BRATTLEBORO — Today’s social media influencers have a large impact on society. One hundred years ago Brattleboro had its own 1900’s version of a powerful social media influencer in the newspaper columnist who went by the pen name “Sally T.”
“Sally T” was really Mollie Cressy, a member of the Brattleboro Reformer editorial staff. She wrote a style column for the local paper and also another column called “Clippings” which ran in Brattleboro, Bennington and Rutland papers. The “Clippings” column was a collection of headlines and quotes from other U.S. newspapers that were often humorously ambiguous. They also frequently starred made up characters — “Ezra,” “Tulip” and “Petunia.” More about that later.
In 1892, when Mollie Cressy was 24 years old, she moved to Brattleboro and worked in a series of “women’s shops.” These stores catered to women who were interested in current fashions. They often featured hats, home decorations, fabrics, and sewing notions. She began working in Mrs. Phillip’s Millinery and Fancy Goods shop. As part of her work at Mrs. Phillip’s, Mollie offered oil painting classes while she learned about the community and what goods were in demand.
In 1896 Belle Emerson bought Mrs. Phillip’s business and added dress-making to the shop. Mollie learned the sewing trade and became well-respected by her clients. When Mollie wasn’t working, she often performed at various social gatherings and became well-known in the community. Mollie was an accomplished pianist and played at Grange Hall dances, social fundraisers, plays, and church functions.
By 1899 Mollie had become an employee of Donnell and Davis, the premier “woman’s store” in Brattleboro. Mollie also married Fred Cressy in 1899 and they settled into a third-floor apartment in the Crosby Block. The Crosby Block would continue to be their home until Fred’s death in 1937. After their marriage, Mary continued to work at Donnell and Davis for many years, but by 1910 she had switched careers and become a jewelry clerk at Vaughan and Burnett.
The Cressys did not have children and Mollie continued to work outside of the home. In 1918 she joined the editorial staff of the Brattleboro Reformer. Initially, her task was to connect with female readers and establish reasons why they would turn to the Reformer for information that might improve their lives.
At the time, the paper ran a column called “Our Weekly Fashion Letter.” The column shared information about the latest fashions and was focused on life in the city. However, many Brattleboro women did not relate to examples of what to wear to the latest opera show opening.
Mollie’s first column under the pen name Sally T started this way, “Does the feminine world realize how much it owes to the paper pattern? It enables a woman to look up to date in the matter of clothes when her pocketbook forbids her patronizing a high-priced dressmaker or the expensive ready to wear shop.” The column, called “Feminine Topics,” went on to give explicit instructions on how to use paper dress patterns and continued with an easy, time-saving “hack” to make elaborately decorated purses like those carried by the readers’ grandmothers.
According to her many fans, this was Sally T’s genius, the ability to offer easy-to-complete suggestions to homemakers that brought practical fashion, style and culture to the typical Brattleboro household. Sally T’s column would run for 20 years and expanded to include suggestions for both men and women. When Mollie retired in 1938 the column continued to run for almost another 30 years.
Mollie also began a column known as “Clippings.” In this column she would print clips of information found on the wire from other newspapers around the country. The twist was the clippings were often full of accidental double entendres or ambiguous sentence constructions. Here are a few examples, “Under heading of ‘Startling Announcement’ Miss Edna Dewson has been engaged to teach our fall term of school and will board with the McPhersons. She says she is going to have 15 children this fall — Belleville Telescope” and “For cockroaches don’t use sodium fluoride because children or cherished pets may eat the sodium fluoride instead of the cockroaches — Houston, Texas news.”
Mollie also added invented returning characters to her “Clippings” column for additional levity. Here’s an example, “Tulip: ‘Ezra says there’s something dove-like about me.’ Petunia: ‘Yes. I’d noticed you were pigeon-toed,” and “Tulip: ‘Petunia has a friend who is writing a novel.’ Ezra: ‘What’s the title?’ Tulip: ‘Wild Oats.’ Ezra: ‘I suppose she expects some magazine will run it as a cereal.”
Upon her retirement, this is what was written about Mollie by a fellow columnist in the Reformer: “Mrs. Cressy is probably regularly read by nearly 50,000 Vermonters. There isn’t on any New England newspaper any more clever hand and head than hers.” The Rutland Herald wrote she is “blessed with an unalloyed sense of humor and admired for her gaiety. She brought joy to many who will not soon forget her potent qualities.”
Mollie Cressy was a humorous social influencer from 100 years ago. She offered simple, down-to-earth homemaking suggestions and kept readers chuckling for 20 years. She lived to be 83 years old and is buried at Locust Hill Cemetery. Upon her death, she left half of her estate to the Locust Ridge Cemetery Association.