Christmas
in Hollywood in the Time of Hedy Lamarr
By
Margaret Porter
On October 4, 1937,
twenty-three-year old Hedy Lamarr arrived in Tinseltown, having crossed the
Atlantic on the luxury liner Normandie and the whole of the United
States by train. She spoke hardly any English, her widowed mother was in
Austria, and she had no American friends. On her first Christmas in California,
she must have greatly missed her national customs. Sunshine and milder December
temperatures were a contrast to her homeland’s frigid winter air and the snowy
Alps where Hedy loved to ski.
With Nazi Germany
posing a threat to Jewish and other European actors, directors,
cinematographers, and other, many sought refuge and career opportunities in
Hollywood, just as Hedy had done. They brought with them their own December
traditions and rituals, Christian or Jewish, so in many households the holidays
had an international flavour.
With the approach
of the festive season, Christmas productions and plays for children—like Babes
in Toyland—were prevalent. Charitable organisations took in
collections and arranged for the preparation and distributions of Christmas
baskets. On Christmas Eve, musical societies and choral guilds in Los Angeles
went out into the streets and the city parks, and to hospitals, singing carols.
Los Angeles was a city of restaurants and nightclubs, and throughout December
these were venues for private parties where the gifted and the glamourous
gathered to celebrate.
Suggested recipes
for holiday goodies were printed in newspapers and fan magazines. In December
1938, a cookery expert gave a ‘Yuletide Yummies’ workshop to demonstrate how to
make English-style Christmas cake (fruit cake), and Christmas pudding with brandy
sauce. Movie star Greer Garson needed no such lessons. She and her mother Nina
brought their own recipe from England, and she distributed proper English plum
puddings amongst her closes friends. They arrived with instructions about
exactly how much brandy to pour in order to produce a flame!
 |
| Hollywood Boulevard. |
Along Hollywood Boulevard, seasonally re-christened Santa Claus Boulevard, streetlight poles sported Christmas trees or medallions with the stars’ faces. The Business Association sponsored a Christmas parade, but it paled in comparison to the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade in nearby Pasadena.
 |
| Santa Claus Lane. |
Racial segregation characterized the era. African American residents of Los Angeles had a parade of their own on Central Avenue, with a black Santa Claus, and its radio broadcast included a roster of musicians that any organiser would envy, headlined by Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller.
Before Christmas,
on film sets and in studio dressing rooms, actresses stepped up their knitting,
making sweaters and hats for friends and family, while waiting to be called
before the cameras. Hedy was a great one for making presents. She modeled
miniature animals from clay for her castmates in Come Live with Me.
After forming her miniature sculptures, she sent them to a pottery for firing
and glazing. Her co-star Jimmy Stewart asked for and received a pig. She also
carved doorstops out of wood, and covered them with pieces of her needlepoint
that she worked. A metal bootjack in my collection might well have been a
Christmas gift from her boyfriend, the similarly artistic Englishman, Reginald
Gardiner.
 |
| Hedy Bootjack. |
A box of 21
Christmas cards could be purchased for nineteen cents. A luxurious wool flannel
dressing gown, recommended as a present, was priced at $12.95. Newspapers
printed many a jewellery shop ad featuring diamond rings, in case a gentleman
felt inclined to propose to his sweetheart at Christmas or New Year’s.
After the
holidays, movie studio publicists worked overtime, reporting on the lavish
gifts their stars received. In 1937, Hedy received a ruby bracelet from her Reggie.
Another year, Ginger Roger gave her mother a car, and Marlene Dietrich
presented her daughter Maria with a convertible. A grateful Sonja Henie gave
away her own $25,000 diamond bracelet to her hairdresser. Rita Hayworth presented
her friends with perfume. The supposedly stingy Jack Benny sent out cheques to
people he worked with. In 1940, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard sent notes to
their friends, saying they wanted no gifts, requesting that presents be
provided instead to the local children’s hospital.
 |
| Beverly Hills Christmas Trees. |
Candles glowed from the windows of Beverly Hills houses, blinking blue lights were twined through the shrubbery, and brightly lit trees decorated lawns. A favourite accessory was a large and shining blue star over the front door. In 1940, Judy Garland set out lengths of frosted cotton on her window ledges, to resemble real snow. Hedy hung long glass icicles from the gables of her residence. Jeannette Macdonald had “glass ice” strewn upon her lawn to give a wintry impression that the California sun wouldn’t melt. A house in Bel Air sported a “twice life-sized” Santa Claus on the roof, in a sleigh drawn by eight reindeer cutouts.
Half of Hollywood,
it was reported, stayed at home to entertain visiting relatives from near or
far. The other half left town. If seeking snow, they converged upon the
mountains in Big Bear Lake or Sun Valley. Those preferring desert warmth
ventured to Palm Springs.
At the studios,
worked stopped promptly at 1 o’clock on Christmas Eve. By lunchtime, the
soundstages were turned into party space. Individual departments—scene shop,
wardrobe, sound, etc.—held their own separate entertainments, serving eggnog,
punch, and home-baked cakes and sweets. The “suits” would drop by to greet
their employees. Who usually resumed their labours the day after Christmas.
Like Hedy, who
routinely sent best wishes to her fans, this author wishes all readers a very
happy and festive holiday season!
(Photo Credits:
Hedy Glamour Shot via Wikimedia; Vintage Hollywood Christmas photos courtesy of
University of Southern California. Libraries and the California Historical
Society; Bootjack, author’s collection.)
Beautiful
Invention
By
Margaret Porter
Hollywood
Beauty. Brilliant inventor. Hedy Kiesler, Austrian actress of Jewish
heritage, scandalizes Europe with her nudity in the art film Ecstasy. Her
hasty marriage to a wealthy munitions merchant disintegrates as he grows
increasingly controlling and possessive. Even worse—he supplies deadly weapons
to Hitler’s regime. She flees husband and homeland for Hollywood, where Louis
B. Mayer transforms her into Hedy Lamarr, an icon of exotic glamour.
Professional success clashes with her personal life as marriage and motherhood
compete with the demands of studio and stardom. Roused to action by the
atrocities of World War II, Hedy secretly invents a new technology intended for
her adopted country’s defense—and unexpectedly changes the world.
One of
the Top 12 Hollywood Historical Novels recommended by Bustle.com
“Captivating
. . . Porter’s insightful account of a gifted yet often misunderstood inventor
and movie star makes for a winning novel.” ~ Publishers Weekly
“Fast,
fun, fascinating, enjoyable, intriguing, and recommended.” ~ Historical
Novels Review
Pick up
your copy of
Beautiful
Invention
Margaret Porter
MARGARET PORTER is
the award-winning and bestselling author of Beautiful Invention: A Novel
of Hedy Lamarr and twelve other historical novels. A former stage
actress, she also worked professionally in radio, television, and film.
Thanks so much, Mary Anne! And Happy Christmas!
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