Sepia Saturday: Yours Till

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt is every family historian’s dream:  the family bible.  That record of births and deaths has been at the core of many a fight when dividing the family treasures.  My sister and I didn’t have that worry because there was no family bible to fight over.  

We eyed a different object of desire – an autograph book.  

Autograph book belonging to Mary Eleanor Davis Slade
entries dated 1940-1941

One day while Momma was undergoing chemo treatments, my sister and I sprawled out across the bed with her and pulled out the autograph book.  Unlike most things that were packed away, the autograph book was always nearby in a valet on the dresser.  We had read it numerous times.  Oh, there are no famous signatures, just silly poems written by Momma’s friends back in 1940 and 1941 when she was about 11-12 years old.  Yet we always laughed hysterically as if reading them for the first time. 

That day Momma said, “All the nice things in this house and you’ll probably fight over who gets the autograph book.”

Hmm, wuddayaknow, look who has it.

Silly poems, bad spelling, and promises of devotion penciled on faded pastel pages of pink, yellow, and green reflect the innocence of the pre-teen years and the emerging interest in BOYS.  I don’t know if the autograph book stands on its own or if it’s one of those “you had to be there” to appreciate it.  So at the risk of failing to amuse, I am sharing some of my favorite entries. 

Dec. 25, 1940

Shenandoah

Dear Mary,

When you get married and live on a hill send me a kiss by the whipperwhill.  [sic]

Anne Staples

[a friend who lived one street away]

May 29, 1941

When you get married and move down South remember me and my big mouth

When you get married and married [sic] and have twins.  Don’t come to me for safty [sic] pins.

Three little words

Forget me not

Your Frined [sic]

Iris Budd

[a neighborhood friend in Cradock]

Dec. 25, 1940

Shenandoah VA

Dear Mary,

Do as your mother bids you, and do it with grace.  And when the boys try to kiss you slap them in the face.

Yours till the Mississippi River runs dry.

Margaret Jennings

[a friend who lived next door]

Dear Mary Eleanor,

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of blue

He’ll kiss you once and ask for 2

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of gray

He’ll kiss you once and turn you away

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of black

He’ll kiss you once and turn his back

Don’t kiss a boy with the eyes of brown

He’ll kiss you once and turn you down

Your truley [sic]

Marjorie Sue Runyon

[a school friend in Portsmouth]

Dear Mary Eleanor

Your heart is not a play thing

Your heart is not a toy

But if you want it broken,

Just give it to a boy.

Yours until the Statue of Liberty trucks down Broadway

Love, Mary Jane

PS Forget me not

[Mary Jane Via, a friend from school in Portsmouth]

Dear Mary,

I love you, I love you

I love you so well

If I had a peanut

I’d give you the shell.

Yours until the ocean wears pants to keep its bottom dry.

Love, Mary Lee Hodges

[I think this is actually Grandma’s friend]

Dear Mary Eleanor,

First comes love, then comes marriage,

Then comes Mary Eleanor with a baby carriage.

If [name has been erased] lived across the sea

What a good swimmer Mary Eleanor would be.

When you get married and move to France

Save me a piece of lace off your wedding pants.

Down in the valley stands a big, big rock

With 3 little words forget me not.

A box of candy, a couple of kisses

Will change your name from Miss to Mrs.

You may fall from tops of buildings

You may fall from far above

But when you fall the hardest

Is when you fall in love.

Love, Joanne

[a life-long friend Joanne Palmer Stainback]

I saved the best for last:

Dearest Mary Eleanor,

I know you like Pearce

But who could help it,

With his eyes that are so fearce [sic];

His black wavy hair

Makes your heart jump in the air.

You have all the boys on a string
But when you get ready to sing

Well, we won’t say what happens.

There was a boy named Billy

But he was so silly.

With those blue eyes of yours

You knock the boys out of doors.

Then there’s David

When he looks at you with his brown eyes

You go to him and confess your lies.

This is all s - - -

But who gives a d - - -

I DON’T!

Love (Mike)

(Worm)

Yours till this all comes true.

“Mike” was really Momma’s BFF, Betsy Ward.  

Even as I write this, I’m laughing about “Pearce … with eyes that are so fearce.”  What imagery!  What spelling!  But at least it’s original. 

Now I've been inspired to leave you with my own original poem:

When you get married and start a blog,

Don’t ask me to walk your dog.

Yours till Sepia Saturday turns blue.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.