Vassar, April 20, 1874
Dear Mother,
Yours came this
morn. The books came
last Friday. What does
it mean? Grandmother
Bolton's money would
not have bought more
than one volume. How
much were they? Did you
get them? They were lovely,
but they must have cost
ever so much. Mr. [S ] sent
a postal Thursday saying
that he had forwarded
8 vol. Hawthorne's works by
express. I could not imagine
what he meant.
Yesterday was such a lovely
day. Some of us went to
Cedar Ridge again for a
walk. It is a lovely place
for Sunday afternoons,
only rather too far. Some
of the teachers were there
too. We found quantities
of hepaticas right along
by the road without any
climbing at all.
Lou wants me to visit her
next summer. It begins
to be very pleasant here.
The grass is growing green.
I had a little stye in my
eye Saturday, and I did
not want to read any.
Kate Maltby read my
Logic lessons over to me, and
another girl insisted
upon reading Geology,
although she does not
have it herself. Wasn't
it lovely of them? It is
almost worth while to
be a little sick here to see
how very nice the girls
are. I found a rock of
fossils the other day, rather
a rare thing here.
We have, that is Kate and
I, been in the cabinets
looking up fossils. There
is the fossil jaw of an
ancient frog two feet or
more each way. It is
triangular In form.
What an immense
amount of workthat frog must have
had. Rumor says that
the riding school is to
be made over and
either the cabinets or the
art gallery will be moved
there next year to give
more room in the
main building. They
will build houses for
the profs, sometime. I only
wish they would do it, so
we could all have single
rooms next year. Last
year all the girls who drew
single rooms gave them
up if they felt wall enough
to have a double, so I
presume I may possibly
get one that way, but
it would be horrid to
take a single room
from any girl although
you know she did not care
nearly so much about it
as you did. $5. came in
your last. The needlebook
and lace came all right. I
forgot to say anything
about them. Hope Anna's
baby will have eyes like Mr.
Bowdish's. They are handsome.
The silk came but she used
some alpaca or something
that she had. It is a sort
of basque waist, cut up
behind. It is trimmed
with silk around the
bottom and sleeves.
She charged $2. for making
and [found] silk and
buttons. It is not very
pretty but will do a
while very wall. I think she
is very reasonable and
she seems anxious to please.
It is funny how much
power the name, Vassar,
has in town. All the
stores are so anxious for
the V.C. customer. Before
vacation I had a pair
of very old boots that I
thought might be mended
and do to wear on long
walks. I took them to a
shoe dealer in town. He
looked at it half-
contemptuously a minute
saying something about
"drawing the hole together"
and it's being hardly
worth fixing. Suddenly an
an idea seemed to strike him.
He started, and asked if
we were from the college. We
said yes. Thea he took up the
hoot, said he presumed
the other was good and he
could fix this very nicely.
He told me how he meant to
do it and how well it would
look. I said I wanted it as
soon as possible. He said
his man would be in soon
and he should go to work
right away and might
have it in half an hour.
I came in in twenty minutes,
and it was mended very
nicely. Besides he only charged
half what others would. I
thought something was up.
I was right. He said "Do you
buy your boots of Gilder sleeve?"
Anna said yes. (G. comes
to the college twice a month
with a stock of boots, so all
the girls buy of him.) Then
he ran down G. fearfully,
said he was no shoemaker,
had no idea how to select
shoes; If we would come to
him he would make it
worth our while. I priced
some of his boots and
they did seem cheap. But
it is funny how they work
for Vassar custom. Why a
dealer in P. will run all
over town for half a yard
of cambric for a Vassar girl.
They are paid for it too, for
if one goes to a place, many
are sure to follow and few
of the girls mind what price
they pay. Do go to Mrs. Blaisdell's
If you possibly can. Take
some little sewing with
you let the rest wait. I can sew when I
come home in the summer. I don't
see what will be best for
next summer, to do
and go, I mean. It
would be expensive to
stay in Prov. nearly
as much so as to board
away in some places.
I don't know whether Ed is
teaching or not. Presume
so. I wrote him the other
day, and directed it to
Glover. He said in his last
he had net heard from you for a
long time. On the other side
is a plan of my room
and parlor.
Eva M. Tappan

[Back of last sheet of original letter contains plan of Parlor 67]