Who the Heck Are the V’s?

by Jackson Miller

In 1955, eight women signed up as Liaison Committee volunteers for a philanthropic fundraising gala to be held at the most exclusive club in New York—The Metropole.

They came to be known as the Ladies who Liaise—eventually shortened to the 👒LwL! When derisively called ‘vixens in volunteer clothing’ by members of the organizing team, they laughed and adopted the imagery for themselves, becoming the Vixen Volunteers, then the portmanteau ViVo’s—later shortened to the V’s—a formidable force.

Introducing the V’s
VIO’s—Volunteer Info Outline

MILLIE (Millicent Morgan) (b.1922);
society columnist/photo journalist;
writer of a wildly popular weekly gossipy-ish column for a respected New York newspaper;
by-line caricature—Buster Brown hairstyle, oversized black eyeglass frames and a yellow #2 pencil stuck behind her ear; no
FUTURE @poopscoop blog—wildly successful.
Lives in a large Park Avenue duplex with her second husband—father of her young twin sons.

TILDA (Matilda Morgan) (b.1926), Millie’s sister;
whizkid/stock analyst with her own financial firm;
known as the Wizardess of Wall Street;
million dollar smile matching her self-earned bank account;
divorced from Husband #1;
lives in a stately 1929 Tudor in Scarsdale—one she bought for herself prior to marrying second husband-a questionable keeper. She hasn’t been as good at choosing husbands as she is as choosing stocks.
FUTURE #3–a keeper—but not for long enough—who was her favorite but we haven’t got there yet nor for #4—a Coniunx Horribilis—as the Queen might say.

BEULAH (Beulah Buxton) (b.1935), unmarried;
designer/creator/founder of
👙Be Beulahful~Be Buxton👙
sexy lingerie for the over-over-endowed woman like herself;
talented pianist/vocalist with her graduate studies on pause; lives alone in a loft above her factory in SoHo, NY.
FUTURE—happily married—but not long enough—just ‘til death did them part

HORSEY (Flora Hortense Haverhill) (b.1921);
avowed bachelorette (her words so no backlash please); companion to wealthy, European men of minor royalty;
suntanned, big- boned, and physically fit;
hands-on floraculturist and landscape designer;
proprietor of Floralia, her successful mid-Manhattan flower shop;
host of four, seasonal soirées held yearly in the park-like garden of her childhood home she shares with her parents in Fieldston, The Bronx NY.
FUTURE—Author of a best selling book on flower arranging; monthly spot on early morning TV.

LENA (Aileen Rosen) (b.1926);
chocolatier;
creator of naughtily shaped confections sold at her shop
🍭Lena’s Lucious Lickables 🍭;
married to BARRY (Barron Silverman), portrait photographer whom she calls her Big Beautiful Bad Boy;
expecting first child—one of many;
together described as a Botero painting come to life;
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn NY
FUTURE—still married to Barry when he became a philanderer ignoring the theory—too much of a good thing . . . which did him in.

JEWELS (Giuliana Mancini) (b.1928);
feisty and fearless civil litigator;
most winning record in the courtroom of her borough’s County Supreme Court;
a beauty of Italian heritage likened to a young Sophia Loren;
romantically involved with a successful writer of mysteries 25 years her senior;
Howard Beach and Malba, Queens NY
FUTURE—Judge who served until mandatory retirement at age 70;
defendant in civil case brought by Husband #2 due to incident involving a gavel and his head.

EVA (Eva Romanov Benson (b.1920);
couturier/designer of exclusive evening wear;
outspoken advocate of organ donation being one herself;
devotee of Barre None, a fitness regimen based on dance positions;
a seasoned Audrey Hepburn with pearl gray eyes and a matching gray streak in her ash brown hair;
aficionado of alliteration;
Loehmann’s collector, since childhood, of one-of-a-kind apparel and accessories;
shares an 1800’s brownstone with Edyth, her partner in business and life;
Fordham, The Bronx NY and Park Slope, Brooklyn NY
FUTURE-a grand Grande Finale!

EDYTH (Edyth Aptaker) (b.1920);
pattern maker extraordinaire interpreting the most complicated designer visions for production;
partner in all ‘E’ fashion enterprises;
quiet, detail oriented, only child;
not quite Marilyn Monroe but a zaftig, glamorous blonde nevertheless;
lives in her tragically inherited childhood home – an original double brownstone with Eva, her partner in business and life.
Prospect Heights, Park Slope, Brooklyn NY.
FUTURE—Professor at Parsons School of Design, her alma mater.

So, to wrap things up, the origin of the name ViVo’s was the tongue-in-cheek, shortened version of an overheard insult, ‘vixen volunteers’—as in ‘Who the heck do they think they are’?—meant as a derisive comment about a group of energetic and happy women, made by a jealousy, condescending, organizing board member while volunteering at a high profile philanthropic fundraising event.

Perhaps pretentious and rather redundant, they didn’t take themselves that seriously and chose to think of this as a positive. They eventually used the diminutive, ‘V’ for ViVo’s, which no one outside of their small group knew the meaning of, adding a bit of mystery to these well heeled, well connected successful women.

And so the V’s came to be.

Throughout the past sixty years this cantankerous cadre of cronies, who have all led productive and successful lives, got together as often as they could—in public places and private homes—from Park Avenue to Park Slope; from Great Neck to Gramercy; and from Soho to South Hampton, where a friendship and bond was formed that lasted a lifetime.

From weddings to wakes and all the good and bad stuff in between—they have been there for their parents, children and grands, remaining fiercely supportive friends through dalliances, divorces and, tragically, even death, as their numbers decidedly diminished.

They’ve shed tears of joy and tears of sadness, always remaining optimistic, certain in the belief they have much more to contribute to a world that has changed beyond anyone’s imaginings, and hoping to be around to appreciate the experience, as well as the outcome.

And to think all this came about because Millie had to pee!

May the V’s live in our hearts forever.

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