Greta Garbo's foot, or, sex, socks and letters

In November 2006 I found myself staring at item no. 80 from Box 23 of the Greta Garbo material held at the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia. Item 80 is an envelope from the Pont-Royal Hotel on the front of which is written ‘Greta’s foot Sept. 1958’. Inside is a pencil tracing of Garbo’s foot extending across two small sheets of unlined notepaper. I held the two pieces of paper in mid-air and stared at them with what I hoped was a look of sufficient scholarly intensity to satisfy the two archivists looking on. ‘Looks about a size 8’, I have written in my notes, but in my excitement I failed to note down whether it was her left or her right foot.