February 2019 – Ann S. Epstein Writer

Learn History Through Fiction: Misbehaving Munchkin Myths

Judy Garland was among the cast and crew of The Wizard of Oz who accused the Munchkins of wild behavior, including drunken orgies. Her third husband, Sidney Luft, even said they molested her when she was 16. “Dirty little 40-year-old men put their hands under her dress.” One evening actor David Niven reportedly walked by the Culver Hotel where police were staging a raid. He was told that the Munchkins, who’d been accused of disturbing the peace, were resisting arrest and their hands were two small for cuffs. Nine officers soon emerged, carrying pillow cases filled with writhing bodies. None of these claims have been substantiated. While the little people were not all model citizens, most were hardworking actors glad to have a job during the Depression. Read more about the Munchkins and the movie in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Judy Garland and three Munchkins relax between takes on the set of The Wizard of Oz

A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press) by Ann S. Epstein

What I’m Reading: Clock Dance by Anne Tyler

My Amazon and Goodreads review of Clock Dance (Rating 3) – Pleasant But Not Memorable. Like Willa née Drake, the protagonist of Anne Tyler’s Clock Dance, the novel meanders through years, relationships, and places. Readers follow along willingly enough, but more from a sense of obligation than anticipation or caring. Although the pace ticks up near the end, like an overwound clock, even that awkward incident proves too inconsequential to justify the uneventful minutes in the book’s preceding pages. The novel is pleasant and well-intentioned, like Willa herself, but ultimately not memorable.

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” (Stephen King)

Learn History Through Fiction: Ladders and Hoses Too Short in Tragic 1911 Triangle Waist Company Fire

In the 1911 Triangle Waist Company fire that killed 146 people, Engine Companies #72 and #33 and Hook and Ladder Company #20 responded to the late afternoon alarm. The factory occupied floors 8 through 10 of the Asch Building in New York City’s Greenwich Village, but the ladder could not reach beyond the 6th floor and the hoses could not shoot high enough either. Nets held by firemen tore from the weight of the falling bodies, which also fell on the firemen, spooking their horses. Read more about the tragic fire and one survivor in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Hoses did not reach high enough to put out the 1911 Triangle Waist Company fire in which 146 lives were lost

Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein

Learn History Through Fiction: German Americans Interned in WWII

During WWII, German Americans were labeled people of “enemy ancestry.” The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required resident aliens aged 14 and older to register with the U.S. Government “subject to arrest, detention, or internment for the duration of war.” After Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, President Roosevelt expanded restrictions on travel and property ownership. Approximately 11,000 German Americans were interned in camps in rural, isolated areas throughout the U.S. Many were pressured to “repatriate” to Germany where they could be exchanged for American prisoners of war. Read more about a German-American during WWII in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

“Enemy Alien” registration card of a German American during World War II

Learn History Through Fiction: The Wicked Witch on Mr. Rogers

Margaret Hamilton, who played Elvira Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz, said children often asked her why she had been so mean to poor Dorothy. On an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, she explained that she was only playing a role and showed how make-up transformed her from a nice lady (a former kindergarten teacher, in fact) into the nasty warty and green-faced witch. Read more about the movie and Margaret Hamilton in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Children asked Margaret Hamilton why she was so mean to Dorothy

Learn History Through Fiction: X-Rated V-Mail

In WW II, mail was vital to maintain morale in the armed forces. But mail was bulky and took up precious space on cargo ships. So the U.S. Government instituted V-Mail, converted to Microfilm, which limited letters to one page. Correspondents, especially sweethearts, invented acronyms to save space, much like today’s social media users. Some, popular before the war, are still familiar today: SWAK (Sealed With a Kiss). Others were chaste or uplifting: OOLAAKOEW (Oceans Of Love And A Kiss On Every Wave). However, a few were downright raunchy. To bypass censors, creative acronyms borrowed from geography: NORWICH (kNickers Off Ready When I Come Home) and CHINA (Come Home I’m Naked Already). The best could work both ways: EGYPT (Ever Give You Pleasant Thoughts OR Eager to Grab Your Pretty T**s). Read more about the U.S. Navy during WW II in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Billions of V-Mail letters were exchanged in WWII

Letters were vital to maintaining troop morale in WWII

Learn History Through Fiction: Sidney Luft Before and After Judy Garland

(A Hollywood romance in honor of Valentines Day) Sidney Luft (1915-2005) was a Hollywood producer and impresario. Of German-Russian-Jewish descent, he started out as an amateur boxer and barroom brawler, nicknamed “One Punch Luft.” He is perhaps best known as the husband of Judy Garland (1952-1965), responsible for orchestrating her comeback in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in A Star is Born. Luft was married once before and twice after Garland. They had two children, Lorna and Joey. Read more about Hollywood and movie history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Judy Garland & Sidney Luft in happier days

Learn History Through Fiction: Post-Civil War Exodusters

After the Civil War and the arrival of railroads, Kansas was populated by German immigrants, migrants from the Eastern U.S., and Negro Freedmen from the South called “Exodusters.” Farmers tried to grow corn and raise pigs, but failed because of a shortage of rainfall. They switched to soft spring wheat and later to hard winter wheat, which did well in the temperate Kansas climate since it does not have prolonged periods of heat and cold. Read more Kansas and wheat farming history in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Post-Civil War wheat farmers in Kansas included “Exodusters,” Negro Freedmen from the South

Learn History Through Fiction: Midwives Safer Than Doctors 100 Years Ago

Midwives, like physicians, practiced without education or regulations until the early 1900’s. In an era before germ theory was known, doctors moved between anatomy labs, medical wards, and surgery without washing their hands, thus transferring germs. As a result, midwives’ patients were less likely to die of infection than those delivered by doctors. Read more about pregnancy and childbirth 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

In the early 1900’s, midwifery at home was more antiseptic and safer than doctor-assisted births in hospitals

Publishing News: Ponder Review to Publish “David’s Crossing” Memoir

My creative nonfiction piece “David’s Crossing” was accepted for publication in Ponder Review, 2019, Volume 3, Issue 1. Here’s the log line: “David’s Crossing” captures my father’s uncertainty as a young boy aboard an immigrant ship, the SS Rotterdam IV, journeying from a Polish shtetl to an American city during World War I — a century-old tale with resonance for today. The publication is particularly meaningful to me because my late father’s acceptance into this country is in such stark contrast with today’s harsh policies toward immigrants, migrants, and refugees. More about the publication in MEMOIR and more about the SS Rotterdam IV in BEHIND THE STORY.