Thursday 22 July 2010

Alphabet Soup and au revoir Mrs M.

When Miss Jenny began A-T back in January I was a bit slow off the mark and missed linking up with the letter A. So, I linked to Suzanne's VTT instead!
I'm so pleased to have the chance to finally link my A post to Alphabet Soup Thursday, now I have a full set.
Mrs M, it's been so much fun being in your class. I'll miss our Thursday get togethers but will pop in from time to time to see how my favourite teacher is getting along.
Au revoir.

I just found out from my good friend Sarah @ HFTS that there is a new meme in town called Alphabe - Thursday @ Jenny Matlock's blog.
I'm a little late joining in as A was the letter of the week, last week, but better late than never is what I always think so, A is for...................Academy Awards!!
The countdown to the nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards has just 6 days to go and the Oscar ceremony will take place on Sunday March 2nd.
So, hopefully Colorado Lady Suzanne with have her computer back up and running in time for her very popular Vintage Thingies Thursday as I share with you some Hollywood glamour and an intriguing tale from yesteryear.
Ava Gardner.
Porgy & Bess star Pearl Bailey.


A few years ago,whilst mooching around a very large Antiques Fair in Le Mans, I came across a nondescript black, plastic folder containing a number of signed black and white Metro Goldwyn Mayer studio photographs of Hollywood "Stars" from the 1940's and 50's and a handwritten notecard. I'm not a collector of Hollywood ephemera or autographs but something about the small collection and the added personal touch of the notecard "spoke" to me. After a very short haggle about the price the folder came home with me.
I did sell some of the pix on eBay shortly thereafter to a collector in New York who knew a lot more about them than I did and probably was rubbing his hands in glee at the bargain he got that day, c'est la vie.
I still have some of them and more importantly to me I have the notecard too, perhaps I'll use them in some way one day. (Mamie Jane if you are reading this I need your creative input here!)
Esther Williams.

The card was addressed to Dear Countess de Beauregard and signed Jean Douglas.
It reads:

" These pictures arrived just lately - and I only hope you hadn't given them up forever!

My husband and I were very thrilled with the entire Iata (sic) conference, and it was a very great pleasure knowing you and your husband. We're certainly looking forward to seeing you both again in the not too distant future".

My google search produced Jean Douglas - an actress working in Hollywood in the late 1920's and 30's who was credited only as "the blonde" in the Oscar nominated (Best Art Direction) 1930 movie The Vagabond King, starring Jeanette MacDonald.



Lana Turner
Elizabeth Taylor.

Hollywood legend, diva and my personal favourite: Miss Judy Garland.

Also included were photographs of some of Hollywood's leading men of the day: Red Skelton, Walter Pidgeon and Van Johnson.

Happy VTT everyone.

16 comments:

  1. Love your Hollywood Legends post!
    Happy Alphabet Day!

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  2. I never tire of looking at images from the golden era in Hollywood! Great post, Maggie!

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  3. This is awesome. I love these old images. Nothing quite like the glamour of those days.

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  4. Those were the days when stars were true stars (not run-of-the-mill "celebrities" like now!)

    Happy Alphabe-Thursday,

    LOLA:)

    PS Mine this time is HERE. Hope you can join me!

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  5. Congratulations on completing the Meme Alphabet Maggie! I have enjoyed reading your posts and can tell you were full of enthusiasm for the project. I'll give you a gold star for effort, another for your optimistic attitude and a third for the quality of your writing. (I was a teacher and I loved sticking the little gold stars to the top of spelling tests!) Thanks for entertaining your readers.

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  6. Hi Maggie,
    There is something about the glamour of the old Hollywood days. I loved seeing this post again. You found a really cool treasure at the antiques fair that day.
    Jane

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  7. Maggie, what a delightful post. I remember receiving signed photos of movie stars when I was a child. One would write to the fan club and get a photo in return. Have no idea what happened to the ones I had, but I do know I had one from Debbie Reynolds, Doris Day, and a few others. Funny what will spark the memory. Your collection is stellar. Perhaps you should have kept it all. Especially with the personal note.
    Great post! Have a terrific day, my friend. ~ Sarah

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  8. There's nothing quite as glamorous as those old Hollywood stars - the too-much-information age has taken away some of the star dust. Were you able to find out just who Countess Beauregard was?

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  9. I loved this post. It reminds me of when I used to go to my grandmother's house and used to look at her True Confessions magazines. This was one of the gossip magazines at the time. Oh how times have changed though. It was much more controlled as to what kind of gossip was told. Oh to only have those days back. Great post and brought back tons of memories.

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  10. What an awesome collection of photos - thank you for sharing...that was really glamour...beautiful....bkm

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  11. Those photos show some real hollywood legends. They had such beauty and grace, thanks for sharing.

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  12. How wonderful to have signed photos of such great stars. Great way to fill in the blank.

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  13. What a marvelous find, Maggie! And such fun to look at. Thanks for scanning them in.
    I hate to age myself, but I actually sent for these back in the day. Have no idea where they are now. (Perhaps in your folder!)And I am having such fun seeing all those old movies on Netflix right now. I'm doing Fred Astaire right now.

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  14. Maggie,

    I love the pictures. I used to have some but who knows what happened to them.

    Getting stronger each day and have a lot more energy. Time to get back to the blogging!

    Have a great weekend.

    Carol

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  15. oh those are gorgeous photos ... such elegance such class ...

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  16. What wonderful photos and such a neat story!

    Discoveries like this are the ones I get most excited about on Antiques Roadshow!

    Thanks for adding this spicy bit of beauty and glamor to our Alphabet Soup!

    It certainly helped make it a delicious serving of fun this week!

    A+

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Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!