| Description | These letters largely discuss various aspects of Irene's personal and social life and include details about her husbands and children, but several also make reference to her professional life, as a dancer, and then as a movie actress. There is also a group of photographs of a child, presumably Irene's daughter. Most of her correspondence to Cynthia can be dated either from postmarks, or from the content of individual letters. These include:
/1 written from the Ritz Hotel, making social arrangements which also include Gladys Waterbury, referred to as 'Quart' (see also OMN/A/2/16)
/2 written from a passenger ship on the Adriatic in 1919 which contains details about Irene's fellow passengers and the entertainments on board. She also mentions that she is accompanied by Robert [Treman], who was about to become her second husband, and expresses her hope to start a family with him
/3 written from New York in March 1919 and gives details about her new job in the movie business. Her first picture is to be 'The Firing Line' and will be filmed in Miami. She also gives an account of a recent holiday in Cuba, and mentions that she and Robert hope to be married in May.
/4 is dated 1924 and discusses her new relationship with 'Fred' and her feelings of freedom. She also mentions her recent travels in China and Japan, and expresses her hope to visit Cynthia in Venice during the summer. She also reports the death of her niece Barbara from meningitis and describes her feelings about this
/5 is written on headed notepaper labelled 'Mrs Frederic McLaughlin', suggesting that by this time Irene had married 'Fred'. Most of the letter is concerned with her domestic life with her daughter Barbara and includes a description of her new home in Lake Forest, Illinois
/6 announces the birth of a premature son to Irene and Fred and gives details of his health and of the jealousy of her daughter Barbara. She also comments on the personal lives of friends of Cynthia in Antibes and alludes to Cynthia's election to parliament in 1929
/7 comprises six black and white photographs of a small girl, presumably Irene's daughter Barbara |