A few quick silent movie chicks

Happy Easter

Here are some silent film stars who are breaking out of their shells to celebrate Easter and welcome springtime. A short more recent video is in the middle.

Bessie Love is carried away by Easter Bunnies 1929

May Allison 1919
Blonde blue-eyed screen star
half of famous Hollywood romantic pair
with Harold Lockwood in 1910s

Josephine Hill comes out of her shell 1920
Her movies included Westerns
Hill was in films with Champion and Bullet,
two of the first famous dog actors

June Collyer 1928
Her work included the Stu Erwin Show (with her husband Stuart Erwin)
and a 1934 film with Bela Lugosi, Murder by Television

Hope Lange's Easter Party Roddy McDowall, Robert Redford 1965
Soapbox Productions (no audio)


Hope Lange was in the television version of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, co-starring with Edward Mulhare.


Director Alfred Hitchcock, who gave us the film Psycho, was said to have an aversion to eggs.... This dislike showed up in his films.
If you don't like the thought of egg salad or worse Deviled Eggs, don't look.

A couple of the guys:

Though Fred Kohler tended to play heavies,
he could be a softy, too 1928

Jackie Coogan and pet rabbit Oscar 1924
Coogan was in The Kid with Charlie Chaplin
He grew up to work with Betty Grable and
co-star as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family

Related pages of interest:

Animated Characters on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: Bugs Bunny and more

Ducks and Geese in Movies

TV Anti-Tip Ideas Childproof Safety Plasma LCD Flatscreen Furniture

Prevent injury from a toppling Flat Screen TV: Earthquake Proof Your Home : Protect Children, Pets

"The number and rate of injuries to children associated with furniture tip-overs are increasing. Pediatricians and caregivers should be aware of this important source of pediatric injury and the strategies for prevention." 
-- Clinical Pediatrics Journal

Think about the layout of your room and your television or monitor. Which of these systems would work best for you?

These devices aren't limited to serving people with small children. Pets run around and could easily knock down a tall television. You don't want anything to make your heavy furniture tip. Is this something you'd like to buy your kids' grandparents or their care providers? Consider furniture safety.

Depending on the size and layout of your home and the placement of the TV, it could be just one bump in the dark or at a party that knocks over that expensive piece of equipment. Do you have an extra-large monitor for your computer? This may be a concern for you, too. If you're creating a baby gift basket for new parents, these are some items to include that are practical. They'll show that you really care and thought about their growing family.

Live in earthquake territory or a location prone to tornadoes or hurricanes? Just one storm when the lights go out and something can happen. There is the need to earthquake proof your flat screen TV. You know all too well about how furniture may shift without any notice. Losing the fancy television is the least of your worries if a family member, including our pets, are nearby when it falls over.

Child home safety is a serious issue. We secure book cases, entertainment centers and other pieces of furniture. Items on and within pieces of furniture can come out in a storm or earthquake.

Perhaps someone in your home is elderly, has a health or mobility issue. We don't want to lose balance and suddenly that find the thing you grab onto causes you and something else to fall. Children will pull out drawers to climb up onto furniture. Little kids in our family have the nickname little monkey. You can't be too careful.

At holiday-time, many people are also considering the infamous falling over Christmas tree. There are trips for keeping children, pets and other things from sending your tree over on its side. On Easter, children root around looking for eggs and special treats.

Will you be entertaining and have more people than usual going through your home? Will relatives be visiting or be house-sitting? Is a friend camping out on your couch? Holidays can be a festive stressful time for the whole family, including our pets.

What are your favorite movies to watch with your kids or grandkids? Do your toddlers operate the remote control themselves? We can show our kids movies from the past, enjoy with them what we loved when we were their age. We can take movies of them and watch them on TV or on other devices. For some of us, that wasn't possible when we were children.

Anti-Furniture Tip : Ready America Flat Screen TV Safety Strap
Ready America Flat Screen TV Safety Strap
Furniture safety straps. Flat Screen Safety Straps are your best defense against earthquakes. Secure large flat screen televisions from toppling in an earthquake, preventing damage and injury.

Easy peel and press application with no holes required and the straps are hidden from view. The straps are black in color to blend with the surroundings of the electronics.

Each package contains two straps for mounting your flat screen TV to your TV/entertainment stand.

Don't wait for accidents to happen. Protect your Flat Screen TV from devastating falls with these TV straps. Made of sturdy nylon, these flat screen safety straps will keep your TV in its place. Hidden from view, easy to install. Made in America.

Retro Vintage Kitsch Poster A Year From Now?
Jacket or Shirt

How stable is your TV? The information is important - Do you have misconceptions?

Excerpts of TVSafety, CPSC's First Twitter Chat
-- "Every other week, a child dies in the U.S. when a television, a piece of furniture or an appliance falls on him or her. CPSC held a Twitter chat with @KidsinDanger and @GaryASmithMD to talk about anchoring and strapping TVs and saving children's lives." February 2012

In Chicago alone, media has reported that since October four children have died and one has been seriously injured from televisions falling on them.

How many of you put the remote or toys up high on furniture that holds a TV?

Is this just a problem with older tube TVs?

What does childproofing a TV really mean? Where can you find anchors and straps?

Do you know how to safeguard your TV and furniture?

How stable is your TV?

Some of the statistics reported:

Head/neck injuries from furniture tip-overs are most common in kids 9/under.

Every day, more than 40 US kids are rushed to an ED after a heavy piece of furniture has fallen on them

Young children are less able to anticipate danger: That's where childproofing steps come into play. Anchor & Protect

65% of children who died in tipover incidents were between 1 and 3 1/2 years old.

 

Prevent a Flat Screen TV from tipping over

Choose 2-Pack or 4-Pack

KidCo Anti-tip TV Strap 2 Pack Use straps to help flat screen TV saver will help prevent flat screen TV's from dangerously tipping over.
Helps protect your child from injury. You need a Plasma or LCD TV tie-down to provide protection for your children.

From the day of the baby shower gift -- are other new moms and dads bringing little ones to your home for the party? -- these are good ideas to not only give but to have yourself.

TV Guards, Button Shields

Many of these companies also manufacture Button Shields and TV Guards for your electronics, your TV, DVR, DVD Player, etc. The VCR guards should still be available for those of us who still have VCRs and VHS/DVD player/recorders.

Have you heard the one about the frozen waffle that went into the DVD player? That's one reason the TV Guards were made.

Little fingers can quickly reprogram electronics. Having a plan to put away remote controls is a good idea.

We now use something similar to protect our pets, it helps with dust and pet hair as well.


How many televisions, computers and other monitors do you have in your home or office? Is your office secured?

Video Games & TVs Falling Older Children - At home safety

Practice furniture safety by securing your flat panel stand helpful short video

Attach to heavy furniture: Safety Straps for Equipment : 2-Pack

Option of mounting by attaching to the heavy piece of furniture

Parent Units 2 Pack Equipment Safety Straps, Black
Parent Units Safety Straps for Equipment
These proven performance, award-winning fasteners greatly reduce the dangers associated with unsecured equipment. TVs, stereo equipment, computer monitors, game consoles, etc.

Think about this as a great gift idea for a baby shower, a new mom, a Christmas gift for new baby, new parents. Add it to a new baby gift basket. For parents of toddlers, maybe these are things not thought about until something happens?

Our friends had a power outage during a party. Bad combination of a house full of disoriented friends and a house that was suddenly totally dark. Lots of folks bumping into each other, into furniture.

Safety Straps help secure appliances from being able to move, slip or slide.
These easy-to-use straps are safe on finished wood & all types of electronic equipment.



 
Please note:
Unless stated otherwise, information and product descriptions are from manufacturers and other sources. Images are also provided by manufacturers and/or merchants directly selling products.  Since product photos change they are representational. Don't hesitate to click and get more information.

Monkey Around with Dietrich and Grant

 Monkey Around with Dietrich and Grant:
Are you going ape?

Blonde Venus is a 1932 pre-code drama which starred Marlene Dietrich and Herbert Marshall. It was one of the first big roles for the young Cary Grant. At one point we see her on stage in a gorilla suit. She peels off the gorilla hands, mask and the rest of the furry costume and adds a flamboyant wig before singing Hot Voodoo. Cary Grant is part of her audience. A striptease that starts off with a gorilla suit. Where else do you see that?

Dietrich in Blonde Venus
Hot Voodoo



Marlene Dietrich alternative simian dance costume tutorial



Marlene Dietrich began making silent films in 1919. Another famous film was The Blue Angel, 1930 as Lola Lola, with Emil Jannings and Kurt Gerron.

One of her last films was Judgment at Nuremberg a 1961 Stanley Kramer film. Costars were Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Judy Garland.

There was a cameo in Paris When It Sizzles, 1964 with Audrey Hepburn and William Holden. Then Just a Gigolo 1979 with David Bowie, Kim Novak and Sydne Rome.

Her manner, the critic Kenneth Tynan wrote, was that of "a serpentine lasso whereby her voice casually winds itself around our most vulnerable fantasies."
"She has sex but no positive gender," Tynan wrote. "Her masculinity appeals to women and her sexuality to men." .... "Glamour," she observed, "is assurance. It is a kind of knowing that you are all right in every way, mentally and physically and in appearance, and that, whatever the occasion or the situation, you are equal to it."

In clothes, she was a trend setter. Both on screen and off, she often wore trousers and mannish costumes. By proving that a woman could still look feminine in such clothes, she established "the Dietrich silhouette," emphasizing trimness and inconspicuous hips and bust. from her New York Times obituary. Ms. Dietrich lived December 1901 - May 1992.

Marlene Dietrich The Glamour Collection 5 Movies:
Blonde Venus/ Morocco/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings


Phil Collins - Gorilla Drummer - Cadbury Advert (Dairy Milk)

"I Feel like a Hairy Ape"
Cary Grant to Gail Patrick
My Favorite Wife 1940 

Cary Grant calls Joan Fontaine Monkey Face in Suspicion

Tips to Choose, Customize Your Costume for your Event, Gorilla Run Charity Races, Fun Runs

When will you wear it? Weather, Heat: Think about how hot it will be in your suit. Some runs appear to stay out of the summer months. Weather can be hot, humid, windy and rainy anywhere. What costume will you wear in the mud run?!

Costumes, including wigs & hats are usually hotter to run in than a track suit, but folks who make it to the finish line are excited that they made it. Consider a cooling vest to wear under the gorilla suit? 

Is it for something special like a proposal or a similar surprise? The groom-to-be fights off the gorilla before the proposal. Add a top hat. Any day that includes a sudden, unexpected gorilla is usually remembered.

If you're hosting a Planet of the Apes watch-a-thon at your house would you give prizes for those who come in costume? 

For Business? Are you going into a Gorillagram business? Can you sing while wearing it? Maybe it will be just one costume of several that you have. People want experiences these days. It's not enough to send flowers or candy to the office on her birthday. Make it an event. Do you want a realistic gorilla costume or something more cartoonish, maybe something along the lines of King Kong, comic book?

Choose separate parts, a snout, hat, makeup, etc? Your kids can create parts

Little Boys' Gorilla Costume

DIY with crayons, construction paper and glue sticks at a birthday party or on a rainy day.

It's your gorilla suit! Jazz it up! Add your business logo? A sash or tiara? (Tack it down!) 

Add a zipper? Make it easier to use the portable toilets if necessary? I've read about people's getting costumes early and altering them if need be with zippers for quicker pit-stops! Always on the lookout for animal costumes and the like that have zippers. A very clever friend with a sewing machine and/or needle and thread may be able to make it a two-piece.

Try it out, Make it work: Try out the costume before the race. Do a practice run in it and see how it goes. What does it need? Add a zipper? Have a backpack, pocket, pouch? Remove something? Make it just right for you. This is what will make it really fun and functional. If you're trying to get attention for yourself, your cause, your business, determine how you might add to the costume in ways that won't impede your ability to run.

Are you on a team? Easier to find one another if you add something lightweight and colorful, visible like a hat (pinned on!) or tank top? A logo or great team name emblazoned on it makes it all the better. Come up with the best team chant to outdo that group next to you.... If you want a couples costume, I guess she could be Fay Wray, fun idea.

Order early and Do a fur test & mask eye test: Many of the costumes I saw across the merchants had reviews saying that they shed their fur to some extent. Also people had to make the eye holes on masks work for them. Give a good shake out when testing them. Read the directions and instructions. Decide for yourself. Lots of clever and industrious ideas made the costumes, masks work perfectly. How will you wear your hair?


Just love the Adidas Jeremy Scott designer sneakers whether it's the gorilla, the

Aadidas Originals by Jeremy Scott

bear, poodle... You'll probably have more luck running in way better than running in gorilla feet. Go psychedelic if that's more to your personality.

Fun Run? If you're going for a mud run, a gorilla suit or anything with fur may not be what you want. Mud will add weight to the costume. Will the elements damage the costume? This includes your wig, hat, etc. A popular mud run is the Devil Dash, where people dress as angels and devils. That leaves interpretation of the costumes wide open.

Pink Gorilla Costumes

Show your true colors: Be a Snow Beast in white.  Practice that Rawr. Color up for an Awareness Event or wild pre-wedding video, Rage on as a Red Gorilla? Swap with a pal and put your pink gorilla head on his black gorilla suit body and vice versa.... It's all up to you. We found different shades of pink gorilla suits. Which one suits you best?

Don't forget other times to wear the Gorilla Costume. When you've run out of uses for the costume and it's still in good shape, pass it along. 

Donate the suit to someone or a cause who'd like to have it. Be green and try a costume swap locally, with friends and family.

"Would you ask your wife to hook up with that ape?!" Jean Harlow. 

“Uh, The Ape objects,”
William Powell 

Libeled Lady 1936

Groucho Marx talks about monkey suits on the Dick Cavett Show (about 5:35) [Groucho talks about the gorilla suit & the orangutan suit that were used in At the Circus]

"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"
Charlton Heston

Planet of the Apes 1968

Wonder Woman, yes, Wonder Woman wrestled with a gorilla in the 1970s.  Those were the days.
Curious? Check it out below...

 

Related Articles of Interest:

1930s films Dressing Gable, Rathbone, Dietrich

Dietrich was on that 1938 list with Katharine Hepburn as being Box Office Poison

Throw a Hollywood Fancy Dress Party: 10 Tips for your costume party success
Marlene Dietrich wore a swan costume to the party in 1935, while an actress friend beside her was dressed as Marlene Dietrich.

Have a Mermaid Movie Party 

"Fling him to the ape!
Let him be torn to pieces!"
Brandon Hurst/The Caliph
Thief of Bagdad 1924

 

Animals on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Animals on Hollywood's Walk of Fame
Famous Dogs, Character Costumes : Muppets, Godzilla

Walk of Fame Animals: Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Strongheart, The Muppets, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, Godzilla

The only actual animals with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are three dogs: Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. Featured here are also Godzilla, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and the Muppets as a group just because they're sometimes live-action, puppets, etc and not exclusively animation. All information is correct as of the writing of this page.


The Muppets received their group star on the Walk of Fame March 20, 2012. More info on a post to come. Have you seen their latest film? Now Kermit and Big Bird are the first fictional characters to have received two stars!

If you're on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood would you look for animal stars? How many can you find? There's currently a push to get Tarzan's Cheetah the chimp a star.

When Roy Rogers signed his name in cement in at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, his horse Trigger also placed his prints on the sidewalk beside Roy's.

These are other animal characters with stars. Looking for your Hollywood Walk of Fame map? Included you'll find the Hollywood Walk of Fame address for each star. Did you know that there are several star walks in the United States and in other countries? 

The American Buffalo and Midnight the horse, the most famous bucking bronc on the rodeo circuit from 1923 until 1933 can be found on the Texas Trail of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas. I may be wrong, but at the time of this writing, I believe there are no animals or fictional characters on Canada's Walk of Fame.

These aren't best known as being animated though they may be seen on film or TV in animated form sometimes. Hollywood animals work hard, they're remembered fondly and some get stars on the walk of fame.

The characters are Godzilla, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird. Do you think Godzilla has a secret rivalry with King Kong to see who's more popular?

The Munchkins are another example of fictional characters on the Walk of Fame.

I have a separate series of pages celebrating the animated characters with stars on the Walk of Fame. There are some fun and nostalgic YouTube videos here. If you're so inclined, give the folks who uploaded the videos some Likes, comments and such. They add a lot to the Web.
Kermit the Frog Star Hollywood Walk of Fame Poster Prints , Amazon, see below

On the Border poster 1930
Vintage Rin Tin Tin poster

Rin Tin Tin

1623 Vine Street : On the Border, Rin Tin Tin

Rin Tin Tin (often billed as Rin-Tin-Tin in the 1920s and 1930s) was the name given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional stories on film, radio and television. ....

The dog's big break came when he stepped in for a recalcitrant wolf in The Man From Hell's River (1922). Rin Tin Tin would be cast as a wolf or wolf-hybrid many times in his career, though not looking like one.

His first starring role was in 1923's Where The North Begins, playing alongside silent screen actress Claire Adams. This film was a huge success and has often been credited with saving Warner Brothers from bankruptcy.  

Rin Tin Tin was featured in the one Technicolor segment of the Warner Brothers all-star 1929 The Show of Shows. Toto in The Wizard of Oz, which was shot partly in color in 1939 could look back on Rin Tin Tin's color performance a decade earlier.

It's said that in 1929, Rin Tin Tin may have received the most votes for the first Academy Award for Best Actor. The Academy determined that a human should win. 

In her book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, Susan Orlean writes that in the first year Oscars were awarded, "according to Hollywood legend, Rinty received the most votes for best actor. But members of the Academy, anxious to establish the awards were serious and important, decided that giving an Oscar to a dog did not serve that end."

It was followed by Shadows of the North (1923), Clash of the Wolves (1925), A Dog of the Regiment (1927) and Tiger Rose (1929). As with superstar Lassie years later, there were mass produced Halloween costumes and other memorabilia in and with the likeness of Rin Tin Tin.

Although primarily a star of silent films, Rin Tin Tin did appear in four sound features, including the 12-part Mascot Studios chapter-play The Lightning Warrior (1931), co-starring with Frankie Darro.

Rin Tin Tin got his star on The Walk of Fame in Hollywood on February 8, 1960.



Radio

Between 1930 and 1955, "Rin Tin Tin" (though not always portrayed by the original dog) was heard in three different radio series, beginning April 5, 1930 with The Wonder Dog, in which the original Rin Tin Tin did his own sound effects until his death in 1932, when Rin Tin Tin, Jr. took over. This 15-minute program was broadcast Saturdays on the Blue Network at 8:15pm until March 1931 when it moved to 8:15pm on Thursdays. 
-- Wikipedia

John Florea image from Life Magazine Close Up of Collie "Lassie"

Lassie Hollywood Walk of Fame

6368 Hollywood Blvd.

Lassie is a stage name for several dog actors. The fictional character was created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a talented dog named Pal playing Lassie.

June Lockhart played Ruth Martin 1959-64, the wife of Paul Martin (portrayed by Hugh Reilly) and the mother of Timmy Martin (played by Jon Provost) in the 1954 CBS series, Lassie.

She also played Dr. Maureen Robinson, the wife of Professor John Robinson (portrayed by Zorro actor Guy Williams) in Lost in Space (1965-68) and appeared as Dr. Janet Craig on the final two seasons of Petticoat Junction (1968-70). Her character was brought in to fill the void created after Bea Benaderet died during the run of the show.

She was a regular, playing in the Maria Ramirez on the soap opera General Hospital during the 1980s and 1990s.

Pal then appeared with the stage name Lassie in six other MGM feature films through 1951. Pal's owner and trainer Rudd Weatherwax then acquired the Lassie name and trademark from MGM and appeared with Pal (as Lassie) at rodeos, fairs, and similar events across America in the early 1950s. 

In 1954, the long running, Emmy winning television series Lassie debuted and, over the next 19 years, a succession of Pal's descendants appeared on the series.

The Lassie character has appeared in radio, television, film, toys, comic books, animated series, juvenile novels, and other media. Pal's descendants continue to play Lassie today.

A Christmas episode, Lassie's Gift of Love, she befriends a toy maker.


The character of Lassie was created by English American author Eric Knight in Lassie Come-Home, first published as a short story the Saturday Evening Post in 1938 and later as a full-length novel in 1940.

Set in the Depression-era England, the novel depicts the lengthy journey a rough collie makes to be reunited with her young Yorkshire master after his family is forced to sell her for money. In 1943, the novel was adapted into a feature film, Lassie Come Home, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) that starred Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie was a hit and enjoyed favorable critical response.

MGM followed this with several additional films, including a sequel entitled Son of Lassie (1945), starring Peter Lawford and June Lockhart, and Courage of Lassie with Elizabeth Taylor. A radio series, Lassie Radio Show likes lassie with his friends was also created, airing until 1949.

Between 1954-1973, the television series, Lassie was broadcast in America, with Lassie initially residing on a farm with a young male master. In the eleventh season, she changed to adult forestry workers as her companions, then had the collie on her own for a while before ending the series with Lassie residing at a ranch for troubled children.

The long running series was the recipient of two Emmy Awards before it was canceled in 1973. A second series followed in the 1980s. In 1997, Canadian production company Cinar Inc. produced a new Lassie television series for the Animal Planet network in the U.S. and YTV in Canada. It ran until 1999.

In 2005, a remake of the original Lassie Come Home movie was produced in the United Kingdom. Starring Peter O'Toole and Samantha Morton, Lassie was released in 2006.

Lassie made a guest appearance on Whose Line is it Anyway?



Remember the show with Lassie's Great Adventures DVD, Share it with your family

Lassie continues to make personal appearances as well as marketing a line of pet food and a current pet care TV show, Lassie's Pet Vet on PBS stations in the United States.

In 2005, the show business journal Variety named Lassie one of the "100 Icons of all time" - the only animal star on the list.
 -- info from Wikipedia and other sources 

Lassie made a surprise guest appearance on the 2015 season of Project Runway All Stars sitting between her trainer and designer Isaac Mizrahi.

Lassie got her Hollywood Walk of Fame star on February 8, 1960. (Walk of Fame site shows same date for Lassie, Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin, as well as many actors and other professionals from the early era of Hollywood.)




Patricia Morison was in Kiss Me Kate on Broadway opening in 1948


I Hate Men Lyrics, from Kiss Me, Kate :
First on Broadway 1948
From Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate
Mentions Lassie

I Hate Men Lyrics excerpt

I hate men.

I can't abide 'em even now and then.

Than ever marry one of them, I'd rest a maiden rather,

For husbands are a boring lot and only give you bother.

Of course, I'm awfully glad that Mother had to marry Father,

But I hate men.

Of all the types I've ever met within our democracy,

I hate most the athlete with his manner bold and brassy,

He may have hair upon his chest but, sister, so has Lassie.

Oh, I hate men!

~ o ~ o ~ o ~ ~ o ~ o ~ o ~ ~ o ~ o ~ o ~

Lassie isn't the only icon mentioned in a Kiss Me, Kate song lyric. Clark Gable's name also appears in the song, Always True to You in My Fashion.

Timmy is where??? tee shirts 

Dog Stories on Old Time Radio

While you're driving, wrapping presents, doing housework, resting or any time you want to Dogs of Old Time Radio Collection: of dog-themed old time radio programs on this MP3 CD shows. 

From man's best friend to man wolves, the OTRCAT Dog Collection includes radio shows about dogs.

One of the many artists who, through their alluring offering via the big chains, are making the ownership of a good receiving set ever more desirable. A dog's tail serves as a radio receiver for Frank G Kerk, Los Angeles, experimenter. 

Kerk attaches an aerial to the collar of his Great Dane and hooks an ear phone to the animal's tail. The canine radio is then complete and all that is necessary is to place the phone to the ear and listen. Dogs have long served humans as protectors, hunters, herders, and companions. 

They also make fun additions to radio shows. 

Stories in this collection include:
* Cathy sneaks a scary, huge dog into her playroom in Father Knows Best.
* In Suspense a DJ investigates a haunted house with his dog, only to have the dog run out of the house!
* Cecil gets a dog named Nero in Cecil and Sally
* In Dragnet, a man that appears to be more wolf-like is hunting the women in Los Angeles.
* It's National Dog Week in Fibber McGee and Molly and Fibber tries to convince Molly to get a dog.

Their Cat Collection presents cat-themed shows.

"Cats have long been the muses of artists, writers, musicians, and now web pages. Worshipped by the Egyptians and Mayans, hated during the Inquisition, and cuddled by smart folks listening to old time radio shows. The world is under the paw of cat scratch fever. We're not a lion!

Roaring old time radio shows about cats, black cats, cat-eyed crooks and catty witch-wives are included in this collection - plus an extras folder with curious Cat Nursery Rhymes. It's the cat's pajamas. Before a cat can lick her ear, grab your catnip and fiddle plus your favorite purring puss in boots and listen to these purrfect shows. MEEE-OOOW!" --I have the Cat Collection. It's a good variety of shows.

[From the OTR Cat site Image from publicdomainpics]

 

Strongheart: The story of a wonder dog

Strongheart
1724 Vine StreetGerman shepherd, Strongheart was the screen name of Etzel von Oeringen, October 1, 1917-June 24, 1929.

After being trained in Germany as a police dog, he was brought to the United States by husband and wife filmmakers Laurence Trimble and Jane Murfin, who had previously worked successfully with Jean, the Vitagraph Dog.

He appeared in several movies, including a 1925 adaptation of White Fang. Some of these pictures were highly successful, and did much to encourage the popularity of the breed, but most have been lost.


In August of 1928, Etzel Von Oeringen, the canine who played Strongheart, was accused of murdering a young child by the name of Sofie Bedard. It reportedly "tried to eat her." Strongheart's name was later cleared and Sofie's family was prosecuted for wrongly testifying in a court of law.
 
A popular celebrity in his day, Strongheart paved the way for the much better remembered Rin Tin Tin. Strongheart and his mate, Lady Jule, had many offspring and their line survives to this day. In 1929, while being filmed for a movie, Strongheart accidentally made contact with a hot studio light and was burned. These burns caused a tumor to form and Strongheart died as a result of it.

Strongheart died the next year in peace. "God bless you Strongheart, God bless you", were the words of the eminent dog's Eulogist and former trainer, Henri Potts.


"Read in honor of the dear friends who walk patiently with us seeking no more than to be told Good Dog:"

Part of Letters To Strongheart by J. Allen Boone 1939. Timeless content not just about respect, living through bereavement and pet loss but about much more than that.

 
Filmography

* The Silent Call (1921)

* Brawn of the North (1922)

* The Love Master (1924)

* North Star (1925)

* White Fang (1925)

* The Return of Boston Blackie (1927); Thought to be the only Strongheart movie still in existence

Strongheart got his star on The Walk of Fame in Hollywood on February 8, 1960.

Strongheart appeared in popular winter silent movies with early movie snow He was owned by early female writer and producer Jane Murfin and trainer Larry Trimble.

The companion article to this one:
Animated Film Characters on The Hollywood Walk of Fame

Homemade Halloween Costumes, Last Minute 5 Moms Includes June Lockhart Lost in Space

**  This is part of a short series. Trivia, background, videos and costume ideas will be included.

Next Installments, Godzilla, Kermit the Frog, Big Bird and the Muppets for their group star. Links will be added & announced on Twitter.

Sources not cited above
The Hollywood Reporter

Gift ideas from the stars hobbies comfort outerspace

Gift ideas from the stars
Thank you! Thank you very much

Robert Taylor
Barbara Stanwyck
1941

Making your gifts personal. Customizing a gift can show you thought of them in particular, commemorate something special in your lives.  If someone wants something simple, it can be all in how you present it that makes it memorable.

Choosing a theme like someone's hobby or job can be an idea. Maybe a gift basket when it comes to friends or coworkers. Simply fill up a coffee or soup mug. Nice idea as a get well or thinking of you gift, too Tailor gifts to the recipient's hobbies. 

Think of something beyond the expected. Are they going through a tough time? What might bring them some comfort, lift their spirits? 

Of course if they're stars, they could reach for the moon and treat their loved ones to wonderful things such as jewelry and cars. When did husbands and wives buy one another pets one another pets? 

Remember Christmas 1968? There's a Christmas Eve message from the Apollo astronauts on video at the end of this page. Relive the memory of the message that interrupted Christmas programming back in 1968.
 
Gifts for your Hobby

Choosing a theme like someone's hobby can also be an idea for a gift basket when it comes to friends or coworkers. Simply fill up a coffee or soup mug. Nice idea as a get well or thinking of you gift, too.

William Powell's youthful bride has had an imitation chief train made for him and a ruby ring. Bill is crazy about trains. Myrna Loy is also catering to that hobby by giving him a stop whistle as well as a mandarin tree. 

Lana Turner's present to Tony Martin is a set of golf sticks. 

Edward G Robinson's eyes sparkled when let it be known that he simply wants a nice new painting and a box of cigars from London ... 

Dick Powell would like a new set of sails for his boat. He'll be spending the holiday at home with his wife Joan Blondell ... 

Ginger Rogers will be in her new home with her mother, cousin and some close friends. She's looking forward to a complete outfit of painting brushes and other art paraphernalia. 
-- Christmas 1937

Arline Judge gets her son a motor scooter 

The wives of Clark Gable and Fred MacMurray gave them hunting equipment.


Are you a woodworker? We have a luthier in the family. My husband designs and builds guitars. He has apprentices who are learning to make ukuleles.

The trailer from the movie, Reckless focused on more than just the movie

One of Jean Harlow's avocations was writing. She'd mentioned that she kept running out of the items she needed to write. An interview with a friend of Jean Harlow's, where the friend told of a gift from Bill Powell.

"I know one thing he did that pleased Jean more than anything else. One day there was a ring at her door and there arrived two uniformed messenger boys carrying two huge and heavy packages. 

"Jean opened them and found two enormous bales of writing paper, one yellow foolscap the other of white bond paper, with several boxes of clips, two erasers, and four dozen pencils. With the paper was a note from Bill which said, 'Just fill these all up with words.'" -- 1935 

 

Glamorous Joan Crawford
hangs her stockings

Joan Crawford gave her husband, Franchot Tone a room. She re-did a room in their home all for him.

"Franchot's room is a combination of artistic beauty and masculine comfort. Typical of Joan she kept it a secret until Christmas eve. Promptly at five in the afternoon seven men in a huge truck drove up in front of the house. Orders had been given weeks before and everything was in readiness. When Franchot went down to the library to wrap some last-minute packages, Joan turned up the radio to full blast. 

"The men were then given the signal to start work. Exactly 30 minutes later Franchot Tone was the proud possessor of a brand new room. Furniture had been placed, rugs put down, draperies hung with each man having his own particular job to do.  Brown and white is the color scheme. ... 

"The moment the workmen were finished Joan raced downstairs. Grabbing Franchot by the hand, she made him close his eyes as she led the way. Piloting him to the center of the room, Joan cried, 'Merry Christmas!'"
- Christmas 1935


I've got you a Brand New Car!!

Tom Gallery, Zasu Pitts and their children

Ray Milland will give his wife an automobile in 1940. 

Olivia de Havilland wants a 'snorky sports roadster.' She's set a goal for herself that she must have a certain amount in her savings account or no car. 

Christmas 1924
Caption said Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. got a car from The Thief of Bagdad
aka his dad, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.

Stuart Erwin and June Collyer Last Christmas in the morning all of the presents were wrapped under the tree and there was a tiny box for me with a card in it reading 'Mommie dear your present is too big to go under the tree. It's in the garage!"  Christmas 1935

1937, John Barrymore is "looking a new motor cars."

 

New car for Christmas!
Funny old photo late 1920s Customize Christmas Ornament
Joan Crawford wants an autographed photo of Garbo. 

Shirley Temple wants to be a boy scout, knife merit badges and all. 

Janie Withers wants to captain a professional football team. 1939

Jackie Cooper's Christmas Party 1931
 

Bling, Please

Sterling Silver Diamond Heart
Pendant Necklace (1/4 cttw), 18"

Barbara Stanwyck will find "a pair of matching bracelets in gold and set with sapphires. Robert Taylor is her Santy, of course."


Christmas 1935  Carole Lombard mentioned the gifts she's given to her friend and secretary, Fieldsie. Gifts included a couple of evening gowns, an evening bag and other luxurious accessories. 

Madeline Fields Lang was a former Sennett bathing beauty. You'll see her first name spelled a number of different ways.

Christmas 1935 Fred MacMurray surprised Lillian Lamont with the breakfast set for her dinette that she'd asked for. They were married in 1936. That Christmas it was written that he gave his wife "an armload of jewels."

Ida Lupino's gift from Louis Hayward is a sapphire ring. 

An article told how Harlow was among the Hollywood hostesses planning a big Christmas dinner in 1936. Bill Powell sat at the head of her table. Powell gave Harlow a nice amount of jewelry. 

Dolores Del Rio who will probably be Mrs Orson Welles within the year is giving him a suede lamp.

Carole Lombard shirt

This year Wallace Beery will surprise little Carol Ann Beery with a collection of dolls, one from almost every country in the world which Wally collected himself on his recent trip to Europe.  Christmas 1935

An interview with a toy dealer in 1922:
"Last year the Charlie Chaplin doll was very popular. But no one wants them now. The Jackie Coogan doll has come in and is all the rage. 

"The Kewpie dolls which were so popular for many seasons are giving way to other character dolls. Of course we still have a steady demand for the old-fashioned golden-curled doll but most new dolls are made to look more like babies and real children and the little girls seem to prefer them."

This was over a decade before anyone would hear of a golden-curled child star by the name of Shirley Temple. Are you an Addams Family fan?

Old Movie/Design your own Soup Popcorn
Ice Cream Snacks Mug alone or filled with another special gift

Gifts of Comfort

Mrs. Jean Bello mother of the late Jean Harlow received an unusual present from William Powell - a trip to New Orleans Cuba and New York. He is paying for everything. Christmas 1937

 "During all these months I saw almost no one except Bill Powell, the Baby's Poppy, whom she loves so dearly. I went nowhere. Bill hoping that a change might help me. He persuaded me to take a sea trip to go on to New York. I wen to please him in appreciation of his thoughtfulness and his gift. For my trip was his Christmas gift to me. But I took my grief with me and found that I was more desolate away than I was at home."
A 1938 article, Without My Jean, "By Jean Harlow's Mother"

Loretta Young would like some comfy slippers, enough pairs for one in every room of her house, including her dressing room on the  set. 

A 1931 interview revealed that in Greta Garbo's bedroom she had "a big rough wooden box in plane sight shoved under a dressing table. It arrived soon after Christmas," said the housekeeper. 'Filled with an assortment of canned anchovies, sardines, caviar and liver pate. Miss Garbo had the cover ripped off and the box left in her bedroom. 

"'She must have gotten up in the night and lunched on the canned delicacies as we often found empty tin boxes in her bedroom in the morning. Other times we found them in the kitchen sink. It seemed that Garbo never has learned to take American food. .... The housekeeper said she also had "a mania for watching a burning fireplace."

Families of more than one religion

Celebrity families, like many others, have to deal with what to do when couples of different religions marry. George Burns and Gracie Allen, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Harpo and Susan Marx talked about how they raised their children. Burns and Allen always had a Christmas tree. It was one of Gracie's favorite times of year.

Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher celebrated all the holidays his and hers. At Christmas they had a tree but they also had a Menorah for Chanukah with more candles burning each night till all were lit. When they had children they thought the kids would be taught the principles of both religions and be allowed to choose their own.

All five Marx brothers 1961
An appearance they made on the Tonight! show
From left, Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Groucho and Gummo

The Marx family, too had a Christmas tree. Harpo Marx tells a cute story in his book.

"When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas that year she said that just for once she she'd like money. She'd like a thousand dollars to spend any crazy way she felt like, on paints, brushes, sewing machine attachments, curtain fabrics, rose bushes, whatever. To Susan, who was very practical with dough, this sounded like a mad splurge. It would have been dull to put a single envelope under the Christmas tree for her.

"That was no kind of present and lousy showmanship.So I went to work long before Christmas up in town at Hillcrest. Early in December mysterious cards addressed to Susan and marked personal began to trickle in. Ten of them came together. Inside each was a card made out to Susan in some odd meaningless amount like $82.97, $73.33 or $26.56. Each was signed by some absolute stranger, a name that meant nothing to her.

"She decided not to worry me about the checks until after the holidays so she hid them. She herself was plenty worried. She was sure it was some kind of new extortion racket. On Christmas morning she found seven more cards with checks inside beneath the Christmas tree.

"These checks were also made out to her for odd amounts but they weren't signed by strangers. They were signed by George Burns, George Jessell, Danny Kaye, Harry Ritz, Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny and Milton Berle. Susan puzzled over them for a minute. 

"Then she gave me a sly smile. She ran to get the mysterious checks hidden in her dresser drawer, and her adding machine. The seventeen checks added up to one thousand bucks on the nose. She said it was her nicest Christmas ever."
-- Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx, Rowland Barber





Esther Williams had been working on helping blind and visually impaired children learn to swim. Christmas 1950, she and her her husband Ben Gage presented a school for blind children with a specially constructed swimming pool. Esther trained the teachers in instructing the children how to swim.  

Pets in our lives

Buddy Rogers
and Baron

For a happier and less stressful outcome, person or a family should adopt a pet together after thinking considering that you're signing up for a life-long relationship that can last 10-20 years depending on the animal. Best to leave this sort of gift to very close family members or the recipient themselves.

Buddy Rogers' German Shepherd dog, Baron was a Christmas gift.

Christmas 1937 Clark Gable gave Carol Lombard a sheep dog. Lombard had received some ducks from friends at work and she had at least one rescue cat. When the sheepdog came into the family, there was a period of adjustment especially between the dog and Lombard's Siamese cats.

Jeanette MacDonald gave her husband Gene Raymond an Irish setter for Christmas 1935

Claudette Colbert has asked for a cat. Claudette has had five cats and they refuse to stick around. She wants to try again.  Barbara Stanwood wants a dog. "Alas she is allergic to dog hair and sneezes to beat the band when a canine shows his face around her. Dion, he son owns a pooch but it has to stay in the stables."

Marlon Brando gave Josanne Mariani a dog and myna bird, Christmas 1954.


The Legend of Silent Night aired on Christmas Day 1968. Kirk Douglas, the on-camera host narrates the story at the United Nations surrounded by a group of children who belong to the United Nations dignitaries. To add drama to the telling, James Mason, John Leyton and an international cast bring it to life in a film set in the Austria of 1818 where it took place." 

Christmas 1968, special newspaper sections
were devoted to Christmas programming.
The above message about Apollo 8 coverage
appeared alongside.

During the first ever manned trip to another space object, while orbiting the Moon for the very first time by human beings, on Christmas Eve 1968 the crew of Apollo 8: astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders have appropriately decided to send a message to Earth by reciting first 10 verses from Book of Genesis (English King James Bible version).
-- description

Related Pages of Interest:

Harpo Marx Comedy Legend

Samantha Stephens' Bewitched Pave Heart Necklace

Stars from around the world celebrate Christmas

Princess Bedrooms, Pink Rooms, Furniture Bed and crib crowns, cornices and coronas : How to choose, design and style, Selecting the right paint colors....

William Powell, Jean Harlow and that 152-carat sapphire ring

Oliver, a poodle fit for a princess, Grace Kelly getting married 

Rocketship space playhouses, DIY recycled cardboard Astronaut videos, Rocket Man

Hospital Gifts, Footzyrolls, Custom Greeting Cards for Caregivers, Patients, Survivors

Clara Bow vintage hat advertisement Tshirt by Jakestuff
Get fast custom shirts online at zazzle

Sources

The Palm Beach Post - December 12, 1937

Modern Screen Magazine 1938, 1952, 1957

The Milwaukee Journal - December 22, 1935

The Evening News - December 15, 1922

The Miami News - December 25, 1937