Gossip Friday: A Valentine Keg

From March 1958:

It was like any other day February 14th on the Band of Angels set at Warners. Until Clark Gable was called off the set between takes. That’s when it became Valentine’s Day.

Because waiting for him in his dressing room was his own special Valentine. 

It was a keg. Beautifully varnished, about five gallon size, little red felt hearts all over it and a white thumb tack pinning a large, lacy valentine to the center of the keg. 

“It’s from Kay,” grinned Gable, “she made it. Look—”  It was filled to the top with golden yellow popcorn!

Asked what the valentine said, Gable handed it around. “Hamish, I love you, darling. Mrs. G.”

Hamish is the name of the character Gable plays in Band of Angels. But Kay had it written this way: Ham-ish! The tag on the gag is that Kay always makes popcorn for the cast of a Gable picture. And by the time Gable got around to his keg, the whole five gallons had disappeared. As somebody remarked, “You can drink an awful lot of beer with that much popcorn.”

Clark Gable doesn’t drink beer. But he didn’t need that keg of popcorn anyway. Hamish, Ham-ish, it was the same difference. The valentine was in his heart, and he looked like a mighty happy king.