First mate's log:
October 15, 1969
I've been growing my mustache about a month and it's going pretty well. I expected the Skipper to object, but he just shook his head and told me to shave my chin. (I got as far as a goatee, like my beatnik cousin Maynard used to have in the '50s.) The hair on my upper lip can stay as long as I keep it neatly trimmed. The other crew on the ferry tease me about it, especially "Gopher" Smith, who doesn't have facial hair, despite his nickname.
Ginger teases me about it, too, but in her Gingerly way, like wondering if it tickles. Mary Ann seems to like it, although she lets me know when I get food in it. The Howells disapprove but not strongly. And the Professor hasn't noticed yet.
The Brady kids think it's "groovy" and "neato." The Brady parents and Alice continue to look as surprised as if Greg suddenly grew one, because they still think of me as a "boy." As for me, I like looking more like a man, although it is a pain to take care of, while still shaving the rest of my lower face.
Carol Brady's diary:
October 16, 1969
For awhile, things had quieted down on our island, with the main point of interest Gilligan's ridiculous mustache. I talked to the Skipper about it, and he sees it as a phase. Not unlike Greg's crush on Miss O'Hara I suppose, although Gilligan is twice Greg's age and should be done with adolescence by this point. The Skipper said, "It is Gilligan's face and he is a grown man, and it's not interfering with his work. So let him keep it for now and he'll get tired of it eventually."
Now there is another little crisis in my household to distract me from that. The phone bill this month is terribly high, since even the local calls on the island have charges. This is mostly due to the children, who, now that they have a phone and more classmates, will sometimes call rather than visit their friends in person. I will admit, however, that my calls to Martha, mostly about her costume for the Howells' Halloween Ball, have contributed to that amount.
Mike is also frustrated because he is working on a project on Blenford, another factory for a wealthy businessperson. No, this is nothing like the Beebe Gallini situation. Mr. Crawford is a far from frivolous (or seductive) executive. Mike is trying to use the phone rather than sail back and forth between the islands every day. But it's hard to make those calls when the rest of the family is tying up the line.
So we've discussed it and we're going to have a second line installed, in Mike's den, for only his use, and mine. Meanwhile, we're going to have the children use the kitchen timer and limit their daily phone time to half an hour each. This could be one long call or a bunch of shorter calls. That would be three hours total, leaving that line free for Alice and incoming calls. Or for me if Mike is using the line in the den.
October 18, 1969
I went to the butcher shop today, since I do most of the grocery-shopping for me and the Skipper. (And we still don't cook much, since we eat at Mary Ann's diner and different places on Blenford, but I needed bacon for breakfast.)
When I came in, Sam was talking to Alice, and I didn't want to interrupt if it was anything private, but she told me about the Bradys' phone problems. The kids are using the phone all the time and Mr. and Mrs. Brady even got a second line, but that just made things worse. (Me and the Skipper got a phone, so we can book ferry rides when we're home, but mostly people just tell us. He is thinking of hiring a booking agent, or maybe two, like one over on Blenford, but probably not until next year.)
Anyway, I noticed the pay phone that Sam got installed recently and he said that he got tired of customers always wanting to borrow his phone to call spouses and friends about what meat to buy. So I said, "Gee, it's too bad the Bradys can't get a pay phone."
Sam shook his head like that was a nutty idea, but Alice looked inspired and she borrowed a dime from Sam to call Mr. Brady's line in the den. So Mr. Brady is going to have a pay phone put in their family room! I hope the kids don't blame me for it.
October 20, 1969
The egg-timer and other gimmicks didn't work, so Mike had a pay phone installed in our home! Now I spend all my time looking for dimes for the children. And of course I have to have enough dimes myself to follow up on Martha's endless dithering about her Halloween costume. (She considered Cleopatra but is now leaning towards Mamie Eisenhower.)
October 22, 1969
Well, the Bradys got rid of their pay phone and I guess things are back to normal, with the kids having learned a valuable lesson about not using the telephone too much. I was never really a big phone person myself, although my sister was when she was a teenager. It was one of the things I didn't miss when we were marooned. And even when that phone cable washed ashore, it turned out it wasn't much use in communicating with the outside world. I'd rather talk to people face to face, or in some cases, not at all.
Now I'm trying to focus on my costume for the Howells' Halloween Ball. It has to be something with a mustache, but I'm still narrowing it down. I wonder if that old Chaplin costume is still around.
October 31, 1969
Mike had the pay phone un-installed. The children have promised to think before they call now. It wasn't easy on us either, especially since Mike came close to blowing the big deal with Mr. Crawford when he had to scramble for change during a business call. Mr. Crawford understood and empathized when Mike called back and explained, since Mr. Crawford has three teenagers.
We saw Mr. Crawford at the Howells' Ball tonight. (He and Mrs. Crawford were dressed as Ike and Mamie, but luckily Martha had switched to Queen Victoria. Mike and I were Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed from It's a Wonderful Life, although he did not say, "Why do we have to have all these kids?")
Anyway, Mr. Crawford told us that he installed a pay phone in his Blenford home and it's working well for him, although his kids call it "a drag" and "a bummer." At least he went and got several rolls of dimes from the bank, which I guess we could've done if we had a bank on our island. Well, maybe next year.
Oh, and the most surprising costumes were Gilligan as Rhett Butler and Mary Ann as Scarlett O'Hara, especially since they hadn't coordinated their outfits!
