Movie Classic (Sep 1936-Feb 1937)

Well, you bed. And my mother would say, "Well, ; are resting, anyway" — and / went to bed, WHEN I was sixteen or so, just old enough to go with boys, when I began to go to little dances at the summer resorts and hotels — I was a wall flower. I didn't know how to meet boys, nor even girls. I didn't know how to flirt. I didn't have any small talk. I had been so much with mother and father and their friends that I was too old for my age, mentally, and my numerous chicken poxes and things had made me too young and undeveloped physically. I didn't dress right. I didn't look "cute." I wasn't sophisticated. I would have run like a streak from the very sight of a flask of gin. I wouldn't have known what on earth to do about "necking." I would certainly have "walked home." I suppose you girls who are reading this are thinking at this point, "I know what's coming next. She's going to tell us that overnight a Great Transformation took place — that she suddenly and miraculously blossomed forth and became The-Belle-ofthe-Ball, had the most popular boys in town dangling from her charm bracelet, waved a wand and bade Romance and Adventure come her way. No, I didn't. I didn't make anything of any importance whatsoever happen to me. Nothing that anyone could see. But I did pave the way for something wonderful and worthwhile. And I did it by reasoning with myself. I did it by forcing myself to realize, to honestly believe that to have boys asking me for dates, asking me to dance, flirting with me wasn't really important — then. I was prematurely wise when I figured that if I allowed myself to feel embittered, if my unpopularity pushed me further into my funny little shell I would be in a bad way and nothing would ever happen. So I would say to myself, when I watched pretty, laughing, gay girls dance by me and all but over me, as I sat against a wall — when I watched popular, slick girls going off to proms and football games and house parties — I'd say, "It doesn't really matter. / can wait." And I did wait. And if any of you who are reading this letter are in the same fix as I was, you can wait, too. For sometimes I think it's bad when too many gay, romantic things happen to us girls when we are too young. We don't know how to handle them. And unpleasant, even tragic, things can happen. F NEVER went to a college prom in my ■»• life, I never went to a football game wearing a shaggy chrysanthemum. When I was very young and wanted to go, there was no beau to ask me. And when I grew older, I was working on the stage and couldn't go when I was asked. But do you see what I mean? Sometimes you can best make things happen to you by not caring whether they happen or not. You can learn to weigh values. You can keep your heart open for the things that will happen later on. When I made up my mind to go on the stage — that was when we were living in New York — I certainly made that happen to me. No one in my family had ever been on the stage. I had no connections, no influence, no "pull." I didn't even have a name and address to begin with. I did read theatrical papers and I had heard about casting offices. So I went the rounds of the casting offices. Day after day after day. I sat on hard benches for hours and hours. I was told "nothing today" and "we'll take your name and address" at least one thousand and one times. I just made those stereotyped formulas roll off of me like [Continued on page 68] 15: '$ CLOPAYS LOOK COSTLY '.. WEAR AMAZINGLY ;SS Solve Clean Window Shade Problem . • • Easiest Way on Record IN actual tests, 3 out of 4 people seeing a new Lintone processed 15c Clopay beside a $1.50 shade only four feet away thought the Clopay was the cloth shade. That's remarkable evidence that Clopay Lintone has a beauty usually found only in more expensive shades. _ Yes, alt Clopay window shades have a rich appearance which belies their small price. And they wear wonderfully, as millions of women have already proved. So why pay big prices for shades, when 15c Clopays "fill the bill" completely? Made of a tough, yet pliable fibre material, by a special process, Clopays just don't crack, ravel or pinhole. They hang straight, roll evenly, wear longer than ordinary shades. And Clopay's price is so small that you actually get 10 shades for the price of one. You can afford to replace soiled shades frequently and have windows always attractive. So see the new Clopays now in leading 5c and 10c and neighborhood stores. Smart patterns and solid colors. Write for free color samples to: The CLOPAY Corp.,1245 York St., Cincinnati, Ohio Good Housekeeping! 15* CLOPAY 4a&* WSS Movie Classic for October, 1936 67