Tags
Argentina, Baby, Billie Morton, Buenos Aires, Chile, dance training, Ecuador, fathers, food, Guayaquil, Guayaquil Ecuador, Hilda Butsova, husband problems, illness, Lima, Lucia, malaria, Mama, Mascot, money complaints, Nondas, Panama, Pavlova, pictures, presents, rehearsal, Santiago, stamps, Steffa, stockings, the Company, travel, Valparaiso, Victor Dandre, weather, X, yellow fever
P. A1
[Letterhead:
Gran Hotel Maury
Visconti Y Velasquez
Sucesores
de Angelo Bertolotto
Casilla Correo 1104
Tolofono 133
Lima-Perú]
Lima, June 8th de 1917
My dear Mrs. Morton
I was so pleased to riceived [sic] your dear letter I was getting worried and thaught [sic] that you or Nondas were ill [illegible] Nondas sugestion [sic] to put the postcards in envelopes seams [sic] a better idea for from what you write me some of the post cards have been lost and one letter from Panama & post card from there and Guayaquil Ecuador. This is the first letter I have received from you since I am on tour The Broadway address has been changed from the old to 309 B’W. But makes no difference for all mail forwarded to 165 gets forwarded to 309 B’W Mama’s address is at present Mrs. Louise Frank 150 W 62nd Street but she told me that she is going to move from there, I have not heard yet wether [sic] she has or not, but you write to the old address as I do it will get forwarded till I am able to send you the new address. Well I was glad to hear that you are both well but am sorry that those troubles increase. I am so sorry that I could not get any more shoes neither from X or Butsova. Yes I forgot the snapshots when I closed the
P. A2
letter I had left them outside. But I will not forget them this time and some p.c. Well in Guayaquil things were pretty bad yet with the Co. First of all it is a terrible place and we are just all dead lucky none of us got yellow fever malaria etc. I will continue this letter as I have to rush to lunch and rehearsal so solong [sic] till later. It is now 5 o’c and as I have just returned and have one hour before dinner I am going finish this letter to you. As I was writting [sic] before it was just by a miracle that we all got out of Guayaquil without some sickness as it was all the Co. had to go into quarentine [sic] for 7 days the things from there to here took 6 days and then we had to stop one more day in quarentine [sic] to make up the 7 days. But here in Lima it is lovely a quaint city with the women going about in these Spanish mantilas [sic] some are very pretty with their hair bleached fair and their black eyes the lower classes mostly consist of Indians the women who sell fruits keep the Babies Slung on their shoulders like the little Papoos [sic] in North America but they do not dress up like Indians just anyold [sic] way slop slop hat blouse & skirt
P. A3
all slung on somehow The other day we gave a big benifit [sic] performance for Pavlova It went of [sic] with great success but I will discribe [sic] it in Nondas’s letter or else I will have no more to tell here. We go to Chili from here on the 17th You can write to Buenes [sic] Ayeres [sic] when you reseive [sic] theis [sic] letter c/o Mme Pavlova c/o that is all that is needed for we are going to be there 2 months so you can safely write there when you answer this letter. Tell Nondas to keep the stamp I am sending on the letters as the 10 cent ones have especial value having been goverment [sic] stamps before and now have been converted into ordary [sic] stamps. Things here are impossibly expensive such as clothes and other things but food is cheap yet one has to pay 2.50 each per day with food. We are stoping [sic] at the best hotel here they made us a special price the regular price being $5 per day. We are also going to receive full salary from now on for really we are doing excelent [sic] bisiness [sic] I heard from Mama that my Baby Walks & Talks and is a bag full of mischief but my Step father loves the baby and could not be better to it there if she were his own child so I do not need to worry In fact she has reformed him and he has given up drinking one of his bad habits the worst for he never was very bad And he works hard to give Baby all he can and more than she needs. I do not know wether [sic] you received the letter in which I told you that at Panama Mr. Dandre returned with Steffa who was terrible [sic] fat and has now only restarted to dance. She certainly has great personality but I think she is not so nice a dancer as she was she lookes [sic] a bit clombsy [sic] perhaps it will wear off though.
P. A4
I am going to finish now as I want to write a not [sic] to Nondas and a letter home. I am rather worried and wished I knew the address already but it will be quite safe to write to the old address. Now I like your so called hum drum [sic] letters and I hope you write me many of them. Yes I will send you a programe [sic] I did not think you would be interested The one I am sending you is off [sic] that great benifit [sic] night. I played the mother as your [sic] see by the programe [sic] in Giselle It is a very nerve racking [sic] piece of work. I do wish things would go better but I hear that prices of every thing are imposible [sic] if they would only stop those awfull [sic] food speculators who wring the money out of the people like that. Do you remember I once said I would send Nondas a pair of melinens stockings I had well I found them here in my [illegible] I had forgonten [sic] all about them, But if I sent to you new you would have to pay duty on them so that would be foolish but I will send them as soon as I get back.
With All Best Wishes
and Love from your friend
Mascot
P. B1
[Letterhead:
Gran Hotel Maury
Visconti Y Velasquez
Sucesores
de Angelo Bertolotto
Casilla Correo 1104
Telefono 133
Lima-Peru]
[no date]
My Darling Little Nondas
It is ages ago since I have written you a letter and from your letter I see you did not receive all the p.c’s I sent you so I am going to enclose some in this letter with some stamps and the Snap shots I promised you. You will hear from your dear Mama what a terrible plase [sic] Guayaquil was, but there was one thing that made it a memorial [sic] plase [sic] for good times: My Husband had made the aquaintance [sic] of some gentlemen there one was the Roman President of a big [illegible] there and the others also were big business men well they invited us out nearly everyday to Tea or after the performance and sometimes to dinner. At one house we went to right outside in the Country The man had built a wonderfull [sic] villa The furniture all coming from Barcelona, and the garden was exquisite it had a miniature stream in it and in the middle of this it had a little island on whitch [sic] he had the house build [sic] in miniature This house was the home of three wonderfull [sic] Parrots with million collered [sic] plumes and one white Australian Cookatoo [sic], and the whole garden was [illegible] of wonderfull [sic] roses and flowers the house stood right on the edge of the river and from the Balcony one could see nearly the whole of Guayaquil
[Left margin of P. B1]
I am addressing this letter to you dear Nondas so that if the post man should bring it whilst your dear Mama is out you can get it and I am sure your dear Mama wont [sic] mind of if I addressed it to her you would have to wait till she came home.
[Top margin P. B1]
I cant [sic] imagine as anything as a tiny wee tot as I last saw you at the Midway gardens.
P. B2
Then The day before we left they gave a dinner party first we went on [illegible] on the River then to dinne [sic]. We had a panama hat on each of our places worth in American money 50 dollars as there in Ecudor [sic] they make the finest hats. Ours were Christobol [sic] hats the most expensive are the fipithapi [sic] Hats they are like linen made by the Indians. Then they have the most wonderfull [sic] hammocks there [sic] handwoven like a Panama hat, I receive [sic] a present of one of those and a little tiny native bird and called a Mantito is [sic] sings sweetly and has an orange collored [sic] front and its head back + tail are blue black and sometimes mauve coloured [sic] it is a darling and then I had to [sic] little paragees [sic] different shades of green and deep orange under the wings Well I arrived safely with my birdies here to the Hotel and as they were so tame I left them crawl around their cage as their wings were clipped [sic] and they could not fly suddenly I missed one he had fallen into the sheet and a man had quickly picked him up and stuck him into his pocket and ran off I was heart broken for that was the tamest birdie I ever saw it ate from my hand came to me when I called it and oh it was just to [sic] sweet The other one is not so tame But I have hopes that it will tame I have it and my little Mantito left. Ecudor [sic] was warm in the afternoon & cool in the evening But here in Lima it is quite cold sometimes especially in the evenings they say the further south we are going the colder it will be I sleap [sic] with two blackets [sic] on my bed so I cant [sic] imagine what the other places will be like. The Incas a very furious [???] type of Indians here in the interior had many years ago a way of muming [sic] heads and making a human head by taking the bones from the skull then shrank the skin so that the head is no bigger than a small coconut I have seen one and it is tiny human face born of course with long black hair just the head they cept [sic]. A Lady who came from Chirubote one of the ports, Mrs. Reeves they have a huge sugar plantation about 12 miles inland and all the boats that stop at Chirubote a day have their English pleople [sic] go and visit these people who
P. B3
make everyone welcome who comes there well they have come to Lima here especialy [sic] to see is well this lady told me that about 15 years ago a Captain coming along that way had a man on board a missionary who wanted to go way into the interior where the Indians sometimes practice canablise canabalisiam [sic], All advised him not to go but he presested [sic] and went he was particularly marked by his red hair, well nothing was ever heard of him but about two years latter [sic] just below [page torn—illegible] another port on the way from Ecudor [sic] to Lima there is a tiny port and if the weather is not to [sic] rough the boats stop there (our boat did not stop there) well there the Indians come from the interior and and [sic] sell their courious [sic] to the Boat well and [sic] indian [sic] came on the boat of this same captain with some of those mumied [sic] heads to sell they get about 100 150 dollars for one, among these heads the captain saw a little white faced one with red hair which he of course recognized by the hair as that missionary he braught [sic] down that way two years ago. This is a true story and the heads are genuine I have seen them. They have a nice Loo and a lovely Museeum [sic] with these Inca relics in. Whilst Spoping [sic] at the different
[Left margin of P. B3]
home no I can hardly finish this Perhaps you will think it to [sic] long and tiresome as I am a bad story teller. Now I do hope get this from me. I hope Both you and your dear Mama are well and that the flowers make good programs the flower I have enclosed comes from ‘X’s [illegible] so it especialy [sic] valuble [sic] Write me a long letter of yourself and your dear Mama. What do you do about your dancing Write me and tell me if you know the names
[Top margin of P. B3]
of the steps then I will send you some exercises to do. Tell me if you understand this
Jeté right back,
“ left “
do 10 of these and do the same from the front to back.
Chappé [sic], jete jete , chappée [sic] changement de pied 10 times and plie each time never do stiffly and point your feet.
[Right margin of P. B3]
With Love and Kisses from Mascot
P. B4
ports the boat could never go near land as the water had to [sic] much under swell in it and [several illegible words] prevented it. So they loaded cows from huge truck boats onto our boat by roapes [sic] around their stomachs or taken up by their horns The boat rolled on their waters [sic] like on a high sea because the water is terrible rought [sic] sometimes the boats could not get near at all and had to pass right on. We have now when we leave here on the 17th June another trip of 6 days to Valparaiso, Chili [sic] from there we go to San Diago, Chili [sic] and there to Buenos Ayres [sic] Argentina where we stop 2 months. The other day we gave a Beauful [sic] performance for Pavlova that means that people who like here especialy [sic] give “X” flowers and presents and that all the money that comes in goes all for “X” as the company is touring under “Bracale the Opera [illegible]” and not Pavlova’, Well did she get flowes [sic] I should say so she got a huge life sized Swan in white roses made on a lake of flowers, and another was a huge Dragonfly of flowers it was marvelous then there was another a urn of flowers [inset drawing of urn] white roses with lilac flowers growing from the top then the [illegible] was made as if it was flowers in a basket but there was no basket [page torn—inset drawing of flower arrangement] And there was a huge harp [inset drawing of harp] even part of flowers and form huge bunches of flowers and a filigrace [sic] silver Basket a foot hight [sic] which took 10 months to make filled with violets that cost $300 to $400 dollars and or 5 pieces of Inca anciant [sic] gold work each worth $100 dollars a piece and a huge gold plate hafe [sic] the size of this page & very thick. engraved upon from some Peruvian corporation. and 4 huge bunches of flowers. and when the curtain was ready to go down she got flower [sic] thrown from all sides the stage was just covered with roses I will try and get you a coppy [sic] of the picture that was taken I was in the picture lucky for me. dont [sic] you think so. Now really I must stop for my arm is giving out I have to wait till tomorrow to write a letter
[N.B. the letter continues in the margins of P. B3]