Everybody Was So Young (59 page)

“Sara Wiborg . . . I don’t like it”:
FBW
diary 1914:11 Nov. 1914,
HMD
.

“very fond of”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 8 Mar. 1915,
HMD
.

“great disappointment . . . to be married”: Ibid., 26 Aug. 1915.

[>] “I can’t see that age . . . Affectionately, Sara”: Sara Sherman Mitchell to
SWM
, 8 Mar. 1915,
HMD
.

Adeline Wiborg hoped . . . engagement officially: S&G, p. 142.

“You have no adequate idea”: Frederic T. Murphy to
SWM
, [Mar. 1915],
HMD
.

“I’ve never seen you” . . . quiz Gerald mercilessly:
GCM
to
SWM
, 22 May 1915,
HMD
.

[>] “Everyone is agog”: Ibid., 30 Mar, 1915.

“nooks in the library”: Ibid., 3 May 1915.

“on public fire-escapes, etc.”: Ibid., [1915].

“I think the tension . . . for you in return”: Ibid., 22 Apr. 1915.

“I come wailing”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 15 Jun. 1915,
HMD
.

she blushed uncontrollably: Ibid., 2 Jun. 1915.

“Thank Eliz. . . . leaving the room, too!”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 4 Jun. 1915,
HMD
.

“I miss you so”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 4 Jun. 1915,
HMD
.

[>] “stalking up and down . . . sort of left”: Ibid., 7 Jun. 1915.

“What do I know . . . seemed long to me”: Ibid.

“What an agonizing . . . in the least”: Ibid., [Jun. 1915].

“I wonder if I shall ever . . . accounts for a lot”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 21 Jun. 1915,
HMD
.

But once among them . . . “Stone Henge”: Ibid., 25 Jun. 1915.

[>] “the men I admire most . . . smudged years of mine”: Ibid., 29 Jun. 1915.

Frank agreed: Ibid., 28 Jul. 1915. This letter maintains that Sara should contribute only as much to the couple’s income as Gerald did, a contention that Frank Wiborg clearly ignored, because another letter (
GCM
to
SWM
, 8 Aug. 1915,
HMD
) speaks of their plans to “run #50 on $18, a year.”

Patrick Murphy: This information is extrapolated from letters from
GCM
to
SWM
, 13 Jul., 8 Aug., and 4 Oct. 1915.

“in a different place”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 26 Feb. 1915,
HMD
.

[>] Venetian glass . . . pink lusterware: Ibid., [undated, 1915], 3 May, 27 Jul., and 24 Aug., 1915.

“Such wantable things . . . among trash”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 30 Sept. 1915,
HMD
.

“Better men than I”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 29 Jun. 1915,
HMD
.

[>] “I hope your father”:
SWM
to
GCM
, [July 1915],
HMD
.

“court martial . . . can confuse them”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 20 Aug. 1915,
HMD
.

“I think I am right . . . with your work”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 15 Sept. 1915,
HMD
.

In late July . . . in Europe:
GCM
to
SWM
, 29 Jul. 1915,
HMD
.

“Her tenderness . . . their avoidance—!!”: Ibid., 7 Aug. 1915.

[>] “mange-cures” . . . full evening dress: Ibid., 8 Aug. 1915.

“long, hard journey . . . never seen it fail”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 3 Aug. 1915,
HMD
. he now reneged . . . price of $25,:
GCM
to
SWM
, 3 Aug. 1915,
HMD
.

[>] “The youngest newsboy”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 29 Oct. 1915,
HMD
.

A friend living in Panama . . . for the jungle: Ibid., 20 Sept. 1915.

“Won’t it seem . . . Home to 11th Street!”: Ibid., 19 Oct. 1915.

“I am delighted . . . pulverize them yet!”: Ibid., 15 Nov. 1915.

[>] “Here are some blossoms”:
GCM
to
SWM
, [30 Dec. 1915],
HMD
.

That afternoon . . . man and wife: “Miss Wiborg Weds Gerald C. Murphy,” New York Times, 31 Dec. 1915.

“Think of a relationship . . . thank heaven!”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 4 Feb. 1915,
HMD
.

7. “Don’t let’s ever separate again”

[>] “communicated affection”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 18 Apr. 1936,
HMD
.

At the end of the block . . . brick walk behind: White and Willensky, A1A Guide to New York City (Revised Edition), p. 75.

[>] Around the corner . . . artists and illustrators: Kouwenhovem, The Columbia Historical Portrait of New York, p. 373.

Number 50 . . . rather than wealthy: Lockwood, Bricks and Brownstone, p. 85. Other details about the house’s and street’s appearance come from personal observation.

four stories high . . . Mollie, the maid:
GCM
to
SWM
, 14 Aug. 1915,
HMD
. single sitting room . . . rooms had fireplaces: Floor plan of 50 West 11th Street, in
SWM
to
GCM
, Aug. 1915,
HMD
.

brick facade freshly . . . hung in the hall:
GCM
to
SSW
, 8 Aug. 1915,
HMD
. wide-plank floors . . . Dunes:
SWM
to
GCM
, 15 Nov. 1915,
HMD
.

Gerald and Sara filled . . . opalescent glass jugs: Ibid., 10 Feb. 1918,
HMD
.

[>] “a black and white”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 27 Jul. 1915,
HMD
.

“It’s very old”: Ibid., 5 Apr. 1915.

“how much and how dearly I love you”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 17 Mar. 1916,
HMD
.

[>] “2 blue vases . . . out into the street”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 15 Aug. 1916,
HMD
. “this A.M. . . . bottom of your mattress”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 23 Aug. 1916,
HMD
. “the real rock” . . . in the autumn:
GCM
to
SWM
, 12 Aug. 1916,
HMD
.

“The work you are doing . . . infection”:
ASW
to
SWM
, 18 Oct. 1916,
HMD
. “I’m so glad . . . Do it for me”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 12 Nov. 1916,
HMD
.

[>] Adeline Wiborg’s tersely: New York Times, 4 Jan. 1917.

“Your little hands”:
SWM
scrapbook,
HMD
.

“Honoria Adeline”:
SWM
diary 1917–18:19 Dec. 1917,
HMD
.

Gerald always claimed . . . either family: LW, p. 19.

she carried the name . . . in 1832: SC9G, p. 124.

Among the papers . . . Honoria Adeline Murphy: These papers are undated; the loose sheet is on paper (and in handwriting) consistent with the years 1916–17; the pigskin notebook also contains addresses for Murphy friends and suppliers of the late 1920s and early 1930s,
HMD
.

[>] “my friend, Gerald Murphy”: Ida Tarbell to W. S. Gifford, 9 Aug. 1917,
HMD
.

he was discouraged . . . commissioned:
GCM
to
SWM
, 10 Nov. 1917,
HMD
.

On November 22 . . . as a private:
GCM
, World War I service cards, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

Sara was confined . . . difficult delivery:
GCM
to
SWM
, 2 Feb. 1918,
HMD
. small Christmas tree . . . little tree:
SWM
diary 1917–18,
HMD
.

“royal and overpowering”: Ibid., 16 Dec. 1917.

“courting mirror” . . . the baby nurse: Ibid., 30 Dec. 1917.

Frank Wiborg bought . . . son-in-law:
GCM
to
SWM
, 7 Jan. 1918,
HMD
.

“the greatest anguish of our lives”: Ibid., 1 Jan. 1918.

[>] bitterly cold . . . “candle-light and flowers”: Ibid., 2 Jan. 1918.

Rows of dark khaki . . . four layers of blankets: Ibid., 15 Jan. 1918.

Sara, distressed . . . bran muffins:
SWM
to
GCM
, [winter 1918],
HMD
.

[>] squares of washed cheesecloth: Ibid., 31 Jan. 1918.

[>] “that I must get a lot . . . anything with ourselves”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 18 Jan. and 2 Feb. 1918,
HMD
.

The train trip . . . fine adventure: Ibid., 25 Jan. 1918.

“It has made me” . . . Honoria had kissed:
SWM
to
GCM
, 24 Jan. 1918,
HMD
.

“brilliant dark gray” . . . mother’s face: Ibid., 22 Jan. 1918,
HMD
.

She was keeping up . . . along the Marne: Ibid.

[>] “What a triumph . . . shouldn’t we?”: Ibid., 2 Feb. 1918,
HMD
.

her old friend Rue Carpenter . . . New York: Ibid., 27 Jan. 1918.

Monty Woolley . . . military service: Ibid., 22 Jan. 1918.

He was charmed . . . surprise: Ibid., 2 Feb. 1918.

“the most fearful”: Ibid., 15 Feb. 1918.

“miserable” . . . any attention: Ibid., 3 Feb, 1918.

“exactly as though”: Ibid., 9 Feb. 1918.

“surrounded by the beautiful”: Ibid., 10 Feb. 1918.

[>] “our little farm”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 15 Jan. 1918,
HMD
.

“our beautiful house”: Ibid., 14 Mar. 1918.

Empire chest . . . eccentric list: Ibid. (postcards), 3 Jan., 14 Jan., and 17 Jan. 1918.

Now Sara was . . . between the windows:
SWM
to
GCM
, 7 Feb. 1918,
HMD
. “our house . . . half of myself”: Ibid., 9 Feb. 1918.

“I was thinking . . . very soon”: Ibid., 30 Jan. 1918.

“in rusty black”: Ibid., 8 Feb. 1918,
HMD
.

Gerald’s own temper . . . arranged for himself: Ibid., 19 Feb. 1918.

[>] they could share meals . . . night together: Ibid., 20 Mar. 1918.

Sara was desolate . . . entourage home: Ibid., 4 Mar. 1918.

“You see . . . where you are”: Ibid., 20 Mar. 1918.

woke at 3:30 . . . until 6:00:
GCM
to
SWM
, 17 Feb. 1918,
HMD
.

By the end of March . . . New York: Item no. 33, Special Orders no. 73, War Department, 28 Mar. 1918.

“casual” . . . blow to his pride:
GCM
to
SWM
, 27 Aug. 1918,
HMD
.

“while the British . . . given a dance”: Ibid., 25 Sept. 1918.

[>] approached a former Yale . . . Henry T. Allen in France: Ibid., 23 Sept. 1918.

“everything I properly can”: J. M. Tumulty to
PFM
, 14 Sept. 1918,
HMD
.

“What fun we had” . . . in the train afterward:
SWM
to
GCM
, 1 Sept. 1918,
HMD
.

Gerald found her unfinished . . . saved the holder:
GCM
to
SWM
, [Aug./Sept. 1918],
HMD
.

By the end of September . . . health or the baby’s: Ibid., [Sept. 1918], 23 Sept. and 25 Sept. 1918.

Soon there was more . . . Long Island: P. C. Harris to J. M. Tumulty, 24 Sept. 1918;
PFM
to
GCM
, 25 Sept. 1918;
HMD
.

“You ought to be proud”: J. M. Tumulty to
PFM
, 8 Oct. 1918,
HMD
.

“Jerry my Berry . . . Your wife, Sal”:
SWM
to
GCM
, [Nov. 1918],
HMD
.

[>] “completely knocked out”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 11 Dec. 1918,
HMD
.

8. “The idea is thrilling to me”

[>] Sara was already planning . . . baby arrived:
SWM
to
GCM
, 7 Feb. 1918,
HMD
.

When Honoria was separated . . . mark on it:
SWM
scrapbooks,
HMD
.

“get a grip on our future”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 9 Jun. 1919,
HMD
.

In 1915 . . . his own version: LW, p. 134.

[>] as he did Fred . . . Cross in England: Noel Murphy/
HMD
interview,
HMD
.

“I had to say . . . what came out”: LW, p. 20.

Mexican market . . . street fair:
GCM
to
SWM
, 19 Jan. 1919,
HMD
.

“enormously fat Percherons . . . down the back”: Ibid., 29 Jan. 1919.

That winter . . . Liberal Arts: GCM’s application to the Harvard University School of Landscape Architecture lists “freehand drawing” at the School of Design and Liberal Arts under the heading “Special Preparation”; letters between
GCM
and
SWM
in 1919 supply Miss Weir’s name.

“I do think . . . amazing”:
SWM
to
GCM
, 8 Jun. 1919,
HMD
.

“My parents” . . . shoulder to shoulder:
HMD
interview.

“When we wake up”:
GCM
to
SWM
, 9 Jun. 1919,
HMD
.

he swallowed it . . . son’s decision:
SWM
to
GCM
, [May 1919],
HMD
.

[>] “male Murphy . . . son himself”:
SWM
scrapbook, and Ibid., 2 Jun. 1919.

“Dubbedy” . . . done of Honoria:
SWM
scrapbooks,
HMD
.