Jim Jam Jems: 1925 Magazine Article on Silent Star Lucille Ricksen
I love to find old magazines and at a recent visit to an antique mall came across several editions of “Jim Jam Jems – Sam Clark’s Volley of Truth.” I have seen these a few times but they are often in poor condition or quite expensive. This one from April of 1925 was in such good shape and priced to entice. So it came home with me.
After a very busy weekend, I took a bit of time to myself and started to page through the booklet. Even the cover is a hoot – showing a lady holding a jar and spoonful of Spring Tonic. She is going to feed it to the gent who is wearing a label with “Reading Public” on it. The caption is “It’s the Straight Stuff! You Don’t Have to Analyze this!” I interpret that to mean that this publication is truthful, honest and you should not need to think too much or be too critical of or judgmental toward its contents.
The first section inside is the “Preamble” which is in each of these booklets. It is political and has a commentary on some of the leaders in our country. The writer uses first names and nicknames, and some I’d have to do heavy research on to understand his purpose. Quite humorous and tongue-in-cheek in its content.
The first real article is on “The Little Blonde Butterfly” and not being from that time-frame, did not comprehend the title until I read further. It turns out this was an ‘homage’ to a child movie star from the silent movie era called Little Lucille Rickson. Her career began as a child model and at the tender age of eleven, was cast by Samuel Goldwyn in a comedy serial entitled “The Adventures of Edgar Pomeroy.” There were twelve installments and were based on stories of Booth Tarkington. She became a leading lady at the young age of thirteen after being “discovered” by Marshall Neilan. She started out in Chicago with the Essanay Company, then went with Neilan to the west coast (Hollywood.) Per the article, she appeared in a great many pictures, working day and night in an effort to achieve her goal which was to have wealth sufficient to care for her mother and invalid brother. It went on to say that she “slaved to provide for them without counting the cost to herself.” Her story is a sad one, in spite of her fame and presumed fortune. While filming the Del Andrews directed comedy “The Galloping Fish” in 1924 opposite stars Sydney Chaplin and Louise Fazenda, Little Lucille became ill. By early 1925 her conditioned worsened and she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Her last screen appearance was opposite Claire Windsor and William Haines in the drama “The Denial” which was filmed in 1924 and released in early 1925.She was bedridden near the end of her life and in February, 1925, her mother Ingeborg became overly distraught and succumbed to a fatal heart attack, collapsing on top of her daughter. Two weeks later, on March 13, 1925, at the age of 15, Lucille Ricksen died. The article implied that her last words were “mother is waiting.”
Per Wikipedia, Lucille Ricksen appeared with some of the top stars of the silent movie era including Conrad Nagel, Jack Pickford, Bessie Love, Cullen Landis and Patsy Ruth Miller. She garnered critical acclaim and at the age of fourteen, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (a promotional campaign sponsored by the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers in the United States.) Other actresses that year included Dorothy Mackaill and Clara Bow.
You never know what you’ll learn from reading these old publications. I found it fascinating and yet appreciate that this was a true tragedy. Many of the articles found inside are more in the political vein and I’ll have to check those out for future blogs.
