spoken for

Since Thursday, I have been reading this book, Gypsy (a memoir) by Gypsy Rose Lee. Her real name was Rose Louise Hovick. Actually, I’m almost halfway through it.
You may remember when I went to the play portraying this book, about this woman’s life. She basically became the most well-known/publicized stripper of the world, later appearing in movies and writing books and screenplays.

So far the book is quite good. Written in 1957, it’s almost amazing how different things were during the times she’s describing. For instance, her mother had asthma and since this was before inhalers, she had this powder she carried around and would put some in the palm of her hand and light it with a match. It would smoke up and that was the way she got her medicine. Or there’s the time Louise was describing the lamb they had for a while (they had ALL sorts of animals), how he just wouldn’t paper train and they made rubber pants for him for (she said) when he had to “make water.” Things like that.

It’s also amazing how much stuff they stole and how much of a cheat her mother was. She was such a cheat, lying to people and such, but yet if she borrowed money from family, she still paid it back. And she was even shocked when in NY City a woman they met was into bigger time scams and would purposely put a dead cockroach into her dessert to get a free meal, purposely hurt herself at a de-construction site to get some sort of settlement, etc. This woman even set them up later for a robbery, during which luckily nothing was stolen.

AND, it’s amazing how controlling this mother is! :lol:

So far, the author has talked about being very little up to the time she was fifteen, 1929 I believe. I think I’m nearly to the point where she becomes the stripper. Her sister, 13, has already run off and married one of the boys. 13. That’s NUTS.

But it’s very interesting all-in-all and it takes me back to a time that I would like to see…
I guess it kinda reminds me a bit of my Grandma. Not that she was a stripper, because she wasn’t. But he had a middle name of Earl, she said that her parents knew of a ’showgirl’ where they lived and they both liked her, so their daughter got her first name as her first name and her last name as her middle name. She was always embarrassed about the name itself, but enjoyed to tell the story.
Gets me thinking, too, I have an aunt… well, half aunt actually, she’s my dad’s half sister (my grandfather was married once before my grandmother), she was born in 1929 (making her only 11 years younger than my grandmother and a week from being 25 when my dad was born). I will have to ask her to tell me some stories from when she was little.
I tell you what, I love this woman dearly. She’s always been around as long as I can remember, I mean it’s not that we never saw her (like can happen when divorce happens and people get remarried), but it’s been in more recent years (last 7 to 8) that she’s really been coming to all of our family gatherings. She and her husband are just the sweetest people on the face of the earth. She’s the only one, out of anyone, who sent me and Steve a card for our first anniversary, you know? And it cracks me up, because about two years ago, for Christmas, we gave everyone these little Nutcracker ornaments, so now she thinks that I’m like totally in love with these things :lol: and occassionally buys me Nutcracker things, stationary, a pillow, etc. But it’s so sweet.

Okay, didn’t mean to go off on that tangent about family, this post was supposed to be about that book.

But so far, I recommend reading this book. It certainly gives insight on the things of yesteryear…. Vaudeville, Burlesque, etc. Oh, I wish I could visit the 20’s & 30’s. ;-)
But, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think being a stripper is a good profession. :lol: I guess I’m just curious as to what she has to say about her life. I mean, according to the play, her mother pretty much pushed her into this profession, and then got upset later when she was successful at it, saying it wasn’t right. The woman was just nuts, in the play, and I was shocked at it all, that a mother could do that to her own daughter, want that kind of life for her. Makes me wonder what went through her mind…

vaude·ville (vôdvl, vd-, vôd-) n.
Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

bur·lesque (br-lsk) n.
A variety show characterized by broad ribald comedy, dancing, and striptease.