Chipmunks and Children: The Photography and Life of Ruth Alexander Nichols

Document 1: 21 August 1917, Ruth Alexander to Herman Nichols   |    Document 2: 23 August 1918, Albert Britt to Ruth Alexander
Document 3: 1919 Thomas Clay O’Donnell to Ruth Alexander   |    Document 4: 23 May 1927 Jean M. Whitman to Ruth Nichols
Document 5: 20 June 1931- W. C. Vogt to Ruth Nichols   |    Document 6 & 7 Introduction
Document 6: 14 June 1950, W.H. Zippler to Ruth Nichols     |    Document 7: 20 June 1950, Ruth Nichols to W.H. Zippler
Document 8: 1953 – Better Homes and Gardens Transcript       |     Bibliography

Document 2: 23 August 1918, Albert Britt to Ruth Alexander

Author: Albert Britt

Recipient: Ruth Alexander

Date: 23 August 1918

Outing magazine cover
Outing Magazine Cover, March 1919.
Source: Series XI. Writings, Subseries 3. Writings by and about Ruth A. Nichols, Box 4. Nichols Family Papers, RG 30/372. O.C.A.

Location: Nichols Family Papers, Record Group 30/372, Series VI: Professional Correspondence of Ruth A. Nichols Nichols, Box 1. O.C.A.

Document Type: Typed Letter

Introduction:

This document is a letter sent by the editor of Outing Publishing Company, Albert Britt, to Ruth Alexander on 23 August 1918.[1] It notifies Ruth that the article and set of photographs that she had submitted to Outing magazine had been accepted. The photographs, and the accompanying article “Billy the Prickly Pet,” were drawn from the pictures Alexander described taking in her letter to Herman Nichols in the previous document. Her success in selling these early photos foreshadows her later fame, and shows the beginnings of her business acumen.

Also worth noting are the prices paid for  Alexander’s work. Adjusting for inflation,  Ruth was making a fair sum of money for these photographs, reflecting the demand for such work among magazines at the time.

Original                       Both                    Transcription

 

 

britt letter

Transcription:

OUTING                OUTING ADVENTURE LIBRARY                OUTING HANDBOOKS

                OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY

        141-145 WEST 36th ST.                 NEW YORK CITY

DEPARTMENT Editorial.                                                         August 23, 1918.

Miss Ruth Alexander,

211 No. 6th St.,

Hiawatha, Kan.[2]

My dear Miss Alexander:

I am sorry to have been so slow in writing you in reference to your article, “MY FRIEND THE PORCUPINE”[3] and the Chipmunk photographs. I have been away the greater part of the past month and a half which fact must plead as an excuse.

Outing porcupine photo 1
”Billy the Prickly Pet” from Outing 1919.
Source: Series XI. Writings, Subseries 3. Writings by and about Ruth A. Nichols, Box 4. Nichols Family Papers, RG 30/372. O.C.A.

I like your article very much and shall be glad to use th<e>[4] Porcupine stories [sic] with six photographs at a price of thirty dollars[5] payable after publication. I can use twelve of the chipmunk and Gopher [sic] photographs at a price of twenty five dollars[6] for the lot, payable after publication, if these prices are satisfactory to you.

Outing porcupine photo 2
”Billy the Prickly Pet” from Outing 1919.
Source: Series XI. Writings, Subseries 3. Writings by and about Ruth A. Nichols, Box 4. Nichols Family Papers, RG 30/372. O.C.A.

Doubtless you have seen our page WHO’S WHO IN OUTING.[7] We like to tell something about our contributors there and if you can give me a brief outline on your outdoor experiences and send me a photograph for use on this page I shall appreciate it.

                                        Very truly yours,

AB:A[8]                                        [signature of Albert Britt]

                                                Editor.

                                

[Transcribed by Laura Feyer.]

 

[1]Albert Britt (b. 1875) was the Editor and co-owner of the magazine Outing when Ruth Alexander had her piece accepted in 1918, and published in 1919. ( “1920 United States Federal Census – AncestryLibrary.com.” Accessed 27 June 2016. Web link.;“Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction.” Hathi Trust Digital Library. Accessed 14 March 2016. Web link).

[2] At the time,although she was living and working in Manhattan Kansas, Alexander apparently still used her family home in Hiawatha as an address (Student File, Ruth Alexander Nichols, Record Group 28/2, Box 57, O.C.A.).

[3] Her article was then published in the March 1919 issue of Outing magazine under the title, “Billy, The Prickly Pet.” The description of the article in the table of contents reads, “Our friend the porky evidently understands that prudence is the better part of valor and that a home in a box is better than no home at all.” The article can be found at the following link on page 299 (“Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction.” Hathi Trust Digital Library.Accessed 14 March 2016. Web link).

[4]Arrows indicate that the “e” was added in ink to the typed word

[5] $30 in 1918 has the equivalent purchasing power of  $470.69 dollars in 2016, adjusted for inflation (“US Inflation Calculator.” US Inflation Calculator. Accessed 27 June 2016. Web link).

[6]$25 in 1918 has the equivalent purchasing power of $392.25 in 2016, adjusted for inflation (“U.S. inflation Calculator”).

[7] Ruth Alexander’s description in “Who’s Who in Outing” reads, “Most of Miss Alexander’s summers have been spent in Wisconsin. By rising early mornings, she has succeeded in taming most of the little friends of the woods, including chipmunks, squirrels, field mice, gophers, porcupines, and even a big frog” (“Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction.” Hathi Trust Digital Library. Accessed 14 March 2016. Web link).

[8] Secretarial marking, indicating that the letter was typed by Albert Britt’s secretary “A.”