Love Letters, Lost

by Babbette Hines

My Dear There have I made myself clear, and do you see between the lines that I love you very dearly and more constantly from day to day? I am going to turn in now and take this to town with me early tomorrow and tonight I will hug you very close to me and love you ever so much, Sweetie dear. Fondly and affectionately, Kenton (I do love you dear) Love letters. Passionate, sad, ardent, goofy, serious, bittersweet, angry, tragic, frantic, embarrassing, and -- of course -- romantic. We've all written them at one time or another. Some were saved; some were tossed out (the nerve!). Love Letters, Lost is a collection of amorous letters whose fates were, alas, scattered to the wind. Salvaged from flea markets, garage sales, swap meets, and Internet auctions by Babbette Hines, author of our best-selling title Photobooth, they are here paired with vintage photographs of love-struck couples holding hands, laughing, smiling, dancing, and otherwise mugging for the camera. In this age of generic email cards and text messaging, this beguiling little book reminds us of the simple beauty of an epistolary romance. And just in case you need a little help, Hines has included suggestions from a 1919 booklet on how to write your own letter of love. xoxo

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2004

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet.

[Kristen Wegner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and, besides any romantic value, shows hints of what common life was like in years past. (Thus, it is interesting as well as heartwarming.)

[Athena · Rating 3 out of 5]

"During the past nine years i've experienced many and varied emotions. I've been bodily kicked out of homes by sorrowing fathers and mothers who were too choked up by emotion to be interviewed by me concerning their son or daughters death. they can be forgiven.
I've been cordially received by industrial tycoons, moving picture stars and guerillas and gangsters who arent supposed to know the meaning of the word "good taste."
but for sheer ill-bred conduct and rank stupidity you scaled the heights of a brilliant performance by your exhibition of Thursday evening.
As a rule newspapermen are a calloused group of individuals who can shake off almost anything that befalls them. but one thing they find difficult to shake off is insincerity of emotion. Once that dreaded disease seeps into a persons system there is very little hope held out for that unfortunate. you seem to have an over-dose of that sickness, and i think you should take steps to rid yourself of it.
Since you're such a smug and self-satisfied person, satisfied with your manipulation of the male specie, I know that you'll beam with admiration when I tell you what you made me fell like that night. I felt like a humiliated fool who had been slapped before an audience and then told to run home.
Being a rather amiable sort of guy who likes to laugh and make his friends laugh, you probably have reached a conclusion that all you have to do is snap your fingers, sit back and watch your "friend" Ralph, tyoe 13486 in your collection, dangle foolishly until you have been sufficiently amused. I'm sorry for you.
I may have experienced many emotions of anger, peevishness and stupidity or frivolity in the past, but never, never in my whole life have I EVER BEEN OVERWHELMED BY SUCH A FEELING OF CLEAR CUT DISGUST AT YOUR BORISH CONDUCT THAT NIGHT.
you know that i've never foistered my attentions on you. I've never demanded that you endure my presence. If you feel that I can be nothing more to you than just an average, run of the mine acquaintance, please tell me and I'd have a great deal more respect for you being honest with me and yourself.
I've never concealed my affection for you, and as far as I'm concerned you're still NO. 1 with me. All you've got to do is tell me that the feeling is NOT mutual and i promise i wont commit suicide.
I didnt go to Jamaica just to make it convenient for you to go home and retire. Not only did you ruin my entire evening but you also played havoc with my frame of mind.
why in hell dont you grow up and stop playing both ends against the middle?
Now that I've gotten all this venom out of my system I realize that all this drivel i've written is quite futile.
nevertheless, you must feel mighty proud of your psychology in handling the male specie.
Not only have you made me lose my literary and social self-control for the first time since I've been associating with the opposite sex, but you also have given me a terrific headache. Since I fell myself refilling with venom, I'd better sign off. ill phone you saturday noon. I hope you take this letter in the proper spirit----you see, im much to fond of you,but id rather be fond of you from a distance than keep on seeing you just because you've got nothing better to do that evening and you're eyes are too tired to read the comic page for laughs.
stop acting like a much-wronged primadonna and come down to eath, kid."

Friday morning at 3:15 AM
1939

[Wes Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am of the mind that a handwriten letter of any kind, let alone a love letter, is a hyper-personal expression. That said, it was hard not to enjoy Love Letters, Lost - an ill-fitting title since Hines has made an effort to not allow love letters to be lost, scouring auctions and sales of all kinds in search of them. Reading these letters is part history lesson (most of them date between 1849 and 1945) and part rollercoaster (covering a wide range of emotions, not only love but indignation and anger). And the letters are interspersed with kitschyish photos of lovers spanning many decades, which is pretty fabulous!

[Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of old love letters and photos, gleaned from years of tag sales and flea markets. The letters are reproduced beautifully, and there are transcriptions of the ones that have difficult handwriting. Some of the letters are funny, some sad, some racy, some banal; it is a really interesting glimpse into real life across a century. The photos are wonderful as well.

[Jamie Garofalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I think about all the ways the digital age has changed our lives. Sadly, this is probably one of them (for most people). You can read this book one letter at a time if you want. It's touching to read real love letters from people in all different walks of life - are they still together?

[Barb Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high expectations for this book....but it was Fair only.

[todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice going babbette hines. contributing to the collective / cultural memory / archive of love and letter writing.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet collection of love letters and photos of couples. It's beautiful to get a little glimpse into these lives and wonder how things turned out for them.