The BC Adventure 21

Vesuvius

December 20, 1921

Dear Mums, Daddy and Dorothy,
 

Happy Christmas to you – our second one here. I hope my little gifts to you have arrived. Your package to us came a few days ago, and we will put the presents under the tree at Una's. As their house is bigger we always have the major occasions with them.

We had a delightful time at the Costume Ball at Harbour House. I've enclosed a postcard of it. Mark refused to go in costume again so I didn't either. There
were only a handful of us out of 150 who weren't in costume.

The orchestra was very good – the Hunt's All Star Trio from Victoria. Someone paid for them to come and they played from 9 p.m. until 4 a.m. The prizes were declared early at 11 pm to allow those in masks would unveil themselves. The only one we knew who got a prize was an honorable mention for Beryl. Of course her father was one of the judges, so he might have felt he couldn't give her one of
the main prizes. She looked wonderful as Mrs. Siddons. Dick went as The Mad Matter, and Una as a Quaker girl. Others that you will recognise the names of: Cecil Springford went as one of many Pierrots, and Eric was a Trapper. There was one really original costume, an Eskimo, which was made up of real skins sewn together.

The party was written up in The Daily Colonist – and our names were mentioned in the bit about others who also attended. We heard they made $200 out of the party, and all were very pleased.

Our weather has been very cold – much worse than last December, with 15 continuous days of frost, with the odd bit of snow flurries now and then.

I wonder where we will be next Christmas – perhaps in the frozen north of the Cariboo.

Love

Gwenllian