The Seaforth News, 1957-06-27, Page 2Pin-up Girl of Ninety Years Ago
These days, when the sight of
bikini -clad pin-up girls is taken
for granted, Adah Isaacs Men-
ken wouldn't attract much at-
tention. But ninety years ago,
when she first descended on
London in the sensational role
at Mazeppa, she was a riot.
Not that this young American
was a great actress. Butthe fact
that she appeared on the stage
in a costume that fully display-
ed her ample curves, while
strapped to the back of a gal-
loping horse, was sufficient to
bring the Victorians along in
hordes to see such a novel spec-
tacle,
She was clad from neck to
ankles in silk tights, but as these
accentuated her physical beauty
and were artfully flesh -colour-
ed, it needed little imagination
by the audience to make it ap-
pear that, like Lady Godiva, she
wasn't wearing a stitch!
They called her "The Naked
Lady"and the play ran at Ast-
ley's Amphitheatre in Westmin-
ster Bridge Road for month af-
ter month, afterwards enjoying
long runs in Paris, Vienna and
New York.
Adah wasn't paid a salary.
She was on a percentage of the
takings. But as she averaged
$1000 a week in the days when
a first-class actress was content
with a tenth of :hat sum it
proves the extent of her draw-
ing -power.
Of course, the prudes of the
period raised their hands in hor-
ror. Adah was declared wan:on,
brazen and depraved and few
could find a god word for her.
Yet the box-office cot,uued to
do briek business and Miss Men -
ken raised with c h celebrittes
as Chartee Dickens, who ae-
cepted tie deal:a:nen of a bock
of pactrat by her, a::d the poet
Swinbaree.
Evert -zee had aaree that
A d .. x.rsen:anahip required
plenty of nerve. She had to ride
up a natraw rai-way to reach
the artithed miturttain tops, with
no means of gniffir.g the horse
to w':.t__ she was ed.
There were ell . :is -
`.t
hat: t-� :. thehorse took fr ght
andcrti the stae carry-
ing Ada!:on:rated
with
Ta w-ar- . the end of her career
i.
he: skcarried many scars as
soave.µ : ti'i s•.::h
wit.:e her death at the early s.ae
of thirty-three was at -tbu:ed to
internal :ties re.e'_ved white
manaing her fameas ride.
Little is k_rainvn a.hout her
pare: ee or her chtdhocd in
New Orleans. But ... 1856, when
th Witt `° ." -elle and a.
small -part s:.C-esn =Pa
:led _ed a
Jewish musician by the name
of A:exan ter Isaac Meaken
I:_ '
- Ada was
the re i type andthree years
late- ` she tar ne up in New
York w u:= her husband,
wham she never saw a> t :,
strting ler Adah years
14Ie: ae : ar.d. tit ge: to the
tel if her -:ass.
Thea she felt ee fir ;er-
har ._.. and anty ..^:e in
he -
em=e._`'ehheart
-
was rante ither thanC.
He me -
kontikle dahter whiz clairne-'
t .s»_
ofAne:
He e _
6 f: _n and had nitypatte
fate and atm ttgare
cam eyes and. after a
cer - - :s_
'e :.1 -= ---exar. _r.
cam,: - : ianas :Ppm
s" - -- - thin =_ and
a strong-arm boy for scheming
politicians, had ;he idea that he
could live on Adah's earnings.
For a time he did so, then she
discovered that he was cruel, un-
faithful, a' drunkard and gam-
bler. Inside a year she was seek-
ing' means to , escape from him,
then out of the blue came a
London offer fog her husband to
meet Tom Sayers, champion of
England, for the world crown.
Heenan didn't bother to ask
Adah's opinion. Ile was off
without even saying good-bye.
The fight with Sayers, the
fust international Prize- Ring
battle, was the sensation of the
day. It caught the imagination
of the sporting public like noth-
ing before, and the trains that
left London Bridge at four in
the morning to take them to an
unknown destination, were fl-
ed with excited fans of all
classes.
The secret site for the battle
was a field outside Farnborough,
in Hampshire, and here Heenan
and Sayers fought one of the
greatest fights in the history of
pugilism.
It went forty-two rounds and
lasted two hours twenty min-
utes, by which time the English
champion had broken his right
gran, the American was almost
blind, and the police had ar-
rived to arrest the combatants.
Wisely the referee called it a
"draw" and everyone bolted,
Naturally, both men claimed
to have been in a winning posi-
tion when the fight was termin-
ated so abruptly and. when he
fact back to New York, Heenan
found himself self a national hero.
Adah had been doing pretty
we' herself and she cashed in
on Heenan's popularity by add-
ing his surname to her own and
beim billed as "Adah Isaacs
ilenken Heenan." It had the
effect of getting her a series of
vaudeville engagements and, in-
cidentally, the publicity that se-
cured her the part of Mazeppa.
When thep:ay opened in Al-
bany in Jt:ne, 1861, she was an
instantaneous success. Nothing
like it had ever before been seen
en the American s:age. It ran
for over a. year, then she made
triumphant tour of the States
that lasted sweaty months.
lean hile, she had divorced.
Heenan and married a journal-
ist named Robert Newel:. He was
kind, lovable and devoted — but
had no power over the restless
Adah. White he remained in
New York, she was here, there
and everywhere, finally leaving
him to come to Landon for the
staging of her famous play at
Asters.
Oa the boat that brought her
to this Gauntry she met a fel-
Iow -countryman, James Paul
Barkley; who fell desperately in
love with her and begged her to
get free from Newell.
His persistency, and her bus -
band's eventuat but rentc,ant
cense, rested in her
f h ma.-riage.
I. lasted twa days, after which
she totd him that he was not fit
to live with and, even if he
were. a career was -preferable
to married _::e.
Beare limn hearing of his
firmer wife's wonderful suc-
cess, who sbct:d turn up but
Heenan. Adah was a big star
trw and making a fortune.
J C. craved. her forgiveness
and la r:r_ed her to remarry
,L . her sudden
death th Pa -is started the
wield. mine if s fiur h s-
ab _-_:.-d... lir:—ere-3
1: make arra _ _ r hen
hanerai A _ea
=aps_ Zen—tet—: and err :el an
singraneal- -•e- h-- grape.
LENT"( OF ATMOSPHERE — Peapis generaiiy expect artists fa
lac. of a singular ..breed and Mss, Anne Sults doesn't dis-
appoint as she stands by an exhibit of her work a, an outdoor
show in London, England. She displayed her paintings and
puffed her pipe at the 10th annual dsp^ay sponso.ea by the
Combo n Council.
Pta
WEAR THAT STEAK BONE! — Some folks see a pot of soup
or food for the dog in a bone, but Walter J. Lavoy, instructor
in home aria at Pennsylvania State University, sees a bone as a
striking piece of jewelry. Steak and other beef bones are best
for this purpose because they are more solid, say LaVoy, who
saws away at a steak bone, left, and displays the finished
product, a pair of earrings, at right. A skilled and original
jewelry designer, LaVoy sandpapers the bone after sawing it
into the desired shapes and designs, then rubs a little oil pig-
ment into it to give it the color of old ivory. His friends who
wear his jewelry take great pleasure in startling their friends
by such remarks as "These earrings are from a T-bone steak.'
TABLE TAI.,HSeicaut
If you like a cake that keeps
moist and fresh longer than the
most kinds, in the opinion of
many there is nothing to beat
an apple sauce cake. Hereare
two different varieties, also the
recipe, for a pineapple cake
which, with cream cheese frost-
ing, is something really speciaL
DARK APPLESAUCE CAKE
2 cups sifted flour
13y cups brown sugar
11L, teaspoons soda
11/2 teaspoons salt
3s teaspoon each, cinnamon,
cloves and nutmeg
et cup butter
lee caps applesauce
2 eggs
el cup chopped nuts
1 cup raisins (chopped, 11
desired)
Sift dour, sugar, soda, salt and
spices together into a eniv(ng
bowl. Drop in shortening (no
creaming needed). Add apple-
sauce and beat 200 strokes.
Scrape bowl with spoon, then
add eggs and beat 200 strokes.
Add raision and nuts. Bake in
tube pan in 350' 3' oven for 11
hours. Test for donen=rs before
removing from oven. Cover with
a topping made by mixing to-
gether 2 tablespoons brown
super and z cup chopped nuts.
* s
APPLESACCE CARE
1,".1 cup butter or other
shortening
1 cup brown sugar
11 cups flour
1 teapsoon each, soda, _silt,
cinnamon, cloves and cocoa
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
Cream shortening and . far
together. Vit donr with cfner
dr;intmedterota and add smarlit-
ally :a the creamed Muter anti
sugar. Add aptalesattoe and „,•.;
we.-. Bake in ittaf ir :ate ran
a: -„- F. 41-=5no:mates.
+
ir.t.!:cske. = 1 cup tai_
cnn ahatmed rhitte ittoales
c_: sniath_ 1 s -^all: ter cazdied
ca.— -- and small ta...can-
died anniitt,- abhane recitne. nese
shiolam-in= • :___ small
cak
* s s
PLt-F4PPL'E GOLD CASE
st cup shorte.g
114 cups sag
1 egg 'calk
3 eggs
2'4 pups rake deer
?x tea__YOen slit
1 teaspoon baking powder
t: teaspoon soda
ea cup aytcxp from can of
pineapple cubes
n , teaspoon vanilla extract
Crete= -suoar
• aria apik and
whale ergs. cne -- - rite_= -
aa±s -
Ad :ed -- edt
g entb a.-
:c p :es - _ stomp
a =.P - a
de b.-.' . Pout- - - e d _ - -n ring
d'.e cztly half Path Bake
33)' for 25-2 mi
vale= cel __.^aid and frost
with crap= the se f :
Y t x
CREAM CWF1 SE FROSTING.
24caps cnnfectfoners sugar
1 egg white, beaten sold'
3 tahie,-poons pineapple syrup
1 3 -ounce package cream
cheese
1 can pineapple cubes,
drained (14 -ounce)
h cup whole pecan meat,
Ade lei cups confeetiors'
sugar gradually to the stiffly
beaten egg white, beating con-
stantly. Add pineapple syrup.
Add softened cream cheese,
treeing thoroughly, then the re-
maining sugar. Spread on cool-
ed cake.
Arrange pineapple cubes at
equal intervals around the outer
edge of the cake, with three
whole pecan meats arranged
above to resemble petals of a
dower. This is a handsome cake
as well as a delicous one —
definitely company fare:
* * *.
Keep your ring molds handy
and use them to make -good food
look better. Prosy hash or meat
loaf can be handsome, believe it
or not! Little molds, big molds,
fancy or plain — use them the
year around for smart°serving Of
main dishes, salads, or desserts.
Turn vegetable, meat, and fish
rings onto a serving platter and
fill with the vegetable you
planned to serve separately, sur-
rounded with colorful garnishes.
HAWAIIAN MEAT LOAF
RING
1`pound ground beef
tit pound ground pork
ee pound ground veal
2 teaspoons salt
13 teaspoon pepper
ei teaspoon dry mustard
PA cups soft bread crumbs
33, cup crushed pineapple
2 eggs, slightly beaten
cup canned pimiento,
chopped
3 strips bacon
Combine all ingredients ex-
cept the bacon. Cut strips of
bacon in half and place in bot-
tom of a buttered eight -inch
ring mold. Fill with mixture and
bake at 350° F., for one and one-
half hours. Turn out on a hot
platter and fill with cooked but-
tered carrot stick's and green
peas. Heat a can of cream of
mushroom, undiluted, and use
for gravy. Serves eight.
Broadloom is a term for width,
not style or quality. It means
seamless carpet for any width
produced on broad looms from.
6 to 8 feet wide.
Fingerprint
Forger
Fingerprints never change
from cradle 10 grave; if they're
burned away the new skin grows
to exactly the same pattern as
the old, and the chances of two
people having identical finger-
prints are about ono in a billion.
Even the 'celebrated Siamese
twins . had different fingerprints.
But the prints can be destroyed
by a disease, such as leprosy.
Crooks have spent thousands
of dollars trying to find a meth-
od -of obliterating their finger-
prints.
Another clever crook was a
Continental variety artist, who
"performed with the aid of a.
couple of trained chimpanzees.
The chimps were also trained
for off=stage jobs, such as burg-
ling the, rooms of other guests
at hotels where the man was
staying. The local police at first
scratched their heads over the
unusual fingerprints theyfound,
but soon a smart detective rea-
lized what sort of fingers they
came from and he soon put 1
stop to the monkey tricks.
Drive With Care
CHOCOLATE STATUE—Pastry Cook Van. der Linden of Antwerp,
Belgium, turned a 205 -pound lump of chocolate into a replica
of a masterpiece by Dutch sculptor Barebd Jordens that was
good enough to win high distinction. The sweet sculpture took
a prize at a Duesseldorf, Germany, pastry art exhibition.
4
Vacation Warnings From J. Edgar Hoover—
When you lock the doors (and make sure you do) and take off on that long-awaited vacation,.
car these items in your mental luggage. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the U.S. Federal Bureau
of Investigation, offers the tips below to those who'd like to make it "a perfect vacation." Care-
lessness con mar the finest time, if you let it. The careful vacationer will bring back happy
memories. The careless one may not wish to recall "the time we went to ..."
Sere sign of an empty house is a row of untouched milk bottles at the door, or a pile of
fc:ded newspapers. An uncut lawn or drawn shades also advertise that "they've gone away".
Sa attend to these things before you drive off. Once on the road, you're not relieved of being
careful. A hitchhiker may be just after a ride. He may be after something else. Don't pick
one up. And don't flash that roll of money in front of strangers. It may be an unintended
inv:tai:an to a cock on the noggin - if nothing worse.
•
You still can't get "something
for nothing" in this world. So
beware the over friendly stran-
ger who'd "like to do you a
favor". Scores of people are
bilked every .year by smooth
operators who prey on vaca-
tioners. o thief.
An unlocked car is a sure temp-
tation to thieves, especially
when goods are in plain view.
Lock your car—but even then
don't leave luggage, cameras
or ether valuables in sight. An
empty car isn't as inviting to
Your policeman will be glad to
check your home. All you have .
to clo Is let him know when
you'll be away. It's a good
Idea to do just that, in view of.
statistics showing' that burglar-
ies are on therise throughout
the nation.