Dear Sir, - As a husband of a monopede, I was amazed and delighted with the photograph and description of the artificial leg sent by "Surgical Limb." How she manages her high heels is beyond me. She must have endless pluck and perseverance.
My wife has been without her left leg for five years. Five years ago at a party at which there was some horseplay she was fallen on accidentally and her leg was broken in several places. Within two hours it had been amputated above the knee and she was left with a stump about nine inches long. On Fay leaving hospital we were engaged. A lover of high heels before her amputation, Fay has never been able to wear a surgical leg with any degree of comfort and consequently she was thrilled by "Surgical Limb's" letter, and very envious.
For some time after the accident my wife used crutches. At first these were of the ordinary under-the-armpit variety, but as they tended to give her cramp in the arms, and also wore out her clothes, she now uses the shorter type shown in my sketches. From crutches Fay graduated to a plain wooden leg, which laced and strapped on. This leg was covered with black leather. For our wedding she was fitted with a surgical limb which she had later to discard as uncomfortable. Indoors she now wears her wooden leg as it leaves her hands free for house-work, while outside she uses crutches, as she says they give her greater confidence. With them she certainly is amazingly agile.
With crutches or wooden leg, Fay wears flat-heeled shoes or ones with one and a half inch heels. On our special evenings at home she returns to her old love of four and five inch heels. With silk undies, tight-fitting black velvet frock and black patent court shoe with white piping and five inch heel, monopede Fay looks just as stunning as any of her two-legged sisters. With white enamelled crutches, which allow her greater freedom of movement when lying or sitting down as they are so easily discarded, Fay looks as pretty as a picture. As the evening wear on she discards her crutches and frock and I hold her in my arms while she makes more use of the charm of her single silk-clad leg than can many girls without her disability.
Needless to say, I am very proud of my beautiful, one-legged Fay, who, though crippled, manages to get a great deal of fun out of life. After the first natural shock of losing her leg, Fay had never let the misfortune interfere with her happiness; in fact, she takes a pride in being more attractive and being better dressed than most girls and though stairs, trams and buses are all awkward for her to negotiate, she gets about as before. I have tried to persuade her to let me take some photographs, but she will not consent and says my sketches must suffice.
As to our other fads, I am afraid that Fay and I have very few except high heels and eyewear. The latter interests us particularly. Our fad in this direction is the thrill to be obtained from extreme myopia and the powerful lenses necessary to counteract it. Fay has perfect sight, though she often wears white-gold mounted pince-nez with plain glasses at night. Her twin-sister Edith, however, is extremely shortsighted and permanently wears glasses with lenses nearly a quarter of an inch thick. With her rim-less white-gold mounted spectacles, with their gleaming thick lenses, which permanently veil her eyes in mystery, her slim figure, black hair, six inch heels and sheer evening gown, she is nearly as thrilling as one-legged Fay.
Yours truly,
Mono Fay.