"The Write Note" - A Lil Jinx Tale

How many of you have had to send a thank you note to someone who gives you a gift?

I suppose in this day and age, thank you notes are becoming a thing of the past.  With text messaging, tweets, social media posts, and even e-mail, the idea of sending thank you cards in the mail seems a little old-fashioned.  Besides, with the cost of stamps going up on a consistent basis, who can afford to send them these days?

However, in the late 1970s, it was an entirely different story.  If you received a gift from a grandparent, or a friend, or an aunt who lives halfway across the country, common courtesy states that you have to at least send a thank you card or letter explaining that you got the gift and that you appreciate it. 

I know that I've written a few thank you notes in my time, and I don't mind writing letters and cards.  But for people who generally don't like writing cards and letters, the idea of writing a thank you note seems to be a bore.  Especially if you just want to go outside and play.

(Though you probably don't want to go outside if you live where I live.  -27 Celsius?  No thank you!)

Today, we're going back in time to the 1970s.  A story that appeared in "PEP Comics #333" inspired today's post.  And since Tuesdays are going to be all about discussing non-Archie characters that appeared in Archie comics, we're going to have to pick a character that only wants to go outside and play and not waste time writing thank you notes.

Ah, Lil Jinx seems like a great choice.  Lil Jinx, of course, being a little girl that appeared in various Archie titles and who was drawn by artist Joe Edwards.  I could take or leave Lil Jinx stories as a whole, but for some reason I really like the story "The Write Note". 

Lil Jinx, as you well know, is a little girl that means well, but usually always gets into trouble and causes more hair to fall from the head of her father, Hap Holliday.  And today's argument comes courtesy of these two.  Lil Jinx has made plans to spend the day playing catch with her friend, Greg.  But her father says no.  She's supposed to do something for Aunt Bertha that she's been putting off for a while, but he is insistent that she do it because if she doesn't, she won't be allowed outside.

Greg is waiting patiently for Jinx to come out, but Jinx says that she is not allowed to go outside unless she finishes writing a thank you note for her Aunt Bertha.  Greg offers to wait patiently for her, which to me seems like a generous offer.  After all, Lil Jinx could take all day to write the letter.  But then again, maybe Gigi, Russ, Mort, and Charley Hawse have other plans.

We also have to take into account that Jinx is very easily distracted.  In fact, she is so distracted that she takes some of the paper that she has to write the note and shoots paper planes out the window towards Greg.  Greg decides that he can make a better paper plane, gets Jinx to hand him a sheet of paper, and together they compete to see whose paper plane will stay in the air the longest.

Told you that it would take forever for Jinx to write that letter.  Even Jinx's dad notes that Jinx is taking too long and asks her what is going on.  That's dad speak for "get to work, Jinxie".

As predicted, writing the letter proves to be a challenge for Jinx, because in addition to her getting distracted over everything, she's also a perfectionist.  And whenever she tries to write the letter, she keeps making mistakes, such as spelling Dear as Deer.  I suppose it'd work if her Aunt Bertha had antlers and lived in the middle of the forest, but in this case, it's enough for Jinx to crumple up the piece of paper and start over again.  And again.  And again.  I shudder to think of how many trees were slaughtered just for Lil Jinx to throw them all in the trash.

By the time Jinx gets the letter done, she is completely out of paper, and she announces that after going through a whole ream of paper, she is finally done.  She can finally go outside and play with Greg, who is more than likely sleeping underneath a tree waiting for her to finish.  But just before Jinx can set foot outside the door, Hap decides that he wants her to read the letter to him. 

So, would you like to know what Aunt Bertha bought Jinx?  Have a look.