Mae West: Scripps-Howard

“Newspapers have sunk pretty low when we reach the point that, to get circulation, we are willing to glorify a tart like MAE WEST!”
• • You are invited to read the shocking contents of a private [unpublished] letter written in 1933 when “I’m No Angel” was breaking box office records and one of the largest newspaper chains in American had to decide if Mae was worthy of the ink — — or if she was a strumpet who set a bad example. 
• • “Selling Mae West is bad for Scripps-Howard” • •
• • On Wednesday, 18 October 1933, Frederic S. Ferguson wrote this personal letter to Roy W. Howard [New York Central Building, 230 Park Avenue, NYC]:
• • — — and this is not because I am getting old.

• • I think that we as newspaper have sunk pretty low when we reach the point that, to get circulation, we are willing to glorify a tart like Mae West to the extent of selling this message to young girls — — I presume we still have some among our readers — — that it's the smart thing to be tartish, and that female virtue is no longer anything more than a target for jest.
• • I quote from your first page of promotion on Mae West's "Cleverest and snappiest lines of the year” — — "When girls are good, they're very, very good — — but when they're bad, they're better."
• • — — “The girl I play in 'I'm No Angel' is the kind who is intimate only with her friends but she hasn't an enemy in the world."
• • — — "There are girls who have climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong."
• • — — "I've heard of many a girl who could lose her reputation and never miss it.”
• • Fine for The New Yorker — — which no one buys with the idea that it is a "home paper" even in sophisticated New York.  I think it is pretty lousy stuff for papers of our sort — — with a circulation largely out where the United States are located.
• • Faithfully yours, F. S. Ferguson, Esq., NEA Service, Inc.
• • Source: “Selling Mae West is bad for Scripps-Howard” — — from Frederic S. Ferguson’s letter to Roy W. Howard.
• • Note: Roy W. Howard (1883—1964) was an American newspaperman with a long association with E. W. Scripps Company. He was president of E. W. Scripps Company and the United Press, and chairman of Scripps Howard Newspapers.
• • On Friday, 28 January 1938 • •
• • "Radio Officials, 'No Gentlemen,' Let Her Down, Says Mae West" was a page 3 article in The Washington Post. It was published on Friday, 28 January 1938.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • With shock-proof punches but with haymakers nevertheless, Mae West uncorks a flashy, melodramatic entertainment of the 1890s in "Belle of the Nineties," trippingly gay and gaudy for the most part but lingering in spots.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “Jail life is not so bad after all. It may be the making of me." 
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The Motion Picture Daily mentioned Mae West.
• • New Orleans Stays Calm • •
• • New Orleans, July 31 — Mae West's latest, "The Gay Nineties," has been booked into the Saenger for Aug. 3, and the city is quite calm about it.
• • About three weeks ago, when it was proposed to call the feature "Belle of New Orleans," all the women's clubs and other civic groups got all "het up," claiming aspersions were being cast on the city. …
• • Source: The Motion Picture Daily; published on Wednesday, 1 August 1934
• • 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 4,300 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,397th 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 • • portion of a letter from 1933 • •
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