Merry Christmas from a South Sea Coral Isle 1943

Shirlie's friends were in far off places during WWII. Among her letters I found this fantastic Christmas Card from "A South Sea Coral Isle." Whimsical graphics and poem. Love Santa in his flack helmet singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" as he trudges up the sand to the palm tree lined shore.

The sailor's lament about Christmas ... missing the comraderie at the bar and good beer. His close is super ... "I hope we were Home & Free in '43 or jump and jive in '44, Out of the sticks in '45, Golden Gate in '48. 'Amen.'" (I think his years were off in the rhyme, but it doesn't matter, does it?)

The letter was mailed Dec 4, 1943 through US Navy mail and had to pass through the Naval Censor.

San Jose's Electric Light Tower

A Century Ago San Jose's Famous Electric Tower Collapsed!

In May of 1881 J. J. Owen, editor of the San José Mercury, suggested a project to light up the city of San Jose and surrounding areas with lights attached to a gigantic 237-foot tower. On Dec 13th he saw the culmination of his bright idea with the lighting of the tower in the intersection of Santa Clara and Market Streets. While interesting and visually spectacular, the tower was a bust as far as illuminating the valley. But the tower was a landmark and brought folks into the little country town south of The City ... San Francisco. Unfortunately, the tower was damaged in an August storm in 1915 and collapsed in another storm on December 3rd 1915. Fortunately no-one was hurt ... except for some egos!

Here are a couple of postcards we have from 1911 with the famous San Jose Electric Tower on them. One of them has a message to Shirlie's mom ... Mantie Beuck ... when she was living in San Francisco before she married Rea.

For more about the story of San Jose's Electric Light Tower see these two sites:
History San Jose
The Soft Underbelly of San Jose

The World's Biggest Kangaroo!

Found this photo in Shirlie's archive. 

Love the note: Speaking to the Biggest Cangaroo in the world in Australia. March 12/1925. To Blonde from Carr Lynn ... with love to a clever girl.

Shirlie at San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition 1939-1940

Like virtually everyone in the Bay Area ... and across the nation ... Shirlie went up to San Francisco's Treasure Island for the Golden Gate Expo ... i.e., World's Fair. Treasure Island is a man-made island in the middle of San Francisco Bay next to Yerba Buena Island. It was specifically built for the expo of 1939 ... something that would not happen today.

Treasure Island included a landing area in Clipper Cove for the famous Pan Am Clipper ships ... large spectacular seaplanes that went from San Francisco to Hawaii and beyond in the late-1930s and into the mid-1940s. It was expected that Treasure Island would become an airport for San Francisco once the world's fair ended. BUT when WW2 started, the US Navy took over the island and did not give it back to the city until recently.

Back to the Golden Gate Expo. Shirlie went up to the fair several times ... with her parents and with friends. She left behind a fantastic album of photographs and comments, which is now in the History San Jose Shirlie Montgomery Collection. I just love the photos of Shirlie and best friend Harriette all dressed up wandering the exhibits and walkways of the expo. No shorts, T-shirts and backpacks. They were dressed to kill in dresses, hats and handbags ... and of course the coat or jacket needed to keep warm in the San Francisco summer!

Hariette (L) and Shirlie (R) at the World's Fair

Below are a selection of photos from Shirlie's album. Enjoy.

Rea & Mantie ... Shirlie's Parents

Shirlie ... Hat & Gloves

Shirlie Again

Statues Galore!

Trapeze Artists Way Up High!

View of Treasure Island and the Expo from the Bay

The above photos from Shirlie's album are from the Bob and Susan Bortfeld, Shirlie Montgomery Collection at History San Jose. Used with permission.

1920s Woman's Home Companion Wreath Cake Recipe

Shirlie's mom, Mantie, sent away for this recipe sometime in the 1920s. It was the Woman's Home Companion Christmas Special recipe for a Fruit Wreath Cake. Kind of a multi-flavored layer cake with a "fruit cake" topping. Looks pretty tasty ... but I warn you ... it is totally "from scratch." Try it. Let me know what you think.

(Click on the photo for a larger image.)

WWII Letter - Kiss Me Again, Betty!

Shirlie received tons of letters from her fans and friends when so many were away from home during WWII. This one is from her friend Phylis Jung, who worked in US Army Recruiting in Washington DC in 1943. Phil's letter is interesting for a few reasons:

The cartoons are terrific ... both inside and out. The corny guy at the top of the letter is soooo 1940s! Ant the soldier sleeping under the tree? What can I say except ... go ahead Betty, give 'em another kiss!

Phil also makes it clear that she is loving her job ... even with the weird hours and busy schedule ... and loves Washington DC.

Probably the most significant part of the letter are her comments about mutual friends: "I received a letter from Tom Coleman's mom. He's in Australia - sick with malaria. ... Matt Brazil is a prisoner of war over in Italy ..... and Ted Halden is going over seas soon ..." 

These people were tough ... mentally. The whole country was behind the war, giving up products and materials, working in jobs supporting the war effort and putting up with rationing. They signed up for the military ... women and men ... and went where they were needed. This was all a little before my time, but Shirlie was in the middle of it. While she was on the home front, she did her part to cheer up the troops with letters, photographs and cookies!

Experimental Wrestling Photo

Shirlie was generally straightforward about her photography. She manipulated photos for publication ... cropping them, highlighting parts of the image and blacking out backgrounds when they got in the way of the message. But these were part of the standard journalistic photographer's toolbox.

There were times where she played a bit more with the images, however. She had one at home that made her look like she was diving ... when actually she was standing on her toes and she printed the photo turned 90 degrees. For greeting cards she would embellish the prints and even use double exposure to make some pretty cool cards.

Only once have I seen a wrestling photo with a double exposure effect! This one from the 1950s where she combined two out of the ring fight images to hype up the action. Very effective. I think these are the Sharpe Brothers and at least one Torres or maybe Ronnie Etchison, but not sure. BTW, that's Glenn Neece trying to break them up.