The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

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MIAMI BEACH, Fla.—Early Saturday morning I called for my uncle, Mr. David Gray, soon after 9:00 a.m. and we drove to Hyde Park. At one o'clock we lunched with members of the Hyde Park Historical Association and Mr. Snell of the Park Service. Mr. Snell, who has been in charge of the memorial home and grounds since Mr. Palmer was promoted to the regional office, gave an interesting talk. In the evening Mr. Gray and I dined with Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr., all in all Saturday was a very gay day in the country for us.

On Sunday Mr. Peter Casson, assistant to the High Commissioner for Refugees, came to Hyde Park to visit the memorial library and lunch with me. With him was Mr. Langdon Post who has just moved back to New York from California. A few girls from Vassar also joined us at lunch, and I always enjoy seeing these young people and hearing what their interests and problems are as they begin a new year in college.

Sunday night I left from Idlewild Airport and came down to Miami Beach where we are holding a two-day meeting for the American Association for the United Nations. Our local organization is growing in strength and we are glad to have this opportunity to be brought up to date with their activities.

I received a letter the other day which I think is of some interest so I am putting it into my column though I will withhold the name of the writer. I shall say only that he is a Spanish student at a university in Washington, D.C. His letter follows:

"I am a Spanish student and am in my third year. I like the United States very much and I read your column regularly in the Washington Daily News. You discuss many of the questions which interest the average citizen.

"Not long ago I wrote a somewhat facetious letter to a Washington newspaper about my experiences with your cocktails. Actually, the problem involved in the difference in drinking habits between the United States and many other countries is a big one for many foreign students. Quite a few of these students come from wine-drinking countries like Spain, and the shift from drinks like Sherry and Vermouth before mealtime to Martinis, Manhattans, etc., is sometimes a little startling in its effects. The party consumption of hard liquor also is demoralizing to many of the foreigners, whose training has not equipped them to handle gin and Bourbon.

"I have made some inquiries, but apparently the indoctrination courses for foreign students do not include education about liquor. With the school season at hand, perhaps a word or two in your column may do a lot of good."

The word or two I would like to say is, if you come from a wine-drinking country, try to stick to your wine and do not get into our bad cocktail-drinking habit. If for some reason you must take a cocktail, take one and one only. Don't be ashamed of being abstemious.

In the long run the man who knows what he is saying and doing at all times and has full control of himself and his emotions is in a much better position than anyone who allows liquor to color his thoughts or his actions.

E.R.

(Copyright, 1955, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)


Names and Terms Mentioned or Referenced

Persons
  • Gray, David, 1870-1968 [ index ]
         US ambassador to Ireland
         [ LC | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives ]
  • Morgenthau, Henry, 1891-1967 [ index ]
         US Secretary of the Treasury
         [ ERPP bio | LC | ISNI | VIAF | Wikidata | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | ANB ]
  • Morgenthau, Marcelle, -1972 [ index ]
         Second spouse of Henry Morgenthau, Jr.(married 1951)
         [ LC | VIAF ]
  • Palmer, George A., -1988 [ index ]
         American parks service official; superintendent of the government properties in Hyde Park
  • Post, Langdon W. (Langdon Ward), 1899- [ index ]
         American government official; Assistant Federal Relief Administrator in the FDR administration
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | SNAC | FAST | US Nat. Archives | NYT ]
  • Snell, Charles W. [ index ]
         American government official; National Park Service administrator
         [ LC | ISNI | VIAF | SNAC ]
Organizations
Geographic
  • Miami Beach (Fla., United States) [ index ]


About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, October 4, 1955

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
[ ERPP bio | LC | VIAF | WorldCat | DPLA | Wikidata | SNAC ]

Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

  • Brick, Christopher (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Regenhardt, Christy (Associate Editor)
    [ ISNI ]
  • Black, Allida M. (Editor)
    [ VIAF | ISNI ]
  • Binker, Mary Jo (Associate Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]
  • Alhambra, Christopher C. (Electronic Text Editor)
    [ VIAF | ORCID ]

Digital edition published 2008, 2017 by
The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project

Available under licence from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

Published with permission from the Estate of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.

MEP edition publlished on June 30, 2008.

TEI-P5 edition published on April 28, 2017.

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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