And that’s the rub, the ‘B.’ (Sounds a bit Steinian, like something from TENDER <\/strong>BUTTONS<\/strong> or LIFTING BELLY<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n Alice B., early 1960s<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Though I have seen letters that Alice signed without the ‘B’, many are signed including the initial with some signed \u00a0“A.B. Toklas.” \u00a0Letters to friends were often signed just plain “Alice”, preceded by “Affectionately,” “Ever affectionately,” “Always affectionately,” or “Affectionately and cordially.”<\/p>\n The \u00a0‘B’ stood for Babette though in her obituary in TIME<\/strong> magazine the writer indicated that it stood for \u00a0Boyd. \u00a0So much for fact-checkers.<\/p>\n But what’s in a middle initial or middle name? \u00a0Take for example the following:<\/p>\n Sarah Jessica Parker (less sexy without the Jessica?)<\/p>\n Sarah J.<\/p><\/div>\n Elizabeth Barrett Browning (less poetic without Barrett?)<\/p>\n Elizabeth B.<\/p><\/div>\n Helen Gurley Brown (less of a Cosmo girl without Gurley?)<\/p>\n Helen G.<\/p><\/div>\n Harriet Beecher Stowe (less abolitionist without Beecher?)<\/p>\n Harriet B.<\/p><\/div>\n Ann B. Davis (less control over that Brady bunch?)<\/p>\n Ann B.<\/p><\/div>\n Gertrude May Stein (less…!!!!)<\/p>\n Gertrude M.<\/p><\/div>\n (GERTRUDE MAY STEIN!!!! Take heart, that is not our Gertrude Stein, though when I first saw an item on e bay purporting to be the 1898 autograph of our Gertrude, but with a middle name, I got very excited. \u00a0I searched various books and documents to see if I could find any record of our Gertrude having a middle name and found no proof, but did discover that there was a well-known opera singer in the 19th century named Gertrude May Stein, this was her autograph – mystery solved.)<\/p>\n But back to Alice B.<\/p>\n Alice Toklas without the ‘B’ or ‘Babette’ somehow doesn’t seem right. It’s unrefined, unauthoritative, incomplete like trying to make her “Liberation Fruitcake” \u00a0without the four pounds of citron, white currants and almonds (page 222 of her cookbook.) \u00a0And Alice did know a thing or two about cooking and baking.<\/p>\n \u00e0 la Alice B. with almond paste and frosting<\/p><\/div>\n So on this anniversary, let’s remember her in all of her glory with a name complete with all of the joys of a sumptuous meal.<\/p>\n Alice Babette Toklas.<\/p>\n Alice B. Toklas.<\/p>\n After all, there was a Babette’s Feast!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gertrudeandalice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/ABT60scolor-copy.jpg\" "\\"ABT'60scolor")
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