Dear Sirs, About Ann-Margret's Bust...

I was looking through an August, 1971 issue of LIFE Magazine last week with letters to the editor concerning the previous issue and I've got to say, they didn't inspire a lot of confidence in the claims that comments were better back in the day when you had to write out the letter, mail it in and hope it got selected. On the contrary, I think maybe the truly smart people, interested in a conversation they knew could never happen, threw up their arms and said, "Ah, screw it." Which left these brainiacs to fill in the void (actual letters in bold, my comments in italics):

Sirs: Thank you so much for your wonderful article on Ann-Margret ("After Ten Years, Big Success for the 'Sex Kitten:" Aug. 6). I have been following her career for those ten years, and I think it's about time she received the recognition she has long deserved.

JIMMIE RINALDI College Point. N.Y.

(Now that seems like your average, run-of-the-mill "great post" blog comment you'd get today)

Sirs: Ex-“sex kitten" Ann-Margret's career and bust development since 1961 are truly amazing.
J. SIMMONS Seattle, Wash.

(That would be the wise-ass making the joke comment)

Sirs: I cannot fathom why you would waste six precious pages on such drivel. Big deal, who cares! If you had to profile an actress at all, why not Annette Crosbie who portrayed Catherine of Aragon in the superb series The Six Wives of Henry VIII?
VERONICA GRAEME Lemon Grove. Calif.

(The Kill-Joy)

Sirs: I have nothing against Ann-Margret as an actress (a very surprising one!) or as a person except that she and her husband are ecological disaster - seven motorcycles, a 14-carat gold-leaf golf cart engraved with her signature, a Cadillac El Dorado among other air polluters, and a raft of fur coats. I even consider her very pretty. But honestly! That cover picture!
MRS. LANI HARRIS
Glendale, Calif.

(And the goddamn finger-wagging, self-righteous a-hole that wants to show everyone how enlightened she is.)

Okay, so on second thought, let's call it a wash. I don't think a damn thing's changed after all.