RATE IT! Summer at Tiffany

For girls like myself who grew up watching elegant Audrey Hepburn make her early morning celluloid pilgrimage to that famed jewel merchant on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, the name Tiffany and Co. symbolized luxury and status. If you received a present housed in that iconic pale blue box tied with a silky white ribbon, you were part of an exclusive club. As an adult, the lure of the treasures that have made Tiffany famous still hold their hypnotic appeal. Some gals just are Tiffany girls.

Case in point, author Marjorie Hart. In the summer of 1945, Ms. Hart and her best friend travelled from the safe bosom of their American mid-west home to the noisy metropolis of New York City. Their singular goal: to score a summer's job at a glitzy Big Apple department store. The resulting memoir, 'Summer at Tiffany' is a delightful account of their eye-opening experiences while employed at the venerable jewelry retailer ~ the first women to hold positions on the Tiffany sales floor. With girly naivety, their exploits at glamourous NYC nightspots and encounters with the upper crust of New York society reveal a fascinating look at a time when women were starting to exit the shadows of their male counterparts and bloom into their own glorious lives. 

I'm still in the midst of pouring over Ms. Hart's delicious reminiscences and just had to share this lovely gem of a book even before I reached its conclusion. It's sweet and totally captivating, all pristine hats and gloves and meals at the local Automat ~ an enchanting snapshot of the first wave of career girls in the 1940's. Do yourself a favour and hark back to a more gentle, kinder time...pick up 'Summer at Tiffany' and become a Tiffany girl yourself.