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MEET RHINESTONE ROSIE
Klondike Days lasted for at least two weeks in 1966.The entire city was involved: 1. Lots of entertainment at the fairground and a place to pan for real gold nuggets;
2. Stages with free entertainment downtown and at the fairgrounds;
3. A one day Promenade of downtown streets (for foot traffic only) to allow people in costumes to stroll in their 1890's attire;
4. Sewing classes and pattern trading for making authentic costumes.
Most of the music I'd heard during our first 2 years of Klondike Days was from the 1920's era. So I pulled three songs from my collection of musical comedy, put together a facsimile of an 1890's costume and hat, and auditioned. I was hired...for free!
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A Bird In A Gilded Cage (1900)
Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl (1909)
And Her Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back (`1884)
I looked for more old music, haunted music stores, and got a local newspaper writer to mention I was looking for old sheet music. People gave me music, or let me copy it...song books, old English Music Hall comedy from the1890's and early 1900's, including Harry Lauder, Wilkie Baird and Billy Williams. What fun I had at the piano. I made more costumes, and a neighbor accompanied me on the piano. We even got paid a few times for a service club or a group.
August 1969, my husband took a job at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA. I started doing programs for nursing homes and senior centers and I found several faculty wives to accompany me. I was singing again! My father was Director for the Council On Aging, and invited us to entertain for a breakfast. I introduced the sing-along by saying, "Now I know there's a little ham in all of us, so sing out." Everyone laughed...we had just had ham for breakfast and I forgot.
When my youngest son was five he came with me during daytime programs. People loved to watch him because he knew most of the songs and would sit and sing along with me, not realizing people were watching him. It was good to be close to my parents, because my father would be diagnosed with Alzheimers and die in November 1979. I also sang a few times at the famous Steves Gay 90's in Tacoma.
Our first pay for a program was $25 and we thought we'd made it! I joined several Visitor & Convention Bureaus to start marketing myself. As we got busier, each accompanist would decide a full time job sounded better. I was fortunate to find and work with talented pianists/accompanists and we always had fun. We got busier as the number of programs grew to and went from a hobby to a professional career. Over the years my collection of pre-1914 songs grew to over 1000. Soon we had requests for programs of 20's to 40's music. My music cutoff was 1945.
I made costumes, shopped antique stores, and received gifts of feathers, old shoes, beautiful beads, and two lovely early 1900 dresses that I was able to restore and wear. Others gave me old magazines, including a 1903 jokebook. What treasures...I still share these gems with others. The following are 1903 jokes:
Do you know the difference between Capital and Labor?
No.
Well, if I loaned you 25 cents that would be capital. If I tried to get it back, that would be labour!
Do you know the difference between a woman and an umbrella?
Well, you can shut up an umbrella!
The Sunday school teacher was quizzing her class and said, "Who was the first to step from the Ark when it landed?
Little johnnie raised his hand and said, "I know teacher. It was Noah."
"No, Johnnie," said the teacher, "the Good Book (bible) tells us that Noah came forth. So there must have been three ahead of him!"
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