Red Hot & Lovely in Gadsden in 1941

"A Torrid Extravaganza" the ad declares. "Daring Glamorous Beauties in Risque Dances." 

In Gadsden, Alabama, in 1941? Well! Let's investigate. 

In my wanderings through old issues of the Gadsden Times I've encountered many such advertisements for revue-type variety shows in Gadsden in the 1940s. I'll be doing future blog posts on some others. Let's take a look at the performers and other elements of this production which played in Gadsden on Sunday, February 23 [according to the ad] and on Monday, February 24 [according to the photo caption and article below].

The advertisement promises "Eight Headline Acts-Music-Romance-Beauty" and "Extra-Petite Annette" who will "Undress with Finesse." Alas, I could find no information on the Petite Annette. Also on view for audiences was a musical film, The Boys from Syracuse released in 1940 and based on the 1938 stage production by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. 

The photo caption and brief article below give us some other details. The Three Ross Sisters were a trio of singers, dancers, acrobats and contortionists. Their heyday was the 1940s; they appeared in the 1944 musical Broadway Rhythm. You can see that performance on YouTube. By the end of the decade the ladies were married and ceased performing as a group. The Wikipedia entry has details on their performance career and lives. Robert Ripley isn't mentioned. 

As noted in the caption of the Ross Sisters' photograph, The "Red Hot and Lovely" show was produced by Harry Clark. The closest I came to finding information about him was a Wikipedia entry for Harry Clark, the actor. That individual was involved with a revue type entertainment in 1937, before beginning an acting career. The revue combination of music, dancing and sketches often stretched the limits of public propriety at the time; perhaps these two Clarks are the same.

Among the unnamed performers in the article were "12 Ziegfeld Girls" presumably from the revived Ziegfeld Follies and a "stage full of star performers" from radio, screen & Broadway stage. I guess that's the Ziegfeld dancers shown in the ad. 

As we're also informed in that article, the Perry Twins were a favorite of the Duke of Windsor. The Twins were "sensational dancers" apparently resident performers at the Savoy Hotel in London. The pair frequently performed for the Duke during the 1930s and early 1940s; he liked their combination of dancing and comedy. 

This show was touring the country in 1941. Via Newspapers.com I found numerous listings, including one for the Anniston Star 31 August 1941, and others ranging from West Virginia to Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

Gadsden Times Thursday, 20 February 1941

Source: CineMaterial

Hospital News from Gadsden in 1944

In 2023 I posted an item related to my visit to Huntsville Hospital in 1958. That admission for a tonsillectomy was documented in a Huntsville Times newspaper article published on June 10, 1958. I was listed along with numerous other individuals who were admitted, born or discharged at Huntsville Hospital and Fifth Avenue General Hospital. 

These listings may have been common at one time and here's another one from the Gadsden Times on January 16, 1944. Specific diseases and surgeries except tonsillectomies don't seem to be mentioned; we just get a listing of names, perhaps cities if not Gadsden and the vague "undergoing treatment" or "minor operation." The later Huntsville Times article even gave addresses. All these patients were in Holy Name of Jesus Hospital; I've included a postcard and a bit of history below. 

I would imagine these listings were useful to people like my grandmother Rosa Mae Wright, who read the Gadsden Times daily and watched the obituaries for anyone she knew and hadn't already heard about. I hope Alex Farley fully recovered from his operation like I did and got lots of ice cream in the process. 

Source: Gadsden Times 16 January 1944

In 1917 the Sisters of Divine Providence opened Gadsden General Hospital and operated it until 1925 when the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity took over and renamed it. The building above opened in 1931. In 1991 the facility was sold and renamed Riverview Regional Medical Center, which was bought by Prime Healthcare Services in 2015. 

Huntsville Times 10 June 1958

Polio in Alabama in 1941

As I often do, I was perusing some old issues of the Gadsden Times recently and in July and August 1941 issues I found several articles about polio cases in the state. Effective polio vaccines did not appear in the United States until Jonas Salk's in 1955 and Albert Sabin's in 1961, so what was the state and nation's status on the eve of America's entry into World War II? 

Polio [poliomyelitis] is a viral infection found only in humans. Although depicted in ancient art, the disease was not identified as distinct until 1789 by Michael Underwood, an English physician. The actual virus was identified by Austrian Karl Landsteiner in 1909. The highly infectious disease is spread through fecal-oral or oral-oral transmission. 

Most cases have mild symptoms, but permanent paralysis and death can occur. Major outbreaks began in Europe and the U.S. in the late 19th century. By the mid-20th century many cases of paralytic polio were affecting children age 5 to 9 years. In 1945 John Ed Robinson of Centre contracted the disease at age 6; he made many trips to Birmingham's Crippled Children's Hospital. On his first visit he stayed six months. The 1952 outbreak was the worst in U.S. history. The 58,000 cases included 3145 deaths, and 21,269 patients were left with mild to disabling paralysis. 

The articles below give an indication of the concern about polio at the time since it affected so many children and there was no cure or vaccine. As the first article notes, the highest number of monthly cases to that date was 176 in July 1936. 

FURTHER READING

Gillespie, Loretta. Polio took its toll on Lawrence County. Moulton Advertiser 2021 July 29

Polio: Forgotten but not gone. University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences, 2018

Rogers N. Race and the politics of polio: Warm Springs, Tuskegee, and the March of Dimes. Am J Public Health. 2007 May;97(5):784-95. Article freely available online here.

Turner T. Development of the polio vaccine: a historical perspective of Tuskegee University's role in mass production and distribution of HeLa cells. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2012 Nov;23(4 Suppl):5-10. Article freely available online here. 

Gadsden Times 30 July 1941

Gadsden Times 30 July 1941

Reports from Georgia also appeared in the Gadsden paper, at least on this date.

Gadsden Times 30 July 1941 

Gadsden Times 1 August 1941

Gadsden Times 26 August 1941

Gadsden Times 27 August 1941

Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
29 August 1936, 107(9): 719

Source: Our World in Data