A Letter From The Publisher, Oct. 15, 1945

Since our Reception and Information Center opened here in the TIME & LIFE Building ten months ago, many thousands of TIME subscribers have come calling on us, from as far away even as Liberia and China.

Some of you just popped in and out, but many proved leisurely conversationists over the four o’clock tea we serve our visitors. Others have spent hours researching special subjects in the bound volumes of TIME, LIFE and FORTUNE in the reading-room on the balcony, while still others have plied us with questions about TIME and how we gather our news.

Our receptionists report that you’re interested in postwar housing (“We were swamped with inquiries about the Model Home display. Quite a few visitors came back with friends . . .”)—in war trophies (“People came in especially to see the Samurai swords and Nazi banners . . .”)—in museums and picture galleries (“We’re constantly being asked about special art exhibits around town—and many people have wanted to buy one or another of the Floyd and Gladys Rockmore Davis paintings we’re showing currently here in the Center”).

We try to be prepared to answer as many as possible of your questions by first-hand reports. Information-expert Irene Burbank wore out two pairs of rationed shoes sightseeing every sight around New York herself. For example, she has taken the three-hour boat trip around Manhattan and can even tell you just how much poetic license was involved in describing the seats as “luxury liner deck chairs.” She has also tested on her own palate and nerves the fare and entertainment of just about every eating place and night club in New York.

You come to us with some pretty odd requests. Quoting Miss Burbank:

“A Chilean wanted to know where and for how much he could get a Russian portable typewriter sent to his sister-in-law in Santiago. We got one for him through the All-Language Typewriter Company, which superimposed the Russian alphabet on a German portable.”

“One man wanted ideas on the care & feeding of goats. We fixed him up on a Borden & Co. truck leaving for their goat farm in Jersey the next morning at 4 a.m.”

As a matter of fact, your wide range of knowledge and interests has had us hopping to keep ahead of your queries —like these: “Can you tell me what former President’s wife was referred to as ‘Lemonade Lucy’?” (Ans.: Mrs. James K. Polk) . . . “Where can I get the only two recordings made by Olga Alvino?” (Ans.: They’re on one disk, Victor 22313, which is no longer in circulation—so you have to prowl among the second-hand music shops.) . . . “What size is a French 42½ woman’s shoe?” (Ans.: 10½—you always subtract 3 2 from the French measure to get the American size.) . . . “What is a kangaroo’s pouch lined with?” (When we checked the Bronx Zoo on that one we got our ears pinned back with “Skin, of course. What d’ya expect, nylon?”)

But among all of you we’ve met and talked with in these past few months, we reserve a special place in our affections for the young woman who wanted to know if Elizabeth Arden was still giving frequency modulation.