"That's Typing" Tuesday, in which I share unpolished, unpublished writings from my vast store of unpolished, unpublished writings. On Tuesdays.From a series of e-mails exchanged between my older brother and myself.
older brother: Saw the write up on your blog about carole lombard. Mom's aunt Mary was her "hands model" during the 40's. At least according to mom, aunt Mary was. But in keeping with the fisher's luck, carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash and thus ended mary's career. I have no idea if this true but it's a family legend and makes a good story.
Mythical Monkey: that is a great story -- in fact, I need a post in the morning for my "That's Typing Tuesday" series. what was Aunt Mary's last name. do you remember?
older brother: i don't. our grandmother's maiden name was "shelton", right? this would have been her sister i think. i would ask someone, but [you] are the only person i know that may remember such things. it's sad that i know so little--never really cared until i got older.
Mythical Monkey: sometimes i think i'd like to know more family history, and other times i think everytime i learn something new about the past, i wish i hadn't learned it.
I tried to hire a hands model once.
ReplyDeleteAt least that's what I told the missus.
She was interested in the emails I had from "Betty" regarding the fees for a hand job. . . .
Please don't forget to tip your waitress.
ReplyDeleteI'll be here all week. . . .
I'm going to have to be a bit skeptical on this one, if only because last year I did an entry at "Carole & Co." on a Lombard Paramount portrait (p1202-495 to be precise) that is unique in that you don't see Carole's face, only her hands. Now it's possible a "hand model" could have been used, but this would have been in late 1932 or early '33, way before Aunt Mary's time. The entry can be seen at http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/341450.html. By the early '40s, Carole might have needed a hand double thanks to aging and all that work on the Encino ranch, but I've never heard one was ever used. (At least she never claimed to be Lombard's leg double!)
ReplyDeleteP.S. My aunt was a New York-based hand model in the '80s, but as far as I know, she never doubled for any actress. (This is getting more and more like "The Puffy Shirt" episode of "Seinfeld" every minute.)
I too am skeptical, although primarily because I knew my mother better than you do.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think of it, maybe that's why I am such a stickler for primary evidence. That and my background in litigation and the year I did on the college newspaper ...
I tried to hire a hands model once. At least that's what I told the missus.
ReplyDeleteAnd what did you tell the hands model? You were a busy boy in those days ...
Despite the lack of evidence for Aunt Mary's hand modeling gig, the photo of Carole Lombard is fascinating. My mother spent a (very) brief portion of her youth as a model. She was also in Hollywood (LA) during this time, but no claims exist in my family for vicarious brushes with fame. However, if you want anecdotes on Key West, the Panama Canal, World War II and the Korean War, there is an endless supply available.
ReplyDeleteOh, by the way, just to be clear, "Aunt Mary" was mom's aunt, not mine. And my mom having been born in 1925, her aunt could have been the right age.
ReplyDeleteBut everybody I could ask has shuffled off this mortal coil ...
if you want anecdotes on Key West, the Panama Canal, World War II and the Korean War, there is an endless supply available.
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of anecdotes.
Your mom must have been of the same generation as mine (and Katie's and Mister Muleboy's), or thereabouts. One of the things that many of my friends have in common is that we were born in the 1960s to parents born in the 1920s ...
One of the things that many of my friends have in common is that we were born in the 1960s to parents born in the 1920s.
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to me, born in the 1950s to parents born in the 1920s...
As opposed to me, born in the sixties to parents born in the early 1940s...sorry, my references to World War II and the Korean War were a bit cryptic. Those stories belong primarily to my grandparents, but we rarely speak of the Vietnam War in my household.
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to me, born in the 1950s to parents born in the 1920s...
ReplyDeleteLike my friends Susan and Pete, VP, either of whom I'd give a kidney.
I mean, not necessarily my own, of course, but I'm sure I could scrounge one up ...
As opposed to me, born in the sixties to parents born in the early 1940s...
My older brother and late sister were born in the 1940s, whistlingypsy. So you and I would be contemporaries, but my parents would have been more the age of your grandparents ...
but we rarely speak of the Vietnam War in my household.
There was a lot of chat about VietNam when I was growing up -- my brother was in the Air Force and was a McGovern liberal, my dad had been in the service overseas in WWII and was a Nixon conservative. Since I adored both of them, it made for some interesting listening. I think that's where I learned my even strain when it comes to juggling the different sides of an argument ... and why I so rarely talk politics out loud with anyone.
Interesting reading the different decades of memories based on birth years and parents birth years. I was born in the '80s to parents born in the late '30s, early '40s. Late-comer, I was. I got snatches of stories about WWII from my mom (born 1936), who could remember moving around a lot as a child because her dad worked a shipbuilder during the war, and about Vietnam from my dad (born in 1941), who managed satellites for the Air Force. Very little about Korea, which I guess didn't affect them directly as much. But I was young enough that it took me a while to separate them all out in my head. When I first heard about the Korean War, I thought that was what my dad was in, until he helped me work out the dates. My earliest world event memory is the fall of the Berlin Wall.
ReplyDelete