Tom Blake, The Father of Modern Surfing

Tom Blake lived an extraordinary life. He was born in Milwaukee in 1902. His mother died while he was still an infant. His grief stricken father abandoned him and he was raised by relatives. He grew up excelling in swimming and he was devoted to the outdoors. His life changed abruptly after meeting the legendary Hawaiian King of the Surf, Duke Kahanamoku in Detroit, Michigan. The Duke, well known as the Father of Surfing, had just won a swimming gold medal in Antwerp at the 1920 Olympic games. He was on his way back to Hawaii and was at a movie theater curiously checking out a newsreel about his recent triumph. The two men hit it off and Tom was hooked. In succeeding years, he became the first man ever to surf Malibu Point in California and eventually moved to Hawaii. After restoring ancient Hawaiian surfboards for a museum, he decided to make his own boards. He proceeded to invent the first hollow surfboard (the first step toward the modern board we know today). Many inventions followed. His endless curiosity of the natural world brought his talents to photography. He invented the underwater camera housing (another Wisconsonian would invent the first portable underwater breathing apparatus) and became the father of Surf Photography.
He invented the sailboard and the surfboard fin. He wrote the first book about surfing and later chronicled the lives of legendary Hawaiian surfers who preceded him. In the realm of water rescue equipment, he invented the hollow paddleboard, the torpedo bouy and the rescue ring. The National Surf Life Saving Association of America stated the following when presenting Tom with a lifetime achievement award,"Thousands of lives were saved because of his inventive contributions in the interest of fellow human beings." He remained based in Hawaii through the 30's, 40's and 50's. Through it all, Tom kept his eye on the surf. He was the first to live the (soon to be a parody) surfing lifestyle and was the first to produce and shape surfboards for large scale production. He pioneered every new aspect of the sport. His accomplishments are far too numerous to mention. He was modern surfing. Period.

Tom always felt an enormous debt to Hawaii and it's people, his admiration and friendship for Duke Kahanamoku was deep and lasting. Duke brought surfing into the 20th century and Tom shaped it's future. In the 1950's, surfing was becoming a fad and beaches were getting crowded. The lifestyle he popularized eventually forced him to leave the islands. He returned to Wisconsin in 1957. Tom Blake passed away in 1994 in Ashland, Wisconsin. He spent most of his last 40 years living quietly and simply in the north woods, spending much time on the Great Lakes.
In an unknown location in the Badger State, maybe in the woods or near a beach, is a rock upon which Tom inscribed these words:"Nature = God."

Tom Blake: The Uncommon Journey of a Pioneer Waterman by Gary Lynch, Malcolm Gault-Williams and William K. Hoopes is a great book. Buy it.

More Carole Landis...

Carole Landis in her element - World War II, at the front, with her boys. You can read about Carole in my post The Girl from Fairchild. "Hey, Hitler. C'mover here once. I'll pound ya."

The King of all Ghouls

There is no single word in the English language that can describe Ed Gein. He was part ghoul, a necrophiliac with a twist, a backwoods mad scientist skilled in the art of human taxidermy, a crossdresser of sorts, a sometime murderer, and a haphazard serial grave robber. He was a monster born of extreme isolation and his Mother's warped imagination. His apprehension in 1957 shook the world. In an era of rapid change, Ed was a nasty relic from the past. His crimes inspired Milwaukee based newspaperman Robert Bloch to write PSYCHO. Hitchcock made the movie and a new genre was born. From THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, it's all Ed Gein, and just as they did to the castle in FRANKENSTEIN, the local villagers burned Gein's house of horrors to the ground.

Gein was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His alcoholic father, George, might as well have been invisible. His mother, Wisconsin native Augusta Crafter was a "fanatical lutheran". (Remember that word combination, you'll run into it again and again on these pages. Our fair State has had more than it's share of fanatical lutherans.) In 1914, she moved George and sons Ed and Henry to a remote farm outside of Plainfield, Wisconsin. The boys were not allowed to make friends and contact with any member of the opposite sex was prohibited. Every night Augusta read aloud from the bible. Only the good parts -the stuff about vengeance, torture, incest,genocide, infanticide, fratricide,whores,believe in me or suffer for eternity, etc,etc, etc. Ed's Father died in 1940. In 1944, Henry died. Ed might have killed him. Augusta passed away a year later . Ed was now alone. Inside his mind, all hell broke loose.
November 16, 1957. The disappearance of a local woman brought police to the Gein farm. They found her in the shed. Her headless, gutted body was hanging upside down from ropes - like a dressed deer carcass after a hunt. In the house they found stacks of newspapers, piled up refuse, and human artifacts. Ed's work was everywhere - shrunken heads, severed lips, skullcap soup bowls, one full sized head, a belt made out of nipples, human skin lamp shades, upholstery and socks, human skulls decorating bedposts, and more. Ed Gein never threw anything away. The house was a crowded mess with one exception - his mothers room was immaculate.

In the months and years ahead, much more was revealed. Ed liked to dig up fresh corpses. He prefered the bodies of women who resembled his mother. He would tan the bodies, cut them up and from the various parts make full body suits. Stripped naked, he then wore the body. A young couple reported seeing him dance under the moonlight in the town cemetery. They were too frightened to come forward with the tale - they thought they had seen a demon, or a re-animated corpse. Gein's capture allowed them to make sense out of what they had seen.

It took 10 years to successfully bring Ed to trial. He spent that 10 years incarcerated in Waupun,
Wisconsin. In 1968, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He died at The Mendota Health Institute in Madison, Wisconsin, July 26, 1984. Answer to FAQ - "Gein" rhymes with "Halloween".

Wisconsin Bands #1... Robin and the Batmen...

...were a band from Milwaukee. Or maybe West Allis(pronounced "S'tallis"). Anybody know for sure?

Surrender to Wisconsin #3...Dorothy surrenders to Wisconsin... well, sort of...

Everyone knows the wicked witch of the west theme from The Wizard of Oz. For those who don't, click here. It was composed by Milwaukee native and UW grad Herbert Stothart as a crazed inverted version of Harold Arlen's song "Were off to see the Wizard". Herbert spent 20 years in Hollywood composing, adapting, and conducting scores for MGM Studios. His style was expansive, at times bombastic, and always flowing with emotion. Like fellow Milwaukee musician Liberace, he never met a crescendo he didn't like. He worked on over a hundred films during Hollywood's golden age and earned nine Oscar nominations. He took the statue home for his background score and orchestration work in The Wizard of Oz. (I like to think he set the Oscar alongside his brass Bucky Badger statue that resided in his swank MGM office.) His score for the film was a wild pastiche of Harold Arlen's songs mixed with original motifs. Stothart died in 1949. His film credits are amazing, his talent boundless. Don't forget him. By the way, the official name of the wicked witch song is Miss Gulch's Theme.

Before I forget, here's one further bit of Wisconsinology concerning OZ...

The world premiere of The Wizard of Oz was held at the Strand Theater in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin on August 12, 1939 - three days before it's official Hollywood premiere at Graumann's Chinese Theater.

Surrender to Wisconsin #2...Jesse James did.

Jesse James was no hero. He wasn't a western Robin Hood and he certainly wasn't Brad Pitt (although I really liked the movie). He was a homicidal maniac who took part in the most brutal acts of the Civil War - like shooting down dozens of unarmed captives, burning alive the entire 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Brass Band and...alright already, quit laughing..it really happened. In 1865, during a skirmish near Lexington Missouri, Jesse was shot in the lung by a member of the previously mentioned 3rd Wisconsin cavalry. He surrendered a short time later. His civil war career was over, in a few years his outlaw career would begin. Jesse himself remembered the shooter as being "perhaps" a member of the 2nd Wisconsin cavalry. Wrong. And it certainly couldn't have been a member of the the 1st Wisconsin as they were busy rounding up Jefferson Davis ( more about that incident in a future post) Pictured is Jesse James the way he should be ..... Dead. Blood from Bob Ford's bullet stains the pillow behind his head. The cavalryman in the photo is from the 1st Wisconsin. In Phillip Kaufmans 1972 film The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid Robert Duvall plays Jesse James as the true brain damaged psychobilly nut that he was. You can always count on Robert Duvall to get it right.
I would like to now rant about how people have been pronouncing the word "cavalry". (It's CAVAHLREE, not CALVAHREE.) I want all of you to be on the lookout. Offenders will be forced to live in Michigan. The lower part.

Guitar Lessons...or Two Guys from Waukesha

Milwaukeean Steve Miller was 5 years old he received his first, informal guitar lessons. His teacher was a close family friend named Les Paul. The rest is history... I think they'd make a pretty good act.

Three Supersized Egos

The top three American egos of the twentieth century belong to a trio of Wisconsin boys. Their names are (and always will be) synonymous with their respective crafts. Frank Lloyd Wright is architecture, Orson Welles is film directing, and Douglas MacArthur is the American General. Of the three, Orson was the most genial. He could laugh at himself. The other two belong in the Horses Ass Hall of Fame. Their egos certainly drove them to great heights. MacArthur, the grandson of the richest man in Wisconsin and son of the Milwaukee born Civil War hero who first cried out, "On Wisconsin!" (while leading the 24th Wisconsin regiment up missionary ridge), was born an Army Brat on a military base in Little Rock. He eventually returned to native soil and completed his school years at home in Milwaukee. His up and down career would, incredibly, lead him to the role of Shogun - absolute ruler of Japan from 1945 to 1949. Welles, a Kenosha native, was the century's official genius. And Wright, born in Richland Center, was it's reigning architect. Speaking of Mr. Wright, I can't let him get away for stiffing my great uncle, a small town grocer, for a couple of melons. "I'm on my way to Madison, put it on my tab," the great man supposedly said as he walked out of the Mickelson store in Deerfield, Wisconsin unpaid melons tucked under his arm. We're still looking for that tab.

Surrender to Wisconsin #1

Gettysburg, day 1. The 6th Wisconsin takes the bloody railroad cut and Private Francis Waller from De Soto, Wisconsin captures the flag of the 2nd Mississippi. Four fellow Badgers were already shot trying to take the flag. Waller (seen punching a reb in the jaw)took the flag, threw it on the ground and stood on it, taking on all who sought to get it back while continuing to fire into the ranks of the rebels. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day. After proudly displaying it in the state capitol building for decades, Wisconsin gave the flag back to Mississippi in 1905. The painting is by Don Troiani. Francis Wallers' grave can be seen at the Walnut Mound Cemetery in De Soto, Wisconsin. De Soto is a tiny village located on the banks of the Mississippi river. First settled by New Englanders (yankees), it was soon overwhelmed by Norwegians and Germans. Typical. The Great River Road (hwy 35) runs right through it. A drive along this road in late summer or fall should be on everyones "things I should do before I die" list. It is truly spectacular - far more beautiful than either the Minnesota or Iowa side of the river. Stop in Trempealeau on the way and plan on staying overnight. Suck down beers on the veranda, watch the sun go down and enjoy fine dining at the Trempealeau Hotel. You'll be at the far western edge of the former French empire in America - a place we call Wisconsin. I guarantee happiness.

As we were...

Our most popular piece of swag art. Coffee mugs coming soon.

The Girl From Fairchild

CAROLE LANDIS 1919 - 1948

Carole Landis wrote the book on how to live and die like a Hollywood Blonde. Marilyn Monroe read it (and then passed it on to Inger Stevens). Their parallel lives would make Plutarch envious.
To begin with, both Carole and Marilyn were abandoned before birth by fathers of Norwegian descent (who also may or may not have been their biological fathers). Marilyn was born Norma Jeane Mortenson. Carole was born Frances Ridste in Fairchild, Wisconsin - a small town in rural Eau Claire county. In childhood, she knew the death of two brothers - Jerome Ridste was scalded to death, and Lewis Ridste was shot by a friend. She also knew unhappiness, poverty, sexual abuse and a love of all things show business. By age 16, she had been briefly married and was working as a singer in San Francisco. She was attractive, tall and athletic - a fake blonde with a 37DD bust and big league singing chops. To say that Hollywood took notice would be an understatement. Hollywood whistled, telescoped it's eyes, turned into a wolf, picked her up in an extended '34 Deusenberg and deposited her in the anxious lap of alcoholic genius director Busby Berkeley. The two were engaged for awhile and Frances made her motion picture debut as an extra in Warner Brothers' 1937 production, A STAR IS BORN. Soon, Frances Ridste was no more and Carole Landis was born.
There was plenty of work for the beautiful starlet, and everyone wanted her. Literally. Carole dated everyone from Ceasar Romero to Charlie Chaplin, she was married several times and held the front position in line on Darryl F Zanuck's casting couch. Skimpy costumes best suited to show off her body were the real star of the 1941 production, ONE MILLION BC. The otherwise ridiculous caveman film brought her fame. Zanuck did the rest. She was now a star, getting good roles in A pictures - but something was missing. It was all too ephemeral.
World War II gave Carole something she desperately needed -a sense of purpose. She threw herself into entertaining the troops - working her way through fatigue and illness (amoebic dysentary and pneumonia) to be with the boys. Carole's tireless devotion and endless road miles are detailed in her best selling book (and movie), FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP. She's a charming writer and one can only imagine the effect she had on battle weary troops. The Krauts didn't have a chance. She should have been given the Medal of Honor.
The post war years were not kind to Carole. By late 1945, she was tired of Darryl F Zanuck, Hollywood and loveless relationships. She wanted family, stability and children. When she stopped putting out for Zanuck, work became scarce. Two suicide attempts, a brief relationship with future best selling author Jaqueline Suzanne and another failed marriage followed. By 1948, she was keeping company with Rex Harrison. Carole was madly in love and Rex was married. At dinner on the night of July 4, 1948, Rex told Carole that their relationship had to end and that he was going to remain with his wife. Carole promptly went home and downed a bottle of seconal. Harrison found her the next morning. She was dead - slumped over in a fetal position. Carole Landis was 29.
In 1966, Jacqueline Suzanne's novel THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS was the publishing sensation of the century. It sold 30 million copies worldwide. At the time, many readers thought that Suzanne had modeled the book's Jenifer North character after Marilyn Monroe. After all, Monroe's 1962 suicide/death was very fresh in the public memory and during the 50's she had taken Carole Landis' act and ratcheted it up to 11. Not true. "Jennifer North" was mostly Suzannes' old friend and lover, Carole Landis. In the 1967 movie, the role of Jennifer North - a doomed actress who was used and admired only for her body - was played by the equally doomed Sharon Tate. Long ago, I asked a World War II veteran about how he was able to survive the brutal 1944 -45 winter campaign through the Hurtgen Forest - a bloody mess that resulted in more than 30,000 American casualties . He shrugged, smiled, and said, "Carole Landis". About that Medal of Honor...