The title makes me hark back to the past, though. I hark easily. (My daughter can attest to this.) Readers, if you are old enough, let us give a nod together to the late Susan Hayward for her performance in the 1952 film of the same name.
It's wonderful tear-jerker, based on the real-life story of Jane Froman, a well-known entertainer in the 40s and 50s. Ms. Hayward was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. I saw it at either the Tivoli or the Plaza theater in Laredo, Texas (they were kitty-cornered from each other). During the intermission before the 2nd “feature,” I was always so surprised to glance in the candy counter mirror and discover that I still looked like a little girl instead of the glamorous movie star I was sure that I had morphed into during the last hour and a half. Here’s another hark for today: Does anyone remember archy & mehitabel, the unique characters created by Don Marquis in 1927?
No, I wasn’t alive in 1927, but the adventures of the cockroach who typed in the newsroom late and night and his unlikely pal, Mehitabel the cat, were going strong when I was growing up. The books are still available, and there is an excellent website here: http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/if you are not familiar with these tales and would like to sample a few.
Meanwhile, I’m off for my nap, but to quote Mehitabel:
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai
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Sharon, you and my husband Tom share a hark in archy & mehitabel. His brother used to read it to him when he was little, which was funny since it's not really a children's book. But I'm sure it helped to make him the delightfully unorthodox person he is today. :-)
ReplyDeleteBeth, you must check out that website in the post so you can read a few a&m excerpts for yourself. There's the poem or song of a hungry spider (due to a dearth of flies due to too many flyswatters) that reminds me of something you might have made up for your kids when they were little. Actually, I made up a little ditty for my kid about Joe Spideroni who was hungry for spaghetti....anyway, check out that website. I tried to make it into a link, but I guess I don't understand how to do that. Say hi to my pal Tom.
ReplyDeleteI ADORE archie and mehitabel and always have, since I was a wee thing.
ReplyDelete"Too toujours gai? Oh Archie, there's no such *thing* as too toujours gai!"
xoxo to you both, and the four-legged ones...
Cristina
Sharon, I checked out the hungry spider song and just had to come back and tell you how much I enjoyed it! I showed it to Benjamin (home for Spring Break) and he said, "Yep, she's right---that's EXACTLY the kind of song you made up for us when we were little!" And Tom said, "Wow, how does Sharon know you so well?" hee, hee
ReplyDeleteOh, and Tom says "Hey!"
I knew I knew! Hey right back at Tom.
ReplyDeleteTo this day, if I see a spider (the first thing I move into any apartment is one of those plug-in pest-stay-away devices, which seems to work) is "It's probably just a Joe Spideroni. It's gonna be okay," I tell myself. This does not often work. But I try.
ReplyDeleteMy dad gave me a&m when I was a teenager (or maybe preteen). He was always giving me rather advanced reads (he gave me Cannery Row when I was in sixth grade).
ReplyDeleteI have not thought of it since. Thanks for the reminder. And the link!