NOT SO WORDLESS Wednesday: Tom Sawyer Days at Work

Tom Sawyer Day @ Work  (written on back)

I absolutely LOVE this dress...I wish mom had kept it.  This picture was taken in 1937 or 1938 in Culver City, California where mom worked for the 'Culver City Star News'.  I wondered why they would have a "Tom Sawyer Day" at wok so I did some googling and came up with this in Wikipedia.  Apparently a film came out about that time - "In 1938 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was filmed in Technicolor by the Selznick Studio. It starred Tommy Kelly as Tom and was directed by Norman Taurog. Most notable was the cave sequence designed by William Cameron Menzies."

From what I can surmise there was a lot of hype built up before the opening night....much like the "Star Wars" movies of the 1970-1980 period and the "Twilight" movies of the new millennium time frame.  I'm willing to bet there were Tom Sawyer and Rebeca "Becky" Thatcher, figurines for the kids to play with.


Did mom make this dress?  She was certainly an expert seamstress and made most of our clothing from the time we were born.  If I were a betting person I'd say 1000 to 1 she made it!  But what happened to it after the "Tom Sawyer Day" at work?  Did she cut it down and alter it into something more appropriate to wear on a regular basis?  Did she pack it away and then open it 20-25 years later only to give it to the Goodwill or the Salvation Army?  Maybe she took it apart 10 years later and  made matching dresses for her 3 little girls.  I think it's something we'll never know. To my knowledge I never saw this dress except in this picture. But it's fun to dwell on the 'what ifs'

If I had this dress in it's entirety today I would have it on a mannequin and MAYBE take it off to wear to a costume party....or for a presentation when reading "Tom Sawyer" to a classroom full of children.




Mary Post Warren

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