In the 1930’s, Shirley Temple merchandise was the rage, including dresses for little girls that were inspired by the costumes that the child star wore in her movies. Brothers Gustave, Fred, and Sidney Rosenau of Rosenau Brothers, Inc. in Philadelphia were responsible for these Shirley Temple “Cinderella Frocks” that sold approximately 15 million garments from the initial seven-year period of 1934-1941. They approached the Temple family about using Shirley to help promote a line of dresses when she was making her “Frolics of Youth” series in 1934. Mrs. Temple had approval of all the designs and images of Shirley wearing each design were photographed to inspire mothers to purchase them for their own budding starlet. This publicity shot of Shirley sporting a Cinderella Frock was especially interesting to me because it was shot at her (second) Santa Monica home on the patio. The back of the photo lists it as Style No. 4257 for sizes 3-6.5 and 4557 for 7-12.
A closeup of the matching vintage tile, for which I’m an avid fan of!
A vintage postcard of the exterior of the home:
This is what Shirley’s bathroom looked like. Even at the tender age of seven, Shirley was concerned about her figure!
A previously posted shot of Shirley posing with her beloved brothers inside the same home:
Final shot for today is what the home looks like today. Well, maybe not exactly this very day, but the last time I was in Santa Monica a few years back:
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
I look at photos like the one you posted of Shirley and her siblings and wonder what it must have been like to be the older brother of the biggest star in the world. Until this post, I didn't even know she had brothers. It must have been at least a little hard growing up and watching her get 100% of the attention.
ReplyDeleteShirley’s brothers were older than her but a significant margin, so I'm not sure it was a big deal for them. Her one brother got a job at Fox thanks to her, so I don't think he complained too much!
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