reatha watson: the girl who was too beautiful

On January 7, 1913, the "Tacoma Times" published a story about the successful recovery of "pretty Reatha Watson," a 16-year-old former Tacoma convent school student who had disappeared from Los Angeles.  The suspects in the kidnapping were two Seattle residents, Violet Ake and C. C. Boxley.

 One year later, on Feburary 19, 1914, Reatha Watson was back in the news again - this time for being "too pretty" to live safely in the city of Los Angeles.

"Miss Watson complained that she was constantly being annoyed by 'mashers,' and it was when she haled one of the more persistent admirers into police court that the judge took official cognizance of her attractiveness."

Shortly after this incident, Reatha changed her name and transformed herself into the famous film star Barbara La Marr - "The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful."  Born in Yakima in 1896, she is reported to have made her stage debut in Tacoma in a 1904 production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."  She ran away from home at the age of 14 to become a burlesque dancer in Los Angeles, and also worked as a screenwriter before embarking on her successful acting career.  She died in 1926.

famous billie burke poses

This advertisement from January 8, 1914 is one of a series of promotions for the sale of Billie Burke pennants.

Billie Burke was a popular stage and screen star, with a career that spanned an impressive 6 decades.  She was the second wife of Florenz Ziegfeld of Follies fame.  Today she is remembered by many as Glinda from "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). 

I was initially skeptical of the ad's claim that these pennants were created "exclusively for the Tacoma Times," but all of my research indicates that this is actually true.  Why they were created for distribution in Tacoma is a mystery.  A few of these pennants still exist and have sold at auction.  Who wouldn't want to decorate their home with Billie's lovely face & figure?

images courtesy of the Library of Congress - chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

tacoma day

July 16, 1909 was "Tacoma Day" at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition in Seattle.

The "Tacoma Times" - never missing a chance to denigrate Seattle - declares that Tacoma Day events resulted in the "Greatest Crowd That Ever Invaded the City."  Tacoma residents arrived via steamboat "with banners and streamers declaring 'Tacoma's Pride is Justified,' and assuring outsiders that 'They'll Like Tacoma.' ... Everybody wore a great flaming badge 'Tacoma.'"  The centerpiece of the day's events was a "monster parade" during which the mayors of Tacoma and Seattle rode together in an automobile.  "Another large machine was loaded with thirty handsome Tacoma young women, and made a pleasing feature of the procession." 

The article doesn't mention the enormous sign erected along the waterfront in honor of Tacoma Day:

Two weeks later, on July 31st, the "Times" published an acrostic poem by Nathan Ward FitzGerald, ostensibly inspired by Tacoma Day.  FitzGerald is remembered today as the first follower of the Baha'i faith to settle in the Pacific Northwest.

"There's 'no place like it,' you will find."
 
images courtesy of the Library of Congress - chroniclingamerica.loc.gov