Six for Sixty

We met six years ago and today she turns sixty, so what better way to celebrate Melissa’s (aka “The Colonel”) birthday than to post my six most memorable times with her? It was not an easy choice and I had to leave some events out due to brevity, but here goes. For once, these are in no particular order.

1. You never forget the first time…we met in April 2017 at the Marion Davies Guest House in Santa Monica. All I have is this tiny tiny photo below to prove that we were there together!



From there, the caravan traveled over to the Santa Monica History Museum to celebrate Shirley Temple’s 89th Heavenly Birthday. Melissa (right) is posing with Shirley’s son, Charlie. It was at this event, just as I was leaving (my aversion to crowds had kicked in), that I thought, you know…she might be nuttier than a fruitcake, but she’s a pretty cool gal. BTW: I don’t hang out with people unless they are somewhat nutz. The sane ones just aren’t any fun.



2. The Melissa Roast. In October 2022, I made a whirlwind trip to NYC. Melissa and I took in a Broadway show and managed to squeeze in a dinner at Carmine’s with her incredible daughter. Becca is off the charts, and we had fun roasting her poor mother (who loved every minute of it). Melissa didn’t stand a chance as Becca and I compared notes.



3. Road Kill, December 2018. She’ll do just about anything for Shirley, including playing dead in the road to re-create a famously gruesome scene from “Bright Eyes.” Good sport doesn’t even cover it.



4. Fountain Coffee Room lunch, December 2018. We’d been driving all over Los Angeles this day, and ended up having a quiet lunch at one of my favorite hidden gems: the Fountain Coffee Room in the Beverly Hills Hotel. No selfies during that lunch; I think we were both too pooped to hold up our phones.



5. Visit to Temple’s Temple, April 2022. Melissa is friends with the owner of Shirley Temple’s childhood home (after she struck it big!) and was able to get me inside.



It was one of those things that never even made my bucket list because I would never have dreamed that it was possible.



6. Breakfasts/Dinners at the Chateau Marmont. I believe the first time Melissa dined at the Chateau with me was April 2018. She was done with her events that day and joined me for a quiet Sunday night dinner. Again…no photos exist, but it was a memorable of evening of good food and great conversation.



Happy Birthday, Melissa - and here’s to many more!



See more of my photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: At The Ballet

“The Little Princess” gave Shirley the chance to briefly play a ballerina during the dream sequence. Surrounded by a number of lovely ladies with far more training than her, our gal Shirley still did an admirable job.



In her autobiography, Shirley recalled training with dance instructor Ernest Belcher for the film:

Unfolding a portable dance floor in our living room, [Belcher] played “Nutcracker” music and demonstrated, flexing up on tiptoe, leaping and twirling off the dance floor and among our chairs and tables. Several athletic weeks later I still was no ballerina, with little to show beyond tender arches and aching ankles. Rather than scrub the whole number, however, studio dance directors [Nick] Castle and [Geneva] Sawyer dressed me in tutu and ballet slippers, with thin pink ribbons laced around the ankles, and choreographed me in swoop, pivot, and twirl strongly backed up by a chorus of accomplished dancers. Everyone balanced on tiptoe except me. It was one of those discouraging moments, posing beyond my real competence.



Despite her recollection of feeling inadequate, Shirley still managed to save the costume she wore back in 1939.



Want to see the back?



Even the shoes survived!



Shirley also managed to approve a porcelain doll by the Danbury Mint which faithfully recreated her ballet debut outfit:





While her career as a ballerina was short-lived, we can still appreciate the work and training that Shirley put into it!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Where's My Ornament?

This 1940’s image shows Shirley Temple at her Brentwood home, touring around the driveway for the publicity cameras in the miniature gas-powered Dreyer Racer car that was gifted to her by her beloved costar and dance partner, Bill Robinson. That tight smile tells you she was really wanting to hit the gas and race down the street!

Zooming in, you can see that the hood ornament was missing. Was it broken? Removed for safekeeping?

This shot found on the justacarguy blog shows Shirley and Bill driving around the Fox Studio lot when she first received the car (hood ornament visible!). Bill is holding on for dear life, as according to all accounts, Shirley was built for speed when behind the wheel of this car!

From the Museum of American Speed website comes this information on Floyd Dreyer, the man behind the racing car:

Floyd “Pop” Dreyer, a major race car builder throughout the 1930s, began building “Dreyer Racers” which were miniature race cars for children in 1933. The cars were powered by various small 4-cycle engines and used parts off production cars as well. At first, he was building them just for his own children but, as word got out, people starting coming to Floyd to build cars for their children as well. These cars became very popular and soon Floyd realized he had another revenue stream for his business. The price for a Dreyer Junior Racer was $150.00, but Floyd rarely sold one for that much. He sold one to a man with no legs, which he used as a motorized wheel chair. Child actress, Shirley Temple, bought one of the small cars and it appeared in an ad which Temple did for Quaker Oats.

Years later, Floyd was watching the Academy Awards Show on Television when a special Oscar was given to Shirley Temple. During Temple’s introduction, film footage of Temple at home as a child, driving her Dreyer Junior Racer was shown. That was quite a pleasant surprise for Floyd!

When the car was auctioned off in 2015 by Theriault’s, this was the photo used in their catalog:

From the catalog description:

SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S CHILD-SIZED GAS-POWERED TETHER RACING CAR

The metal racing car with painted white enamel finish with Shirley Temple's name on each side, red leather upholstered seat, hood ornament, horn, brake handle, and a unique round license plate from Fox Studios at the front. Excellent condition with restoration to finish. Ranking at the top of Shirley's childhood possessions - and memories - was her model racing car, a gift to her in 1936 from "Uncle Billy Robinson" (Bojangles). In her 1988 autobiography Child Star, Shirley wrote "painted pure white with a red leather seat and chrome hood ornament of a leaping antelope, it was powered by a one-cylinder unmuffled lawn-mower motor...On my first solo run of studio grounds, Uncle Billy crouched on the back, showed me how to start, and we leaped forward. Veering into a nearby Fox publicist, I snagged a long tear in his trousers. My first traffic accident." Eventually the studio ordered the car removed to her own home where Shirley was "restricted to racing a circle around her own driveway, and soon lost interest".

Realized Price: $34,000 Presale Estimate: 10,000+

How the car looked when I saw it in person in Santa Monica:

WITH the hood ornament!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Temple on the Telly

Today’s post is entirely thanks to Shirley Expert Supreme, Rita Dubas. Once again, her boundless generosity has provided me with amazing content to entertain my readers. The first photo shows Shirley with a white Automatic Electric Monophone Model 34 Telephone in her bedroom. Known as the “Shirley Temple phone,” the AE34 models that were bought by the general public came in black, not white.

From the Telephone Museum website:

On This Day In Telephone History August 23RD 1938 Shirley Temple Receives The 100,000TH AE Model 34. The Associated Telephone Company, Ltd. Installed the 100,000TH AE 34 at the home of the most famous little girl in all the world, Shirley Temple. Henceforth, the Automatic Electric Monophone Model 34 Became known as “The Shirley Temple Phone.”

Rita’s original photo above is dated August 15, 1938 (about a week before the phone museum page said it was presented to her). Here’s a shot of the black phone made of Bakelite that was available to the public:



Moving forward to 1959, Shirley made Telephone History once again by being the millionth General Telephone Company of California customer. The company was headquartered in Santa Monica and presented Shirley with this phone in a special ceremony. I was able to see this memento in 2018 when Shirley’s family loaned it to the Santa Monica History Museum and put it on display:





Shirley’s son Charlie mentioned that there was an inscription on the bottom of the phone; unfortunately with the way it was displayed I couldn’t get a clear enough shot to be able to read the engraving.



Want to see a photo of Shirley using that phone? Thanks to Rita, you can! Shot by Baron Wolman in 1976, Shirley was still using the 1959 phone some seventeen years later. And why not? Those old phones were built to last!



She also supplied this article from the August 23, 1982 GTE (General Telephone Company) California News. Well, maybe this particular phone wasn’t built to last, but at least it seemed to have a VERY good warranty! Try not to gag when you read the extremely flowery language of this article.





See more Shirley Temple Black photos at my main website.

Shirley Palooza Four Pt. 4: Santa Monica History Museum Tea

The 4th Annual Shirley Temple Birthday event at the Santa Monica History Museum was titled “Shirley Temple & Hollywood’s Season of Fantasy.” The meeting that Melissa (aka “The Colonel”), Woolsey Ackerman (classic Hollywood expert supreme), and I attended last November with museum staff Sara and John was where the idea was born, and after a lot of thought and work came to brilliant fruition! Woolsey was the driving force of the exhibit and the majority of the items on display were from his AMAZING personal collection. In the first photo, Melissa stands next to an original “Blue Bird” poster from 1940 that I lent to the museum for the exhibit.

Woolsey lent Shirley’s main “Blue Bird” costume that her character Mytyl wore through the majority of the film:





Also on display were the blue velvet shoes that she wore during the Land of Luxury scene:





Here’s Woolsey surrounded by two blue birds, Shirley Jean (named after Shirley Temple of course!) and Melissa:



An extremely rare Shirley Temple “The Blue Bird” composition doll of Woolsey’s:



Vintage “Wizard of Oz” dolls released to coincide with the 1939 film:



Recently, Woolsey was alerted to a Shirley Temple Cinderella dress on eBay; the source also erroneously told him it was merchandise related to “The Blue Bird.” To err on the side of caution, Woolsey did what any Shirley fan would do. He immediately purchased it and paid for overnight shipping so that it could be part of the exhibit. Now THAT’S dedication!



Shirley Temple expert supreme Rita Dubas shared this 1936 promotional photo of Shirley wearing the same dress (with a few slight differences). While it was disappointing that this dress was not related to “The Blue Bird,” it is still a VERY cool vintage Shirley item that Woolsey cherishes regardless, and was a true stunner in the exhibit.



Also on display was a photo of Shirley’s birthday party at Fox, April 23, 1938:



Zooming in you can see Shirley at center, with her mother directly behind her, wearing a stylish hat:



Each table had a centerpiece of blue birds, fresh flowers, and a white cage:



Melissa ordered these very festive hats for attendees:



The place settings for the tea were beautiful:



Shirley fans supreme Paul and Lori Breen (and an all-around super nice couple, too) sat at our table with Shirley Jean:



A few words from Museum President Susan Potter and Vice Chair Terri Decker. These ladies have tirelessly championed this Shirley event every year and it is greatly appreciated.



Guest speaker Tony Haig told us a bit about his experience on the September 25, 1960 episode of “The Shirley Temple Show.”



Haig played the title character of the story called “Kim.” Here he is on the right:



Academy Award nominated actress Terry Moore was on hand, and gave warm remembrances of her friend, Shirley. What a gracious lady who still to this day cannot bear to remove Shirley’s phone number from her cellphone. She enjoyed the warm chats that they used to share when Shirley was still alive.



A photo of Terry with Richard Jaeckel in “Come Back Little Sheba,” 1952:



Terry and her assistant graciously posed for a photo with me, taken by Melissa:



What a wonderful afternoon! If you think that’s the end of the story, you are mistaken. Still one more installment to come!

See more Santa Monica History Museum photos at my main website.