The Jeannette Clarke Letters

History

These letters were written to Jeannette Clarke by her very loving, very effusive mother while Jeannette was a student at the College. Jeannette's mother, Theckla ("Tillie") Klem Clarke, was the librarian at The Tee-Kay Book Shoppe in Binghamton, NY, according to the stationery she used. The earliest letters imply Tillie took over a previous establishment called The Book Exchange, became owner of the shop and renamed the business after herself. The shop appeared to be operating solely as a lending library, not a bookstore, and patrons paid 3¢ a day to borrow a book. Tillie enjoyed going to the movies, and shared her favorite films with her daughter in her letters. These letters were written during the Depression years, and there was occasional mention of unemployment, the volatility of the stock market, and money concerns. Jeannette's father Lyman Clarke is a minor figure in the letters; he wrote a few of the letters, and is mentioned a few times by Jeannette's mother, but mostly he remains in the background. In his 1929 letter, he mentions that work is scarce and he is raising chickens to bring in money.

Then there is a break in time of five years, and their correspondence picks up again in November 1935, when Jeannette was living in Hempstead, NY. Tillie is still living in Binghamton NY at the same address she had in 1930. Jeannette had spent the years between graduation and 1935 living in Binghamton and working for Vail Ballou Press as a proofreader, and now has found a job at Doubleday, Doran in Hempstead, and is staying temporarily with Mrs. William C. Connors. Tillie would like to relocate to Hempstead as well, and they are discussing their moves. It appears Jeannette's mother and father are separated by now; Tillie mentions running into him while he was smartly dressed and in the company of another woman, but seems merely curious, not freshly hurt. Tillie doesn't seem to have the book shoppe any longer; her income comes from a rental property in Owego (perhaps a property left to her after her mother died), and she also has some gigs playing piano.

A few of the letters Jeannette wrote to her mother survive, and are interwoven into this collection.

Letters dated 1929-1933
Letters dated 1935
Letters dated 1936-1938