Mystery History

 

 

 

• The Davidson Theater was an actual theater in Milwaukee. It was built in 1890 and torn down in 1954. It presented plays, vaudeville, films, and musicals.
• The Blackstone apartments still exist in Milwaukee, on the corner of Juneau and Van Buren, and apartment 702, Oliver Crane’s apartment, really is a corner two-bedroom with a balcony.
• The private house party Hank invites Alan to is in reference to gay gatherings in people’s homes in the Forties before public gay bars were common. They were often raided by police.
• The green dragon, Shelby Berkett’s drink of choice, was a popular cocktail in the Forties, along with champagne cocktails and sidecars. The recipe in the book is accurate.
• Television, though still new and expensive, was growing fast in popularity. By 1947, there were approximately 44,000 sets in use in the United States, and I Love Lucy was just four years away.
• The Hitchcock movie Shelby and Hank are both auditioning for is Under Capricorn (1949), an actual Alfred Hitchcock film set in Australia.
• The Pfister Hotel—the “P” is silent—mentioned in the book still exists in Milwaukee. It is a grand and beautiful building.
• Gimbels department store existed in Milwaukee from 1887 to 1986. The white terra-cotta building still stands, now housing offices, retail, and a hotel.
• The Boston Store department store was founded in Milwaukee in 1897 and remained in business until 2018.
• The Circle Room in the Hotel LaSalle, North Eleventh Street and Wells, actually did host the Nat King Cole Trio in September of 1946. The show was recorded and can be heard in its entirety on YouTube. The author of this book also owns the CD. The Hotel LaSalle still stands but is now known as Cobeen Hall and is part of Marquette University.
• The Cudahy Tower building, where Aunt Verbina lives, still exists on Prospect Avenue.
• Art’s diner mentioned in the book is fictitious. The author’s husband’s middle name is Arthur.
• Party lines were common in the Forties, especially during the war years when copper for the wires was in short supply. A party line was shared by multiple subscribers, and anyone on the party line could pick up their telephone and listen in to someone else’s conversation.
• Lois Moran really was a major silent film star. She made a few talkies, too, and then retired to raise a family.
• As mentioned by the character of Mrs. Murphy, movie theaters did have giveaways quite often, including dishes, where each time you attended you got a new piece of the set.
• The great Mississippi River flood of 1927 was a real disaster. Approximately 246 people lost their lives.