My father liked two things for sure: Pretty women and he liked being happy. From the first time he went out on the road with his first song in 1919, through his movie making days in 1939, ’40 and ’41 his ensemble included chorus girls and comedy. He even incorporated dancing girls, tap dancers, singers and comedic skits in his last 1949 movie that depicted Blacks and how they dealt with life after the Atom Bomb. For those new to this blog you can see his last movie on YouTube-it’s titled Mr. Adam’s Bomb. A young lady (Margaret Westfield) sings a song called “You can Always Believe Your Heart” which Eddie wrote. I am still looking for information on Ms. Westfield.
Eddie became a household name as Eddie, the waiter in the radio program Duffy’s Tavern, during the last ten years of his life. Everyone loved Eddie. February is Black History Month. I am going to inundate social media with “fun Eddie stuff”. I want to get him as much exposure as possible. I want to get as many people as I can to experience Eddie’s good nature and for them to get a few laughs as well. I think our world could use uplifting right now. Eddie’s life story is truly inspiring. I will also be pushing the biography I have written about him, “Eddie Green The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer“, it’s much more fun that that “other” book everyone is talking about these days.
In this still from Eddie’s 4th movie you can see that Eddie (in the striped shirt) liked being silly (which is why, I am sure I like silly jokes: What kind of flower is that on your face? Tulips!!! Hahahahaha!) There were even chorus girls in this movie.
So here’s to a Funny February.
And thanx, for stopping by.
NORMA and EDDIE choose the name “ELVA” for their new daughter. Elva Green. This was of course a few years ago. Well, more than a few. I got the idea for this post because Kanye and Kim are trending on twitter because of their newest child’s name. I like to show my blog’s younger readers that famous couples have been trending in the news for years. Readers of today’s news have come up with all sorts of reasons K and K chose the name that they did for their child. And this reminded me that most of my life I have wondered how my father chose my name. Despite the fact that my name contains only 4 letters, people have mispronounced it always. Evelyn, Eva, Elvis, Alva, Elba. When I was a kid, the other kids called me Greenie stickum caps (I think some of you older folks might remember those).
When my father was still alive, mom would put me in our Buick and drive me to see the street sign that read Elva Ave. It was located in Compton, California. I remembered looking at the sign out of the passenger window. So I thought I was named after that street for a long while. As an adult I wondered why that name was chosen for a street in Compton. In my lifetime I have met less than ten women named Elva. And none of them were Black. There were a lot of Black people in Compton when I was a child. I researched a bit and discovered Elva has roots in Scandinavia-I think it means “running brook”. Compton was named after a settler who travelled from Pittsylvania, Va., where Scot and Irish had settled.
Well, here is the announcement in the newspaper about me and my name and my proud daddy. And my mom, the former Norma Amato. The name my father gave me has taken me around the world. I am proud of my name as I am sure Kim and Kanye’s daughter will be of her name.
For the last couple of weeks I have been running on empty. It’s not new for me. Periodically, I slow way down. Family issues, world events, self-doubt and other issues overwhelm me. But, my misery does not love company, besides, everybody has problems. The day after Christmas I went out and seemed like everybody was pissed off. And today because of the snow back east a newscaster was talking about a “misery map”. Anywho, this is my reason for not posting lately. So, while looking for a photo on Google Advanced Images for this blog I typed in “Misery Loves Company: and got “the freeze”. Because I have such a weird sense of humor this picture cracked me up. This guy looks miserable. The fact that I laughed when I saw this picture lets me know I am still my old self-silly. And I am not as miserable as he looks. In fact, January has started off well for me (I had the best day with my daughter and her honey) and I do hope this year brings all of you happiness.
There is more, of course, but these words spoke to me. They said what I feel, that I am simply an average, struggling, female human being who happens to be Black and who just wants to live the best life I can. I go to work. I’ve raised a child. I pay bills. I’m not pissed off because I am Black. I just am who I am. I decide what I want or need to do and I do it. Eddie was like that. When he was asked about Blacks being able to get into radio back in the 30s he said: “Radio for Negroes is a very hard field to get into . . . very hard! But the returns are so great that it’s worth the try.” Commenting further he also said: He found one thing to be true, “Talent is appreciated . . . you get respect if you know your business.” Eddie also said: “If you’ve got the talent, you can’t miss in the long run, even if it’s mighty long!”
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