Darlings, I Always Wanted To Be Aunt Cordelia!!!!!!!!!

                                    When I was just a wee thing, girls, I had, courtesy of my older sister, a children's book I was fond of called "Miss Sniff, The Fuzzy Cat."  It was all about a little girl named Polly Pinks, who lived with her father and Aunt Cordelia (probably her father's sister, as Mom either died or skipped out on them, which explains a lot about Polly Pinks herself, as I will further explain), and had a black fuzzy cat named Miss Sniff.  When it was given to Polly, austere Aunt Cordelia pronounced the cat would be a "mischief," to which Polly, who could not pronounce that word, said, "Miss Sniff."  And so the cat was named.

                                     The gimmick of the book was that, due to 1940s technology, the pictures of Miss Sniff were covered with some kind of black Velcro or cheap velvet, that enabled you to pet her, giving the cat a fuzzy feeling, and the children something of an interactive experience.  By the time I inherited the book, in the late Fifties, Miss Sniff had seen better days; some of the fur was almost completely rubbed off her pictures, and what was left I rubbed very carefully.  But I just adored this book.

                                      Part of the reason I adored the book was the color pink, which is the only thing I had in common with Polly Pinks.  I was always a little suspicious of Polly; even as a child her dresses were just too short, her lips too pouty, and her hair too stylish, suggesting something of a child tart.  Or someone who would grow up being judged entirely by her surface looks, no matter how rotten she might have turned out to be.  You know, dears, like Debbie Dykeman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       But the one I adored most was Aunt Cordelia, pictured above.  She took such pride in her best, fluffy white curtains, and when Miss Sniff ran up those, you can bet she was a bit put off.  Sure, she may have the look of a repressed lesbian, but I am telling you, in this house, Aunt Cordelia ruled!!!!!!!!  The hell with Polly's father, who is mentioned, but never around, anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         As an adult, I am convinced that whomever illustrated this book must have watched a lot of Frieda Inescort movies, because Aunt Cordelia, as pictured, looks just like Frieda Inescort!  And you know how much I just loved her as Lady Jane Ainsley!!!!!!!!  No wonder I wanted to be Aunt Cordelia.  That hair, that posture, that glamour, that ability to sew such pretty things and do nothing but sit at home and sew, amidst the best, fluffy white curtains!!!!!!!  Sounds good to me, dolls!!!!!!!!

                                          Sure, I had my favorite real life aunts, but when it came to fiction Aunt Cordelia was my fave!!!!!!!!  You might have had to tow the line with her, but you learned something!!!!!!

                                          Girls, I am tellling you, she paved the way for such as Anna Wintour!!!!!!!!!!!