Researching Hollywood, Jerome AZ, and Chicago is as fun as creating fictional characters and inserting them into the culture of 1927. Two principal characters are girl friends–one is a Hopi Indian while the other a vaudeville performer. The other two characters are a killer and an heiress of a copper mining magnate. If you enjoy the history of the motion picture industry, the wild west, and abnormal psychology, join me as I share my research of the Roaring Twenties in America.
As I’m writing the first draft to Inside the Gold Plated Pistol, Sally shares her passion for the stars of Hollywood with her new Hopi friend, Mary Kay. Fleshing out magazine covers and film posters from 1927 reveals a lot about the culture such as what America valued, and the old magazine covers are beautiful. The vamp and the flapper, she’s-got-“it” star Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Douglas Fairbanks, and John Barrymore are inspirations behind my characters. Certainly, as Sally dreams of becoming a movie star, or copying the trends in fashion, I’ll have her pick up issues from Cosmopolitan.
Other popular magazine covers from 1927 remind me what was in vogue. The Roaring 20s was a special time for women to break boundaries and demand their independence. Innovation, music, movies, art, extravagance, and exuberance commanded the decade. It’s these elements I want to incorporate into the novel.
What Sally doesn’t read, other characters will discuss some articles from Vanity Fair and Time and McCall’s and The New Yorker.
Enraptured by the modern world, Sally laments she is stuck in the wild, copper mining town of Jerome, Arizona. If only she could make that next leap from Vaudeville to the motion pictures. Sally shows Mary Kay the world behind the curtain of the Liberty Theater, a museum now, in Jerome, Arizona. I’ll share some pictures and the story behind the movie house soon.
Cindy Bruchman 
Love this article, so intriguing and well-written.
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Thanks, Vinnieh. I’m glad you took the time check it out 🙂 I find this time period fascinating.
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Strange that the history, background and characters of historical of Jerome have been so little exploited or celebrated.
Those old mag covers … posters … they were an art-form. You can frame ’em and hang them on your wall.
What do we get these days? Shark week.
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HI JC: Yes, I would gladly hang these pop-culture greats on the wall. Utterly beautiful. I can’t believe Jerome hasn’t had more publicity. It’s a diamond in the rough, a fantastic microcosm of the Wild West and urban American in the 20s. There’s so much to include. I love living only four miles away from it!
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I luv that place. You’re right, it’s a jewel.
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If anyone can bring the 20’s back to life again – it’s you. Cindy, you have an knack for dealing with all these classics!
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OH, aren’t you swell ;). It’s a fun project and could easily get out of control. I want to focus on a few themes and overlooked ways a culture is shaped. I thought a hiatus was in order, but I’m wrong. I find something interesting in the research part of it and want to share it. I’m grateful it appeals to you, too. 🙂
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Don’t you find research to be a sort of chain reaction? One fact found leads to new searches and more parts of the puzzle – love it!!
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Absolutely! It’s hard for me to keep the blinders on. I easily get lost down one road of details and then another. Everything has a history and a story.
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Sounds fascinating!
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Interesting insight into the roaring 20’s. Good luck with the novel you are working on, set in that era. I’d love to check it out.
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Thanks, Nuwansen. It’s a fun project so far. Lots more to share. 🙂
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A joy to look at those old magazine covers!
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The ideal notion of beauty hasn’t changed much, has it? Sexy but innocent. If you can somehow bottle that into a perfume, every man would buy some. In Hollywood’s terms, you became the new “it” girl. Thanks, Kate for visiting.
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I think this post is an awesome part of a period and area of the country which needs more publicity.
The magazine covers and the background you shared was “extra” interesting, Cindy!
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