In reference to your letter accompanying an order form for a subscription to The Saturday Evening Post, I have sent my check. But I have a story to tell you!

During my last semester at Penn State in 1947, I did something that foretold how I would deal with a lot of occupational "wants" in my life. I wanted to work for The Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, at that time publisher not only of the Post, but also The Ladies' Home Journal, Holiday, and The Country Gentleman.

And so I wrote to Curtis, telling of my ambition to work there but explaining that I couldn't come for an interview until after graduation. "Girls" at that time had very little access to the required permission to leave campus, except to go home. And how could I possibly manage what such a trip would entail! But that didn't stop me. I would try to get there somehow when I graduated—if I could get a positive response to my letter.

Female college graduates had mainly three working options then: teaching, nursing, or office work. Having no education or training for the first two, I had to rely on the third. (My B.A. in commerce and finance—later known as business administration—carried little weight in male-dominated occupations!)

I actually got a job! I became secretary to the office manager of the advertising sales department of the Curtis Publishing Company. My only regret was not being able to work in the Curtis building—in the same place with the writers and editors! The necessary extra space at that time was in the Penn Mutual Building that flanked another side of Independence Square. But there was a great perk: free copies of all four magazines! I remained with Curtis until I was married a year later and moved away.

Caroline Matheny Dillman, Ph.D.

Menlo Park, California