Article by Author Gail Meath

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FUN HISTORICAL FACTS BY AUTHOR GAIL MEATH.

I have always loved researching history, so it makes sense that I chose to write historical fiction novels, cozy mysteries, and romances. I spend a great deal of time making sure every aspect of each book is historically accurate. I also include several fun historical facts at the end of each book that pertain to the story, along with entertaining videos from the 1920s.Here are a few of my favorites:

FRAMED: Did you know that before the 1920s, ‘cocktails’ were unheard of? Beer, shots of liquor, and wine were the only common alcoholic drinks. Prohibition was passed on January 17, 1920. Shortly afterward, women won their right to vote on August 26. Therefore, more and more women began frequenting clubs and speakeasies. To accommodate them, the club owners began introducing different liquors combined with various mixers, which appealed to women far more than beer or shots. And cocktails were born.

The Green Mill Lounge in Chicago opened in 1907 and made its mark during prohibition as a popular speakeasy. Johnny Torrio, a major mobster in Chicago, and his right-hand man, Al Capone, were frequent guests. They had a special booth in the middle of the bar to make sure they could see both the front and back doors. After Al Capone took over Torrio’s business in 1927, his annual income was estimated at around $60 million. Since his involvement in the Valentine’s Day Massacre (February 14, 1929) could not be proven, it wasn’t until 1931 when Al Capone was finally arrested for tax fraud and served eleven years in prison.

The following are a few of the more popular tunes from that era that I included in the book. The first song is I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (I love the name of that song!). The song itself is referring to a woman named Katie Townsend, who was a murdered brothel madame. This is Betty Grable’s 1930 rendition.

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I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate:

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My Man:

TWO OF A KIND, The Beginning: Writing any historical novel takes a great deal of research, right down to using the proper words and phrases of the times with special care not to use more modern terms that weren’t in existence yet. In this book, I mentioned get-out-of-jail-free cards,so I needed to find out if the Monopoly game existed back then.

Surprisingly, the history of Monopoly can be traced back to 1903, when Lizzie Magie, an American antimonopolist, created a game that she hoped would explain the single-tax theory of Henry George. It was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of private monopolies. She took out a patent in 1904. Her game, The Landlord’s Game, was self-published in 1906, and it was played similarly to the version we’re familiar with. Here is what the original board looked like:

Briefly, a few more interesting facts. The Woolworth Building in New York City was the world’s tallest building from 1913, the year it was built, to 1930, and it cost thirteen and a half million to build. As a nickel-and-dime store, that surprised me when you place it alongside money giants like Macy’s and Abraham & Straus (they were co-owned), Saks, Bloomingdales, Gimbels, Lord & Taylors, and Bonwit Teller. When Frank Woolworth died in 1919, there were 1,057 Woolworth stores in the United States and Canada, plus another 175 stores in England.

Lastly, the facts about the Hope Diamond in the book were true. The diamond was owned by Edward (Ned) and Evalyn McLean. They were hesitant to purchase the notoriously cursed 45-carat blue Hope Diamond in 1911, but Evalyn was determined to own it. So, Pierre Cartier reset the diamond for her, and Evalyn often let her Great Dane, Mike, wear the gem on his collar at public events.

Evalyn never believed in the curse and owned the diamond for the rest of her life, but she suffered some bad luck over the years. Her husband ran off with another woman, her son was killed in a car accident, and her daughter died of a drug overdose.

One article I read stated that Princess Diana had owned the diamond for a time, but I couldn’t find anything to confirm that. The diamond is now in the Smithsonian Institution, and it’s worth is estimated at three hundred million dollars.

DEUCE: Broadway tidbits. Shirley Temple (1928-2014) was not only an extremely talented young actress and Hollywood’s number one box-office draw from 1934-1938, but as an adult, she became a highly respected United States Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

Bill (Bojangles) Robinson (1878-1949) was a wonderfully talented and famous actor, singer, and tap dancer who began his career at five years old and was most successful during the Vaudeville and Broadway heydays. He and Shirley Temple had teamed up in several movies. Here is their Shim Sham variation from “The Littlest Rebel” (1935); then Shirley Temple (7 years old) singing Polly Wolly Doodle from the same movie:

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Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple – Shim Sham Variation:

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Shirley Temple Polly Wolly Doodle:

BLACKJACK: Let’s start with Chumley’s Tavern, which was, indeed, a former speakeasy located at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village. Leland Stanford Chumley, a socialist activist, converted a blacksmith’s shop into a pub in 1922, and it became a favorite spot for influential writers, such as F. Fitzgerald Scott and Ernest Hemingway, along with poets, playwrights, journalists, and activists.

The Barrow Street entrance had no exterior sign and was located within a nondescript courtyard, while the Bedford Street entrance was also unmarked. Inside, Chumley’s was equipped with trapdoors and secret stairs. It is also rumored that the term ‘86’ originated when the police would kindly call ahead and instruct the bartender to ’86’ his customers, meaning they should exit via the 86 Bedford door.

Next, did you know Paul Revere, the famous American patriot who rode through the streets at midnight on April 18, 1775, alerting everyone the British forces were coming, was the nation’s first forensic dentist? In 1768, at the age of 34, Paul Revere placed advertisements in the Boston Gazette offering dental services such as cleaning and replacing lost teeth with artificial teeth made from ivory and animal teeth.

One of his patients was Dr. Joseph Warren. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British shot and killed Dr. Warren and buried him in a mass grave without his uniform or identification. After the British evacuated Boston, Paul Revere and Warren’s brothers went to the battlefield to look for him. They found a grave with two unrecognizable bodies. Paul Revere identified Dr. Warren by the walrus tooth and the wire that he had used to replace a missing tooth. Dr. Warren was given a proper funeral and buried in a marked grave.

Many of you are familiar with the Pinkerton Agency, founded by Allan Pinkerton, who tracked down famous outlaws such as Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Kate Warne was the first female Pinkerton agent in 1860. She became known as a master of assumed identities and was instrumental in thwarting an assassination plot against President Abraham Lincoln.

While reading about female spies and agents, I found this a little annoying. There were many female spies on both the north and south side of the Civil War, and Kate Warne, along with the Lady Pinkertons, proved women were perfectly capable of detective work. There were also many policewomen during the early 1900s. Despite all that, the secret service, CIA, and BOI (later known as the FBI) refused to hire female agents. During the 1920s, three women were hired by the BOI, but after only three to four months of service, J. Edgar Hoover asked for their resignations claiming there was ‘no particular work for a female agent’. The first two permanent female FBI agents weren’t hired until 1972.

KILLJOY: I couldn’t resist focusing on the spooky Halloween season. So, I began researching ghosts and hauntings in the 1920s. That led me straight to Olive Thomas and the New Amsterdam Theatre.

The information in Killjoy regarding Olive’s life and death is true, although I merely grazed the surface of her life and career. Interestingly, they say Olive has been haunting the Amsterdam Theatre ever since her death. Through the years, she has been seen carousing the theater and the rooftop in her green, beaded Follies costume, flirting with the stagehands, and blowing kisses to men. The ladies’ room has also been plagued by red lipstick smudges, which keep reappearing even after the cleaning staff scrubs them off. There is also a photograph of Olive still hanging by the stage door. Both the cast and crew make a point of acknowledging the photo of her as they come and go, “Hoping to stay on her good side”.

In the late 1990s, after Disney Theatricals signed a ninety-nine-year lease on the New Amsterdam Theatre, Olive’s ghost was again sighted by one of the security guards. He saw her on stage and yelled at her, but she disappeared through the wall to Forty-First Street. The security guard was so distraught, he called Disney’s vice president at two-thirty in the morning.

Let’s move on to the Ziegfeld Follies and the Midnight Frolics. The Follies on Broadway ran from 1907 to 1931, with a few renewals in later years. Surprisingly, Florenz Ziegfeld had rejected several notable actresses after their auditions: Norma Shearer (1919), Alice Faye (1927), Joan Crawford (1924), Gypsy Rose Lee (1927), Hedda Hopper (1913), and Lucille Ball (1927 and 1931) ** (see video below). Florenz Ziegfeld and Billie Burke, the good witch in the Wizard of Oz, were married from 1914 until his death in 1932.

The New Amsterdam Theatre’s rooftop included 680 seats with box seats and a balcony. In 1915, Florenz Ziegfeld decided to utilize the space for midnight performances that were far more risqué, and the after-hours show became a huge success. The New York Times gave rave reviews: “One might search the world and not find anything quite as unique or lavish as this midnight revue.” The girls’ balloon costume became the favorite as men were given the opportunity to pop the balloons with their lighted cigars.

Florenz Ziegfeld insisted those who attended the Midnight Frolics would have sore hands after applauding. So, he provided little wooden hammers at each of the tables.

Wooden Applause Hammer From Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic ca. 1916.

There were only a few videos available that pertained to the Ziegfeld Follies. Eddie Cantor was most notable for singing the theme song, A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, but I couldn’t find his version. Here is Dennis Morgan’s version in 1936, and a video of Fanny Brice and the Follies in 1934.

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1936 Dennis Morgan A pretty girl is like a melody – YouTube

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Fanny Brice and the Follies girls 1934 – YouTube

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**Lucille Ball auditioned twice for the Follies, and both times she was turned down. Yet, in 1945, she starred in the musical comedy movie, Ziegfeld Follies, along with William Powell and Judy Garland, and she played the part of a lead chorus dancer in the Follies.

1945 Lucille Ball in Ziegfeld Follies – YouTube