April 23
Shirley Temple's Birthday

When Gertrude Temple leaned that she was pregnant, she tried to influence her daughter's future by prenatal association with music and dancing,  During her pregnancy, she listened to phonograph records, read books aloud, and attended dance recitals and concerts.  In  Shirley's first years, Gertrude read stories to her  altering the pitch of her voice according to the character's gender and enacted the story and characters.

Gertrude's prenatal training paid off big  time in Shirley's singing and dancing talents, Her  tyke also began the acting lessons that would soon make the tiny mimic a major  movie star by the age age of three when  she skyrocketed to superstardom in Bright Eyes (1934), a feature film designed specifically for her talents.

Sirley subsequently received a special Academy Award in February 1935, and blockbuster hits such as Curly Top and Heidi followed year after year during the mid to late 1930s. Many of the songs in her films became popular radio hits, and none more than On the Good Ship Lollipop which became her trademark song. She first sang it in Bright Eyes (1934). It is still a classic as evidenced by the rapper Khia whom made a reference to the song in her remix of Lil' Wayne's single Lollipop.

But none of us stay cute forever. As she grew older, her film offers decreased. She retired from films to raise her children and then did a few television gigs, most notable the short-lived The Shirley Temple Show. She then turned to Republican politics in California where "cute" still wasn't an asset and lost her bid for a seat in Congress. However, her political activity paid off when President Richard M. Nixon appointed  her Representative to the 24th General Assembly of the United Nations. That launched her as a valuable Republican assert and President Gerald R. Ford subsequently  appointed first female Chief of Protocol of the United States (July 1, 1976 – January 21, 1977), and was in charge of arrangements for President Jimmy Carter's inauguration and inaugural ball .She was then appointed by President George H. W. Bush as United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (August 23, 1989 – July 12, 1992).

Mothers who may be reluctant to follow Gertrude Temple's prenatal talent-enhancing regimen, may want to consider helping reduce the recent epidemic of childhood obesity by introducing their talented and non-talented offspring to reduced sugar lollipops. Serve them on Shirley's birthday along with with Bright Eyes.
 

Lollipops

 

Special Equipment
 
  • 20 (4-inch) lollipop sticks
  • Candy thermometer

Ingredients
 
1&1/2 cups Splenda
1/.2 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
 
 		 any desired flavoring (a few drops of oil of wintergreen, peppermint,
  or other flavoring)
appropriate vegetable coloring


 
Instructions
 
  1. Combine Splenda, sugar, and cream of tartar with the 2/3 cup water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. ]
  2. Boil until a temp of 290º F on a candy thermometer is reached or until a drop of mixture will become hard when dropped into cold water.
  3. Remove from heat. Add flavoring and coloring. Pour into greased pans or molds. When partly cooled insert wooden sticks. Chill.

© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes