Pen Pals

I don't know about you, but I've always believed that pen pals had an important role to play in a child's life.

You will recall that my post on February 5th, "Letters from a Child, My Mother," transcribed letters I found in the archives of The Ottawa Citizen which recently came on line.

Near as I can figure, the column to which my mother was writing, "Uncle Ray and the Corner Cousins,"  ran from as early as 1920 and until as late as 1965.  Children under the age of 16 were invited to join the 'Birthday Club' by submitting their name and address and date of birth.  They were encouraged to share stories about themselves and Uncle Ray provided a pen pal matching service for those children who expressed an interest in that hobby.

It's a very interesting view of how society has changed in the intervening years.

Can you imagine a children's column running in today's papers in which children's names and precise street addresses were published routinely.  And children were encouraged to write to Uncle Ray and refer to themselves as niece or nephew when signing off their letters?  Sounds downright creepy to me!

Yet, back in 1936 my mother, who was just ten years old, was writing to Uncle Ray.

And she continued writing to Uncle Ray until at least December of 1940, when she was fifteen years old.

Three years later, she was married and the mother of my oldest brother.

It is that brother whose letter I found in the on-line archived jewels:

1953 Nov 14:  "Dear Uncle Ray:  This is my third letter to you.  I wonder if you could get me a penpal from England.  Would you please send me a folder of riddles and a button for my sister and me.  I attend St. Paul's School.  I am in Grade Five.  My sister Elaine is in Grade Two.  I have seen three football games this year and I dressed as a Batman on Hallowe'en.  I must close for now hoping to see my letter on your page soon.  I remain your nephew, RICHARD CHERRYHOLME, 56 Wychwood Drive, Aylmer, Que."

If my then nine year old brother was writing to the very column that my mother had been writing to some twenty years earlier, it seems to me that my mother must have been encouraging the practice.  Obviously, she derived a great deal of pleasure from seeing her name in print and she wanted her children to experience that too.  I've found evidence that at least some of our names were entered in the Birthday Book.  My two eldest sisters, Elaine and Linda, were wished many happy returns in 1958 and 1963 respectively.  But both entries list Alymer as the family's address at the time -- and we moved to Ottawa in September 1957.  So I guess nobody bothered keeping Uncle Ray current as to our mailing address.

I've also found some of my cousins' names in Uncle Ray's Birthday Book -- more genealogical avenues to explore.

Anyway, all this leads me to suspect that in all likelihood, I too wrote letters to Uncle Ray and the Corner Cousins.

Why, you ask?

Because if the column ran until at least 1965, when I was 15 years old, I cannot imagine that my mother would not have turned me on to that column and that I would not have participated, given the type of child I was (although, would I really have written to Uncle Ray and signed off as Your Niece Bonnie?).

I know absolutely that I've been reading the newspaper since I was very young indeed.

And I did have pen pals.

Lots of them, actually.

I was a prolific teenager!

I have no idea how I got any of my pen pals but as I read the Corner Cousins column now, I don't doubt for a minute that I either submitted my name to be matched with someone or I selected names from a published list.

Whatever the means I found pen pals, I certainly remember the enjoyment I derived from our letter exchanges.

But one pen pal in particular sticks out in my memory.

She was from Japan.

I can no longer recall her name (although until a very few years ago, I did still know it) but I do still have the dolls she sent me.

It was 1963 when I received that letter and I can still see the onion-skin paper with her child-like scrawl, in broken English, followed by the Japanese symbols for the same words, telling me that she was sending the dolls to me so that I would always remember her.  Gosh I wish I had kept those letters!

Every time I come across this keepsake, I remember being thirteen years old and the pleasure I had exchanging letters with my pen pals, especially the girl from Japan.

But for the life of me, I can't remember her name!  And for that, I'm truly sorry, whoever you are!