Sybil Sez!!
By Sybil Bruncheon
A classic ladies gathering always thrown strictly during daylight hours when respectable women (both married and single) could meet each other for polite conversation, sewing discussions, recipe exchanges, household advice, and tea (with a hint of elderberry cordial.)Any intimate talk about … ahem … marital matters or “feminine problems” was still restricted to the pantry with one’s mother for so-called female counsel, preferably when the menfolk might be out at a poker night or away at a fishing convention.Seen here are from left: Muriel Garamonde, recently widowed (hence the black band on her arm). She has just torn her hat off in another of her hourly fits of weeping much to the chagrin of the ladies present. The removal of a hat by a woman in public was considered extremely scandalous and uncouth. A hundred years earlier, the widow Garamonde might even have been bludgeoned with garden tool, or burned at the stake. Sitting next to her (chagrined) is Mrs. Freda Chouse, doyenne of Lonelyville society who threw the annual Orphans Ball to raise money for the famous Lonelyville Orphanage with its three children and 27 staff members. Standing next to her is Miss Gladys Gandge, professional paid companion to Mrs. Chouse, trained at the Mamaroneck School of Asylum Sciences. Miss Gandge’s handbag is equipped with all the latest sedatives, an array of hypodermic needles and syringes, and a pair of handcuffs, if necessary.Next to her is Berenice “Flopsy” Hoppmynder, lace and doily- maker to all of Fire Island. Single-handedly, she created the embroidery craze of the decade and literally drowned all the seaside towns in antimacassars, macramé pillows and cushion covers, bedspreads, duvets, and table doilies. She is seen actually wearing some of her creations, and was often heard to say, “I’m a living billboard for m’ stuff!”Glowering next to her, at the camera, is Phillipina Muzette, former lady wrestler from the La Francaise-Orpheum Circuit in Europe. She headlined in Vaudeville as a wild animal tamer, especially famous for her death defying combats with rabbits, enraged hens, and marmosets, usually costumed as members of royalty, much to the delight of the crowds.Standing next to her is her lifelong friend Miss Lucille Beemer with whom she shared a home in Bridgehampton, filled with cats, also costumed as members of royalty (or farmhands). Seated in the center is Marjorie de Plaisance, the Countess Jarlesberg, the hostess of this gathering and a resident of the oldest log cabin still standing on Fire Island. Its original construction was believed to have been in 1633, in an attempt to frighten the local Indians into submission by its fearsome appearance. The natives ran shrieking from the cabin, which they called a “ponka-hoompa mahn-conkamee,” which roughly translates as “a turtle that swallows white people.”The countess was known as having kept the cabin in its completely original 17th century condition except for the addition of indoor plumbing of course, and elaborate chintz draperies on the unglazed windows. Seated next to her is Dr. Hymer Plunkett, physician specialist in women’s medicine, and the only man at the party. Polite society always required one male chaperone at female gatherings to “maintain sensible propriety.”Seated next to him is Helenée Frisée, a Bulgarian refugee, and suspected pickpocket. Smiling at the camera in the straw hat is Frances Carrothers, tandem bicyclist champion at the 1912 Olympics. She won the silver medal in the Ladies Bicycle Built for Two Competition – the half mile, with obstacles. She and her partner, Georgette Geebagen, seated here just in front of her (also hatless because she was hot) were especially successful at avoiding the water balloons and the quicksand. They came in at 47 minutes, 38 seconds, a world record, but still only second-place to the Serbians, who were investigated for excessive caffeine doping.And finally, behind Geebagen and huddled against the table is 11-year-old Kitty Laflouti, later arrested as the infamous “pre-teen pyromaniac of Patchogue.” If you look closely at the photograph, you can see her identical twin sister Lelia-Marie huddled right there under the tea table, apparently about to set fire to “Flopsy” Hoppmynder’s tablecloth…
