Imperial Valley press., 1935-06-12
OOMcInfyre


flattery but it often proves disas-
trouS to amusement originators. 4
] shining example is the eclipse oi
Helen Kane. Her petulant boo
boop-a-dooping jumped her out oi
/ obscurity into a four figured week
ly salary.
She packed movie stage shows
and musical comedies as no other
performer of her day. Then came a
flood of imitators on the stage
screen and radio So excellently
done, her art seemed an easy ac-
complishment. In a movie cartoon
suit she bought, the defendant
showed a half hundred girls could
do her trick.
Then there was Joe Penners
| goofy ging -gang-goo. He shot up to
a salary of five figures and is still
in demand but only moderately so
| There was scarcely a radio pro-
| gram without a pseudo Penner and
it grew pretty tiresome. Joe Frisco
has so many imitators he's almost
constantly at liberty.
Too, there is the husky voiced
dramatic actress Lenore Uric miss
ing from the boards too long. There
was a time when every vaudeville
mimic impersonated her. But the
most conspicuous suffocation by
imitation was Eva Tanguay. At
one time 200 performers were es-
! saying her jittery twists.
I had a moment of horror along
the west drive of Central Park yes
terday I never want to experience
again. A golden haired rosebud
toddling after her nurse, suddenly
turned toward the maelstrom of
traffic in the roadway. In a flash
she was padding to what looked
instant doom. One car with a
mighty Shrek of brakes and quick
turn missed her by an eyelash but
others were bearing down. There
were despairing screams and hasty
prayers. She escaped miraculously
A bright strip of tin-foil had at
tracted her.
New York is called the worlds
best Shod city. In the crowded GEN.
ters are often two and three shoe
shops to a block. Many resplendent
stores on the Bowery and Grand
| street are shoe retailers. Members
of the amusement profession are
particularly meticulous about foot
wear Jane Cowl is reputed to buy
dozen pairs at a crack. Damon
Runyons chief extravaganza is
shoes, which he wears a few times
and passes on to his pal, Hype
Igoe. Irving Brokaw, one of the
| better dressed men, keeps sixty
pairs in his wardrobe at all times.
William Goadby Loew is another
shoe spendthrift.
Then the necktie Splurgers.
| Adolph Zukor has at times bought
| 1000 at a crack. They are his IA
yorite gift to employees on return
ing European trips. Clarence Mac
Kay at one time was also heavy
cravat customer. And Vernon Cas-
| tie, at the peak of his dance reign
| had designs for scarves never dup
Heated in America especially made
| by a silk concern in Lyons. Flo
Zeigfeld bought ties by the several
dozen every month or SO. At his
passing he had more than thous-
and that had never been worn
Bert Williams once bought every
tie in a window at Sulka's.
Some summers ago, I dropped
into Charvets in Paris to select ties
My usual Scot wariness succumbed
to what I thought was a reckless
fever of buying. I had pushed
aside more than a dozen. But the
clerk seemed knee deep in yaWn-
ing boredom at my squirt of extra
vagance. In waiting for change !
learned from him that he had Just
waited on Charles G.. Norris. who
had selected 500 ties. I walked out
passing under a footstool without
scraping my hat.
The celebrated sound proof
three-storied house Of the elder
+, Joseph Pulitzer in East Seventy
Ninth street is now a continental
apartment house with inner gar
| dens. massive iron wrought en-
! frances and foreign looking valets
du chambre with brass buttoned
ticking vests and green aprons. The
blind publisher built the mansion
during the nerve-tortured years
when the slightest jar or sound inn
posed agony. So much so he fled
| finally and permanently to roam
the seven seas in his palatial yacht
until the end. His son Ralph's
home next door has also been sold
The original home is nitched into
/ one and siX-room apartments.
Among the first tenants was the
explorer Roy Chapman Andrews.
I've long been a push over for
those tricks. magic, puzzle shops
along Broadway. Yesterday I pick
ed up something new TO me-a lit
tie gadget TO slip in the mouth
and pouf! with an exhale there
shoots out a few tiny sparks and a
coil of smoke. I tried it out on the
taxi-driyer while settling the fare.
He was not the least startled. II
get that way, too, Buddy he said,
"aftef radishes."
That the kidnapping Of the Lind
bergh baby was an inside Job" and
dfd not i,,t,cI,a fI,a IoJJar -.