My Mother, Aileen Ware, and Mary Pickford

“Starting in my Junior High School year I started as an unpaid volunteer worker at the Douglas Fairbanks/Mary Pickford Studios. When school was over at 3pm, I’d walk up the Blvd. hop a big red streetcar and get off at the intersection of Sunset and Hollywood Blvds., and walk across the street to the Douglas Fairbanks Studio. For hours I’d rubber stamp 8×10 photographs of Mary Pickford, who’s real unmarried name was Gladys Smith.

The stamps read Very Truly Yours, Respectfully Yours, Sincerely Yours, and I’ve done hundreds of them. All were free to the asker, most of whom were men in the various branches of service in WWI.

One of many WW1 postcards from soldiers

My pay, an Autographed photo .

On Saturday I’d work all day. Letters came in huge mailbags and I still have some letters. One especially, from a young man living in the Mid-west who asked ‘If I should come to Hollywood, do you think I could get in?’ The poor man thought there was a fence around Hollywood. Most letters were requests for money or clothes. She never saw any of those letters at all.”

The following are some of the letters:

Brisbane pages 1 and 2