Mrs. Gunn's Diary: Jan. 7, 1942

Little Bob gets his first haircut; the money machine to fund the war revs up

“Today is a big day for Bob,” Mrs. Gunn wrote of her toddler son. “He had his first hair cut and thought it fun to go on the ‘street car-bus.’” She obviously dotes on her youngest son, who she says has a dimple in his cheek “just like mama.”

“MacArthur is still holding out and it is marvelous,” she wrote of the embattled general in the Philippines.

There may have been a war going on, but Mrs. Gunn’s church women’s circle had met for the first time of the year and planned a musical event in March.

Congress began considering President Roosevelt’s request for $56 billion in new expenditures and $9 billion in new taxes, advertisements touted savings bonds, and the production of rum was banned — all due to the war. Paid subscribers can read on.

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The obviously staged photo of the tearful mother looking at her little boy shorn of his infant curls is being offered by a dealer on eBay.