Gossip Friday: Carole Lombard’s Opinion on Whiskers

From March 1937:

When it comes to sheer, downright having-fun-out-of-life, you’ve got to hand it to Carole Lombard and Clark Gable. These two have had more amusement out of their romance than most people get out of a whole lifetime. Both are inveterate practical jokers–and never does either let the oppurtunity pass to “gag” the other.

Carole’s latest and biggest chance came with all the fuss over whether or not Clark was to raise a set of whiskers to play the role of Parnell. Hardly had the discussion begun at MGM than Gable began to get the works–first, mysterious men with long whiskers would pop up in the most unexpected places and peer at Gable. He learned, finally, that “someone” had hired some bearded extras to dog his footsteps. They followed him in the street, sat next to him in restaurants, paraded before his hotel, even stopped him to ask for matches or the time.When that wore out, he was suddenly inindated with a flood of packages, by mail, express and special messenger. All of them contained false beards, moustache wax and like gags.

But the payoff came when, right on the MGM lot, a bearded sandwich man suddenly appeared and picketed Gable’s dressing room door. And the legend on his sandwich board read: WHISKERS ARE UNSANITARY!