Christmas In Hollywood Homes (1946)

From the pages of Modern Woman magazine, volume 15 number 7, 1946, two pages of vintage movie star holiday Q & A. Specifically the famous Hollywood folks were asked to name:

1) Favorite Christmas Story
2) Favorite Christmas Song
3) When Gifts Are Opened
4) Best-Remembered Gift

The celebrities included are, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Ray Milland, Betty Hutton, Jack Carson, Alan Ladd, Joan Caulfield, Peggy Ann Garner, Lon McCallister, Lynn Bari, Peggy Cummins, Victure Mature, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Robert Hutton, Martha Vickers, and Bette Davis.

As to be expected, I suppose, the most named Christmas story was Christmas Carol. My favorite was Jack Carson’s answer:

A story translated from Norwegian — doesn’t remember the name.

Maybe it was a translation of the Norwegian translation of A Christmas Carol.

My favorite answers were the ones naming their best-remembered gift.

Van Johnson’s:

His first fan, a mid-western Scandinavian grandmother, sent him a pair of Arguyle socks she herself knit. Because of his grateful thanks, she has kept his supplied with socks ever since.

Lucille Ball’s:

About ten years ago she was seriously injured — paralyzed — in an automobile accident. At Christmas everyone gave her gifts for an invalid — except her mother. Mother Ball gave her a new bicycle, and with it the assurance that she would walk again.

Jack Carson’s:

A puppy, part collie and part German shepherd. He was eight years old and living in Milwaukee. “I’ve never had a gift that thrilled me more.”

For what it’s worth, Bette Davis had “no specially-remembered gift.” Neither did Victor Mature — however, he was “emphatic about what he wants this Christmas; a new house! Victor, like thousands of other Americans, is desperate for a home.”

The whole this is as post-war American as pie.

The photo used on the first page is of Margaret O’Brien and “Butch” Jenkins who appeared together in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, discussing “the possibility of Santa getting down the Jenkins chimney.”

Jane Powell, Roddy MacDowell, George Murphy (and son Denny with train set), and Diana Lynn appear in photos on the second page.

Vacation Hell: Trapped In A Trailer With Guitar-Playing Dad

Photo found inside Vacation On Wheels booklet, by Maury Delman, distributed by National Research Bureau, Inc. No date; circa 1970s.

Long Live Radio

As A Tad Too Much Tan For Taupe reports, Gilt Group has a sale on 3ryan Radios: Antique Tube Radios retrofitted into One-of-a-Kind Antique Docking Stations for iPods®. What’s most shocking to me is the number of these pieces which have sold out already.

This Dog, Space Walked Or Not, Won’t Hunt

I had to snatch-up this self-titled Toni Basil LP (her second album; 1983, Chrysalis Records) for 99 cents.

Inside my head, I’m saying, “Hey, how come I don’t know any of the songs? …Space Walkin’ The Dog has to be awesome!” Pleased with myself, I bring it on home, clean it off (including the pieces of paper from inside the sleeve which are stuck to the edges of the vinyl), and give it a spin on the turntable.

Now I know why I never heard of it.

It truly is unremarkable.

The LP cover has stickers and identifying markings showing this CBS “Promotion Only” copy was previously the property of KVSC, the college radio station for St. Cloud State University, MN. Primarily this is noted because even the alternative college stations couldn’t make this record rock back then; and they don’t want it in their collections now either. This dog, space walked or not, won’t hunt.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t give it another listen. You have to do that just to be sure… Otherwise you sell it and hate yourself for it later — when you have to buy it back at ten times the price.

Been there; can’t afford that.

In any case, the video for Space Walkin’ The Dog has lots of kitsch value:

Dining With Dino At The Riviera

The memories — and souvenirs — of dining with Dean Martin at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas in the early 70s, which includes the hotel menu.

The price of a filet mignon was just $13.50.

I’m always nostalgic for supper clubs and Dean Martin — but upon viewing the Riviera’s menu I spot the salad dressings: Roquefort, Thousand Island or French Dressing. I miss the days of such salad dressing options… Now everything is ranch. Ugh.

My dreamy sighs for the old days now include an evening at the supper club, watching Dino and enjoying a rare filet mignon with a salad with thousand island dressing.