On her conversation, Cronkite writes:

She enters wholeheartedly into any conversation. She is extremely modern. She enjoys to talk, and her enthusiasm is no private thing. It spreads to anyone with whom she comes in contact.

On her outfit:

Dressed in a mannish blouse, a tweed skirt, a peculiar but attractive vest affair, and comfortable looking shoes, Miss Stein appeared much more of the woman than do the pictures that currently circulate. She strokes her close cropped hair with a continuous back to front movement. Even this nervous gesture is easily accepted by her present company.

On the Great Depression:

Miss Stein attributed the depression to the psychology of the people. "The depression is more moral than actual," she observed. "No longer the people think they are depressed, the depression is over."

On Alice B. Toklas:

Miss Alice B. Toklas, Miss Stein's traveling companion whose title is not "secretary," according to the author, was present. This lady who walked in on Miss Stein twenty-five years ago and has been with her ever since has absorbed much of the charm possessed by the most famous of the pair.

But if she's not her secretary, then what is she??

Walter Cronkite, Cub Reporter, Meets Gertrude Stein [NYT]
Daily Texan Talks Great Depression With Author [Daily Texan]

Last things are the objects that we loathe to let go, that remain long after it became apparent that serious scaling back was necessary. They are the luxuries that somehow feel essential. These are the objects that announce our place in the world, that are intricately tied into our sense of personal worth. During the Great Depression, a common last thing was lipstick. Jeremy E. Adamson, director for collections and services at the Library of Congress, says lipstick was terribly important to many women because was their way of telling the rest of the world "I care about myself." "The last thing to go is the mask that you present to the outer world. When the mask goes, you're just another bit of ectoplasm in a sea of unhappiness," Adamson says.

In the economic crash of the 1800s, one of the last things to go was the family piano. For many wealthy families, the piano was the ultimate symbol of their culture and wealth - it was what separated and defined the upper class. For many, the last things are as small and seemingly insignificant as lipstick:

Even those with very little had possessions of great meaning. Pocketbooks are what Deborah Willis remembers of the post-World War II world. Especially the ones of her mother's generation, the women now in their 80s. "The pocketbook held all of the secret charms: the beauty products, the money, the memory, the keepsakes, the letters. It was both the content and the pocketbook that had respect and high regard. No one could go in it. It was their secrets and their hidden stash."

As a MacArthur fellow and curator of African American photography and culture, Willis knows well the importance of holding onto these little things:

"They're fancy. The older ones from the '40s, they're a clutch with a little arm strap — about 5 inches by 8 by 9. They're small. Intimate. These hold the moments they desire, and feel desired. It is part of that memory. It created their persona, their sense of importance. It possessed all the aspects that created the mask."

Garreau notes that most Americans have yet to reach the last-thing phase of the recession. Most people are still finding out what goes first, a much easier process to handle. After reading dozens of silly recession trend pieces that advise shopping in your closet and giving up lattes, there is something refreshingly honest about this look into our final things. Garreau suggests that for some the last thing will be the computer, for others, the blackberry. For Marty Calhoun, the last thing is his dog. Calhoun recently put all of his possessions up for sale on Craigslist, with one exception: "However I will not sell my Miniature Pincher (Jack) he is dear to me." Sadie has already posted on some of the Jezebel's "necessary luxuries", a phrase that is somewhat similar to the idea of a last thing. Her question, like Garreau's, remains: when serious cost-cutting is necessary, what will be the final thing we can't just give up?

When It's All Going Down The Tube, What Stuff Sticks Around In The End? [Washington Post]

Related: Simple Pleasures: What's Your "Necessary Luxury?"

[Image via Life Archives]

• Mischa Barton goes on record about that epic headband launch we mentioned! Quoth the actress formerly known as Marissa Cooper, "People want to see that you can deliver and do, like, a good job.” [WWD]

• Belstaff is designing Harry Potter's latest wizard robe. But isn't that dictated by millennia of magical tradition? [WWD]
• We get the whole "haha 'lipstick lesbians'" thing, but still...L Word lipsticks? Anyhoo, choose between Bette, Kit, Alice, and Shane. [Bellasugar]
• A Brooklyn administrator claims the many grands she stole for a Victoria's Secret habit was for the benefit of the school's Fifth Graders. The judge deemed this one of a "rich array of implausible excuses" [New York Post]
• The Lanvin/Acne collaboration is as pricey as everyone feared. [Fashionista]
• This holiday shopping season is "the worst in memory." [WWD]
• Model and homeless-style enthusiast was burgled - while at home. The bold thieves marched in and lifted a bunch of designer tags. [New York Post]
• Azzaro launches an e-commerce site. Maybe for all those bashful richies practicing futive consumption? [WWD]
• The ElleUK staff's New Year's resolutions seem to involve a lot of expensive skincare products. [ElleUK]
• Celebs' Christmas lists: expensive stuff. [Fabsugar]
• Speaking of living it up: check out the "sweet room" at Asprey's Christmas bash, "filled with Christmas trees made from pink and green Ladurée macaroons, miniature cupcakes and chocolate fountains." [WWD]
• "There's nothing sexy about bread lines." So begins this kinda tasteless but still terrific ode to "depression-era" glam. [Style.com]
• Dutch artist Thomas Voorn makes "textile graffiti" that says stuff like "Cosmic Christian Ceremony." [Sassybella]
• Eilidh MacAskill, managing editor of InStyle, takes the helm as EIC of British InStyle. [FashionWeekDaily]
• Pret a Portea, London's "cult afternoon fashion tea" now has a Vespa that delivers to fashionistas' doors. [VogueUK]
• Blair Waldorf cover theft! [Fashionista]
• Here's a slideshow of celebrities in their own designs. They look as embarrassed as we feel. [Daily news]