Music To My Ears 1

Time to start another collection. But who is it about?  Well, that's a bit of a mystery since I have pictures of the same woman though she seems to have taken a stage name.  Leverne and Mary Reagan and Jerry Hilliard are featured in the photograph from this story from the entertainment pages of the Los Angeles Examiner.  A sister act, most likely, appearing in "Music To My Ears" which looks to have been a successful show at the Troopers Theater on Las Palmas in downtown Hollywood, L.A., California.  There are still lots of venues in that area, but I'll have to actually head over to Las Palmas to double check the address, and to be honest, it's not something I'm planning on in the near future.

Mary is the sister that shows up in other photos which is not surprising since her name is underlined.  Some of the captions on latter photographs mention "Mommy & Daddy"  and I'm moderately certain the Dad is Jerry Hilliard.  Anyway, I scanned the back of this clipping because it's how I dated the article.  Ride 'Em Cowboy, Sleepytime Gal, The Male Animal and Ghost of Frankenstein were all released  in 1942.  The Vogue Theater mentioned in the one article is still there, though no longer in use.  With all the development going on in Hollywood, I suspect it's days are numbered.

Obviously Musics To My Ears will be the tag in the labels section at the bottom of the post that eventually will pull up the whole collection.  For the time being, I'll be starting with a couple of press clippings before taking a break when I'll be posting other things.   And before I forget, I did run Leverne and Mary Reagan through IMBD as well as some of the other names used by Mary.  Nothing for the sisters though there are two credits for Jerry Hilliard.  The Red Skelton Hour form 1953 credited as supporting character and Jimmy Wakely's Jamboree from 1954 credited as himself.  It was a musical short so that makes sense. I have no idea if it's the same Jerry Hilliard.

Four Sisters

With apologies to Anton Chekhov.   Dated "AUG 72"

Myself and Marcia

Not myself, myself.  Wrong age, wrong gender,  wrong country.

Written on the back, "To Kim, Love Val, NZ, 1966.  Myself 19 yrs, on the left, and my sister, Marcia (25 yrs)."  I can't think of an explanation for NZ other than New Zealand.  But, why would a friend feel the need to identify herself in a photograph?  If Val is expressing a certain level of affection for her friend Kim, wouldn't Kim already know what Val looks like?  I think I have an explanation, other than a slight touch of OCD, for that.  When I was in grade school, coincidentally, around about 1966, our school entered into a pen pal program.  We were all given the name and address of someone in a foreign country.  I can't remember who I drew or their home country, but I can remember that the correspondence lasted no more than a few letters, which was pretty much the way it was for everyone.  I think Kim and Val might have been the exception, the grade school pen pals who kept writing.  It also explains how this photo ended up in southern California.

The German American Collection, Deaths in the Family

The older gentleman is labeled, "Noah Jordan 1918 Grandfather, Died: Spring 1918" Perhaps a coincidence, but that would be the zenith of the Spanish flu pandemic that killed in the millions. The group photo, "Nan Nan and her sisters at her brother's funeral 1925" Click on the photo of the old man for a better look at the pin on his vest. It looks like a smaller photo, a common mourning piece. Click on German American in the labels section to bring up the rest of the lot.