lurk in a forgotten corner, behind the hot water heater or under a loose step, waiting to provide more evidence of his life.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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