The main text in the letter is printed by a typewriter. It reads:
Dear Mother, [handwritten] april 1950
this is a napkin that each of us were given at the Dehn's last night.
I thought you would like it. it is so soft. the dehn's took pete
and i and dan and june rice out to dinner. we went to a chinese
restaurant in asheville and had a fine dinner. then we came home
and had sauterne and cookies and icecream at the dehn's. it was a
very elegant evening.
tonight we have the Karp's over for cocktails. they are visit-
ing bernie, and are so different from him. she is quite lovely and
he is quite fascinating. he brought along a black and white photo
of elaine's window. he apparently handled the whole job and is quite
happy about it. the photo was beautiful, even in black and white.
instead of photographing it like a stained glass window they used
both surface light and light from behind. he said the camera was
bigger than the whole office building, and that it was strange to [handwritten] They also asked about you.
see elaine's little window in front of the tremendous camera. they
asked about rupie, and said that he had been interested in the qua-
ker summer camp. there are quite a few quaker faculty here now,
i would like you to try to buy several things for me. i ordered them
from sears roebuck but they are out of stock. one thing is hat
band elastic, it is so hard to get in asheville. not the kind that
you buy by the yard, and not the real heavy kind. it should cost about
2 yards for a nickel or at the most 3 cents a yard. i would prefer
black or brown but white would also be ok. i use it for the legs
of leotards. i would like 5 or 10 yards. also i would like some
elastic pajama webbing, about 2 yards, preferably white. this i
want to put around the waist of a blouse that vera gave to me. the
blouse is yellow, hand woven. black elastic would also be ok.
this last request is not so important, i would just like it. for
both of them, i do not mean for you to go to any special effort
but when you are going thru dime stores you might look for me.
the stores here stock only things that ashevillians like, and that
doesn't seem to coincide with what i need.
one other thing i would like you to send -- my binoculars. that is,
if noone is using them. there are so many birds around and my eyes
are so bad that i can't see them. we are flooded with cardinals.
this also is not a vital urgent matter.
the vacation is delightful. pete is painting all day and i am dancing
all day. the weather is heavenly
i am sorry not to have sent anything for either your birthdays.
but i practically never have time or energy any more to make things.
and you know i would never buy anything.
love, betty
[handwritten] I pick about 50 daffodils a day. The smell is over the whole room.
Dear Mother, [handwritten] april 1950
this is a napkin that each of us were given at the Dehn's last night.
I thought you would like it. it is so soft. the dehn's took pete
and i and dan and june rice out to dinner. we went to a chinese
restaurant in asheville and had a fine dinner. then we came home
and had sauterne and cookies and icecream at the dehn's. it was a
very elegant evening.
tonight we have the Karp's over for cocktails. they are visit-
ing bernie, and are so different from him. she is quite lovely and
he is quite fascinating. he brought along a black and white photo
of elaine's window. he apparently handled the whole job and is quite
happy about it. the photo was beautiful, even in black and white.
instead of photographing it like a stained glass window they used
both surface light and light from behind. he said the camera was
bigger than the whole office building, and that it was strange to [handwritten] They also asked about you.
see elaine's little window in front of the tremendous camera. they
asked about rupie, and said that he had been interested in the qua-
ker summer camp. there are quite a few quaker faculty here now,
i would like you to try to buy several things for me. i ordered them
from sears roebuck but they are out of stock. one thing is hat
band elastic, it is so hard to get in asheville. not the kind that
you buy by the yard, and not the real heavy kind. it should cost about
2 yards for a nickel or at the most 3 cents a yard. i would prefer
black or brown but white would also be ok. i use it for the legs
of leotards. i would like 5 or 10 yards. also i would like some
elastic pajama webbing, about 2 yards, preferably white. this i
want to put around the waist of a blouse that vera gave to me. the
blouse is yellow, hand woven. black elastic would also be ok.
this last request is not so important, i would just like it. for
both of them, i do not mean for you to go to any special effort
but when you are going thru dime stores you might look for me.
the stores here stock only things that ashevillians like, and that
doesn't seem to coincide with what i need.
one other thing i would like you to send -- my binoculars. that is,
if noone is using them. there are so many birds around and my eyes
are so bad that i can't see them. we are flooded with cardinals.
this also is not a vital urgent matter.
the vacation is delightful. pete is painting all day and i am dancing
all day. the weather is heavenly
i am sorry not to have sent anything for either your birthdays.
but i practically never have time or energy any more to make things.
and you know i would never buy anything.
love, betty
[handwritten] I pick about 50 daffodils a day. The smell is over the whole room.
Artwork: 2013.16.42
Letter to Mother on a Napkin from the Dehns
9.625 x 10 inches
Copyright: The Jennerjahn Estate
Elizabeth Jennerjahn, Letter to Mother on a Napkin from the Dehns, April 1950. Collection of Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center. Gift of W.P. "Pete" Jennerjahn.