Mae West in San Diego

This picture shows actress Mae West at the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition held in San Diego, which lasted from May to November 1935, and then again from February to September 1936. The accompanying caption was translated from the French in which it was originally written:

Famous screen star Mae West visited the San Diego, California, Fair last week. During her visit to the Fair, Mae West chats with a pair of dwarves in their miniature house.

Mae is shown holding Paolina Rodriguez (18" tall) and eighteen-year-old 26" tall Johnnie Fern McDill, known as the Midget Mae West. Yes folks, a major attraction at the San Diego Fair was Midget Village. Edited from The Times of San Diego website:

One of the most talked-about exhibits during the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition was Midget Village—a small but popular attraction featuring little people performing various acts and living in tiny houses designed to charm visitors. The Exposition was held to promote San Diego and support its economy and had hundreds of exhibits on history, the arts, horticulture, ethnic cultures, science, and industry.



The above image shows one of the more famous residents of the Village, Vance Swift

Midget Village was located in the Casa de Balboa building [shown below as it looks today] and capitalized on the era’s fascination with novelty entertainment, similar to the “freak shows” that were common at the time. Visitors were drawn to the miniature village and the performances, with weddings and social events often staged in the tiny homes.



According to Mary Steffgen of Point Loma, who, as an 8-year-old, freely explored Balboa Park during the exposition, the Midget Village was a major highlight. She recalled in a 1997 San Diego Magazine article, “I was fascinated by the Midget Village, where weddings frequently took place. Visiting the tiny houses and shops was the big step between playing with miniature dollhouses and living in the real grown-up world.”Many of the performers in Midgetland later went on to appear as Munchkins in the iconic film “The Wizard of Oz” she said.



Steffgen’s memories offer a vivid glimpse into the park’s atmosphere during that time, when children and families felt safe wandering the grounds—a freedom that, she noted, “could not happen in today’s social climate.”Adding historical context, Edith Ott, a longtime Balboa Park historian, shared insights in a Smithsonian Institution oral history interview about Midget Village’s role in the exposition. She described it as “a curious mix of fascination and spectacle that captivated many visitors, a window into a time when public amusement often involved unusual performances.” Ott’s remarks remind us how entertainment norms have evolved, highlighting the importance of viewing such exhibits through a modern lens that respects dignity and representation.

Back to Mae…from The San Diego Sun on June 10, 1935:

“Oh-h-h, if I’d known the fleet was to be in I would have arranged to stay over. I’m very patriotic.” And Mae West concluded a hurried visit to the Exposition with the promise: “I’m coming up again some time.” Nudists? The blonde screen star raised long lashes and looked vainly for a sailor in the goggle-eyed crowd. “Well—uh—I like uniforms—gobs of them!” Crowds packed the route as she rode with her manager, James A. Timony, to visit the Motion Picture Hall of Fame, the Midget Village and the Press building. No one was injured, but a fuse blew out in anticipation and Gold Gulch was dark for half an hour. The actress met the “Mae West of the Midgets,” Johnnie Fern McDill, age 18, heigh 26 inches. The tiny lady provided a neat take-off on Mae’s walk and someone suggested Mae adopt her. “When, Mae? Let me be your baby!” “But I’m not married,” returned Miss West. “Oh—I forgot—I’m supposed to have seven husbands. Sort of a chain-letter business, y’know.”

A day later, the Sunny Side column by L.E. Claypool ran this tidbit:

When Mae West hit the Expo Sunday nite she and a bodyguard and her manager each took a wheel chair and after rolling into the grounds in her limousine she accepted some bad advice and was wheeled into the various concessions pretty much rolling over the toes of other patrons who really hadn’t come to see Mae. The explanation was that the theatrical big shots who hire the uniformed personnel work for the people who hire Mae and are able to do this and that. On the whole, however, Mae was gracious and obliging and autographed cards until she was limp.

The site of larger-than-life Mae West being wheeled around the fair is difficult to fathom!

See more photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Will Rogers, A Plaque, and City Hall

One new photo in the collection has resulted in yet another Shirley Temple rabbit hole. Many of you have seen these previously posted shots of two of the biggest stars back in 1935, Will Rogers and Shirley Temple.





Rogers died tragically in a plane crash on August 15, 1935.  His home studio, Fox, dedicated a plaque and a $250,000 soundstage to him on November 14, 1935. Louis B. Mayer, Rupert Hughes, Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph Schenck, Shirley, Governor Frank F. Merriam, and Irvin Cobb assembled for the unveiling:



More than 300 people participated in the dedication and luncheon. Rogers’ son, Will Rogers, Jr., attended the event but did not make a presentation.



Favorite songs of the late actor were sung by Gladys Swarthout and John Boles, including “Old Faithful.” Shirley was quoted as saying, “I loved him, too.” She was the first star to shoot on the newly dedicated stage which had been built back in 1933. The building, Stage 8, still stands today.



Fred Stone (who played the Scarecrow on stage in “The Wizard of Oz” and was a close friend of Rogers), Shirley, Irvin Cobb, and Shirley’s mother, Gertrude Temple:



On December 1, 1935, Bill Robinson and Shirley donned their costumes from “The Littlest Rebel” and performed their famous stair dance routine at a Will Rogers memorial “Show of Shows” held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, which also helped raise funds for the Will Rogers Memorial Fund. The show raised $15,000 and attracted more than 6000 spectators, with hundreds more waiting outside, hoping to hear the show over the loud-speakers.



Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink opened the show with a rousing rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The opera singer is buried here in San Diego at Greenwood Memorial Park. Her portrait hangs in the mausoleum. Yes, Melissa - she has a Shirley connection!



Also performing that night were Sophie Tucker, Mickey Rooney, and Judy Garland.

Below is an image of Shirley with the Will Rogers Plaque, almost thirty years later on January 6, 1965, when she returned to her home studio to film the pilot for a proposed TV series, “Go Fight City Hall”:



Frances Klamt, Shirley’s childhood teacher, was there for Shirley’s return:



The Los Angeles Times, Friday, January 8, 1965

A Curly Comeback: Shirley Temple Taps at TV Door

Shirley Temple came home Wednesday. Home to 20th Century-Fox, the studio where she once reigned as the moppet queen of cinema, the incomparable Curly Top. They gave her a grand welcome. There was a banner across the studio gate proclaiming Welcome Home, Shirley! And a champagne luncheon with studio brass and many an old friend she knew 30 years ago and more—including Frances Klant[sp], her personal schoolteacher in those early days and still resident teacher on the lot. The welcome was certainly her due, for it has been said, and truly, that without Shirley Temple there would not be a 20th Century-Fox — Curly Top built the studio. She’s now before the cameras on those same sound stages where she sang “The Good Ship Lollypop[sp]” and danced with Bill Robinson in films that packed theaters in every nook and cranny of the world. Only things have changed—her work now will be for television. She’s making the pilot film for a new series for the ABC network next season in which she will play a young social worker. Costarring with her are Jack Kruschen and Bill Hayes. If all goes well, the series will swing into full production in May and Shirley said she has been promised she can complete her year’s work by September. She will either commute from her home in Atherton and her quiet life as Mrs. Charles Black, housewife and mother, or take a house here for the summer. “Susan is nearly 17 and graduates from high school in June and I know I have to be home for that and to see her off to college in September,” said Shirley. “But the young ones (Charles Jr., 12, and Lori, 10) love the ocean and maybe we can find a place on the sea for the summer.” At the luncheon, Shirley was flanked by Bill Self, head of Fox’s burgeoning TV division, and ABC president Tom Moore. Nostalgia flowed with the champagne. Self brought out Shirley’s original contract when the studio signed her on Dec. 9, 1933, at the age of 5, for $150 a week. Shirley recalled that by the time she left the studio (at 12) she’d left all her baby teeth behind and had celebrated each birthday in the studio commisssary where the luncheon was held. But things had changed. As she stepped out of the commissary, she was in the square of Peyton Place amid phony snowdrifts glistening in the sun of another era of snow business.



Shirley was also quoted as saying, “I feel right at home here. This is where I lost most of my baby teeth, and this is where I went to school. Almost nothing has changed.” A few test frames shot for the pilot:



In the pilot, Shirley wore a truly unflattering blonde wig. Below she poses with Jack Kruschen.



Kruschen was to play the lead of a public assistance department and Shirley was his supervisor. Vincent Sherman produced and directed the show which was written by Nate Monaster (“The Donna Reed Show” and “The Milton Berle Show”). From Rita Dubas, Shirley expert supreme:  “I’m not sure if the pilot ever aired. I remember that Shirley’s children didn’t want a bleached-blonde mom, so the producers found a wig for her to wear instead.”

Rita also sent me this blurb from TV Guide, February 6, 1965:

The title of Shirley Temple’s comedy pilot may change from “Go Fight City Hall” to “The Shirley Temple Show.” She starred as a social worker with Jack Kruschen as her supervisor and Cloris Leachman as a co-worker. [The pilot was eventually produced under the title “The Shirley Temple Show” but failed to sell.]

Rita questioned the accuracy of “The Shirley Temple Show” being the final title of the pilot, as that would have risked confusing people with her storybook anthology series from 1960 of the same name.



Was it the writing? Was it the wig? Whatever it was, the pilot failed to sell the series and has been buried ever since. And so ends another rabbit hole excursion.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Holden and The Derby

In the above photo, actor William Holden and then-wife Brenda Marshall are dining at the Brown Derby restaurant with Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Bracken. Bracken’s wife was actress Connie Nickerson. They were one of those rare Hollywood couples who said, “Til death do us part” and meant it! The Brackens were married for 63 years; Connie preceded Eddie by about three months. The photo was not dated, but Holden and Marshall were married in 1941; they lasted until 1971. What was the occasion of this group dinner? From what I can tell, Holden and Bracken made two films together: “The Fleet’s In” (1942):



…and “Young and Willing” (1943):



Holden’s hair and sideburns don’t match either still, so who knows. What I would deduce is that Holden and Marshall dropped by, since the place settings are only for two. Want to see Bracken’s dinner? I’m wondering what the gadget is in his left hand. Anyone?



Holden became forever associated with the Brown Derby restaurant thanks to one of the most famous “I Love Lucy” episodes, “L.A. at Last!”, which first aired February 7, 1955.



Below is a behind-the-scenes still of Holden, Lucy, and Eve Arden, who were all part of the Brown Derby restaurant scene, which was actually filmed on a soundstage at Desilu.



Below, director Bill Asher gets a kiss from Lucy while Holden flashes his million dollar smile. Asher is probably best known as producer and director for “Bewitched,” which starred his then wife, Elizabeth Montgomery.



See more vintage and contemporary Hollywood photos at my main website.