Corner on Youth: Elaine Cannon

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Love’s Banner: Memories of the Life of Elaine Cannon.

The wag of a puppy dog’s tail

Is a dead give away

Of his pleasure at being noticed.

Take the hint

People are like puppy dogs

Notice them

And they’ll respond.

~ Elaine Cannon

The fourth decade of Elaine’s life had a focus on youth. Her primary attention was, of course, on the youth within the walls of her own home—her own children. But it also expanded to include the youth of Utah, eventually the Church, and even the nation during the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Her aim was to help young people improve themselves—to look, behave, and actually be, better. The poem above represents some of what Elaine tried to teach youth. A carefully cultivated habit of noticing people was something she practiced because she enjoyed the flowering of friendships and was convinced the world would be a better place if everyone, teenagers included, learned to take notice of others.

Before the Six O’Clock Feeding

While the family was growing, their wallets were emptying. Elaine wrote: I had these two little tiny babies—I had to pray when I went through the grocery check stand. We had nothing. She knew she had to come to grips with the situation or fall apart. Elaine knew she could contribute financially by working. It was a challenge to think what she could do to find the balance between work she was willing to do and taking care of what was most important—her little children and supporting her husband.

The idea came to her to continue her writing, but to be more efficient in how she did it. She made the early morning hour her time to write. Before the six o’clock feeding was the time she settled on. It worked for her then and became the pattern for her the rest of her life.

When she was tired, she would remind herself that she would rather get up and type to earn a little money than sleep an extra hour. The practice of rising early to work was something her children vividly recalled. Tony said, “Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on Mom’s lap while she was typing. I remember watching her hands fly over the keyboard. And I loved drawing with her dark number two pencils while she was working. In spite of the fact that she was very involved with things like that, she was good about making time for us. I never felt slighted.”

She also became more efficient and organized during the day so that she could accomplish the things she desired to do for her husband and children.

The Time Was Right

As a teenager Elaine had written a little column on teens for the Tribune, then her assignment changed to the society page, reporting mainly on the activities of adults. One day, Wendell Ashton, of The Deseret News, called her to come in for an appointment. He had an idea: he wanted the paper to have a column for youth. He wanted her to write it, giving her an opportunity that changed her life. Elaine agreed The time was right for teenage stuff.

The time was indeed right, and Elaine was the right person. Her daily column ran for twenty-five years and was read faithfully by thousands of teenagers (and adult readers). Young people had their pictures taken for the paper, and that generated even more interest. Elaine’s sister, Nadine (who was eight years younger than Elaine, and still a teenager), remembers that time fondly. “Many times Elaine would use me and my friends for photos to go in the paper. She gave me a lot of opportunities and included me in many of her activities.”

At about the same time, Wendell suggested they do a fashion show for teens. Wendell, Elaine said many years later, was responsible for putting her on the map: he arranged for her to travel to New York City to meet with Seventeen magazine, sent off some of her work to national publishers, and arranged for her to speak at a couple of large functions. She was able to do something for teens and women because Wendell opened the door for her.

The Seminar for Sallies (later the Seminar for Sallies and Sams) was born—in between Elaine’s next two children. Her column started soon after Christine was born in 1947. The first fashion show was held in August 1948. Susan Elaine was born in April, 1949.

Speaker—in Constant Demand

From the 1950s on, until the last year of her life, Elaine gave several talks a month—often several talks a week. She spoke at various book clubs or civic clubs, sacrament meetings or Relief Society programs, mutual and youth gatherings, as well as conferences, conventions, and workshops. When she spoke to groups of young people she often brought along props, which she would use to engage the youth in the message. For example, she had a collection of painted wooden faces, which she would use to involve young people in discovering which attitudes were most appealing and charming, and which were unpleasant or obnoxious.

Young people were invited to the stand to help in demonstrations: how a young man could help a young woman into a coat or a car; how young women could sit gracefully and modestly; all were taught how to shake hands and make introductions; and how to show appropriate interest while listening to others. Her talks were amply illustrated with captivating stories and humor. These methods were intended to motivate her audience, to cause them to desire to be more appealing and gracious.

An oft-repeated story was intended to help young women learn how to encourage young men to do a thoughtful or generous thing. When visiting Lagoon, a local amusement park, Elaine observed a young couple wandering through the park prior to a concert. A little boy carrying a messy ice cream cone came running towards the couple. He crashed right into the young woman, smearing ice cream all over her dress. For a moment, all three stood there in shock. Then, as Elaine described it, the young woman bent down to the little boy and said “Don’t worry, Bill will buy you a new ice cream cone,” and then looking up appealingly at her date she continued “Won’t you, Bill?” And of course, Bill couldn’t help buying the cone because he felt like a million dollars. This was classic Elaine, the type of story Elaine loved to tell.It demonstrated so many of the qualities she thought important in interacting with people.

People are a little like puppy dogs. Proper treatment will yield results.

Era of Youth

In June 1960, Elaine was called to Church headquarters by Elders Mark E. Petersen and Richard L. Evans. She was appointed to be an associate editor of the Improvement Era, with the assignment of co-editor of the magazine’s new Youth Section. At the time, Elaine was writing two columns a day for the Deseret News and a big half-page spread on Saturday. Elder Petersen was serving as an adviser to the newspaper, so she asked him if she would be able to continue with the paperwork as well as serving as co-editor. She was undoubtedly thinking about her obligations to the paper as well as her family’s financial needs (since the Improvement Era assignment was unpaid). After discussion, it was agreed she would cut down her work at the newspaper to one column a day.

Elders Petersen and Evans also informed her that the co-editor for the youth section was a yet-to-be-named male. Her idea was to recommend her husband—a man who had experience with printing and putting out a weekly newspaper. He had also been a popular seminary teacher at South High. Jim knew publishing, youth, and the gospel. She thought it would be a novel idea to have a husband and wife work together on such an endeavor. When she arrived for the next meeting with the apostles, ready to give her recommendation, it was not necessary—the Lord had prompted the call of someone else. Her co-editor to this “sparkling new youth section” was Elder Marion D. Hanks, already an assistant to the Twelve, and later a member of the First Quorum of Seventy. Both were by then known as “young people’s people,” according to the Improvement Era article announcing their calls.

Elaine was surprised, but also pleased. She and Elder Hanks had known each other from childhood and had become very good friends during their teenage years. Elaine looked up to Elder Hanks (or Duff as she and friends called him) much like she did her own brother Aldon. From their youthful interactions, a solid relationship had been established. Later, Elaine reflected that Elder Hank’s influence had contributed to the depth and breadth of her spiritual knowledge and testimony. A recurring theme in the sermons given by Elder Hanks was to remind the saints to live lives that reflect the wonderful gospel message. Elder Hanks was known throughout his life as a humanitarian who sought to emulate Christlike service to his fellowman. He endeavored to live and teach the essential message of the Gospel, which is “that God lives and Jesus is the Christ, that there is a plan for man centering on Christ, our Advocate.”

This call and shared responsibility gave Elaine and Elder Hanks the opportunity to use their appropriate talents and testimonies to help the youth of the Church.

The 60s era was one of tremendous unrest in America, and the Church’s decision to start a new magazine section especially for youth proved to be an inspired one. Young people were being challenged by societal trends and pressures. The leaders of the Church were concerned. The need for instruction targeting youth was great.

Although Elaine and Elder Hanks wrote many of the articles themselves, they also called upon other talented and faithful people to work on the magazine. They worked often with Marvin J. Ashton who later became an apostle and with Apostles Elders Delbert L. Stapley and Richard L. Evans. They requested articles from local notables, such as: Winifred Jardine, the long-time food editor of the Deseret News; Dr. Keith Engar, a professor at the University of Utah; LaRueLongden of the General YWMIA Presidency; Dr. Henry D. Eyring, professor at the University of Utah, and a world-renowned scientist; and Dr. Truman G. Madsen, a professor of philosophy and religion at BYU. The youth section became known as the Era of Youth, and the spotlight was put on Latter-day Saint youth throughout the world.

Advice on how to: date and relate to the opposite sex; communicate and socialize; use the phone; host a party; and behave at school; were natural topics for Elaine, and she merged those lessons with the gospel instruction developed over the years she wrote Church manuals. The pages of the youth section also included advice on how to: prepare for a mission; find balance in life; serve in the church; resist the temptations of the world; strengthen testimony; and make important decisions. The youth section was graced with wisdom and wit, photos and artwork, clever graphics, and all kinds of enticements to catch the attention of the readers and soon became very popular with the youth of the Church.

In her journal, Elaine described a trip she took on assignment from Church Magazines. She and Jim traveled with the art director for The Improvement Era, Ralph Reynolds, and his wife Jane. The four headed east to attend the Palmyra Pageant and stopped in dozens of other places along the way to meet with youth and leaders. She recorded the following regarding the experiences of this 1961 trip:

We interviewed the young people concerning their feelings toward the church, heard stories of their conversions. They truly have testimonies and the missionary spirit….We attended the daily testimony meetings held in the Sacred Grove during Pageant time. President Gerald Smith [President of the New York Mission] called on me to give an impromptu talk one day. I was terrified, of course, what with Elder Mark E. Peterson and wife, Elder Franklin D. Richards and wife, and all the visitors and missionaries there. But the Lord blessed me and I am thankful I had the special privilege of bearing my testimony there in that sacred place.

I also spoke to a large gathering of saints in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, under direction of President Thomas Monson [then president of the mission], and again in the LDS Cemetery Winter Quarters in Florence, Nebraska. These experiences strengthened my desire to live more righteously and to serve the Lord better and more effectively. My testimony—the spirit within me—stirred up each time I heard another bear his witness of the truth of the Church, its sacred origin and of the divinity of Jesus.

We stopped at each of the historical landmarks of the church’s early days and became more impressed than ever before over the sacrifices of those early members and of their quality and devotion, their culture and diligence….  It was a choice experience. The material I gathered will be used in succeeding issues of the Era of Youth.

Elaine had been set apart for this call by Elder Petersen. I…was given a very powerful, special blessing…that said I would have what I needed [to do the work]. That blessing became especially meaningful when her load became heavier. In 1962, Elder Hanks was called to serve as president of the British Mission, without being released from the magazine.The bulk of the work fell on Elaine’s shoulders. Although it was a busy and demanding time, Elaine also found it very stimulating and thrilling. Immersion in this work brought Elaine even more awareness of the needs of the youth of the Church.

Thus began the time of change for Elaine, even mighty change, as her spirit began to soar, and she had an increased sense of the Lord’s help in her responsibilities.

Love’s Banner: Memories of the Life of Elaine Cannon is available for $16.99 at www.elainecannon.com or through Amazon.com under the title or Holly C. Metcalf.

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Love’s Banner: Memories of the Life of Elaine Cannon.

The wag of a puppy dog’s tail

Is a dead give away

Of his pleasure at being noticed.

Take the hint

People are like puppy dogs

Notice them

And they’ll respond.

~ Elaine Cannon

The fourth decade of Elaine’s life had a focus on youth. Her primary attention was, of course, on the youth within the walls of her own home—her own children. But it also expanded to include the youth of Utah, eventually the Church, and even the nation during the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Her aim was to help young people improve themselves—to look, behave, and actually be, better. The poem above represents some of what Elaine tried to teach youth. A carefully cultivated habit of noticing people was something she practiced because she enjoyed the flowering of friendships and was convinced the world would be a better place if everyone, teenagers included, learned to take notice of others.

Before the Six O’Clock Feeding

While the family was growing, their wallets were emptying. Elaine wrote: I had these two little tiny babies—I had to pray when I went through the grocery check stand. We had nothing. She knew she had to come to grips with the situation or fall apart. Elaine knew she could contribute financially by working. It was a challenge to think what she could do to find the balance between work she was willing to do and taking care of what was most important—her little children and supporting her husband.

The idea came to her to continue her writing, but to be more efficient in how she did it. She made the early morning hour her time to write. Before the six o’clock feeding was the time she settled on. It worked for her then and became the pattern for her the rest of her life.

When she was tired, she would remind herself that she would rather get up and type to earn a little money than sleep an extra hour. The practice of rising early to work was something her children vividly recalled. Tony said, “Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on Mom’s lap while she was typing. I remember watching her hands fly over the keyboard. And I loved drawing with her dark number two pencils while she was working. In spite of the fact that she was very involved with things like that, she was good about making time for us. I never felt slighted.”

She also became more efficient and organized during the day so that she could accomplish the things she desired to do for her husband and children.

The Time Was Right

As a teenager Elaine had written a little column on teens for the Tribune, then her assignment changed to the society page, reporting mainly on the activities of adults. One day, Wendell Ashton, of The Deseret News, called her to come in for an appointment. He had an idea: he wanted the paper to have a column for youth. He wanted her to write it, giving her an opportunity that changed her life. Elaine agreed The time was right for teenage stuff.

The time was indeed right, and Elaine was the right person. Her daily column ran for twenty-five years and was read faithfully by thousands of teenagers (and adult readers). Young people had their pictures taken for the paper, and that generated even more interest. Elaine’s sister, Nadine (who was eight years younger than Elaine, and still a teenager), remembers that time fondly. “Many times Elaine would use me and my friends for photos to go in the paper. She gave me a lot of opportunities and included me in many of her activities.”

At about the same time, Wendell suggested they do a fashion show for teens. Wendell, Elaine said many years later, was responsible for putting her on the map: he arranged for her to travel to New York City to meet with Seventeen magazine, sent off some of her work to national publishers, and arranged for her to speak at a couple of large functions. She was able to do something for teens and women because Wendell opened the door for her.

The Seminar for Sallies (later the Seminar for Sallies and Sams) was born—in between Elaine’s next two children. Her column started soon after Christine was born in 1947. The first fashion show was held in August 1948. Susan Elaine was born in April, 1949.

Speaker—in Constant Demand

From the 1950s on, until the last year of her life, Elaine gave several talks a month—often several talks a week. She spoke at various book clubs or civic clubs, sacrament meetings or Relief Society programs, mutual and youth gatherings, as well as conferences, conventions, and workshops. When she spoke to groups of young people she often brought along props, which she would use to engage the youth in the message. For example, she had a collection of painted wooden faces, which she would use to involve young people in discovering which attitudes were most appealing and charming, and which were unpleasant or obnoxious.

Young people were invited to the stand to help in demonstrations: how a young man could help a young woman into a coat or a car; how young women could sit gracefully and modestly; all were taught how to shake hands and make introductions; and how to show appropriate interest while listening to others. Her talks were amply illustrated with captivating stories and humor. These methods were intended to motivate her audience, to cause them to desire to be more appealing and gracious.

An oft-repeated story was intended to help young women learn how to encourage young men to do a thoughtful or generous thing. When visiting Lagoon, a local amusement park, Elaine observed a young couple wandering through the park prior to a concert. A little boy carrying a messy ice cream cone came running towards the couple. He crashed right into the young woman, smearing ice cream all over her dress. For a moment, all three stood there in shock. Then, as Elaine described it, the young woman bent down to the little boy and said “Don’t worry, Bill will buy you a new ice cream cone,” and then looking up appealingly at her date she continued “Won’t you, Bill?” And of course, Bill couldn’t help buying the cone because he felt like a million dollars. This was classic Elaine, the type of story Elaine loved to tell.It demonstrated so many of the qualities she thought important in interacting with people.

People are a little like puppy dogs. Proper treatment will yield results.

Era of Youth

In June 1960, Elaine was called to Church headquarters by Elders Mark E. Petersen and Richard L. Evans. She was appointed to be an associate editor of the Improvement Era, with the assignment of co-editor of the magazine’s new Youth Section. At the time, Elaine was writing two columns a day for the Deseret News and a big half-page spread on Saturday. Elder Petersen was serving as an adviser to the newspaper, so she asked him if she would be able to continue with the paperwork as well as serving as co-editor. She was undoubtedly thinking about her obligations to the paper as well as her family’s financial needs (since the Improvement Era assignment was unpaid). After discussion, it was agreed she would cut down her work at the newspaper to one column a day.

Elders Petersen and Evans also informed her that the co-editor for the youth section was a yet-to-be-named male. Her idea was to recommend her husband—a man who had experience with printing and putting out a weekly newspaper. He had also been a popular seminary teacher at South High. Jim knew publishing, youth, and the gospel. She thought it would be a novel idea to have a husband and wife work together on such an endeavor. When she arrived for the next meeting with the apostles, ready to give her recommendation, it was not necessary—the Lord had prompted the call of someone else. Her co-editor to this “sparkling new youth section” was Elder Marion D. Hanks, already an assistant to the Twelve, and later a member of the First Quorum of Seventy. Both were by then known as “young people’s people,” according to the Improvement Era article announcing their calls.

Elaine was surprised, but also pleased. She and Elder Hanks had known each other from childhood and had become very good friends during their teenage years. Elaine looked up to Elder Hanks (or Duff as she and friends called him) much like she did her own brother Aldon. From their youthful interactions, a solid relationship had been established. Later, Elaine reflected that Elder Hank’s influence had contributed to the depth and breadth of her spiritual knowledge and testimony. A recurring theme in the sermons given by Elder Hanks was to remind the saints to live lives that reflect the wonderful gospel message. Elder Hanks was known throughout his life as a humanitarian who sought to emulate Christlike service to his fellowman. He endeavored to live and teach the essential message of the Gospel, which is “that God lives and Jesus is the Christ, that there is a plan for man centering on Christ, our Advocate.”

This call and shared responsibility gave Elaine and Elder Hanks the opportunity to use their appropriate talents and testimonies to help the youth of the Church.

The 60s era was one of tremendous unrest in America, and the Church’s decision to start a new magazine section especially for youth proved to be an inspired one. Young people were being challenged by societal trends and pressures. The leaders of the Church were concerned. The need for instruction targeting youth was great.

Although Elaine and Elder Hanks wrote many of the articles themselves, they also called upon other talented and faithful people to work on the magazine. They worked often with Marvin J. Ashton who later became an apostle and with Apostles Elders Delbert L. Stapley and Richard L. Evans. They requested articles from local notables, such as: Winifred Jardine, the long-time food editor of the Deseret News; Dr. Keith Engar, a professor at the University of Utah; LaRueLongden of the General YWMIA Presidency; Dr. Henry D. Eyring, professor at the University of Utah, and a world-renowned scientist; and Dr. Truman G. Madsen, a professor of philosophy and religion at BYU. The youth section became known as the Era of Youth, and the spotlight was put on Latter-day Saint youth throughout the world.

Advice on how to: date and relate to the opposite sex; communicate and socialize; use the phone; host a party; and behave at school; were natural topics for Elaine, and she merged those lessons with the gospel instruction developed over the years she wrote Church manuals. The pages of the youth section also included advice on how to: prepare for a mission; find balance in life; serve in the church; resist the temptations of the world; strengthen testimony; and make important decisions. The youth section was graced with wisdom and wit, photos and artwork, clever graphics, and all kinds of enticements to catch the attention of the readers and soon became very popular with the youth of the Church.

In her journal, Elaine described a trip she took on assignment from Church Magazines. She and Jim traveled with the art director for The Improvement Era, Ralph Reynolds, and his wife Jane. The four headed east to attend the Palmyra Pageant and stopped in dozens of other places along the way to meet with youth and leaders. She recorded the following regarding the experiences of this 1961 trip:

We interviewed the young people concerning their feelings toward the church, heard stories of their conversions. They truly have testimonies and the missionary spirit….We attended the daily testimony meetings held in the Sacred Grove during Pageant time. President Gerald Smith [President of the New York Mission] called on me to give an impromptu talk one day. I was terrified, of course, what with Elder Mark E. Peterson and wife, Elder Franklin D. Richards and wife, and all the visitors and missionaries there. But the Lord blessed me and I am thankful I had the special privilege of bearing my testimony there in that sacred place.

I also spoke to a large gathering of saints in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, under direction of President Thomas Monson [then president of the mission], and again in the LDS Cemetery Winter Quarters in Florence, Nebraska. These experiences strengthened my desire to live more righteously and to serve the Lord better and more effectively. My testimony—the spirit within me—stirred up each time I heard another bear his witness of the truth of the Church, its sacred origin and of the divinity of Jesus.

We stopped at each of the historical landmarks of the church’s early days and became more impressed than ever before over the sacrifices of those early members and of their quality and devotion, their culture and diligence….  It was a choice experience. The material I gathered will be used in succeeding issues of the Era of Youth.

Elaine had been set apart for this call by Elder Petersen. I…was given a very powerful, special blessing…that said I would have what I needed [to do the work]. That blessing became especially meaningful when her load became heavier. In 1962, Elder Hanks was called to serve as president of the British Mission, without being released from the magazine.The bulk of the work fell on Elaine’s shoulders. Although it was a busy and demanding time, Elaine also found it very stimulating and thrilling. Immersion in this work brought Elaine even more awareness of the needs of the youth of the Church.

Thus began the time of change for Elaine, even mighty change, as her spirit began to soar, and she had an increased sense of the Lord’s help in her responsibilities.

Love’s Banner: Memories of the Life of Elaine Cannon is available for $16.99 at www.elainecannon.com or through Amazon.com under the title or Holly C. Metcalf.

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Love’s Banner: Memories of the Life of Elaine Cannon.

The wag of a puppy dog’s tail

Is a dead give away

Of his pleasure at being noticed.

Take the hint

People are like puppy dogs

Notice them

And they’ll respond.

~ Elaine Cannon

The fourth decade of Elaine’s life had a focus on youth. Her primary attention was, of course, on the youth within the walls of her own home—her own children. But it also expanded to include the youth of Utah, eventually the Church, and even the nation during the late 1940s and through the 1950s. Her aim was to help young people improve themselves—to look, behave, and actually be, better. The poem above represents some of what Elaine tried to teach youth. A carefully cultivated habit of noticing people was something she practiced because she enjoyed the flowering of friendships and was convinced the world would be a better place if everyone, teenagers included, learned to take notice of others.

Before the Six O’Clock Feeding

While the family was growing, their wallets were emptying. Elaine wrote: I had these two little tiny babies—I had to pray when I went through the grocery check stand. We had nothing. She knew she had to come to grips with the situation or fall apart. Elaine knew she could contribute financially by working. It was a challenge to think what she could do to find the balance between work she was willing to do and taking care of what was most important—her little children and supporting her husband.

The idea came to her to continue her writing, but to be more efficient in how she did it. She made the early morning hour her time to write. Before the six o’clock feeding was the time she settled on. It worked for her then and became the pattern for her the rest of her life.

When she was tired, she would remind herself that she would rather get up and type to earn a little money than sleep an extra hour. The practice of rising early to work was something her children vividly recalled. Tony said, “Some of my earliest memories are of sitting on Mom’s lap while she was typing. I remember watching her hands fly over the keyboard. And I loved drawing with her dark number two pencils while she was working. In spite of the fact that she was very involved with things like that, she was good about making time for us. I never felt slighted.”

She also became more efficient and organized during the day so that she could accomplish the things she desired to do for her husband and children.

The Time Was Right

As a teenager Elaine had written a little column on teens for the Tribune, then her assignment changed to the society page, reporting mainly on the activities of adults. One day, Wendell Ashton, of The Deseret News, called her to come in for an appointment. He had an idea: he wanted the paper to have a column for youth. He wanted her to write it, giving her an opportunity that changed her life. Elaine agreed The time was right for teenage stuff.

The time was indeed right, and Elaine was the right person. Her daily column ran for twenty-five years and was read faithfully by thousands of teenagers (and adult readers). Young people had their pictures taken for the paper, and that generated even more interest. Elaine’s sister, Nadine (who was eight years younger than Elaine, and still a teenager), remembers that time fondly. “Many times Elaine would use me and my friends for photos to go in the paper. She gave me a lot of opportunities and included me in many of her activities.”

At about the same time, Wendell suggested they do a fashion show for teens. Wendell, Elaine said many years later, was responsible for putting her on the map: he arranged for her to travel to New York City to meet with Seventeen magazine, sent off some of her work to national publishers, and arranged for her to speak at a couple of large functions. She was able to do something for teens and women because Wendell opened the door for her.

The Seminar for Sallies (later the Seminar for Sallies and Sams) was born—in between Elaine’s next two children. Her column started soon after Christine was born in 1947. The first fashion show was held in August 1948. Susan Elaine was born in April, 1949.

Speaker—in Constant Demand

From the 1950s on, until the last year of her life, Elaine gave several talks a month—often several talks a week. She spoke at various book clubs or civic clubs, sacrament meetings or Relief Society programs, mutual and youth gatherings, as well as conferences, conventions, and workshops. When she spoke to groups of young people she often brought along props, which she would use to engage the youth in the message. For example, she had a collection of painted wooden faces, which she would use to involve young people in discovering which attitudes were most appealing and charming, and which were unpleasant or obnoxious.

Young people were invited to the stand to help in demonstrations: how a young man could help a young woman into a coat or a car; how young women could sit gracefully and modestly; all were taught how to shake hands and make introductions; and how to show appropriate interest while listening to others. Her talks were amply illustrated with captivating stories and humor. These methods were intended to motivate her audience, to cause them to desire to be more appealing and gracious.

An oft-repeated story was intended to help young women learn how to encourage young men to do a thoughtful or generous thing. When visiting Lagoon, a local amusement park, Elaine observed a young couple wandering through the park prior to a concert. A little boy carrying a messy ice cream cone came running towards the couple. He crashed right into the young woman, smearing ice cream all over her dress. For a moment, all three stood there in shock. Then, as Elaine described it, the young woman bent down to the little boy and said “Don’t worry, Bill will buy you a new ice cream cone,” and then looking up appealingly at her date she continued “Won’t you, Bill?” And of course, Bill couldn’t help buying the cone because he felt like a million dollars. This was classic Elaine, the type of story Elaine loved to tell.

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