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The following is written on the backside of an image. The picture is of a very young girl with very curly hair, and the comments are by her father. While I can make out most of the words there are some about which I am unsure. Can anyone provide a reasonable transcription of the comments?

comments about Dolly

Here's what I can parse:

Dolly's hair was
curled for the last
time when this was
taken. her hair is ?newly?
?cur? + she looks every
inch a ?bug?.
                J.O.E

Edit: Here's the picture:

Dolly

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5 Answers 5

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I think your original transcription is, as wzeigler also points out, correct on the issue of "newly cut" rather than "now cut" as in the other answers. The most significant clue is that the author obviously in the habit of leaving long tails on their y's and gs. Secondarily the lead in to the vowel lends itself just as well to being an e as an o, however this point is up for debate. Either word makes sense in context and does not significantly change the meaning of the note.

Combining all the results here, the final rendering runs as follows:

Dollys hair was
curled for the last
time when this was
taken. her hair is newly
cut + she looks every
inch a boy.
J.O.E

As noted above, it is possible that line #4 was meant to read:

taken. her hair is now

(Note I have left the capitalization and apostrophe mistakes sic the original rather than fixing them as a couple transcriptions have done.)

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  • 1
    While I agree with you about the tail, I'm not sure about the vowel lead-in. For example, "looks" on line five seems to have a similar lead-in.
    – fbrereto
    Jan 8, 2013 at 19:34
  • 3
    The e from other words are closed, however the o are open. I would suggest it is now?
    – William
    Jan 8, 2013 at 21:48
30

Dolly's hair was curled for the last time when this was taken. her hair is now cut & she looks every inch a boy.

1
  • 2
    That is both wonderful and hilarious at the same time. Thank you!
    – fbrereto
    Jan 7, 2013 at 23:43
8

I would say "newly cut," since the ending is similar to "every" and "boy."

1
  • 3
    Definitely. The descent of the "y" is the same pattern in all three words.
    – boisvert
    Jan 8, 2013 at 10:20
7

Dolly's hair was

curled for the last

time when this was

taken. her hair is now

cut & she looks every

inch a boy.

      J.O.E
4

Dolly's hair was curled for the last time when this was taken. her hair is very curly & she looks every inch a boy.

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