As discussed, I’m a huge history nerd. To make matters ‘worse’ I am also one of those parents who prefers that kids not only learn but seek knowledge. I see collecting as one way to instill such passion in our kids (and adults too). Sure, our kids are called ‘weird’ — apparently for just not falling far enough from their weird-parent-trees. (Thanks, Wes Cowan!) But in this age of video games and passive entertainment, I’m thrilled to produce geeks & nerds.

However, instilling such passion in your children is work. It means you have to make the time, be it at home, the thrift store, or right there on the auction floor, to educate your kids… Maybe push them a little bit too. And it means you need to look past a lot of mainstream stuff (i.e. popular toys) to find gifts for your children which will delight as well as continue to quench their nerdy curiosities. That’s not always easy to do. And it’s even more difficult to find something that you can collect together.

So far we’ve bonded over games, vintage vinyl, books, and History Detectives. But there are less ‘new’ items which seem to meet all my (admittedly persnickety) needs. The Noah’s Pals animals are neat, helping with those environmental lessons, but what about history?

Enter the Famous Be’an Collectibles.

Made by Creation Station LLC, Famous Be’an® Collectibles are plush ‘bean stuffed’ toys like Beanie Babies — however, Famous Be’ans are famous historical beings.

Each historical figure is dressed in their appropriate period attire and includes a hang tag with an original colorful illustration and accurate historical information — in poetic verse and prose, to pique interest (we all hope!).

You’ve got your presidents, like Lincoln and JFK, and their wives, such as Mary Todd Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy; but there are so many other historical figures and legends too. Activists & authors, explorers & entrepreneurs, inventors and scientists, outlaws & musicians — even animals.

Standing in front of their booth at the recent museum conference, I was giddy. So many cool plush toys — and so many possibilities for collecting with my kids!

Aside from just being cool history themed things to collect, there are many other reasons why adults will enjoy collecting Famous Be’ans with children:

• There’s a wide variety of historical figures to choose from.
• Because these collectibles are being made today, kids can put their favorite Famous Be’an on holiday lists for Santa and on birthday lists for extended family members.
• And the familiar/understandable topics means people know what the heck the kids are talking about — which means adults can more easily find and purchase the gifts as well as have actual conversations with the children about their collection. (And isn’t that part of what both collecting and gift giving are about?)

You (or grandma!) can even sign up for the Famous Be’an® Collectible of the Month Club and have a new plush collectible come to your home every month. The company allows you to specify particular areas of interest (Civil War, Native American, etc.) and if you send them a list of which Famous Be’ans you already own, they’ll make sure not to send you duplicates.

For all this ease, Famous Be’ans are real collectibles. Figures will be retired — in fact, some already are! This adds to the thrill of the hunt as you try to find ‘who’ you can while they are available — then search the secondary market for those you have missed.

The company also offers Famous Be’an bookmarks and collecting accessories, such as display cases and display stands. (And if you’re a teacher, there are even Famous Be’an lesson plan books.)

To add to the fun, there are even exclusive designs sold as souvenirs and fundraisers to museums and other organizations. That means you & your family can enjoy discovering new historical figures when you travel to historic sites and exhibits — like Socks the Cat at the Bill Clinton Museum. Now you can get the kids excited about ‘another family car trip’ *wink*

(While some of the exclusives are listed on the website, other gems like Socks and the Headless Horseman shown here are not. Contact Creation Station for a complete list of Famous Be’ans and locations.)

Mom, Dad, hubby… anyone who knows me, if you’re reading this I’ve simply got to add Susan B. Anthony and Rosie the Riveter to my ‘feminist’ collection. Belle Starr too.

And then there’s the kids… Hunter will want Abe Lincoln, Destiny will want Blackbeard, and Allie will want Seaman the dog.

OK, I’m pretty sure that between the kids and I, we want them all. They are just too-too cool.

A few weeks ago I was the lucky bidder on a vintage cook book. I must admit, my interest in the book was not so much ‘culinary’ as it was the historical proof that there is nothing ‘new’ in the latest Hollywood glamour cook books, like The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets by Kym Douglas & Cindy Pearlman; but this is not the main tale of this collecting adventure.

Like most collectors, I was lured to this particular copy for its conditions (clean pages, sound binding, etc. & it included a most rare dust jacket) as well as some particularly unique pieces of ephemera.

Included with the copy of the Hollywood Glamour Cook Book by Mariposa was a copy of a newspaper clipping of the author, several copies of the sender’s postal money orders, a postcard in the author’s handwriting (with her signature), and a postal envelope, also in the author’s handwriting.

It was my hope, not simply as a collector but as a researcher, that the ephemera would prove useful (as well as valuable) in searching for information on the author as there is little information on her.

I knew there was little information on Mariposa before I bid. I had accidentally discovered knowledge of her and this book in doing other research and was intrigued by the title and the one-name author that I stopped the first search to work on Mariposa.

I kept watching for affordable copies (in many online stores it is listed over $50, plus shipping; this was $30 with shipping, plus the extras mentioned) until I found, and won, this one.

While waiting for the book to arrive, I continued to research but found little and, frustrated by hitting ‘a wall’, I waited for the book to arrive, hoping it & the ephemera would provide additional, helpful, clues.

The book itself offered little information. The “I Am” was a beguiling bit, but with little information:

Your “Mystic Pot,” with Herbs and Spice,
I charm your meals and make them nice.
I make your cake and pastry good
With secret hints from Hollywood.

First I learned Mariposa’s name from the return address and signature: Mariposa Hayes. Putting that into search engines, I learned that Mariposa was a pseudonym, and that Mariposa Hayes had renewed the copyright to this book in 1967. And I discovered that a Mariposa Hayes was a performer in Spring 3100 in 1928. This made sense with the jacket’s front flap information regarding, “Who is Mariposa?” which mentioned her “living part of the modern theatre.” And 1928 would make sense with the 1940 copyright date too.

Plus, there is the book’s lovely black and white photo of Mariposa, credited to Murray Korman, a rather popular New York commercial photographer who took portraits of a number of theatre and silent film actors. Korman was even well-known enough to be quoted in Time (March 22, 1937) — for something darn near unforgivable in my book:

“Look at Katharine Hepburn,” said Photographer Korman, “there was a girl with no looks but a college education and hasn’t she made a success of herself?”

See how easy it is to get derailed in research? Everything is so fascinating!

But back to Mariposa.

There was also scant, teasing information of a Mariposa Hayes in the 1930 New York Social Blue Book, living with, it appears, a Mrs. C. Coleman and a Mr. Nelson Taylor Hayes. Further research on those names yielded nothing on Mariposa; however, Mr. Nelson Taylor Hayes may have been the 1941 author of the novel Bahama Passage, which went on to become a film with Dorothy Dandridge, among others.

I turned next to the copy of the newspaper clipping. There was no date, no publication, but the photo’s caption reads:

Mariposa, author of “Hollywood Glamor Cook Book,” points out a few choice recipes in her book to John H. Hayes. She tells him that glamor is not confined to the feminine contingent but young men can take a page from her book and improve their complexions and looks.

John H. Hayes? Was that a relative? (And if so, how tacky to pass-off him off as other than a relative!) It is difficult to tell from the poor photocopy of what I gather was a black and white newspaper clipping how old Mariposa was, but Mr. Hayes is sort of lumped into the category of “young men” here… So the still beautiful, but possibly of the ‘well preserved’ variety, Mariposa was photographed with her son?

A quick search shows John Hayes to be a rather common name, and, if you can trust Wikipedia, there are a number of relatively famous ones… Including in film, a B-Movie maker born in 1930.

If John was her son, that could account for Mariposa’s short lived theatre career. But so can a million things, including lack of talent.

So far, there was little to go on — lots of fascinating detour possibilities, but not much on Mariposa.

Who was Mariposa?

I looked at the title page. Normally researching book publishers offers little, but I was desperate here… Published by Glamour Publications, 1265 S. W. 11th St., Miami, Florida. That sounded familiar — too familiar. I looked back at the addresses on the ephemera; yup, that was Mariposa’s home address. So it looks like the book was self published by the entrepreneurial Mariposa.

But searches for the publisher name only returned other copies of the book, each with less information than I had already forced from the Internet. M. Barrows & Company, Inc, the “trade distributors” offered nothing either.

I stopped to recap: She was an actress in 1928, she lived in Miami and had written and published a book in 1940. That’s it. No information on marriage or family.

Most folks I know would have quit by now; even the obsessive ones. But not me. I thumbed through the book again. The contents were recipes, more clever, cutesy poetry, and the foreward was just a general sales pitch for the contents.

I looked at the dust jacket again. Ah, another book for sale on the back inside flap… Eat to Grow Young, by H. A. Hayes, N.D. Another Hayes! And wasn’t that familiar sounding too? I flipped to the front of the book, to the dedication:

To Dr. Henri A. Hayes

To “Doc” who is a connoisseur
Of Crepes Suzette and Petit Beurre,
Who helped inspire many treats
Found in this book of health recipes.

Along with the corny (and ill-rhyming) poem was more than probably the H.A. Hayes from the other book. (N.D, is, after all, a naturopathic doctor — but a “Doc” nevertheless!)

A quick search later and I found a Dr. H. A. Hayes, but it just didn’t seem to fit. While I didn’t know the age of this 1940 Dr. Hayes, the tiny bit of information suggested nothing of naturopathic medicine, let alone Mariposa. But I continued to search…

And then, in searching for H. A. Hayes and Eat to Grow Young, I discovered another clue — a clue that had me ‘hoot’ at the monitor and forced hubby to turn away from his computer and ask me if I was OK.

In the copyright renewals for 1961, I saw that Eat to Grow Young’s copyright was renewed by Mariposa, whose Glamour Publications had published it (as seen on the jacket flap). But the exciting part was that Dr. Henri Hayes was also a pseudonym — “SEE Hayes, Henrietta A.” And right below that, the listing for Hayes, Henrietta A. was the fact that Mariposa Hayes had renewed the copyright.

Another relative? Her mother?

I don’t know. I found no additional information on Henrietta. You’d think a female naturopathic doctorate who authored a book in 1934 would be easy to find; but sadly, no.

Then again, you’d think a glamorous woman known only by her first name, who peddled self-published beauty books would also have some sort of legacy.

I may have hit a wall for now, but I have not given up. Mariposa’s words on the postcard, checking on the safety of the book mailed in 1983, ring true for me:

The book is so precious, it should have been insured. I was very reluctant to part with it because as a collectors item too it is very valuable, but you wrote so nicely, so let me know!!!! I’ll be worrying, Mariposa Hayes

Mr. M Kopal, the recipient of this rare book, lovingly kept the book safe with all the ephemera for 25 years, only to have his family/estate rid themselves of it. Now I have it, and like most things I collect, the hunt for more information continues. Like a dog with a bone. Not that beautiful Mariposa should be compared thus; only my obsessive dedication to research.

If you have any information, please, share it!

I really do spend my weekends reading old magazines. It’s not just to rationalize yet another auction or thrift store purchase, or even to mock (though that’s certainly a plus!); but rather there’s all sorts of neat-o info in old magazines. Here are some examples.

 

Thirteen Things You Can Learn From Good Housekeeping, November 1957

(Typos and all.)

#1 In a feature called May We Present, we learn of the miracle of dog obedience via Blanche Saunders (featured with her poodles).

“Miss Saunders’s talents are now so much in demand that getting your dog into one of her classes is roughly comparable to getting your son into Harvard.”

Well, at least it was easier than getting your daughter in.

#2 Also in that feature, Samuel Davenport is presented.

Billed as the Answer Man of Capitol Hill, “Sam” was the go-to-guy for congressmen. His official title was Co-ordinator of Information. Sadly (ironically) there is no information on the web about Davenport. Or maybe I just need a new Answer Man to help me find it…

#3 Another person presented was J. Arthur Rank.

Rank also had rank; his title was Baron Rank of Sutton Scotney, member of the British House of Lords. He was a movie-mogul and the founder of the Rank Organization — and we were all to be surprised to learn that the ‘J’ in his name stood for Joseph.

#4 The last person presented in this feature was French-born Amanda Benik Smith, the first woman mayor of Olympia, Washington — and “the only woman mayor of a state capital”.

No one has, as of yet, dedicated an online shrine to her either. :sigh:

#5 What’s a woman’s magazine without the beauty advertisements?

A lot slimmer. *wink*

I selected this one for viewing for the fabulous Rita Hayworth, shown here promoting both Pal Joey and Lux soap with the tag line, “Color does something for you… and so does a lovely complexion!”

#6 Apparently color did nothing for Marlon Brando.

His full-page ad for Sayonara, with “an exquisite new Japanese star”, is in black & white. (At the very bottom the exquisite star is named with a small box which reads, “And Introducing Miiko Taka.”)

#7 One can safely assume that then, as now, a prominent front ad will garner you some free press too.

The one page “Assignment in Hollywood” by Ruth Harbert, Hollywood Editor, features Brando and Miiko — with a bit of spot-color. (Perhaps if the studio had sprung for a color ad…)

#8 What was the medical news in ‘57? Here’s a blurb about treatment for “Cancer of the Womb”, a phrase not heard oft today. Neither is the term “Lying-in Hospital”.

#9 Being a vintage magazine about domesticity, it’s only natural that we find ads for Betty Crocker. This is a two-page ad spread, in color, featuring “Crazy Mixed-up Cakes!”

I must point out that of all the visuals presented in full-Lux-soap-color-scope, number 5, the “Inside-Out” cake, is the most nauseating.

Two slices of white loaf-cake (1957 was a great year for the hyphen) with frosting smeared between it — like a sammich.

That’s. Just. Wrong.

#10 Here’s an article that might be interesting and even useful to typewriter collectors: The Latest Word on Buying Typewriters.

#11 & 12 On Our List was a “monthly report on what the intelligent American may want to read, see, hear and talk about” by Mary Ellin and Marvin Barrett.

I’ve selected the picks and pans on books for you today…

Francoise Sagan, poor dear, had two of her three books panned. Thus she is the “petty” in the Petty and Grand.

But Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was “grand”.

She even had her photo included in the feature.

#13 While “9 out of 10 Hollywood stars depend on Lux”, what do stars use on their hair in 1957?

“For the most beautiful hair in the world 4 out of 5 Top Movie Stars use Lustre-Creme Shampo” coos Joan Collins.

Say what you will about the silly superficialness of this magazine, but what’s really telling is who & what we collectively remember…

There are shrines to Joan Collins, Brando & Hayworth; but nothing for Davenport and Smith. Even the dog trainer is more well remembered than they.

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