Shirley at 4 wearing a costume her mother made for her for
a short film. This costume was part of the auction.
But I still don't think anyone anticipated what an "event" this would become. The collection began at the Strong Museum in New York in May. By the time it rolled into Morristown a few days later to be put on display at the Morris Museum, it had already snowballed into something larger than even Theriault's had expected and certainly bigger than those of us who attended the exhibit could imagine!
This was the only photo I had seen before it opened in Morristown. I thought maybe a couple of costumes, a couple of dolls, ten minutes and we'd be in and out - I was not prepared for the sheer volume of items that would greet us there!
Pictures began to be shared on social media. "I went! I saw it!" Facebook pages sprang up about the event and lit up with stories, photographs and plans to attend the auction in Kansas City. People began to connect one, to another, to another and gather together around this great collection, some wishing and hoping to obtain one or some of these wonderful artifacts, some just happy to be part in some way, even as a spectator, of celebrating this marvelous event and their love for a little girl of long ago.
Shirley's childhood Raggedy Ann doll, carefully tucked away by her mother.
The doll hammered for $11,500 on July 14.
By the time the auction came, there was an official "Shirley's Army" in place. Not in place by the auction, not an official club, but it just happened on Facebook as enthusiasm grew. In the opening comments at the historic auction on the 15th, Theriault's president, Stuart Holbrook, pointed out the "Army" in the front row, telling the story of how it began in Morristown and got larger on line from fans across the country. One member even campaigned relentlessly with her local museum to host the exhibit and they did.
This was most assuredly something that everyone felt was somehow "theirs". Or rather a "yours, mine and ours". Even Theriault's in the exhibition process allowed the items to be up close and personal. Look at how close I was to Shirley's dancing shoes in Morristown with no barrier but a rope!
My inclination in something like this is always to ask "why?" Why did this become such a big event? If this had been any other celebrity from the 1930's, would it have gathered such diverse attendance and following? Have most people even heard of other celebrities of the 1930's today?
And never before has an auction or collection of items evoked such strong emotions and a response. And it didn't seem to matter about age, demographics, genders, economic status and background. This wasn't just a group of 80 something year old women reliving their childhoods. In fact, it didn't seem to matter if you were a doll collector, a film buff. a Shirley fan, a historian, an antique textiles and costume expert; the reaction seemed to resonate the same frequency. Feelings of awe and wonder and strong emotions.
Most of us knew that we couldn't buy something but that didn't seem to matter. Some couldn't even afford the $75 for the catalog. But that didn't matter either. The catalog was viewed on line, "ooo -ed and ahhh-ed" over by all. Stories spread on line "I remember my first Shirley Temple movie." "My grandmother introduced me to Shirley's films!" "I had the record albums - and this book - and used to watch her movies even if they were on in the middle of the night!" "I just loved her!" Once the auction happened, those of us who didn't attend watched it live on line. Even if we weren't registered to bid. We cheered on other Shirley fans who posted to Facebook "I won this item!" Auction winners generously shared photographs and stories of their wins. This wasn't about "stuff" and who had the cash to win the best of the best; it was just about love for Shirley, there was a sense of unity and generosity towards each other.
Shirley's famous dress as it was displayed in Morristown.
It sold for $75,000 to a museum that will display it for the public.
Shirley burst on the scene in 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression. We all know that. All the cliches "She cheered up the country". "She made us forget our troubles, even for a little while". "The most photographed person in the world." "One of the biggest icons of the 20th century"... But it still doesn't answer the "why". I mean, that was 80 years ago.
But FDR is reported to have said 'As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we'll be all right". Maybe there was a lot more to that statement than we've thought in the past.
Shirley and Eleanor Roosevelt
Let's face it. We live in a very messed up world that seems to be spinning faster and faster out of control. Daily we are bombarded on the internet and in the news with reports of ISIS within our borders, violence and shootings until they have become almost "the mundane" as far as news, horrible atrocities committed against our children in schools, stories of child abuse, acts of violence and disrespect being committed by children barely out of grammar school who seem to have no remorse for their crimes, a nation once united now experiencing terrible division over legislation and laws and the list goes on and on.
I don't need to mention more. But we are a nation who has lost our innocence. I mean really, just in recent years this child burst on the scene with her stage mother, was given her own television show, consistently made the headlines and was slapped carelessly with the label "just like Shirley Temple" Seriously people? "like Shirley Temple"? A child whose most famous quote is "I'll stop passing gas when I'm dead." We live in an age where children are fast tracked to adult hood and where disgusting behavior is laughed at, praised and even encouraged. (And my commentary is not against this child, but rather what society, the media and her family have encouraged in her and shaped her to be. Any child will behave in any way they are encouraged to.)
Have we really fallen that far that the population thinks THIS is what Shirley was like?? 
Maybe we have.
I sure don't know the answer to that question. But maybe this nation needs a return to what was once considered "admirable" in a child. Maybe it needs the example of Gertrude Temple, who so cherished her little girl's childhood (and not her fame) that she carefully tucked away and preserved each little toy, drawing and costume. Yet Gertrude herself publicly said that if fame was affecting Shirley adversely in any way, they would remove her immediately from films. Maybe in this crazy world of driving kids harder and harder to "achieve", this world needs moms like that again.
Maybe it needs childhood to be esteemed again. Maybe it needs admirable role models like Shirley who grow up to become responsible citizens and not Miley Cyrus whose claim to fame for adulthood is "twerking".
Maybe we need to ditch habit of having little girls dressed as grown women.
Maybe we need less of this
Maybe we need to ditch habit of having little girls dressed as grown women.
Maybe we need less of this
And more of this:
In a world that seems to be moving faster and faster, maybe it's time for kids to be kids again. And for parents to actually parent.
Maybe we need less American's fascination with Honey Boo-boos' Mama June and more of this
Maybe we need less American's fascination with Honey Boo-boos' Mama June and more of this
Maybe we love Shirley because we love the simplicity and innocence.
Maybe we actually miss it. Maybe we need it.
Maybe we actually miss it. Maybe we need it.
Drawing by Shirley Temple "Heaven Looking Down at Earth"
And I can't speak for others, but maybe that's one reason many of us just seem to have gathered around in fascination at this Shirley Temple "phenomenon ".
Shirley herself, when speaking of how her mother carefully tucked away each and every costume, plaything and memento, said these items "gave an air or permanence to what had happened".
In seeing these objects for the first time in person, having a chance to even own one or two or more pieces, maybe part of the emotion is because it has given US an "air of permanence" to what once "was".
Permanence of what was once esteemed and held in high regard.
And "what was" was a little girl who at 10, still looked like a little girl and not a street walker. A little girl who stood for ideals and goodness and whose good manners and behavior were praised; and she encouraged other children to be the same. A little girl who embodied what parents wanted their own children to be; healthy, happy (and she genuinely was), with a strong work ethic. A little girl who was expected to respect her elders. On film, Shirley could solve just about any problem. Off screen, she took her role as citizen seriously as well.
Permanence of what was once esteemed and held in high regard.
. Shirley in a still from a short film for the Red Cross
Shirley had class. Hollywood had class. In a day and age of "disposable stuff", these costumes and artifacts, so beautifully crafted, each a work of art in and of itself, speak of an era gone by. One that we cherish because it is a world that has largely faded away. They take us back to our childhoods, whether it was 10 years ago or 80 years ago. Maybe in the 1970's, you were like me, covered in calamine lotion with chicken pox (the smell of calamine still makes me think of Shirley!) seated in front of the television watching the "Shirley Temple Theater" on a weekend afternoon. Or maybe you are old enough to remember Shirley's movies at the Saturday matinee in the theater.
We all have a "Shirley story". For me, it was as a 12 year old wandering to the back of a Barnes and Nobles in Philadelphia and finding a copy of Robert Windler's "The Films of Shirley Temple". The following year when we visited, this time with money in hand, I bought the book and I was smitten. Thus followed pre-teen obsession that consisted of seeking out dolls, books, record albums and even films (in a time when the local library would rent film projectors!)
There never can be another Shirley Temple. Even if she was cloned through some scientific feat. Because Shirley's innocence and natural sweetness was largely a part of her environment, upbringing and surroundings. Maybe that is what we love about her. Had she been born later, her stardom would not have been what it was. Had she been born later, her innocence would not have been what it was.
But the wonderful thing is that Shirley has enjoyed a real "comeback" even though she has departed this world. Ask the auction attendees who burst into tears upon winning a piece of this little girl's childhood. The exhibit spurred Santa Monica mayor to declare June "Shirley Temple Month". Turner Classic Movies channel did the same for July in announcing Shirley would be "The star of the month" with her films being shown every Monday during prime time this month. What a sharp contrast to the famine that the 1980's were for Shirley's films on television. I recall reading a quote from the 1980's alone the lines that "children today are too jaded for those corny films." So they weren't shown on TV very much during those years; they assumed there wasn't interest.
But they've been proven wrong.
But they've been proven wrong.
So what is it about Shirley that somehow works even today? After all's been said and done, maybe it's the same thing that worked in 1934. It's not the story lines of her films - even Shirley herself didn't care for having to play the same type of character in the same type of story line over and over. But rather, it's Shirley herself. Ask the child who gets a shot at the doctor and is given a lollipop. The purpose of the candy is to forget the "sting"; even for a little while, So it is with Shirley. She's just a little bit of candy in a harsh and confusing world.
The name Theriaults gave the auction was "Love, Shirley Temple". And the turnout certainly proved that to be true! If you'd like to see the auction in its entirety (I don't recommend in one sitting because it is 11 hours long!) it can be views here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXgD6S5_mG4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kelly Wenarsky is the owner of Suburban Treasure; an eclectic shop filled with goodies from the past; from vintage toys to jewelry and all things retro! Visit us at https://www.etsy.com/shop/suburbantreasure?ref=hdr_shop_menu
No comments:
Post a Comment