Note: Following her first marriage, Bessie left her daughter with her mother and set out on her own. She spent time with friends and learned to be independent. She disliked wild, rough people, but enjoyed singing, dancing, drinking, and "the right kind of parties." "Toasting was the worst sin I had." She was good at it, and competed to give the best toast. She demonstrates several toasts with smutty rhymes, animal stories, one about President Harding, and a version of the Signifying Monkey.