Letter: Recession under the microscope

Sir: In the Thirties my first boyfriend, a medic, used to pawn his microscope while, penniless, he awaited his father's monthly cheque. As his first MB loomed, the microscope could not be spared and a brick was put in its box, by then familiar to the pawnbroker, who paid up.

What chance would he have had in 1992? ('Recession forces more people to forsake pawned heirlooms', 22 December).

Yours sincerely,

RUTH GELBER

London, SE3

22 December