Mae West: Prison Diary #5

There are many myths about MAE WEST as a prisoner — — silliness such as she drove there “in a limousine” or she arrived “carrying roses” and “accompanied by her maid.” What better way to banish the falsehoods than invite the Brooklyn bombshell to describe this experience in her own words. This is Part 5 of 7 segments.
• • Mae West, Sunbeam, Trips from Prison • •     
• • Island's Lady Bountiful Plans a Prison Library • • 
• • Mae West Asked for Undies • •
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: Mae West continued, "Later I worked in the library, dusting books and things, and that's where I got the idea of starting a library. I thought it wasn't much of a library they had. Of course, I’ll let a committee and the warden pick the books."

• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: "No exceptions whatever were made in her case," Warden Schleth [1879— 1963] interposed, "and she didn't ask for any special favors outside of the underwear."
• • Elenore Kellogg wrote: Here Miss West passed over a poem whose authorship she admitted. It read: “Mae West to Warden Schleth.”   
• • Mae West’s “panty poem” to the Warden • • . . .
• • Note: Stage play “Courting Mae West” covers her two Prohibition Era trials in NYC. Producers can request a copy.
• • Source: N.Y. Daily News (New York, NY); published on Thursday, 28 April 1927.
• • On Tuesday, 29 May 1934 in New Zealand • •
• • A flattering article on Mae West's emergence as a new screen star was published in New Zealand in the Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser (on page 2) on Tuesday, 29 May 1934. Very nice to discover it.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • "I'm No Angel" did good box office. Mae West's stock rose even higher in Tinseltown after two successes in the States.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "Anybody who needs a dirty play ought to call on Mr. Wallace for suggestions."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A NYC theatre critic discussed Mae West.
• • Mae West “Sex” Capade! • •
• • Frank Rich wrote: Politics turned a hit into a Jazz Age phenomenon. When New York’s rakish mayor, Jimmy Walker, took a Havana holiday in February 1927, the acting mayor, Joseph V. (“Holy Joe”) McKee, raided three risqué Broadway shows. Mae West was the prime target: Sex, then in the tenth month of its run, had been seen by 325,000 theatergoers. To the delight of the tabloid press, its twenty actors were hauled off to a police station in Hell’s Kitchen. The star spent the night in the Jefferson Market Women’s Prison. …
• • Source: New York Magazine; published in their 1 April 2012 issue
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 15th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,485th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • with the warden in April 1927 • •
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