Badminton - Cortes Island circa 1950 - from Mom's letter

 

And our poor helpless little Badminton Club, as nice a group of clear-eyed, high living citizens as you’d wish to find anywhere, has been getting into double-dutch all over the place, and all because we laughingly remarked about something a few times in the Lunch Counter. We didn’t even complain, all we did was laughingly remark.  It went like this.  Jack Summers painted the ceiling of the Hall white, as had been decided, made a wonderful job of it too.  When the Badminton Club next played, we found we couldn’t see the birdie anymore, and some of us being so inept at the best of times, found this quite a disadvantage.  We tried to dye the birdies but it didn’t work, the dye just slithered right off.  We still didn’t complain, we just remarked about it a few times with this light laugh, the upper lip stiff and a few unshed tears dripping around the back of the eyeballs.  Next thing we know the Hall Committee has ordered green paint, which Jack sprayed on over top of the white, whilst making a great many remarks, most unlaughingly.

  Jack, aided by Jimmy also got the walls done on Sunday.  The Hall looks very nice and much brighter with its green ceiling and sand walls, which latter exotic sounding color is a very pale yellow. 

  Once the badminton game was over a little spat broke out. I believe there are two sides to every question and here they are.  First we’ll hear from Jack Summers:

 Jack:  Well, I was sitting there in the Hall after the Badminton Game and Molly Milton came over and whispered that she thought that Peg Pyner had some of the Hall’s spoons in her purse and shouldn’t something be done about it.  So I waltzed over and very nicely asked Peg Pyner would she mind opening her purse and letting us have a look.  Well, she made a scene and instantly accused us of framing her and took the spoons out and even threw one at me while I was walking over to tell President Don Levey about it.  Quite a few gathered around and some said they were surprised and some said they weren’t and everyone kept asking her was she going to print it, which seemed to get on her nerves somewhat.

And now me: 

Peg: Well, just to be a good sport I went and played a game of badminton and left my purse with Molly Milton, fool that I was.  The minute I saw Molly go over and whisper to Jack I knew something was cooking and sure enough he asked me to open my purse, bellowing his head off the whilst.  I fished around for these measly spoons they had planted there and if one flipped out of my hand and hit him on the back it’s just too bad.  He shouldn’t have kept shouting so, it got on my nerves, though not as much as those dimwits that kept asking, “Are you going to print this, Peg,” as if I’d miss!