Before there was a “Girl Query” department written by Catherine Hurst, there were “Confidential Chats” hosted by Aretta Young and Frances M. Richards. Their style is completely different from the candid, to-the-point advice of Catherine Hurst, but the letters they received show that 10 or 20 years didn’t make a bit of difference in the concerns of young Mormon girls.
I wish our girls would send me more letters, for I want to get at the hearts of the girls, and I cannot do that, unless they will open those sacred portals and allow a vision of that inmost holy of holies. Ask your questions, girls. I think I can tell you something about almost any subject which girls are interested in, for I was a girl myself once, and I try not to forget my feelings and actions at that time. If you do not wish your letters published, I will only publish the answer, and shall keep sacred the secret of your name and identity. Let me now proceed to reply to this letter which I have received:
Dear Sister: – The “Confidential Chats” in the Journal have a great charm for me. Last year Miss Aretta Young and Mabel had a correspondence about “round dancing,” which interested me very much. I can sympathize with Mabel. Like her, I am exiled from all dancing parties; because, if I ever go to one, I am ridiculed so much on account of my scruples concerning round dancing, that I feel worse than when I stay away from such entertainments altogether.