After the Akins danced off the stage, old Mr. Trubar and his dog Towser came on to do their trombone act, which was always fun, even if everybody had seen it five or six times. Trubar and Towser were followed by an act that most hadn’t seen before, and the excitement brought the entire audience to the edges of their chairs. This was the Juggling Jinks, two boys who juggled balls, wooden clubs, apples and oranges, pineapples, knives, and even flaming torches—all the while making jokes and dancing and taunting one another. Their prowess and their glib patter so thoroughly amazed and entertained the crowd that they were called back for an encore.
After the Jinks, Miss Rogers’ slow, sepulchral reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” gave everyone a chance to settle back in their seats, catch their breaths, and calm down. But this politely applauded performance was not the finale of the program, oh, not at all! There was one more act to come. On the program, it was simply listed as “Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Melody Kilgore and Friend.” It started with a tap dance by little Melody (Mildred and Roger Kilgore’s daughter), dressed in a pink satin costume with a big pink tulip on her head. She tap danced to Nick Lucas’ recording of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” played on the Victrola, in front of a row of painted wooden tulips.
But that wasn’t the end of it. When Melody finished her dance and scampered offstage, Miss Nona Jean Jamison stepped through the curtains and sang her own version of the song to the accompaniment of a mandolin, played backstage by her friend Miss Lake. The brown-haired Miss Jamison was not nearly naked, as the platinum-haired Lorelei LaMotte would have been, of course. Instead, she was dressed in a white, frilled, full-skirted Southern belle costume, with a lacy, flower-trimmed white parasol. Then Melody danced back onstage and joined Miss Jamison. Holding hands, the two tap-danced together, the little pink tulip and the big Broadway star, although of course only a very few people knew about Miss Jamison’s previous career as one of the nearly naked dancers in Mr. Ziegfeld’s Frolics—and they weren’t telling.
The act brought down the house. For a long time afterward, nothing else was talked of but that adorable, demure, darling Miss Nona Jean Jamison.
The Dahlias’ “Dirty Dozen” Housecleaning Tips
Terms that may be unfamiliar to modern readers are starred. You’ll find a glossary at the end of this article. None of these cleansers contain any petroleum products and all are “natural.”
• A good wood cleaner may be made of 1 quart hot water, 3 tablespoons boiled linseed oil*, and 1 tablespoon turpentine*. Mix together. Use while warm on wood floors or woodwork. (Mildred Kilgore)
• To clean silver without lots of polishing, bring 1 quart of water to a boil in an aluminum pan large enough to contain your silver. Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda. When fizzing stops, add silver. Soak, then wash. Double the mixture if necessary to completely cover your silver. (Bessie Bloodworth)