In the summer of 1945, Marjorie Jacobsen and her college roommate, Marty, found themselves in the middle of the sprawl and excitement of Manhattan, looking for summer jobs and new adventures away from their native Iowa. An unforgettable moment in time is what became of those three months in New York, at the end of a war and in the wake of landing the ultimate dream job working at Tiffany & Co. Summer at Tiffany is a fond and sentimental journey into the past, and in these private memories gracious given to her readers, Marjorie (Jacobsen) Hart will have us thinking back these next few months on the best summer of our own lives.
At first finding no success with renowned department stores like Lord & Taylor, Marjorie and Marty began to rethink their bold move in following other girls from their sorority at the University of Iowa out east to work and live a fabulous life in New York. Using their savings and food rations, and lucking out on an apartment in the Upper West Side, the best friends make it work and make the most out of the miracle they found being the first women to work the floor at Tiffany’s. From their blue dress uniforms to a night out at the Stork Club among the Cafe Society elite, Marjorie recounts the summer with rich detail and her own photos of this romantic time. Originally a 10-page manuscript written in a workshop, Marjorie reconnected with Marty more than 60 years later to find how well their memories at Tiffany’s aligned, and she knew it was the tale she had to preserve.
Within the 258 pages of Jacobsen’s mesmerizing account of the end of the 1940’s through the eyes of a twenty-something woman driven by the sights and sounds of Manhattan’s magic, Summer at Tiffany is a read not to be missed, and a story to never be forgotten.
Summer at Tiffany, by Marjorie Jacobsen
258 pages, $18
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