Armon Barbara Bobby (1 results)

Unbound. Condition: Near Fine. Later blue plastic three-ring binder. Measuring 10" x 11.5". Contained in plastic sleeves are 36 loose pages of manuscript poems, 12 photographs measuring between 5" x 7" and 8" x 10", as well as five mimeographed camp publications, and one camp informational pamphlet. All items are very good or better with some small nicks and tears. An archive compiled by Barbara "Bobbie" Armon during her time at Camp Watitoh in Becket, Massachusetts in 1939. A Jewish summer camp, which is still in operation today, but then newly opened in 1937, it is situated in the Berkshires. At the time it served boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 17 with both athletic and creative activities, as well as exposure to farm life. Included are 36 loose yellow sheets from "Dale Brother's Laundries" letterhead on which Armon has written poems about various campers on the back, each titled with a person's name. The poems range from sweet to mildly bratty. One poem titled "Janice Pinheiro" reads: "Thirty blouses, thirty shorts, All of which are her cohorts, To make her both just what she ain't, She uses lots of rouge and paint." Another poem about "Armon" written on a brown tag in a different hand may have inspired her efforts: "Bobby's [sic] taste in boys is such, That Tom, Dick and Harry mean not much, every so often she tries her best, And believe it or not she succeeds like the rest." Following the poems are 12 professional photographs, some with the stamp of P.E. Genereux of East Lynn, Massachusetts or Fraser R. Forgie of Fryeburg, Maine. Most of the photos focus on the girls from the camp and show them posed in front of their cabins, climbing trees, fencing, and doing crafts: one shows a group of teenage boys, likely counselors. Several of the photos are captioned on the back with camper's names and sentiments with one marked on the front with each girl's initials. The final section contains five mimeographed camp publications. The first is the 1939-1940 *Watitoh Songster* featuring songs about the camp sung to the tune of popular songs of the time, several of which were penned by campers, including the very timely, "We're Going to the New York World's Fair." The next is a program for a camp performance of *The Pirates of Penzance*, which shows Armon in the role of Josephine. Also present are three copies of *The Watchtower*, the camp newsletter which contains news, poems, and funny stories. An interesting collection of camp ephemera for a progressive co-ed Jewish camp in the late 1930s.