#cincinnati 1924

[handeaux]

Booze, Jazz, Flivvers And Flappers Dominated Cincinnati’s New Year In 1924

One hundred years ago, it was easy, despite three solid years of Prohibition, to get a celebratory drink on New Year’s Eve in Cincinnati. The new year began with multiple fatal accidents, many blamed on liquor. The Enquirer [1 January 1924] wryly observed that venerable customs were honored only when thirst compelled:

“The fashion of making New-Year’s calls has gone out of style EXCEPT in those homes where they still have well-stocked cellars.”

Reporters from Cincinnati’s newspapers rang up the doctors at General Hospital to get a status report on the city’s accommodation to a nominally “dry” existence. Doctor Arthur Charles Bachmeyer, superintendent of the city’s hospital, did not disappoint. According to the Enquirer [1 January 1924]:

“Whisky, good or bad, pre-war or bootleg stuff, did not affect as many persons, visibly, during the year 1923, as were affected by it in 1922, according to records at the General Hospital, which show that there were but 61 cases of acute alcoholism treated there last year, as against 188 in 1922. However, Dr. A.C. Bachmeyer, Superintendent of the hospital, declared it to be his belief that alcohol and its use played a much more important role with regards to automobile accidents in 1923, than in the preceding year, and more persons examined after being injured in accidents, or after having injured others through reckless driving, showed symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol, than in previous years, according to reports made to Dr. Bachmeyer.”

If anything put a damper on New Year’s Eve celebrations a century ago, it wasn’t a dearth of booze. It was the weather. New Year's Eve 1923 was unseasonably frigid, with temperatures coasting around zero degrees.

Cincinnati, along with most of America, was still trying to accept the changes that automobiles were bringing into daily life. With all the complaints about scofflaws guzzling Sweet Lucy and bathtub gin, the Enquirer noted:

“Automobiles killed the most people. Bootleg whisky came next in deadliness. Ordinary diseases ran a poor third.”

The Enquirer noted that, across America in 1923, one million homeowners had taken on a mortgage to finance the purchase of an automobile.

There was a lot of talk in 1924 about “poison rum” and there was a lot of substance to that apparent hyperbole. By 1924, bootleggers had begun smuggling gallons of Jamaican ginger extract into the United States, much of it adulterated with an additive that, while smoothing the taste, acted as a long-term neurotoxin. A generation of men, if they survived, were crippled with a condition known as “Jake Leg.” A number of classic blues tunes have memorialized this awful side-effect of Prohibition.

In reviewing the past year, the Enquirer noted, with derision, the state of music at the dawn of the “Roaring Twenties”:

“There was no improvement in jazz. The craziest song in history made a fortune for its writer. The saxophone continued to grow in unpopularity.”

An article in the Enquirer [30 December 1923] just before the New Year’s revelries, predicted the merciful demise of jazz:

“This season already has witnessed a decided turn to the conservative, with the revival of the tango, which rapidly is displacing the weird jumblings of the one-step, fox-trot, toddle, and what-not, to the wild gyrations of a discordant orchestra.”

Fat chance! This was the heyday of The Flapper. A humorous squib in the Enquirer [30 December 1923] reported the supposed compliant of a mother who thought her daughter needed psychiatric intervention:

“‘Why doctor,’ wept the poor mother, ‘she hasn’t bobbed her hair, refuses to use rouge on her cheeks, never has used a lipstick, wears heavy underwear and high shoes all winter, thinks modern sex novels are unfit for her to read, plays old classical pieces and doesn’t know a note of jazz, prefers going to church to going to bridge parties or the theater and never thinks of calling her father or me down.”

In reviewing the past year, the Enquirer observed that long skirts were never going to return to style, despite the wailing of mothers everywhere. Not a single pair of cotton stockings was sold in the city as silk sheathed the Flapper’s legs. A generation of barbers earned enough to retire after trimming the locks of young ladies who craved the bobbed and marcelled hairstyles.

It has since become de rigueur for newspapers to roust boffins and mavens from their New Year’s Day hangovers to forecast major developments of the ensuing months. Cincinnati reporters had a field day with predictions for 1924 and the following decade because all the greatest minds in America, nearly the entire membership of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, had convened in the Queen City for its annual convention.

Dr. Edward P. Warner addressed the punditry with grave fears about the state of aviation in the United States. Although America excelled on adopting air transport for the delivery of mail, European nations were far exceeding the United States in passenger travel. Dr. Warner attributed this to Europe’s creation of national airlines, while our country allowed private corporations to dither away opportunities in petty squabbles.

Moses B. Cotsworth of the International Fixed Calendar League, told the AAAS that, by 1928, every new year henceforth would begin on a Sunday. Cotsworth’s league proposed a simplified calendar of 13 months, each containing 28 days, each month starting on a Sunday and ending on a Saturday, creating a fixed year of 364 days. The thirteenth month, named Sol, would be placed between June and July. The additional day would be a holiday named “Year Day.” In leap years, the extra day would fall after Saturday, June 28, as an anomalous addition before Sunday, Sol 1.

We are still waiting. Perhaps wiser minds realized that Cotsworth’s calendar would have created a Friday the Thirteenths during every one of those thirteen months.

[bernar444]

"A Summer Afternoon", (1924), oil on canvas | Herman H. Wessel (American, b.1878, d.1969), painter | Cincinnati Art Museum.

[bkfisher]

It's amazing what one hundred years can do for an animal.

Now their heads are red.

Sand hill crane By: Unknown photographer From: Cincinnati Zoo Guide 1924

[olafsings]

Music History on this Day: April 3, 2024

April 3, 1924: Doris Day was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939 and achieved commercial success in 1945 with two number-1 recordings, "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time." Day was one of the leading Hollywood film stars of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1968 to 1973, she starred in her television sitcom, The Doris Day Show.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 1.27

Beer Birthdays

Henry Hubach (1843)

Kaiser Wilhelm II; German emperor (1888)

Peter Kruger (1970)

Logan Plant (1979)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Lewis Carroll; writer (1832)

Bridget Fonda; actor (1964)

Frank Miller; comic artist, writer (1957)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; composer (1756)

Mordecai Richler; Canadian writer (1931)

Famous Birthdays

Mikhail Baryshnikov; dancer (1948)

Bobby "Blue" Bland; singer (1930)

Cris Collinsworth; Cincinnati Bengels WR, broadcaster (1959)

Joyce Compton; actor (1907)

James Cromwell; actor (1940)

Alan Cumming; actor (1965)

Troy Donahue; actor (1936)

Samuel Foote; English writer, actor (1720)

Samuel Gompers; labor activist (1850)

William Randolph Hearst; publisher (1908)

Skitch Henderson; bandleader (1918)

Lil Jon; rapper (1971)

Jerome Kern; composer (1885)

Nick Mason; rock musician (1944)

Dmitri Mendeleev; chemist, discovered periodic table of elements (1834)

Keith Olbermann; television broadcaster (1959)

Patton Oswalt; comedian (1969)

Samuel Palmer; artist (1805)

Donna Reed; actor (1921)

Hyman G. Rickover; navy admiral (1900)

Mimi Rogers; actor (1956)

Sabu; actor (1924)

David Seville; Alvin & The Chipmunks creator (1919)

Samuel C.C. Ting; physicist (1936)

Kate Wolff; folk singer (1942)

Steve Wynn; businessman, casino/hotel owner (1942)

[lboogie1906]

William DeHart Hubbard (November 25, 1903 – June 23, 1976) was a track and field athlete who was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event: the running long jump at the 1924 Paris games. He set a long jump world record of 25 feet 10+3⁄4 inches in June 1925 and equaled the world record of 9.6 seconds for the 100-yard dash a year later. He attended and graduated from Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, and graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, where he was a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association champion (1923 & 1925 outdoor long jump, 1925 100-yard dash) and seven-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field (1923 & 1925 indoor 50-yard dash, 1923, 1924, & 1925 outdoor long jump, 1924 & 1925 outdoor 100-yard dash). His 1925 outdoor long jump of 25 feet 10+1⁄2 inches stood as the Michigan Wolverines team record until 1980. His 1925 jump of 25 feet 3+1⁄2 inches stood as a Big Ten Championships record until Jesse Owens broke it in 1935. He accepted a position as the supervisor of the Department of Colored Work for the Cincinnati Public Recreation Commission. He remained in this position until 1941. He then accepted a job as the manager of Valley Homes. In 1942 he moved to Cleveland, where he served as a race relations adviser for the Federal Housing Authority. He retired in 1969. He was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor in 1979; he was part of the second class inducted into the Hall of Honor. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. He was an avid bowler. He served as the president of the National Bowling Association during the 1950s. He founded the Cincinnati Tigers, a professional baseball team, which played in the Negro American League. In 1957, he was elected to the National Track Hall of Fame. In 2010, the Brothers of Omega Psi Phi, Incorporated, PHI Chapter established a scholarship fund honoring him, the fund is endowed through the University of Michigan and donations can be forwarded to the University of Michigan, The William DeHart Hubbard Scholarship Fund. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #omegapsiphi https://www.instagram.com/p/ClYqVBbLo8d/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[wikiuntamed]

On this day in Wikipedia: Tuesday, 23rd April

Welcome, hoş geldiniz, आपका स्वागत है (āpakā svāgata hai), benvingut 🤗 What does @Wikipedia say about 23rd April through the years 🏛️📜🗓️?

23rd April 2022 🗓️ : Death - Orrin Hatch Orrin Hatch, American politician, President pro tempore of the United States Senate (b. 1934) "Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history, overtaking Ted Stevens, until Chuck Grassley..."

Image by United States Senate.

23rd April 2019 🗓️ : Event - April 2019 Hpakant jade mine collapse A landslide triggered the collapse of a jade mine in Hpakant, Myanmar, resulting in six confirmed deaths and presumed dozens more. "On 22 April 2019, a landslide triggered the collapse of a jade mine near Maw Wun Kalay, Hpakant, Kachin State, Myanmar, trapping at least 54 miners. The deaths of four miners were confirmed, along with the later deaths of two rescue workers. The remaining miners are presumed to be dead...."

23rd April 2014 🗓️ : Death - Patric Standford Patric Standford, English composer and educator (b. 1939) "Patric Standford (5 February 1939 – 23 April 2014) was an English composer, supporter of composers' rights, educationalist and author...."

23rd April 1974 🗓️ : Birth - Michael Kerr (rugby union) Michael Kerr, New Zealand-German rugby player "Michael Kerr (born 23 April 1974) is a German international rugby union player, playing for the RG Heidelberg in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team. He is originally from New Zealand and qualified to play for Germany after five years of residence in the country. He made..."

23rd April 1924 🗓️ : Birth - Chuck Harmon Chuck Harmon, American baseball player and scout (d. 2019) "Charles Byron Harmon (April 23, 1924 – March 19, 2019) was an American professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Cincinnati Redlegs (1954–1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956–1957), and Philadelphia Phillies (1957). He batted and threw right-handed...."

Image by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Keith Bryska, USN

23rd April 1819 🗓️ : Birth - Edward Stafford (politician) Edward Stafford, Scottish-New Zealand educator and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1901) "Sir Edward William Stafford (23 April 1819 – 14 February 1901) served as the third premier of New Zealand on three occasions in the mid 19th century. His total time in office is the longest of any leader without a political party. He is described as pragmatic, logical, and clear-sighted. ..."

Image by Unknown photographer

23rd April 🗓️ : Holiday - Christian feast day: Saint George "Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος, translit. Geṓrgios; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition, he was a soldier in the Roman army. Of Cappadocian Greek origin, he became a member of the Praetorian Guard..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Rufus46

[cteeshirtstore]

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[baseballbybsmile]

100 Years Ago: Baseball Magazine (February 1924) "Edd Roush, Star Player of the Cincinnati Reds and One of the Greatest Outfielders in Baseball, Who Has Been a Frequent Holdout for a Substantial Increase in Salary"

[thalkonvotes]

American Party

** There is no one specific definition for the American Party, as it's history seems to have many different parties involved within it's formation. The first successful political party to be apart of this group was called the "Know-Nothing Party" (named this way because its members were instructed to answer all questions about their activities with "I know nothing"). This party was founded in New York City in 1849, and was made up of several secret fraternal organizations, including the Order of United Mechanics, the Order of the Sons of America, the United Daughters of America, the Order of United Americans, and the Order of the Star Spangled Banner.

The main focus of the Know-Nothings was opposing the great wave of immigrants who entered the Unites States after 1846, claiming the immigrants threatened to overthrow the U.S. Constitution. Their demand to solve this issue was to limit immigration, office holdings be limited to native-born American, and that immigrants must wait 21 years before becoming a citizen and being able to vote.

For a while, it the Know-Nothings seemed to be a main contender against the Democrat party when their presidential candidate, Millard Fillmore in 1856 won more than 21% of the popular vote alone with 8 electoral votes. The party appeared to dissolve over slavery issues, and led many members to join the Republican Party before the election in 1860.

In 1887 the American Party seemed to come back in Philadelphia. Their main arguments being a 14 year residence for naturalization (which excluded socialists, anarchists, and other "dangerous persons"), free schools, a strong navy and coastal defense, continued separation of church and state, and the enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine.

Once again the party appeared to dissolve, only to come back in 1924 with Gilbert O. Nations as their presidential candidate. They received less than 1% of the vote, despite their efforts of trying to recruit the Ku Klux Klan, who held a great deal of power at the time.

In 1969, the American Party was created once again, this time in Cincinnati, Ohio. Two years later, they joined with the American Independent Party. They divided in 1973, and ever since 1976 the American Party has run a presidential ticket in ever election, but usually gets less than 1% in votes.

Candidates

Clarence Williams (A: 12/28/23; Insufficient Funds)

Eddie Monarch (A: 1/23/24)

Loren Charles Janosky (A: 12/15/23; insufficient Funds)

** My summary of entry on encylopedia.com

Back to 2024 Party List

[handeaux]

Women’s Bobbed Hair Got Cincinnati Men’s Dander Up One Hundred Years Ago

One hundred years ago, most men in Cincinnati believed women had got all the doggone progress they deserved. Women could vote, they were driving cars, they smoked cigarettes, and some women – gasp! – had jobs. In 1924, Cincinnati women discovered a new way to exasperate men. They had the nerve to cut their hair.

For many men, it was a sign of the end times. The Enquirer [2 April 1924] reported on a man who shot himself after a “three-hour tirade against all women” because his wife had her hair bobbed. The Post [29 March 1924] carried a story about an 18-year-old girl who bought rat poison in a suicide attempt because of the abuse heaped on her by her parents when she got a haircut. A single woman told the Post [25 April 1924] that she was glad to be unmarried with her bobbed hair.

“Consider what suffering I might undergo for my bobbed hair if I were married. My husband might kill himself on my account, so that I would be obliged to wear black for a year. I look dreadful in black. Of course, if a woman looks good in black, it is not so bad if her husband kills himself because of her bobbed hair.”

Some men avoided suicide and charged into divorce court. Robert M. Hannah of Spring Grove Avenue told the judge, according to the Enquirer [3 May 1924], that his wife abused and neglected him, but the haircut was the last straw:

“He said he was much opposed to bobbed hair, and to torment him she had her hair bobbed, then brought the tresses home to him, wrapped up, telling him it was a present. Then they separated.”

The local courts saw women making decisions about their own tresses as infringing on the property rights of their husbands. Judge William D. Alexander, according to the Post [18 March 1924], believed that husbands who treasured their wives ought to have a say about their appearance. He dismissed a case brought against John Brown of Clifton Avenue, who struck his wife when she got a bobbed haircut without permission. The judge said:

“If my wife wanted to have bobbed hair, she would at least consult me; that’s a wife’s duty and a matter of courtesy toward her husband.”

Typically, Cincinnati was inclined to blame any new fad for the downfall of civilization, and the local newspapers obliged by delightedly printing reports of “bobbed-hair bandits” who perpetrated robberies around town. There was one such gun moll operating in the West End who carried a “wicked revolver” and waylaid men wandering the neighborhood at night. The Enquirer [3 March 1924] was delighted because New York and Chicago had endured the predations of “bobbed-hair bandits” and our town felt left out:

“Cincinnati achieved a ‘bobbed-hair bandit’ last night and graduated to the ranks of a cosmopolitan city.”

Another bobbed-hair bandit operated over several months with a male accomplice. The Post [4 April 1924] reported she was the brains behind the operation when a gas station on Central Avenue got robbed:

“The blonde female bandit, with bobbed hair, who has been sought by police for two months, during which time she has been active, put in an appearance again Thursday night.”

Perhaps it was the unsavory connotations of bobbed hair in regard to banditry or suicides or divorce but the biggest kerfuffle caused by shorn locks in 1924 involved the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing. The dean of the college, Laura Logan, penalized eight students who dared to cut their hair by requiring them to endure another three months of instruction (presumably time to allow their tresses to grow out again). Dean Logan told the Enquirer [10 April 1924]:

“‘It was necessary to make a ruling on this because of the necessity of deciding what goes with a nurse’s uniform and what does not,’ Miss Logan said. ‘It was decided that bobbed hair detracts from the dignity of the uniform. Since uniformity was essential, this was the only way in which it could be maintained.’”

For the record, here are the young women whose rebellious fashion sense earned them double-secret probation from the nursing college: Mildred Carson, Grace Funk, Virginia Jordan, Mary Randolph, Virgina Shoot, Isabel Baer, Doris Kreimer and Mary Macey.

The newspapers reported that the nursing schools at Christ Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital had enforced similar rules. At Deaconess Hospital the Post [11 April 1924] found the superintendent somewhat conflicted:

“‘We have more important things to worry about than bobbed hair,’ Rev. A.G. Lohmann, superintendent of Deaconess Hospital, said. Rev. Lohmann said he did not particularly blame any woman for bobbing her hair. ‘It certainly is more sanitary,’ he said. The superintendent, however, gave it as his opinion that bobbed hair was not attractive. He is discouraging bobbed hair at his institution by requiring new students in the School of Nursing to wear hair nets.”

One economic sector very much in favor of bobbed hair was the tonsorial trade. Hair stylists in 1924 could arrange and braid hair but knew nothing about cutting it. Barbers, on the other hand, now found themselves in demand by a very different, feminine, clientele. Business boomed, according to the Post [30 Aprl 1924]:

“Of 85 beauty parlors here, 19 have opened since Jan. 1. The demand for attention by bobbed heads is so great that many establishments are being opened in the suburbs. Just like husband and father, wife and daughter now have their favorite barber, whom they visit regularly to have the clippers run up their necks.”

And that may explain the real reason so many men objected to the new hairstyles – they cost more. Hugh McKay complained to the Post [1 October 1924] that his wife’s haircut cost four dollars compared to his 40-cent trim, once special treatments like water-waves and marcelles were applied. And, once her hair was clipped, her hats no longer fit and she needed new millinery.

[cincymapcollection]

— 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 & 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐩, 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢, 𝐎𝐇 𝐜.𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟒⁣ ⁣ ⁣ In 1925, Cincinnati, Ohio, became first major city in the nation officially to endorse a comprehensive plan. This 1924 map of the city’s Parks and Open Public Grounds was used to supplement the 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪 which was published by the City Planning Commission the following year. A link to the full text for the 1925 Commissioners’ Plan of Cincinnati can be found on the @CincyMapCollection website. ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ #Cincinnati #ohio #parks #recreation #1924 #1925 #cincinnatiparks #cincinnatihistory #maps #parkmap #citypark #ohioparks #park https://www.instagram.com/p/CB_GR7MB01t/?igshid=de86qaxxizkp

[labellenouvelle]

CINCINNATI STEAMER

    MARDI GRAS 1924

A tremendous original panoramic photograph taken by  A & V Photo Service of the Inaugural trip of the Steamer Cincinnati / MARDI GRAS New Orleans , La  March 1st to 5th , 1924. Taken on arrival at New Orleans , March 2nd 1924. 

This was the inaugural Cincinnati Cruise to the Mardi Gras !! Built by the Louisville & Cincinnati Packet Co. 

Panoramic photographs have that magic to them , you can really loose yourself in the details, the faces, clothing and poses , just like a window to the past.

A fantastic collector’s piece for anyone interested in Mardi Gras , New Orleans , steam boats, cruise ships and others related to this image. 

Item No. E4984-4

Dimensions: 17 3/8″ long x 8″ 

SOLD

504.581.3733 / t

info@labellenouvelle.com / e

[outoftowninac]

GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE

1924

Grounds for Divorce was a comedy written by Guy Bolton based on the play V'lópörös Hölay by Ernest Vajda. The original production was produced by Charles Frohman Inc. (with Lee Shubert) and directed by Henry Miller. It starred Ina Claire, although it was originally intended to star Elsie Ferguson. 

The play takes place in an apartment in Paris, where a man’s first wife, on the eve of his second wedding, returns to ask his advice, as a prominent lawyer for divorce, on the quickest method of shedding a second husband in order to marry a third. The wife's husbands turn out to be fictitious; and reunion is effected.

Ernest Vajda (1886-1954) was a Hungarian-born writer who also worked extensively in Hollywood. Interestingly, four days after Grounds for Divorce opened on Broadway, so did his play The Little Angel, just two blocks away. Add to that the run of his play Fata Morgana was then finishing up at the Garrick, and Vajda had three plays running on Broadway simultaneously. 

Ina Claire (1893-1985) began her career on Broadway in 1910. It lasted until 1954. Her film career was brief, thanks mostly to her disdain for motion pictures. She appeared in the stage to screen transfers of The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) and Ninotchka (1939). She was known as an ingenue with a keen comic flair.

“If the comedy had been a champagne cocktail, she would have played the bubbles.” ~ TIME MAGAZINE

Guy Bolton (1884-1979) was an English-born writer who preferred working in collaboration (especially with P.G. Wodehouse) so this play is remarkable in that it is a solo effort by Bolton. He was also known as a reliable book writer for musicals, supplying libretti for such hits as Very Good Eddie (1915) and Anything Goes (1934). While Grounds for Divorce was playing on Broadway, he was credited with the book for Lady Be Good (December 1924). 

The play premiered in Atlantic City at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre on February 23, 1924. From there, Grounds covered included Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Cincinnati. 

In July fact collided with fiction when it was widely reported that Ina Claire filed for divorce from her journalist husband J.W. Whittaker. Even more coincidentally, the suit was filed in Paris, where the play is also set. The grounds for divorce? Whittaker refused to inhabit the same house with her. Upon her return to the US, Claire denied reports that she had filed for divorce. 

"It is absolutely untrue; every word of It. A reporter called me on the telephone and asked me whether I had obtained a divorce. I told him that I did not nor had I any Intention of obtaining one. You see the reporters over there have so much time and so very little to do, that they spend their working hours getting tipsy. They have to get news, so they pick on people who are known to the public. So I guess that I am just another victim of too much publicity." 

Whether Claire changed her mind, or was participating in an elaborate publicity stunt for her upcoming Broadway run of Grounds for Divorce is unclear. It is telling that a year later, after the play had closed, Claire and Whittaker actually divorced for good. 

Grounds for Divorce opened on Broadway at the Empire Theatre on September 23, 1924, and ran for a total of 127 performances. 

The Empire was located on Broadway between 40th and 41st Streets. Built in 1893, it was torn down in 1953 to make way for an office tower. 

After it closed on Broadway, the play went back on the road, still with Claire, and returned to Nixon’s Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City on March 30, 1925. 

In July 1925, Paramount released a film version of Grounds for Divorce. Instead of Claire, it starred Florence Vidor as Alice (the name changed from Denise in the play). Florence Vidor was the wife of famed film director / producer King Vidor. Coincidentally, a year after the film, she filed for divorce, just as Claire had done the same month this film premiered! 

The film opened in Atlantic City at the end of August 1925 at the Virginia Theatre on the Boardwalk, not far from the Apollo. A month later, it was being screened at the City Square Theatre on Atlantic Avenue. It was located across from City Hall, where one could go to file for divorce!  

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Sharpshooter Annie Oakley while touring with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in Italy, 1890

Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American sharpshooter and exhibition shooter. Her "amazing talent" first came to light when the then 15-year-old won a shooting match with traveling show marksman Frank E. Butler (whom she married). The couple joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West show a few years later. Oakley became a renowned international star, performing before royalty and heads of state.

Oakley's most famous trick was her ability to repeatedly split a playing card, edge-on, and put several more holes in it before it could touch the ground, while using a .22 caliber rifle, at 90 feet

Annie continued to set records into her sixties, and she also engaged in extensive, albeit quiet, philanthropy for women's rights and other causes, including the support of specific young women she knew. She embarked on a comeback and intended to star in a feature-length silent movie. In a 1922 shooting contest in Pinehurst, North Carolina, 62-year-old Oakley hit 100 clay targets in a row from 16 yards

In late 1922, Oakley and Butler suffered a debilitating car accident that forced her to wear a steel brace on her right leg. Yet after a year and a half of recovery, she again performed and set records in 1924.

Her health declined in 1925 and she died of pernicious anemia in Greenville, Ohio, at the age of 66 on November 3, 1926. Her body was cremated in Cincinnati two days later and the ashes buried at Brock Cemetery near Greenville, Ohio. Assuming their marriage had been in 1876, Oakley and Butler had been married just over 50 years

Butler was so grieved by her death, according that he stopped eating and died 18 days later in Michigan. Biographer Shirl Kasper reported the death certificate said Butler died of "Senility". His body was buried next to Oakley's ashes, or, according to rumor, Oakley's ashes, placed in one of her prized trophies, were laid next to Butler's body in his coffin prior to burial. Both body and ashes were interred in the cemetery on Thanksgiving Day (November 25, 1926)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Oakley

(Dead Fred’s Genealogy Photo Archive)

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