From Laverne to Shirley, Milwaukee teens of the 1930s, a few lines of sage advice.
As previous posts (like this, this and this) suggest, I really enjoy exploring history through objects, stuff left over from other eras that offer clues to people and places long-gone and forgotten. Back in November, I acquired one of the coolest things in my collection of random crap during a date (a first date actually; I really know how to work it) at Antiques on Second. For $8, I scored an old autograph book that had belonged to a girl named Shirley. Shirley was born in 1923 and lived in Milwaukee with her parents and younger sister. The signatures in the book date between 1935 and 1937. Most are from her classmates, but some of her teachers and family members signed as well. Shirley lived with her family at 2736 N. 17th St. in a rented duplex. She graduated from North Division High School in 1941, was married a few years later and passed away in September 2013.
Autograph books like this were quite common in the 1930s and ’40s. Some schools even issued them to students during the academic year so students could collect signatures and record special remembrances and the like. Most signatures included a short poem or picture or some kind of silly play on words.
This is one of my favorite entries in the book. A pretty decent portion of the signatures make some kind of reference to marriage. I’ve found a few different variations on this rhyme in other autograph books as well. Each encourages the recipient to stand up to a pissy husband with a good crack on the head with some kind of household item.
Some of the entries in Shirley’s book are a bit… spicy. The signer here, I believe, passed away just a few months ago. He served in WWII and Korea and was a Milwaukee fire fighter for 39 years. Here, he gives Shirley (or “Fleshy”) some friendly needling. Note: I’ve decided to post these images unaltered, but for the sake of privacy—as these are all unwitting participants in my post—I won’t put any of the names in type.
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References to real-world events and people are rare in Shirley’s book. But this page, signed the day after Franklin Roosevelt won a second term in a romp over Alf Landon, a classmate leaves a reference to both the election and the actor Robert Taylor, a dashing leading man to whom our Shirley must have felt a particular attraction. The note about Roosevelt carries a bit of a mocking tone, as though Shirley might have been a Landon backer (although, he was certainly no Robert Taylor). If she was, she would have had few comrades in the Seventh Ward, where her family lived. FDR won about 85% of the vote there.
Whoa! Now here is some hot reading. Evidently, Shirley and Edward R. were something of an item. Their garden smacks must not have been enough, however. When Shirley got married, it was to man named Frank.
Marian was Shirley’s younger sister. She was born in 1927 and, as far as I can tell, is still alive. This is the last dated inscription in the book, signed over a year after the second-most recent entry. On this date, aviator Howard Hughes’ twin-engine Lockheed buzzed Wisconsin on the last leg of his record-setting around-the-world flight. Many in Milwaukee watched the skies that morning to get a glimpse of the airplane as it passed. It got no nearer to Milwaukee than Two Rivers, some 75 miles up the lakefront.
I can only assume this Alice is related to the signer above who encouraged “Fleshy” to join the zoo. It sounds like something The Donnas might have written
From one Shirley to another… this is a good note to end on.
Shortly after I found this book, I went on a bit of binge, buying a number of them on eBay. In one of those ridiculous strokes of coincidence, one of the books I purchased was also from the late 1930s, also previously belonging to a Milwaukee girl, who was also named Shirley. Maybe in a future post, I’ll take a look at what people wrote to the other Shirley.
And now for a shameless plug!
On Thursday, June 11, I will be hosting the first Mondo Milwaukee Boat Cruise of 2015. Mondo Milwaukee is the “adults-only” version of the city’s history, told on the open seas aboard the mighty Vista King. We’ll see the old downtown vice districts, the neighborhood the Milwaukee Mafia once ruled and the city’s old moonshine district. I’ll tell tales of pirates, flying saucers and shipwrecks. And you’ll have the chance to win terrible Milwaukee prizes in the Mondo Trivia challenge! Tickets are on sale now (and yes, there is a full bar on board). For updates and to show your love, like Mondo Milwaukee on Facebook.
Follow Matthew’s website for updates on everything he’s up to. Give his forthcoming book, Milwaukee Mayhem, a Facebook like for updates and info on events.
