Jet there faster by
BOAC Comet 4!
BY LOW FARE TOURIST CLASS
CALCUTTA
in 5 hours 45 minutes
RANGOON
in 3 hours 40 minutes
JAPAN
in 4 hours 30 minutes
See your Travel Agent or Jardine's Airways Department. Tel: 351112 (24 hour service)
B.O.A.C
WORLD LEADER IN JET TRAVEL
BRITISH OVERSEAS AIRWAYS CORPORATION
MORPHY RICHARDS
}
THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1959.
EZC) (POI IGA ORECH INCH DOME OWNER DONE DEDAH 'KISICH DEG DOKA EICMOS IDAG DODO EX20) EXO EXO EXCENCE ENGOCH DAN
IN
Nora's verses go
[ORA HERDSMAN is a sweet;-
white-haired old lady who lives alone in a small bed-sitting room, overlooking one of the less fashion- able greens of West London.
the
By
go round
world
EDMUND CARTER
the temptation to rehash
my
She draws her old aga pension each week, does her own cooking, spends her time reading, watch- ing television, attending lectures on philosophy and writing little verses. verses of years gone by.
There's only one thing to "I feel that cards are a really distinguish Mis Herdsman essential part of Christmas," she from the many thoumanda of explains. "A present in all very lonely hearts
populate nice, of course, who
But cards are London's quiet streets. Her displayed in the home for days friends call her "Miss Christ-
a reminder that friends and mus".
relatives, many miles awny, are thinking of you."
For
this berpectacled old Indy, known only by • tow
score of people, in the natharers of the most widely published verses in the world- Those little Jingles which appear inside Christmas cards.
year
her.
Every work is rend in tens of millions of homea the world,
ott over
from
the sunny Caribbean to be arid countries of the Per- sian Gulf, from frozen Iceland to tropical Africa.
Nora has been the anonymous pout of one of the world's largest Christina cord firms for more than 30 years. No one has equalled her output in this deid; probably no one ever will. Even now, in her first year of retire- men!, 87-year-old Miss Herds man is still writing her verses as a freelance.
hasn't been Materially, it
rewarding life. It has Very brought her
no more than ekaly living
enough wage, mones to live in very modest tetirement, and a certificate for having defeated a "What's My Line? television panej.
Q
a
But philosophical Miss Herds- man doesn't measure the re- wards it: terms of hard cash,
handsome young director of her firm and tell him;
You are the cream 021 my
stenwinrries,
And the peach in my Melba,
too.
There are
many sweet things In life, sweetheart. But the sweetest of all is you. This composition was for t card depkting a rather over-ripe
frut sundue.
It can be enough, she says, fo
while simply: "Greet ings and got wishes
The anagenent realised thait for Christmas." But
they had a budding poetess on how much more the staff, and little Miss Henis- friendly to say:
Thinking of you
this season
man was swiftly promoted to the al editorship of the Christmas card
section,
And wishing you,
specially hard, The happy merriest
Christmas
That ever was wiched on a
care!. Nora Herderman, who graduated in English at Oxford, Inlo the verso-wriiking went birdness in 1928 when she ful lowed up an advertisement for "a person with a gooi know- ledge of English literature."
Her job was to select quota-| tions for loome-feat calendars, and for a while she was well. cerved by Longfellow. Tenny- son, Burns and the Bible.
But when Dickens offered no rullable cultuary phrase for a cooking calendar, she composed her first verse!
When life is full of things to
do.
And things to boil and bake, Remember It's the lightest
heart
That makes the. tightest cake. Miss tordsman went from cards.
To her, it has been a job worth calendars to Valentine duing and therefore worth doing And she still blushes when she well. She has always sought recalls the day, 30 years ako, to be original, firmly resisting that she had to stand before the
Nora started
like:
Smiler fed on Bow'r Gote
off with verses
There's Christmas
Miss Noro Herdsman-"Miss Christmas" to her fans
the year, and especially On Christmas Day.
And for children:
magic in
To have a grandma Nice as YOU
the air. Our hearts and homes are
bright and gay.
And so this little card is sent to wish you happiness and say: You're thought of warmly all
"SMILER"
sends hearty greetings to all babies, with an extra special good wish to those in hospital.
A Healthy, Happy Christmas and New Year on
COW & GATE
Makes Christmas Day
Lots nicer, too. And so this
Litle card
Will say
flat.
"I love you lots**
On Christmas Day.
(EIN) (0) (0) (3) DAI.
- at work in hor London
verses were lost in an air-raid and she had to treble her out- put to make up the back-log.
Sho was also handicapped by censorship.
the words,
But verse like this is not so popular today. Says Mira Herds- innn: "Nowadays, cards are not a ferm of wartime ner.rly so flowery. It's the For example, when she started
a verse with slicker verses that are wanted.
is in the air," it and they have to go straight to "Christmas
was blue-ponciliod beenuse, sho the point."
their was told, bombers on mission of death and destruction were also in the air!
When I called at hæc two- roomed fat in Hammersmith she had been writing:
Here's a wish with love to
Mum,
Nora Herdsman, roft-spoken and unassuming, has only once thrown off her vell of anony- For a Chrisimas that's the mity at Christmas, 1934, when
And one to Dad as well.
nicest yet
she appeared on British tele-
And a year that's simply vision in "What's My Line?"
sweil
The panel were completely at a Simplicity is the scuret of her loss to name the occupation of work. Usually
seen the the little old Indy from Ham-
she
Christmas card design frst and mersmith.
then
composes an appropriate verse. And, always,
she is At the end of the programme
writing for two Christmases Nora Herdsman car out with verse which had two lines about each member of the panel,
ahead, so topical references can
never be 119ed.
*
She must also avoid words and ended: like "know" and "holly," since
the
card may be sold in แ snows country where it never
und holly is non-existent.
World War II provided Miss Christmas with her greatest difficulties. All copies of ber
Sleep
Productt, audience, viewers,
too,
Christmas happiness to you.
Accept this greeting please
from me,
For
greetlogn in MY LINE you see,
Deep cool refreshing sleep -Yours every night with a
Slumberland
CLEANER
„Silo Aguster FAGAN (HONG KONG), LTD.
Super-Suction
1 ila Masto My HongKond. Phsaresa: Alexandre Amoss,Tel, 4110
ચન્નાર
Look for the Stuckerland labit, it is your guaTMEIER
of genuine slursberiand quality - YARD
Solo Adentr. S. H. LANGSTON & CO., LTD.
67-69, Des Voeux Road C.
Tel. 28895 0 28975