They don't call me a great man
for nothing.
In fact, they charge me quite a bit!
Titter, titter, giggle, on all the news channels, at such a surname. Some of us are more mature than that, of course. Ed Balls name isn't really funny, once you consider that Harry Baals was the mayor of Fort Wayne Indiana from 1934 to 1947 and again from 1951 until his death in 1954. He was 68 when he died, but it was of a kidney infection, not of old age. A Popular MayorHe was popular, even among Democrats. There's a street in Fort Wayne named Harry Baals Drive, but when they last replaced the street signs, they decided to label it H. Baals Drive. I think there were people upset that there was so much sniggering at the name. One of the major bridges in Fort Wayne, though, has a metal plate with his full name on it. You know that Jesus Christ's middle initial is H, right? Harry Baals middle initial is W. Although I didn't live in Fort Wayne when I was growing up, I heard lots of men saying things to their loved ones like "Get your Harry W. Baals out of that chair and mow the grass" and "You can bet your Harry W. Baals." Carole LombardThe picture of Carole Lombard? That's because I don't have a picture of Harry, except in group photos with the fire department. The wife of first Dick Powell, then Clark Gable, Carole was born in 1908 as Jane Alice Peters of Fort Wayne. When she died in a 1942 plane crash, Harry Baals had her childhood home designated a national landmark, and put up a plaque designating as the Carole Lombard House. It's licensed as a bed-and-breakfast, but not currently operating as one. Other Bloggers On Related Topics: |
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Re: the Lombard plaque
It was actually installed on the house on Jan. 1, 1938, while Carole was still alive, as a promotion for her new film "Nothing Sacred." The idea originated with Selznick International's publicist, Russell Birdwell. The plaque was made in Los Angeles and Lombard saw it before it was shipped east, though she never actually saw it on the house (her last visit to Fort Wayne had come in the summer of 1930).