To the editor of a popular monthly magazine upon its first birthday:
I understand that your September issue will be made to mark ——'s first birthday. Judging from your paper your birthday plans miss the issue; because—— becomes a year younger every September. I do not congratulate you even upon this fact; because you cannot help it. I do not congratulate your readers because they get your paper so very cheap. I do congratulate myself, however, for calling attention to these wonderful facts.
To W. Lestocq, referring to a statement made by R. C. Carton, the dramatist:
I don't quite understand what he means by "holding up" the play. Over here it is a desperate expression—one that means pistols and murder, and all that. I presume it means something different in London, where Carton lives.
To Mrs. C. C. Cushing, the playwright, declining an invitation:
It is impossible to come and see you because I haven't got Cottage No. 4, but I've got Cell No. 3 on the stage of the Empire Theater, where I am passing the summer months.
Even Frohman's cablegrams reflected his humor. In 1913 Billie Burke was ill at Carlsbad, so he cabled her some cheering message nearly every day. Here is a sample:
Drove past your house to-day and ran over a dog. Your brother glared at me.
When Blanche Bates's first baby was born (she was at her country house near Ossining at the time), Frohman sent her this message:
Ossining has now taken its real place among the communities of the country. Congratulations.