Variety (Nov 1933)

Tuesday, NQVonber .7, 1933 TIMES SQUARE VARIETY 59 Tixas Guinan Helped Make fiway the Volstead Era By ABEL GREEN Vol;^teadfsm liia^e the former ihali?> BiU. Hart,' the cowgirl star 6t the silent'two-reel (and ah occai- .eiohal feature) flickers perhafi^ the best Jtnown hostess In- the. wprlci; There have been hostesises In and .o\)X of society—depending in which socfety y0u; trayeled—rbut for catch- as-catch can,'" free-for-all,, hoatess- "^rrg^ Tex-was-the-champi- She not only • irtade history on .Broadway but small fortunes for herself and Jier sundry employers In the., nite cliibs during the hectic pre-1929 Wall street, era, when suck- ers were In .bloom and. cpuyert charges, waved fragrantly- on' the roadway subterranean air, such as It. was. In , the cellars where Tex held, forth. ' Tex not only helped make.Brpad- .way history'^ during a decade thit was variously colorful and'rom'antlc as It wais profligate .and Insane, but' she has l6ft an "impress on the con* temporaheous American conscibus-:; ness that will' become glptiiHed In memory witli> the passing of tlnde: They will , :virrite books, plays , an'd scenarios ab0tit Tex^, aiad it \k lio wild prophecy thit she will be'ednje a legend. A decade, and two. decades, and BO years from iiow^tf their livers and the^ir kidneys have managed io survive the rotgut which Vplstead- ism foisted on an liinocent and gen- erally well-meaiiilng public—the A. .K?s of America will talce much reminiscent and retrospective de- llg;ht in reviewing the $10- -pint booze prices they paid . In Tex's joltits as one of her aiready famous 'Suckers.' That Tex never drank herself iS' as true .as her siatement on the Fed^ era! witness stand that .she bad nothing to dpi with the managements of the places 'wherein bpoze 'was allegedly sold—she was merely aii employee, hot boss. .. ore Than a- Boss But she was boss in' more than oiie respect-.otherwise; Wheii she came Into a Joints she told the lads runi^lng the place that things had to be her way, or else.' She got hers, always. When payoff time came aroutid «he wad well taken caie of. Her own native shrewd-: ness and the rnasculine co-operation of her brother Tommy Oulnah, saw to it well that her own econPtnlc protection always was respected. But'^more thaii: that, .,'the boys' aj- "ways were cognizant that Tex 'wais the ilfp<and blood of their business, and as such^—the .fount of trade— she was to be respected in' her every wish. If they were dispensing merrl- knent somewhat Illegally, at least it wasn't unpopular. Texas 'niade It BO. They loyed to come to pay . $^0 a guart for wlnc: that may have come froiiii Rheimis or Califorhia vineyards;. $10 a pint or $16 a ^uart, for hard likker that may have been bonded in Canada or Mulberry street; they Ipypd to coine tp semi-derisively be. called suckers, but they came. They came back and again, and seemingly were coih- pensated for the amount , of fun which Tei's skillful pacing of ai floor show, as only she could do it, gave . th'ein the ' self-accused chump ,.cust6mers. Tex on a cafe iiopr, ai}d Tex In relotion to cafes, are subjects for -Broad.way history In themselves, Tex's technique In curbing a recal- citrant, 'obstrejjerQUs or Just, plain hasty, drunk- patron was,! itu' lo'Vrely thing to behold. It hot only kept .the chump under ,wraps, but, was • ca.pitall,zed as an unbfflcl'al box pfhce attraction^ not la the, script P.or the. other reaS'ohabie cohsclpua nite lifers saw in such episodSs a very likely cpunterpart of them- selves on perhaps some other night when the stuff they drank, too, took possession .pf them-and made 'en^ amourously ,)jpssesslve of the sparse- ly clad. Guinan Klds,.para.dlhg arbund the cafe floor; or. puglllstlcally as- jierUY©;^6r^ Any^pthe •^hlch hite club stews assert "i^^hen und^r untoward ihfluehce. Later the Better But It was all happy-days-Ih Dixie for tireless Tex. • The later the frolic, thS brighter her wit. Whether the midnlte or the 2; 30 a. m. show— or at the 6 a. m. bfe{|,kfast spasm when , they hung arPuhd and the 'Wihd-upp'ers dropped In to top ofC the nitp In Tex's Joint—she wiais quick', ph droiw ind flip on thp Hp,. The .dailies alrfeady.-.have been full of Texas Guinan ahecdbta. The. late Larry .Fay, N. T. G., her brother Tonimy, Al iCerwin; the Guinan Alumhae ,who h^-^re graduated into social and histrionic promlnehce, eind. all the rest are merely substfih- tleitlng evidence to w*iat degree Tex mad e Broa dw ay-. hist ory: ppr Tex was the epitome of" Broadway. A nod or a wave of rec-j Dgnjtloh from her ■was the starhp of ih] lerr circle, Broad-way standing. It v^as like a knighthobd of being In the kno-w. Tex knew that, top. She caiug;ht on fast. She knew that the prPper ehgerlo' mi^t be. "wbrth some fancy, flpure to the rlg:h,t party, especially if , he had a.n ^ilnteriander butter- and^cgger' Ih tow..;.George S..ltauf- mah is said tp haVP dignified the bUtter-and-egg man as ia, hew specie pf Americah Babbitry, but Tex cer- tainly, glprlfled'him.. That's Why Shi© cpuld get thpse still couvert charges; $2 for glngier- ale; almost -anythlhig" for the rest of the' prpps. Af^ter all. In th.pse days bt everyiibdy p'rbmbtlug somebody •else, that , sort ,of an, investment-fpr entertainment In her spots was cheap. In view of the bigger stakes the' promoter ahd prpmbtee hPped tb achieve. >yaiter6 Qot Rich Waiters got rich in T^sx's. Joints just from, tips from chumps -who wanted Tex to ibpk knowingly their way and give the spender a fainiliar greeting.' From then on Tex capl tallzed It . plenty. Tex was the epitome of Broadway' during those bullrniarket 1926-1927- '1928 days when e-tren the busboys in her Jpints, were pyramiding paper profits. 'When the Oct. 29, 1929, debacle marked the beginning of the end of a wild spending orgy, Tex gradually eased, but -Pf the cafe money.. - fiiat shb went Into the presenta tloh house, and, commenced ' clean Ing. up from a frugal buhch of Suck ers who paid one-tenth at a theatre box,office what would have been the tariff had. they patronized one of her. Brpadway hite, J'^Ints. They, too, had heard of Tex^plent y. ' The na - tibn's press had made her a. niar quee name long agb and she was cashing. Ip, on it even \untll her un- expected death on Nov. B In Van- couver, where her revue -was booked for the week. She riled a trouper, o£ course—;In hamess-"-^^ only be- fitted a trouper like Tex. Tex's, prlhio regret probably 'was that she couldn't return tb her Broadway on the crest of the .an- ticipated' return wave of Broadway prominence with repeal. For Tex was slated for a large nitery, all hei own, as soon as it was legal. And she meant to tell the nice peo- ple all over again 'what Suckers they had been' in the. past.' Chi's Champ Snre-Fire Space^Getter Is a Suit Chicago,,NPy. 6. Lawsuits have turned out to. be the prize publicity getters and gags around Chicago. Any .time the press agients need copy quick they Spring a bre^-ch of promise case, an alien, -, tlpn .of afEeptlpn suit; pr ainything that will take "them into the co:utt records. After that the stbry car- ries along in the .dallies of Its o-wn accord. During the 'World's Fair the phony gags i-ari riot with every midget'and fan daincer, in the .exposltlbn grab- ;blng^Brds jbf-space •by: yippihij Into: the courts with sohie .goofy com- plaint. Didn't rnake any difference If the case made , sense or not As long as It made. efbod reading. And the dalUes'saw to that,, even if they had to add a fe'w Ttrririkles them- selves.. Some of the phohy law suits that resulted, in plenty publicity, during the p£tst few months^^e such .as the Betty Kaege-Ailan Dlnehart ,storyy a cipuple of the\ Sally. Hand arrests'; tlie shobting '.Ih^vblyihef fan-dahcbr Rosalie aihd th.6 Jack Pine midget, the .:.Mbna Lieslie'' ,hude gold ppsing In the -Streets of PiEvrls* .bohpesslon, ..l^bie posing ..girl in ,;the .Oyster shell and the. latest one''off ..the . docket, the MadeUne "Woods bapk. suit-yarnv ■ ' .^.Nlpt-'Hep' ' ^ •In many Instahbes.the attorney Is not tipped 'that the ^hole. Idea's a gag. Bress; agent, actually goes through, all, the' reguIs.tion motions with the fee, all particulars and the rightly worded dbcunients. Some- tim'es the dailies knbw that the suit is.a eag but'aire'wliling. tP g'o along frbm the ne'ws angle. But the latest punch for Insiders bn 'the press-orgy Is that the last Chicago p.a. put-over for Sally Rand went completely haywire and got intp the-hands of the.'wrong Judge with the result that SaUy. drew a year's sentence. ;Ahd topping even that is the re- duction of that year sentence by the judge to .10 days ih the cabbbse ahd $200 flhe.., Judge, said that the year In hock would have hiade a martyr out ,'of . Sally but; that 10 days makes her a comnioh valiant. Mby Jones Return Figures to Help Pros; Tourney Tops Are Arranger Bankrupt Sdward B. Powell, mUfsic anunger, giving his address as. 6 Prosi)ect place, tobk the bankruptcy veil in Jthe.^2iew.iXP>A-JEVede^raJ_'?ol^^ rteturn of, Bobby Jones tp com- petitlye golf in a "Master's , Tourna- ment,' at the Augusta (Ga.) Nationv al gplf club next March," Is stiniulat- ing interest In' the winter ' profesr sional gbif tour. This swing starts In Washington, D.; C, Nov. 11 and Can't Hand It Back HollyWopd, Nov.. 6. Latest gyp, gag being .worked by a "delicatessen on the cioast IS for the h$ad. waiter to make the rbnnds of the tables following dinner with a huge , bottle of co&aac, pieranaading the dinera tp aample the UqUor. He does It in such a manner that the \ guests think the drink is oh the house. They find out different 'when the bill arrives, with .a 75c per snifter chiarge isittabhed. MARRIACES Adrlenhe' Ames and Bruce Cabot, at Carlsbad, N.. Mex., Oct. 31. Miss AhieS, .fllm actress, was dlvor'^ed day previpiis .from Stephen Ames, N. T., broker, at Mlndeh, Nev. Cab- ot's' real name 'Is J'acques Be Bujac. Kathryn.M. Mulllns to James E. Btirtph/ Des Moines, Nov. 8. Groom Is the comedian. Bride gave HoUls, L. I., as her residence. Roy Rogers to Gertrude. Alexan^ der, ■ Los Angeles, Nov. 1, Both In vaude, bride formerly of the. Alex- ander sisters. ■Alice Jones, of Santa Monica to Gard-^Moodyr-^crjedit-^ihia,nager_.^ot KMTR; at LpS Angeles, Nov. 4. Ada Locust, KMTR staff vocalist, to Harry ischuten, film technician, at Los Angeles, Nov, 4. Horace McCoy to Helen VInmbnt, in Hollywood, NPv. 4. Groom is writer at Columbia. Bride; nop-; pro. Alien Jenkins to Mary Landee at Nyack. N. f. Oct. 30. week. ., Schedule he filed gaye his UabiU- tles as $3,196 and liissets, $9. will k!6ep praclTcalTy^V 6f niieniairre- pros ahd a tevi second string nib- lick artists busy Until April* Some 14, open tpurnahients have, alreisidy been scheduled according to •Bob Harlow, manager of the tourna- hient bureau, for the Profes^ljbnal Golfers . Assoclatlohi who predicts the best tour the fairway experts hiave had since Agua Caliente used to go for 25 grand and Carl Fisher- used to lay .$16,000. pn'the linb at La drprce in Miami B,bach; The Jbnea is npl going' tb , make the winter tour. He's not official- ly al pro golfer any waiy; and is mere-^ ly steppihir in at Augu^tik: ta hblp put over, the ^Master's Tournaiment.' Jones is prez'bf thb Augusta club, wHch numbers awfbng itsr members a: handful of the few legible^llllpnr^ aires left In America, but like a lot of. other spots, needs Bometbing on the marquep to dra'wr. 50 at Augusta At Augusta they plan to Invite about 36 name professionals and 15 w. k. amateurs. Cpmmlttee figures with Jones again back Ih there pitch- ing all the stars will be eager to knock him off and vrtll- break their necks, to get ah Invitation. Club Is going tp. give this entire gate hioney to the pros and guarantees that this will reach $5,000. The pro toUr then nvoves from Washington to iPinehurst arid Mlami- BUtnibre where Henry L. I)bherty, Florida's new. one man boopi, will once again play angel to the boys and distribute $10,000 (largest purse of the year) in a 7 2-hole event De- cember 8-10. Doherty has beeh the Joy of 'the pros durlhir the lean yearSi Great expectations alsp held by the players that the aiame Doher- ty* having bought the Alba Hotel .in Palm Beach, will fix things so they can get back Into that once famous and exclusive spot. Lads figure Do- herty's boom departmeht will put on a spring tpumanieht at the Beach. The pros have been barred at Palm Beach ever since some of the rou^h and reaidyiOld timers broke up a bit of Dresden In the Rpyal Pplnciahnsu After Miami-Blltmpre brldgeai the contlneht In one Jump, to, Pasadena. Seven events albn^ Tia Juana Is Now That B ze Has Gone Hotto Tia Juana, Nov. ti, This 'wide-pp.eh. border 'town, kno'wn for years as, th6 tiell-hple of the west/ Is In the process of chang- ing almost bvernlght.'lnto a hard- working community' aiming to be,- come the industr&l' center of Mex- ico; ..- Government offlqials here admit that the liqupr trade which kept the town, on its feet tlyrouehout the idepresslbh is dead... ,In ^broken Eng- lish they take paiins tp ..explain that the saloon men theniselves 'keeled the' egg that, goozed- the gold, or how you isay?' In recent month's, f'rinstance, they've been buying the beat. tequila (Mex., cactus, whiskey) at 6 .pesos ($2 U. S.) P^t case and isellihg It at two bits a shot br 76 cents a hot*. tlCi TiaJuana bourbon,, which cost the maker about $2.60 a barrel, was kept hiked up to $20 pfsr barrel. Beer they've been .dishing but Is no bar- gain elthen As a result,, isihd coupled with the establishment of 3.2 boer Joints in San DIegb and L. A. and with the prPmlse Soon of real 'llquor in the States, the bPoze racket here ban gone fiat as an hbur-Pld glass ot beer. Life saver Is the Important free zone act signed by President Rod- riguez of Mexico which shpuld go. 4nto-=effect==wlthln^anptheE=month.. Rodriguezi whP used to be. governor, of this tierritory and who lias hornesi here and in Ehsenada, decreed that zones , free from Import duties be established In Tlajuana and Ensen- ada. Decree Includes stipulation for a fence tp. be built around- the town.^. As. soon as fence is up, free zone la effective. The six richest inter- ests in town donated enough to buy the posts and wlrp fpr the fente and; the gpVt. has .soldlprs from the lOpal barracks dl^^lng post-holes • and stringing the bouhda.ry. Fence Will surround entire bonimuhlty; in - cluding business district,, residential distript wjhich houses the 1Q,000 population of this town and the Agua daliehte resort. •°! Agua Caliente Jockey Club..,ahd rape track .Is outside the zone, a maneuver which IS aimed at com;^ polling stable owners to buy Mexi- can hay in preference tp paying| steep duty on Imported ,Amerioan feed. , .Decree further stipulates that .all Tlajuana - manufactured products may be shipped Into Mexico, proper free fronx duty. Brgo, the chamber p,f comm6rcQ here envisions a rush of industry into the free zphe. Factories will be established, using Impprtbid duty- free raw, materials, send the finished product into Mexico', duty free to cbmpete successfully .with similar- goods ihiported under high tariff or manufactured In Mexico froni highly taxed impiorted raw materials. At the same time, the hundreds of TlajUahans thrown out . of iprork In the boOze joints here because of shut do'wns and bad business, win find real work Ih the hubbub pi ;the_new=--ihdustr-ial^finter=jQfJW£xlcp^^ . Whether the free zone turns out tp be all that is hoped for remains to bo seen, but the opportunity looks hot enough. Meanwhile the old wide-open Tia Juana is a thing- of the past, not because things aren't wide open still, but because the .trade won't come around to take advantage of it the Psaiciflc teatured by tlie Itolg An- geles and Agua Caliente opens. Lat- ter even started, out Jbelng a $26,000 pie for the pros but is hoisr dowh to $7,500. CPme on, Program as arranged rnore- than 5^ daya of. tourna,ment gol< fpr which gate money, will: be charged. Individual players get no guarantee, each .man going along year after, year for what he Pan wih in. prize mbney. ^ He has to good or else. No dough fpr. a. bad perforinance. Chambers ot . Corn- merce underwrite many purses to bring the troupe ttt, town fPr enter- tainment, jthd. puhilclty... JChe proa ..^ fi B - yft piit trtawy a. toWti on.-the. maP-. as a wihter. golfing center. $54,000 Tourney Top Most of the events earn the purse hiohey and expenses through ticket sales, although golf has never really known big mohey. Back In '30 when Bobby Jones was making it four straight in one seiason, he pabked them in at the National' In Minne- kpolia to the. tune of $46,000. and the amateur in Philadelphia broke all . golf records when $64,000 was the takp. In '31 the P. G. A. champion- Ship did $24,000 In Prpvldenee, topi-' for this event This past summer the Open did $11,000 in Chicago and^the Amateur in Cincinnati, $9,000. The P. G; A. Ih Milwaukee was a pain to the sppnsors^ mostly because of podr - promptlon. and dipped;intp the red. about. 4,000 fathoms. . . ■ HarJo'w re'pbrts ■word 'from Aus- tralia that the Victorian Golf As- sociation there plans a £6,000 (about $24,000) open in 1934 as its share In celebration .of the. Victorian centenary year. P: Q. A, tPUrnia- ment manager considers this ioa in- dication that big stakes tu'b coming back for the pros. Due to American talent there has beeh ah Inbrease the last two years In tbb number of events and size of purses in summer open tournanients ih Great Birittaln* . It is expected that two or three lieSdIng British pros will be over for. part -of the American tour this win- ter, T'\yo years ago three Japanese pros cahie across aind che F. G. A. Is wbrklhg oh the Mltsul Company to send over some morp of the Nip- pon players 'who looked good on their first visit Foreign plaiyers are deemed to increase interest and the gross. ROSEY TRIMS WALKER Di $3.50 TOP SHOW By JACK PULASKI- After a considerable lay-off Madi- son Square .Garden presented a boz- Jhg show Friday (2)'. "Card"; wSii tbpppd by Maxip Rbsenbloom, who butpolnted Mlbkey Walker in at least ' 11 out Pf the 16 rounds and thereby held, onto,, his world's llght- hesi'vyweight crown. , ,lSrot a.little surprise resulted from. the anhdunpement tliat the,, referee (Forbes) had voted ifor the Toy Bulldog^ bPth Judges having given It to Maxle. iiad one of .the latter also, suffered from, astigmattisin. Jack Keams tyould haye had. ah- other, champion on his hands. ..Both, men arp reputed to have, trained hard for the match, which was news, because nelthpr usually * takes the dally routine that most scrappers fbUow for important con- tests. Maxle was tilted over not long ago on the Poast by a colored fighter ahd that made him go to work. -^None-^of^Hhe: -'fans^-expected-^^a^ knockout to happen, and it didn't, but the fight was an excellent ex- hibition. Houso 'Was fairly well occupied, but it should have beeh better what with the top price being $3.60;. Garden ne'ver before offered • heavyweight card of importance at that price, '