I love Cap's sensibilities in this and the whole discussion about the pen and how things have changed so much- there's just so many amenities today that someone from the 30s and 40s would boggle over. Many wouldn't phase them, but something as everyday as a pen really would.

On a beta minor note, if you don't mind, "bursaries" isn't a term I was familiar with and I had to look it up. It seems like the context you used it in is only a UK/Canadian one, I'm not really sure what the US equivalent is other than "scholarships" which is a little more educationally oriented than you seem to imply.