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Gossip Friday: Starting a Trend on Baby Dolls
From April 1937: The sudden rush on holiday toy shops was not due entirely to the holiday season. Clark Gable started it when he began buying dolls and sending them to people–Carole Lombard and Madeline Fields were the first recipients–with the announcement, “This is the way you looked when you were young!” The shops were practically sold out of funny-looking baby dolls in no time. But smart buyers are looking ahead. One of them told us, “We are ordering a stack of grotesque and astonishing old lady and old gentlemen dolls–caricature dolls–because actors are already trying to order insulting ones to send to other actors with the message, “This is…
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Merry Christmas, from Carole to Clark
75 years ago, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were celebrating their very first Christmas as a married couple. To commemorate the occasion, Carole gifted Clark with a silver cup: The item was recently auctioned, with an estimate of $400-$600 and ended up going for $3,250! The auction listing stated: Silver loving-cup trophy attributed as a 1939 Christmas gift from Carole Lombard to Clark Gable. (Dec. 25, 1939) Silver “loving-cup” style trophy, 10 x 11 in. (on later-added octagon scallop base for lamp conversion) engraved “Carole to Clark” 12-25-1939” and attributed by recent owner Billie Nelson Tyrrell of the Antique Doll Emporium as a Christmas 1939 gift from…
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Gone with the Wednesday: Repost–Gone with the Wind Hits Los Angeles
This week, here is a repost of a post I did in 2010 detailing the Los Angeles premiere of Gone with the Wind, which took place December 29, 1939. Carole Lombard, in a gold gown, was the belle of the ball on Clark Gable’s arm! See who else attended and what the wore… http://dearmrgable.com/?p=591
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Gossip Friday: Gable the Cow
From December 1933: Clark Gable laughed at this, so I suppose I am safe passing it along. I mean this paragraph from a letter from Jean Betty Huber, a Gable fan: “We took snapshots. One pose especially was good; I was garbed in slacks and had my arms around Clark Gable. Our ‘Clark” happens to be the cutest little brown calf with the world’s BIGGEST EARS!!! Oh, well, Clark laughed at it.
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Gone with the Wednesday: Merry Christmas from David O. Selznick
Clark Gable and Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznick didn’t exactly always see eye-to-eye (to put it mildly), but nonetheless David let bygones be bygones and gifted Clark with this gorgeous Tiffany’s cigarette case for Christmas in 1939: “Presented to Clark Gable at the completion of “Gone with the wind” Atlanta–Dec. 25, 1939 David O. Selznick.” I wonder if he gave it to him at the Atlanta premiere, which was just ten days before Christmas? The case went for $20,000 at auction a few years back (complete with the unfiltered cigarettes). Quite a priceless artifact! Here’s hoping maybe it pops up in a museum one day…
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Gossip Friday: Carrying a Torch
From December 1953: Grace Kelly is trying to forget Clark Gable by dating most of Hollywood’s eligible males, but the torch she carries for “The King” can be seen from Catalina on a clear night.
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Gone with the Wednesday: 45 Atlanta Premiere Facts
1. Tickets for the premiere went on sale at Loews Grand Theater on November 18, 1939. 2. The premiere festivities lasted from December 13-15, 1939. 3. Ann Rutherford (Careen O’Hara) was the first star to arrive, on December 13. She was given the key to the city. 4. One of Ann’s first stops was at the Atlanta Journal newspaper offices, where she requested to see where Margaret Mitchell worked. She had her picture taken at the typewriter Ms. Mitchell used. 5. Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O’Hara) arrived on December 13, accompanied by Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Wilkes), Mr. and Mrs. Selznick and Laurence Olivier. 6. Evelyn Keyes (Suellen O’Hara) and Ona Munson (Belle…
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Very Sincerely Yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt
After Pearl Harbor, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were scared, like most Americans, and felt they should do something for their country. They wasted no time in sending President Roosevelt a letter and telling him of their willingness to help in any way, shape or form. On December 16, 1941, he wrote them the following letter: Dear Carole and Clark Gable: Many, many thanks for your fine letter of December tenth. It is most encouraging to have this pledge of loyal support, as well as the assurance of your desire to be of service in this time of grave crisis. For the present, at least, I think you can both…
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Gossip Friday: His Majesty is Haughty
From May 1954: Clark Gable has given Flickerville something to talk about since his departure from the MGM lot. He’s reported as having snubbed old, old pals and a couple of West Coast scribes who really helped put him up there with The Big Ones. “The King” is very haughty these days and isn’t having any of the old rah, rah, rah comradeship huddles that used to be part of the Gable legend. Despite the boost in his career that “Mogambo” gave him, tailor-made vehicles for His Majesty aren’t in the offing…
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Gone with the Wednesday: On the Set
Photos from the set of Gone with the Wind: