Season's greetings from Joan to Barbara

To get into the spirit of the holiday season, the letter for this post is a season's greeting from one Hollywood diva to another. It's a letter from Joan Crawford to Barbara Stanwyck. The two actresses were very good friends. Their friendship began in the 1930s and lasted until Crawford's death in 1977. This is not the only correspondence that is to be found between the two women, there are a few more letters that I will post later on. Incidentally, Joan Crawford loved to write letters. Throughout her life she wrote a zillion fan letters, and there was also a sizeable correspondence she maintained with her friends and family. To see more of her voluminous correspondence, visit the wonderful website The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia.

Joan and Barbara with their respective husbands Franchot Tone and Robert Taylor in the 1930s

Here is Joan's letter to Barbara, dated 22 December 1962, which is exactly 51 years ago. The handwritten part at the bottom is Barbara's.

Source: the best of everything: a joan crawford encyclopedia

Transcript:

December 22, 1962

Barbara darling,

Your Christmas card is the merriest, gayest, most charming and happiest thing I ever saw. Thank you for thinking of me.

And now we are going to stop this nonsense- I will be out in Los Angeles in January, and God damn it, we are going to have dinner together.

Happy, happy New Year, Barbara dear.

Love, Joan (signed)

Such language! Really!!! (handwritten comment from Barbara)