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Happy Birthday

...to Clark Gable

Pretty, isn't he? He was born in 1901 in Cadiz, which is a little town not too far from Small Town. It's the kind of place that if you're driving down the interstate and see the exit for Cadiz, you only stop if you really, really have to go to the bathroom, and the next exit isn't for miles. The Clark Gable Foundation in Cadiz is hosting what they are calling a "surprise" birthday party for Clark. I'll say it's a surprise.

Everybody knows about Clark Gable and his movies and his ways with women (and allegedly men) and "Frankly, my dear" and all that. So, I won't bother talking about those things. Instead, I'll talk about how young Clark learned to play the mellophone, a kind of marching French horn, and was so good at it he was invited to play in the Hopedale Brass Band in Hopedale, Ohio. He was the youngest member of this little community band, and if his father hadn't moved him to Akron, he would have played for longer than he did. He quit school in the 11th grade, and that was the end of his brass playing.

In lieu of a recording of Gable playing the horn, here are some snippets from Gone With the Wind. Enjoy.

Comments

dive said…
Happy Birthday, Mister Gable.

You certainly know a whole lot of weird stuff about people, Robyn.
I wonder if there are any extant photos of the young Clark and his Mellophone.

Oh, and last time I was there, Cadiz was in Spain. Can't you Colonials think up your own names?
OW!!!!!
8:44 AM
Mrs. G. said…
Clark Gable? Meow baby!
3:17 PM
Cheltenhamdailyphoto said…
lol Dive.

mmmmm Clark....mmmmm i think that's all i need to say.
5:08 PM
Maria said…
I think we all "need to be kissed, and often, by someone who knows how..."
6:02 PM
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