Last semester I was doing research on diplomatic visits to the White House during the Lincoln administration. I came across this book,
Of Diamonds and Diplomats by Letitia Baldridge, and checked it out in a flurry. I realized too late that it was the wrong time period, mid-nineteenth century, so I put it aside. One day I decided to pick it up and see what it was about and I'm SO GLAD I did.
The dedication alone was enough to tell me I was going to get a kick out of this: "To my mother--who from her perch in heaven must surely be editing my grammar along the way, frowning at any naughty words I use, and delighting in any hints that perhaps I grew up to be a lady."
It was written in 1968 and serves as a true time capsule. Letitia or "Tish" as she was known lived a charmed life--a life that is truthfully quite unrealistic in today's world. She came from money and political connections that put her in schools with Jackie Bouvier and landed her a first job as Social Secretary to the Ambassador and wife at the American Embassy in Paris. What I admire about her, though, is even though she had a degree from Vassar and attended graduate school at the University of Geneva (which in the 1950s was an amazing feat for a woman), she also condescended to secretarial school and THAT is what got her the job at the Embassy. She also had a natural flair of what she calls, "the Art of Bluff" that helped her get through sticky situations better than anything in a textbook. She describes the glorious events held at the Embassy and her beautiful extra-curricular life in Paris.
Her next gig was Social Secretary to the first Female Ambassador, Clare Luce, in Rome. She fills the pages with more glorious stories of Italy. But mostly she humorously writes about the constant fiascos, mistakes, and near-misses she encountered, including a blurb about feeding U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Benson, a meal cooked entirely in liquor, which he would not eat.
After Rome, Ambassador Luce recommended Tish to a newly created position at Tiffany & Co in New York to serve as its first publicity director and director of public relations. Tish was Tiffany's first female executive, and she was still in her 20s. The stories of her work (and play) with the jewelry are to die for. She handled the entire coordination of the filming of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and includes blurbs about her interactions with Audrey Hepburn.
THEN when JFK gained office, Tish received a phone call from her old school friend Jackie begging her to come to the White House with them as Social Secretary. The stories here are incredible. She adored Jackie and traveled the world with her.
Lastly, still in her early 30s, Tish moved to Chicago and became an executive in the trade world of interior design, furnishings, fabrications, etc. That was short lived before she started her own PR consulting business handling huge cases such as the opening of Elizabeth Arden's department store in Chicago.
What I loved about the book so much was how hard she worked. How she kept a sense of humor. How she didn't dwell on her mistakes. And her love for all things beautiful. She made everything around her better and that led to more and more amazing opportunities. There is a lot to learn from her.
One thing I noticed is that there was a real lack of personal details or the feelings of her soul. I knew she wasn't married. She was labeled as a career woman and was living a life vastly different from her peers. In the last few pages of the book she writes about how in her mid-30s she met someone and within 90 days they were married. She had two kids.
I really liked this part because she finally started writing about how she felt about her LIFE and not just about her JOB. And I feel like I can relate to a lot of her thoughts. She wrote how she never really thought she'd marry and didn't really want to. How she loved coming home to a quiet house all to herself. I, on the other hand, do want to marry and feel that someday I will, but it is not on the forefront of my mind all the time. I am very interested in my career field and want to be good at what I do. I LOVE coming home to a quiet house and I worry about constantly being attached to a husband and children. She writes about how she loves her children and they are the best thing that ever happened to her, but sometimes she just can't WAIT to get out of the house to work. I think I will feel the same way sometimes. And lastly she writes about how once she was married, she found herself waiting in line at the grocery store 3-4 times a week. She used to pay $7 a week for food for herself and with a family she said their bill looked like they were existing on "champagne and caviar only." Those changes were drastic and unexpected but she says they were absolutely worth it.
I love her life story and really admire her mindset. She was a revolutionary in her time and set a great early example of a working young professional woman and the transition into becoming a "later" wife and mother.
