April 03

Harriet Helen Gould Beck's  Birthday
 
Harriet Helen Gould Beck was born in Elkton, Missouri in April, 1904. She was the daughter of Corporal William Beck, a veteran of the Spanish-American War. Teddy Roosevelt was President of the United States and there would come a time when little Helen would fall asleep in the great man's lap.

Harriet was interested in dance from an early age an she, ran away with a carnival as a teenagerto work as a dancer.   During the 1920s, Sally acted on stage and appeared in silent films and a few talkies.  Cecil B. DeMille gave her the screen name Sally Rand, inspired by a Rand McNally atlas. After the introduction of talkies, she gave up her film career because of her high, squeaky voice, she became a dancer.
 		  


Sally achieved wide popularity as a dancer with her highly-styled" Lady Godiva" fan dance at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.for which  she was arrested on lewd charges but eventually released. The publicity just fanned her notoriety. She later created the "bubble dance" in which she did a taunting dance with a huge five foot specially constructed translucent bubble to the delight of male audiences the delight of male audiences.

Sally continued to appear on stage doing her fan and bubble ance into her sixties.  She appeared in the late 1950s in an episode of To Tell the Truth. She did not "stump the panel" but was correctly identified by all four panelists. In the 1979 book The Right Stuff, the author Tom Wolfe described Sally Rand fan-dancing for the first American astronauts and other dignitaries and referred to the astronauts observing this sixtyish woman's "ancient haunches". In the 1983 film version of The Right Stuff, Sally Rand was portrayed by actress Peggy Davis. She was referred to as "Sally Strand" in the  ex Avery's cartoon Hollywood Steps Out (1941), where she performs her famous bubble dance onstage to an appreciative crowd. A grinning Peter Lorre caricature in the front row comments, "I haven't seen such a beautiful bubble since I was a child." The routine continues until the bubble suddenly pops, with a surprised Rand (her nudity covered by a well-placed wooden barrel) reacting with shock.

So what could be a more appropriate recipe for Sally's birthday that the traditional British  Bubble and Squeak?  For an after dinner treat, we suggest renting a copy of  The Sunset Murder Case (1938), her final talkie, in which she stars as Kathy O'Connor, as squeaky as ever.

Bubble and squeak is a tradition English dish made with the leftover vegetables, usually from a roast dinner. The main ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas and other vegetables are sometimes added. Bubble and Squeak is traditionally served with cold slices of the leftover roast or other cold meats.
 

Bubble and Squeak
   
Ingredients
 
Approx 1lb of left over boiled, mashed or roasted potatoes
Approx 1/2 lb - 1lb of left over cabbage
 		 3 TB butter or oil
salt and black pepper if desired
 
Instructions
 
  1. Either mash, or rough chop the potatoes into bite size pieces . Chop or break up the cabbage into bite- size pieces.
  2. Mix potatoes and cabbage together mix both these together, adding a little salt or pepper to taste.
  3. Add a  oil or butter to a frying pan or skillet and heat on a medium heat.
  4. When the oil/butter is heated, add the cabbage and potatoes and form into a patty and let cook for 4-5 minutes.
    When the bottom of the patty turns a golden brown color, flip it over to cook on the other side.
  5. Serve with cold cuts.

© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes