Official
Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site
Since
1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages in Archive
Volume
6359
ERB'S LIFE & LEGACY :: DAILY
EVENTS
GO
TO OUR FULL YEAR'S CONTENTS
www.ERBzine.com/events
A COLLATION OF THE DAILY
EVENTS IN ERB-WORLD
FROM THE PAGES OF THE HILLMANS'
ERBzine
Collated by John Martin and
Bill Hillman
With Web Design, Added Events,
Links,
Illustrations and Photo Collages
by Bill Hillman
BACK TO DAILY
EVENTS INTRO and CONTENTS
WEEK FOURa: PART TWO
www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6359.html
DEC 27 ~ DEC
28 ~ DEC 29 ~ DEC 30
~ DEC 31
VISIT DECEMBER WEEK PHOTO ALBUM
www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6358pics.html
BACK TO DECEMBER WEEK 4: Pt. 1
Dec 22 ~ Dec 23 ~ Dec 24 ~ Dec 25 ~ Dec 26
www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6358.html
Click for full-size images
DECEMBER
27
Cheetah RIP ~ Tarzan Controversy and Boom in LIFE
~ ERB's and Kipling's Juvenile Books
Joe Celardo: Artist ~ Bob Hyde with JCB's Family and
in Tip Top Comics ~ Maxon "What-If" Tip Top
.
1928: On this date ERB expressed his opinion of his own experiment
in writing stories for juveniles. This was after a rather tepid reception
of The Tarzan Twins, written for a juvenile audience. It was published
by Volland the previous year on October 10, 1927. It contained 126 pages
and 23,000 words. He then added what he thought about Kipling's efforts
in writing for a juvenile market.:
"It gives me a great deal of pleasure
to hear from children and to know that they like my stories. An odd thing
about my work is that my stories are written for adults and I have a very
large adult following and that the only juvenile that I ever wrote, "The
Tarzan Twins," is practically my only flop. Trying to find
out why has taught me a lesson. I have it from no less an authority than
the president of A.C. McClurg & Company, who has been publishing
books for many years, that from fifteen years up children read and enjoy
adult literature. I made my mistake in "The Tarzan Twins" by doing what
is known as 'writing down' and succeeded only in reaching a mental level
far below that of the young people I wished to appeal to. I think Kipling
did the same thing in his "Just So" stories, for I know that as far as
I was concerned they were the rottenest things he did."
In spite of his feelings, ERB went on to write a second
juvenile story, "Tarzan
and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-bal-ja the Golden Lion," in 1936.
Pulled from ERB's Personal Journals
http://www.erbzine.com/bio/years20.html
The TarzanTwins: History, Art,
Info
http://www.erbzine.com/mag4/0498.html
The Tarzan Twins: Read the e-Text
Here
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/twins.html
Tarzan Twins: 102 Rex Maxon Strips from 1935
http://www.erbzine.com/mag61/6102.html
Tarzan Twins: Gold Key Comic
http://www.erbzine.com/mag41/4176.html
Tarzan Twins: Morphology of a Folktale
http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/1367.html
Read all 48 pages of this Give-Away Edition
http://www.erbzine.com/mag64/6446.html
*** 1961: A Downy,
California school teacher
stated that Tarzan and Jane never married. The resulting furor and publicity
resulted in a major boom in the publishing and popularity of ERB's books
-- many of which the copyrights were lapsed. The phenomenon was covered
in a multitude of newspapers and magazines including LIFE Magazine
~ November 29, 1963. The boom was spearheaded by the release of Canaveral
hardcovers and ACE and Ballantine paperbacks. Use of Frazetta and Krenkel
art for covers and interiors lured in millions of new readers.
"Tarzan publishers stand behind Jane's fair name":
The Modesto Bee
~TARZANA, Los Angeles Co. - UPI- Publishers
of the Tarzan books rose up in arms today against critics who tried to
besmirch the fair name of the apeman's mate Jane.
Cause for the indignation was a report from nearby Downey
stating that an elementary school banned the Tarzan books and the western
stories of Zane Grey from its library.
It was intimated in hushed tones that Tarzan and his
mate had an offspring without benefit of wedlock and therefore the books,
"Tarzan of the Apes" and "The Return of Tarzan" might
have a deteriorate effect on young minds. In connection with the Zane
Grey books, it was said that some of his characters used language a
little stronger than "shucks" or "gee whiz."
~ 'They Were Married' Tarzan's
main defender was Ralph Rothmund, general manager of Edgar Rice
Burroughs, Inc., the firm established by the late author of the Tarzan
books which gave the name to this Los Angeles suburb. Said Rothmund in
high dudgeon: "They were married. They were married. Anyone who has read
the books at all closely should know they were married.
NOTE: Mr. Rothmund's defense
of Tarzan was admirable. However, he himself should have reviewed the last
chapter of "The Return of Tarzan." If he had, instead of
saying "The father may not have been an ordained minister," he could have
quoted from the book itself, which says he definitely was: "Professor
Porter, who in his younger days had been ordained a minister, conducted
the simple services for the dead."
~ "Jane and Tarzan took the marriage
vows in the jungle with her father present. The father may not have
been an ordained minister but after all things were pretty primitive in
those days in the jungle. It is common practice
in some primitive areas for betrothed couples to take their vows of marriage
without the presence of an ordained clergyman.
~ Jack of All Trades: "You'll
find that most churches recognize such marriages. Jane's father had to
be - like all white men in the jungle - a jack of all trades. Such a man
would be a minister, a doctor, a carpenter, anything you want to name.
"Why it's ridiculous if the Tarzan books have been banned by some narrow
minded people. But I guess it takes all kinds to make a world. They say
there are even people who hate God."
~ In Downey, Superintendent of
Schools Bruce Boore was under instructions from the school board to
investigate the reported banning of the books as soon as teachers and librarians
return from Christmas vacation. Board member Robert Ryan said he was told
the books were removed from a school library because some parents thought
Grey's books "contained obscene words and that there was no indication
that Tarzan and his mate were ever married."
Tarzan Publishers Stand Behind
Jane's Fair Name
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3139.html#JANE
Burroughs Boom of the '60s:
Life Magazine
http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1433.html
Tarzan X-Rated
http://www.erbzine.com/mag45/4551.html
ERB C.H.A.S.E.R. Bibliography
Info on all titles
http://www.ERBzine.com/chaser
*** 1940: Bob Hyde's Letter in
Tip Top, Dec. 27, 1940:
Another very important event happened to me in 1940.
My letter to Tip Top Comics was selected to be headlined as the "Hobby-of-the-Month"
in the February 1941 issue, which came out on December 27, 1940. As a result
of the publication, I received more than 100 letters from other kids in
the United States, England and South Africa.
Many wanted to start a Tarzan collection hobby, others
just wanted a pen-pal, and a few were Tarzan collectors. I answered every
letter and every response to my letters. This went on for several years,
until all correspondence died out. But many years later, I was able to
reestablish contact with two of the boys (now men) who had been collectors
then, and I still correspond with one of them.In all, 1940 was a very eventful
year for me.
Dear Hobby Editor:
I have a hobby which I think no one else can equal. I
collect everything about Tarzan I can find. I have 20 of the 21 full length
Tarzan books -- two of them are first editions; one of them is autographed
by Edgar Rice Burroughs himself. All together I have 44 Tarzan books, four
of which I made myself from picture articles, Sunday papers and your swell
magazine Tip Top Comics. I also have a 100-foot film of Tarzan, the Boy;
a Tarzan puppet with full equipment and I have three Tarzan suits -- one
of them my mother made, one a Halloween masquerade costume and one a bathing
suit. I also have all the equipment -- spear, bow and arrow, quiver, rope,
hunting knife, fur belt, a wig and a head band. I would like to hear from
anyone else interested in Tarzan.
Bob Hyde ~ 404 Kenmore Ave. S.E. ~ Warren, Ohio
Tip Top Reference in our Bob Hyde Tribute
http://www.erbzine.com/mag6/0688.html#TIP%20TOP
Tip Top: Tarzan Cover Bibliography
http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0822.html
*** 2011:
Cheetah
the chimpanzee, who acted in classic Tarzan movies in the early 1930s,
died of kidney failure Saturday at Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor,
a sanctuary spokeswoman said. Cheetah was roughly 80 years old, loved fingerpainting
and football and was soothed by nondenominational Christian music, said
Debbie Cobb, the sanctuary's outreach director. He was an outgoing chimp
who was exposed to the public his whole life, Cobb said today. "He wasn't
a chimp that caused a lot of problems," . . . "In the wild, the average
chimp survives 25 to 35 years and at zoos chimps typically live 35 to 45
years," she said.
Tarzan co-star Cheetah dies
at Palm Harbor sanctuary
http://www.erbzine.com/mag36/3645.html
Cheetah Has Died
https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/
Cheetah's ERBzine Scrapbook
http://www.erbzine.com/mag16/1697.html
*** 1918: John Celardo
(Artist,
Writer, Editor) was born on Staten Island: (December 27, 1918 – January
6, 2012) John Celardo is remembered for his very long run on both the daily
and Sunday TARZAN strips beginning in 1954 and ending in 1968, eventually
drawing a total of 4350 daily strips and 724 Sunday strips.
JOHN CELARDO TARZAN CONTENTS
All the Daily Strips in ERBzine.com
PART 1
http://www.erbzine.com/mag38/3801.html
PART 2
http://www.erbzine.com/mag43/4301.html
PART 3
http://www.erbzine.com/mag44/4401.html
PART 4
http://www.erbzine.com/mag46/4601.html
DECEMBER
28
John Philip Bird, Army Intelligence: Pearl Harbor:
his Jap flag and letter to Joan ~ ERB: banned authors on New Yorker
ERB: with Phil Bird's Lighter and in a Cannibal Village
~ Brother Men ~ Downey City Library Banned Books Display
1961 "Tarzan Fans Say Ape Man IS
Married" appeared as an AP story. But the nation was still reeling.
nation was reeling. Tearful people poured out of office buildings, crying
"No, no!" Morgues were overflowing with suicide victims while emergency
hospitals experienced standing room only from people bleeding from self-inflicted
wounds. People were not, however, rioting and throwing bricks through store
windows to steal television sets, because that particular form of showing
grief and anger had not yet been popularized. But many adverse reactions
did rock the populace, which had been hit with the unexpected news: Tarzan
and Jane were never married! The huddled masses yearned that someone would
say it was not so. But the story had been featured prominently in newspapers
throughout the U.S. This was the worst news some had heard since they first
learned there was no Santa Claus.
The news had broken recently in the
little town of Downey, Calif., where a school employee had been brave enough
to take a step that would be sure to be unpopular, but which would protect
young, impressionable children from turning to a life of sordid sin. The
employee had removed the offending Tarzan books from the school library
shelves.
But then, as is so often the case, the followup news
began to cast some doubts on the veractiy of the original story. Yes, Tarzan
was too married, said Burroughs fans. Indeed, Tarzan and Jane had exchanged
wedding vows, claimed ERB Inc. officials. And, Edgar Rice Burroughs himself,
speaking from the grave, asked if anyone ever bothered to actually read
The
Return of Tarzan.
ERB's words was included in The Milwaukee Journal,
Dec. 28, 1961, which quoted him from a statement made years earlier when
the same controversy had briefly surfaced. At that time, he said: "I would
advise you to read my books. In one of my early books it was established
that Jane's name was Jane Porter, that she was the daughter of a minister
in Baltimore, Md., and that the father went to the jungle and there married
Tarzan and Jane."
It's hard to put toothpaste back in
the tube, but slowly the word did spread, and eventually people's fears
were calmed, Tarzan books were restored to shelves, publishers began to
get ERB books back in print, and all was right with the world again. See
the Milwaukee Journal's Dec. 28 story, along with a Dec. 27, 1961, article
from The Modesto Bee in ERBzine 3139
The Downey
Library Controversy has carried on through the decades since the story
broke in 1961. Even Downey apologists have entered the fray to put their
spin on it.
"The
New Yorker" of July 4, 1994, celebrated Independance Day with a
cover full of authors who had their novels banned at one time or another.
ERB's Tarzan books were banned in Germany early in the 20th Century
because of his characterizations of German soldiers, and Tarzan was banned
temporarily years later by some librarians who had never read the books
and had made incorrect assumptions about them.
Tarzan and Jane Scandal
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3139.html
Did the Downey library really ban Tarzan books?
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3139.html#downey
Read Ch. 26: Tarzan and Jane Wedding
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/t2rt.html
New Yorker in ERBzine Eclectica: Mar 9, 200
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0557.html
Banned In Germany: ERB/German Controversy
http://www.erbzine.com/mag32/3294.html
Tarzan and His Mate banned by Hitler's Nazi Party
http://www.erbzine.com/mag6/0615.html
Tarzan Banned in Germany and Russia
http://www.erbzine.com/mag15/1599.html
New Yorker: Banned ERB Cover
http://www.erbzine.com/mag5/0557.html
***
1942: War Correspondent Edgar Rice Burroughs was spending
a few days in Australia prior to returning to New Caledonia,
a large island east of Australia and north of New Zealand. Anyone who has
ever had to spend some time in a strange town where everything is closed
for the holidays can appreciate his doldrums. On this date he had been
trying to get his laundry done and find a place for a haircut for days
without success. Everything was closed for the holidays. ERB reflected
on meeting so many great and interesting people, but noted that his only
real friend after all these years was Bert Weston from Beatrice,
Nebraska. Some of the significant correspondence between the two men
has been published in the book "Brother Men," the title of
which comes from the chapter in "Tarzan of the Apes" in which
Tarzan and Lt. Paul D'Arnot come to know each other well while surviving
in the jungle together.
A century earlier, ERB would have
had to get along with cannibal tribes on New Caledonia, and perhaps they
still roamed in the hills and forests of the large island, which is slightly
larger than Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. Acts
of cannibalism were attested to by this daring explorer who made friends
with the tribes and traveled through their regions unscathed.
The ERB: War Years series in
ERBzine displays photos of ERB visiting former cannibal villages.
The author of "Brother Men"
is Matt Cohen, the great-grandson of Bert Weston. While visiting
his grandmother's Nebraska home he discovered a collection of hundreds
of letters, photographs, telegrams, postcards and drawing saved by Bert
Weston. This treasure trove documented the 50-year friendship between Weston
and ERB that began in the 1890s. This collection comprises a record of
events: Their meeting in military school on to their experiences of family,
work, war, disease and health, sports, and new technology over a time period
spanning two World Wars, the Great Depression, and widespread political
change. These exchanges provide a window into the personal writings of
ERB and reveal his ideas about race, nation, and what it meant to be a
man in early-twentieth-century America. Cohen's "Brother Men"
features hightlights of some of this correspondence and is an important
addition to any Burroughs fan's collection.
ERB Wartime Journals: 50 Illustrated Pages
https://www.erbzine.com/mag68/6800.html
ERB: The War Years - The Wartime Journals Summarized
http://www.erbzine.com/mag10/1035.html
Brother Men: Ch. 23: Tarzan of the Apes
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/t1ta.html#Chapter%2023:%20Brother
Bert Weston Letter Excerpts: Danton Files and Brother
Men
http://www.erbzine.com/bio/years10.html
http://www.erbzine.com/bio/years20.html
http://www.erbzine.com/bio/years30.html
http://www.erbzine.com/mag10/1035.html
ERB Visits Cannibal Village
http://www.erbzine.com/mag41/4196.html
Off-Site Reference
New
Caledonia Cannibals
*** 1943: A year later, ERB was back
on Oahu and started a letter to daughter Joan on this date. It probably
took a couple of days to finish it since he mentions going to lunch and
later writes that he did go, and then writes about a party he attended
that evening.
The letter was "interrupted" by Phil
Bird, who took Ed's seat at the typewriter and wrote a couple of short
paragraphs to say hello to Joan. This was the John Philip Bird to
whom he dedicated "Llana of Gathol." In the letter, ERB tells
his daughter that "Phil gave me a swell Ronson lighter
-- one of those with a wind guard that you pull up in a gale."
Phil Bird was an Army Intelligence
Officer at Pearl Harbor and after the Japanese attack he examined the wreckage
of a Zero that had been shot down during the attack. He salvaged a Jap
flag from the downed pilot which he brought home to Oklahoma City
after the war. Two of his brothers
were also in the American Armed Forces. His family later donated this flag
to the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii.
ERB Letter to Joan
http://www.erbzine.com/mag10/1025.html#December%2028
Llana of Gathol: History ~ Art ~ Info
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0738.html
John Philip Bird and Brothers: Pearl Harbor
http://www.ERBzine.com/mag63/birdbros.jpg
Off-Site Reference:
Pearl Harbor
Vets
1939:
December 28: Joseph E. Bray of McClurg died. Herbert A. Gould,
a McClurg employee and friend of the Burroughs family had persuaded Bray
to publish the first Burroughs book, Tarzan of the Apes.
ERB Bio Timeline and Journals
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
DECEMBER
29
Asylum's Princess of Mars starring Traci Lords
and Antonio Sabato, Jr. ~ Den Valdron's nod to Asylum
with his 80-chapter Mars adventure novel: Princess
of Az-Lium with Dejah Thoris art by Paul Privitera
*** 1936: Burroughs' A
Princess of Mars came out in 1912, and within a couple of decades
people were trying to make it into a movie. In fact, efforts
to make A Princess of Mars go all the way back to the dawn
of movies - its been one of those great unfilmables. At some
point or other, just about everyone had his hands in it.
ERB's son, John Colman Burroughs
and Bob Clampett, the famous animator, and creator of Loonytoons were
the first to take a go at it back in 1936. ERBzine has covered this project
and I've included their one-of-a-kind related art portfolio and test footage.
Danton and I discovered their huge art portfolio during one of our searches
in the Tarzana, ERB, Inc. warehouse. We snapped photos of most of the pages
and made the images available to dedicated ERB fans. Theirs was a
proposal for an animated A Princess of Mars that would have
beaten Snow White as the first animated feature. Sadly, it didn't
fly.
Harryhausen, the stop motion
animation giant, is reported to have been interested, and some of the creatures
in his Sinbad movies seem suspiciously like Tharks. Particularly
a trio of bug-eyed monsters that fight Sinbad in the voyage with the stop-motion
baboon and troglodyte.
Disney made a proposal in the
1980s that got pretty close and got as far as storyboards and pre-productions.
The storyboards depict Tharks as normal-sized green men with onion-shaped
heads wearing birdcages. Some of these storyboards are found elsewhere
here in ERBzine.
The rise of CGI technology, and the
success of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings probably made the Barsoom movie
inevitable. By this time, just about every major fantasy property
from Harry Potter to the Chronicles of Narnia had the Hollywood treatment,
and Princess of Mars had been knocking around for a long, long time. So,
from probably about 1995, it was inevitable that sooner or later, someone
was going to get off their butts and do it. A lot of names
got associated with the project - Jon Favreau, Kerry Conran, Robert
Rodrigues. Some good, some not so good. You never
know. Sometimes these things seem like a roulette table, with the
wheel spinning, the ball bouncing, and the movie falling randomly into
some lap or other. With rumours of Disney on board with the project Asylum
rushed their low budget effort into production. Their rather feeble effort
starring Traci Lords and did little in promoting the success of the lavish
Disney/Pixar production in 2012: John
Carter (of Mars).
THE JOHN CARTER ANIMATION PROJECT
PROMOTIONAL PORTFOLIO BY JOHN COLEMAN BURROUGHS
https://www.erbzine.com/mag21/2175.html
https://www.erbzine.com/mag21/2176.html
John Carter (of Mars) ~ 2012 Disney Film
https://www.cartermovie.com
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film/jcevolutionall.jpg
https://www.ERBzine.com/cards/film6/johncarter1936animationall.jpg
*** 2009: Fans
of Edgar Rice Burroughs, drooling in anticipation of the planned 2012 release
of Disney's "John Carter," were able to get their appetites sated
to some degree with
Asylum's "Princess of Mars," based on the same
novel, which was released (or escaped) Dec. 29, 2009. This low-budget film
starred Traci Lords and Antonio Sabato, Jr.
The Asylum movie followed the plot
of ERB's original about as well as Disney's did two years later, both deviating
from the original story in different ways. Both, of course, had John Carter
being transported to Mars to meet Tharks and Dejah Thoris and have adventures
before being brought back down to earth.
The Asylum budget could afford only Tharks with four
limbs and normal height -- wearing coverall costumes -- compared to Disney's
with six appendages and a taller height, although still not as tall as
the Tharks in ERB's original. Asylum's version had ERB's atmosphere plant;
Disney's had Therns with supernatural powers. One reviewer at the Asylum
film's IMDB page wrote these paragraphs:
"There are no shortage of rocky moments,
including awkward scenes with Kantos Kan, and there's definitely stuff
to dislike. Shortcuts, or shots where there was no time or money to do
more than get something in the can. But flaws aside, it's a relatively
faithful telling of the novel. The biggest changes are the reduction of
the role and backstory of Tars Tarkas, and the elimination of the Zodangan
war, as well as the cosmetic stuff - short stubby two armed Tharks, riding
giant birds instead of eight legged horses.
"A lot of the true heart of the novel
and the characters remain. John Carter is light hearted and heroic, Dejah
Thoris is regal and idealistic, Tars Tarkas is noble. The relationships
develop naturally between them, the acting is usually decent and sometimes
quite good. The location shooting in the Vazques rocks is a highlight,
the place looks genuinely weird and alien. The script, apart from the occasional
clunky line, moves quickly and efficiently, there are witty lines.
"Frankly, my advice is to go look
at the trailer. A lot of times, the trailers are better than the actual
film.
Or the trailers contain all the good parts of the film and the actual film
tends to be mostly filler. In this case, the trailer is actually a good
showcase for the film. If you liked the trailer, you'll enjoy the film."
We also have the immortal words of fan Billy York to give us a sense of
the movie, since Billy managed to see it before anyone else. Billy's reviews
prove the old saying that a review can be better than the movie itself!
Longtime, prolific ERBzine Contributor
and fan of ERB and pulp fiction, Den Valdron, reviewed the Asylum
film and was inspired to draw upon all these sources to write an exciting
80-chapter Mars adventure novel. We serialized this prodigious work in
ERBzine and added many Mars related illustrations by Paul Privitera.
Den gave the novel a rather fascinating title: Princess of Az-Lium.
We serialized this prodigious work in ERBzine and added many Mars-related
illustrations by Paul Privitera. Our online ERBzine presentation
of this novel is "on hold" while it awaits its print publication.
Princess of Mars: Den Valdron Review
https://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3033.html
Traci Lords: Asylum's Princess of Mars
https://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3034.html
Princess of Mars Photo Gallery
https://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3033a.html
Novel based on the Asylum characters:
Princess of Az-Lium: 80 Chapters by Den Valdron
(On hold)
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3160.html
Den Valdron's Fantasy Worlds of ERB
https://www.erbzine.com/valdron/
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film4/tracilordsprincessofmars.jpg
Off-Site References
Princess
of Mars Trailer
Princess
of Mars: The Film
Princess
of Mars in IMDB
Billy
York Fan Review
*** 1931: The 2000-word article,
"Literary
Rights," was sent upon request to Writer's Digest. It
was published as "Protecting
the Author's Rights" in the 1932 Writer's Yearbook.
ERB's Protecting the Author's Rights
http://www.erbzine.com/mag0/0052.html
*** 1920:"Sweetheart
Eternal" and
"Sweet
Rose in God's Garden Above" - two love poems - were written.
*** 1922: Ed submitted a
1,000-word article to the
Los Angeles Times in which he gave his
views on literary people, collecting, writers of sex stories, and boring
books.
*** 1944: Ed's hernia operation
was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Two nurses, Miss Margaret Grant and Miss Alicia
Burns made his journal entries for the next week. Ed spent a month in convalescence.
*** 1961: Tarzan fans objected
to book suppression in Santa Ana.
ERB Bio Timeline and Personal
Journal
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
DECEMBER
30
Tarzan and the Leopard Men: later serialized
by Maxon strips ~ Jungle Girl: Burroughs, Herndon and
Krenkel covers ~ Hillmans at Angkor Wat ~ ERB and
Bill at Morrison Lake ~ Jeanette Nolan
*** 1918: "Local Mystery"
- a fictitious foreign correspondent's account of a visit to Paris - was
printed in the Coldwater, Michigan, Daily Reporter. (Ed's sister-in-law
Leila was editor). Sometime in this period Ed bought a country place in
Coldwater. The area had been a Burroughs and Hulbert family vacation spot
for years.
During Michael Hatt's 2013
Coldwater
Dum-Dum, Sue-On and I had a great time tracking ERB who had
spent many summers here. We explored the historic downtown area, the Hulbert's
Sunnyside Farm (their summer residence - ERB's first wife Emma was a Hulbert),
and on to the shores of Morrison Lake where the Burroughs family
had cottages. Returning to town we stopped at the Wing House Museum
- built in 1875, the year of ERB's Birth. We then explored all floors of
the J.B. Branch Department Store. There is a photo of ERB standing
in a second floor window of that large building watching a Fourth of July
Parade. I made a point of having my photo taken while posing in that same
window :) We then found our way to the historic railway station
-- a station that Burroughs passed through many times during his commutes
to and from Chicago and beyond.
Burroughs and Hulbert Country Places in Coldwater
http://www.erbzine.com/mag62/6254.html
Coldwater 2017 Dum-Dum
http://www.erbzine.com/mag62/6251.html
Tarzan Slept Here by Michael Hatt: ERB's Coldwater
Adventures
http://www.erbzine.com/mag56/5648.html
*** 1929: The Dancing Girl of the Leper King
was completed. It was later published in Blue Book Magazine ~ May through
September 1931 under the title: "The Dancing Girl of the Leper King."
Laurence
Herndon did the cover art on first issue and Frank Hoban did
seven interiors in each issue. The first edition was titled
Jungle
Girl and was published by ERB, Inc. on April 15, 1932 with
318 pages ~ Print Run: 5,333 ~ Word count: 67,000. Studley O. Burroughs
did the DJ art and six interior b/w plates. The book's title was changed
again for the 1963 ACE paperback reprint release.
During our month-long stay in SE Asia,
Sue-On and I explored Jungle Girl country in Cambodia. We rented
Quad-ATVs and drove through city and village streets, country roads, jungle
trails, rice fields and to historic temple sites including Angkor Wat.
We took many photos and they're included in the SE Asia section of our
Hillman
Travel Adventures Site.
Jungle Girl: History ~ Art ~ Info
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0776.html
Jungle Girl: Read the e-Text Edition
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/jg.html
Hillmans in Search of Ankor Wat, Cambodia
http://www.erbzine.com/mag56/5699.html
https://www.hillmanweb.com/indochina/trek/trekall.jpg
Hillman Indochina Adventure 4: Cambodia
http://www.hillmanweb.com/indochina/cambodia/
*** 1961: After a couple of days
of tongue-in-cheek and double entendre headlines, the truth was getting
more and more known. Yes, Tarzan and Jane were legally married. The latest
newspaper to report that fact was The Long Beach Independent, which
published an article to that effect on this date in 1961. We've covered
the Tarzan banned books "scandal by Downey City Library and the resulting
Burroughs Boom over the last few ERBzine Events entries. David Lemmo
also described this news tempest in his book, "Tarzan: Jungle King
of Popular Culture." David noted that Tarzan
fans in Santa Ana had to rise up against suppression of the books, and
publications from 'The Long Beach Independent' to the 'Wall Street
Journal' covered the controversy. "At a board meeting called by Superintendent
Bruce Moore of the Downey Unified School District, they unanimously voted
to keep the Tarzan books in the library. The Downey Lions Club donated
$200 to the school district for the purchase of more Tarzan and Zane Grey
books (Grey had come under fire because of rough language). In terms of
publicity, this national media uproar couldn't have benefited Tarzan and
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., more than if Edgar himself had risen from the
dead to conjure it up."
Lemmo then goes on to tell about the
publishing boom of Burroughs book that followed, noting in particular that
"For
a time, one out of every 30 paperbacks sold in the U.S. were Tarzan novels."
Lemmo, who has written other pop culture, is presently
working on another ERB-related book. The Lemmo books are available via
Amazon.com and his Tarzan: Jungle King is featured in the
ERBzine page describing all the authorized Burroughs related books at:
ERBzine
6245:
ERB Bio Timeline
http://www.erbzine.com/bio/years50.html
Tarzan: Jungle King of Popular Culture by David
Lemmo
http://www.erbzine.com/mag62/6264.html#lemmo
Tarzan and Jane Scandal
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3139.html
*** 1911: Jeanette Nolan was
born on this date. She would grow up to be an actress, playing backup roles
in many movies and television shows. But she also starred in radio. Among
her many radio roles was that of Magra, a character in the radio series
"Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher," opposite Tarzan radio actor
Carlton
KaDell (aka Karlton KaDell).
ERBzine 3140 features a brief
biography and photo of Nolan, and also of KaDell along with other info
about the Asher story, including the background behind the radio, magazine
and book versions. We also feature all episodes of her Tarzan radio
drama in MP3 and summaries.
TARZAN AND THE DIAMOND OF
ASHER: From ERBzine 0144
Although originally broadcast in 1934, the following
introduction was penned by Edgar Rice Burroughs for the announcer to read
as an introduction to a 1940 broadcast of Tarzan And The Diamond of Asher:
"We bring you Tarzan, that immortal
fictional character of Edgar Rice Burroughs, in a new and exciting serial
entitled TARZAN AND THE DIAMOND OF ASHER, which is adapted from the novel,
'Tarzan And The Forbidden City.' Deep in the heart of Africa rises a mighty
cone-shaped mountain, an extinct volcano, in the huge crater of which lies
The Forbidden City of Asher... To reach this stronghold two safaris endure
hardships and perils that bring death to some and high adventure to all...
One safari is bent on the rescue of the son of its leader... the other,
headed by a wily and unscrupulous Oriental, seeks only the Father of Diamonds...
And through the intrigue and mystery and the danger moves the majestic
figure of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle."
This serial started on May 14, 1934, airing Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, consisting of 39 15-minute episodes.
It was directed by Fred Shields and narrated by John McIntire.
Read the ERBzine synopsis, analysis, and review of this
series in ERBzine.
Tarzan and the Diamonds of Asher: 39 Episodes
http://www.erbzine.com/mag31/3140.html
Hillman Summaries of all 39 "Asher" Episodes
http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/0151.html
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/film/asherall.jpg
*** 1935: Rex Maxon drew
'em but, for the most part, others provided the scripts. George Carlin
wrote the Tarzan daily strip for many years as it progressed through adaptations
of ERB's novels, and Don Garden eventually took over. It was Garden
who was the writer on Dec. 30, 1935, when the first of 150 installments
of "Tarzan and the Leopard Men" appeared. The two had finished
up The Tarzan Twins on the previous Saturday.
Tarzan and the Leopard Men: 150 Maxon Strips
http://www.erbzine.com/mag61/6111.html
Rex Maxon: Bio and Links to ALL his strips
http://www.ERBzine.com/maxon
Tarzan and the Leopard Men: The Novel
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0724.html
Tarzan and the Leopard Men: Read the e-Text
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0724a.html
DECEMBER
31
ERB Cartoon: The Burroughs' first-born Baby Joan ~
Ed, Emma and kids: Joan, Hully, Jack ~ Actress Joan with Jim:
Wedding, Tarzan Radio ~ With Lex Barker, Dad, Jane
~ Tarzana Photo by Hillmans ~ Shelbyville Headstones
.
*** 1972: Joan Burroughs Pierce (1908.01.12-1972.12.31)
who played Jane in the 1932 Tarzan Radio Series died on this day.
Joan
was
the daughter of Ed and Emma Burroughs and the wife of James Pierce,
who had played the apeman in the Tarzan radio show and had also starred
in 'Tarzan and the Golden Lion.' Her father, Edgar Rice Burroughs,
noticed at an early age she that she showed an interest in the theatre
and acting. He encouraged this talent and helped her obtain acting roles
on stage -- he even wrote some stage plays with her in mind, including
"You Lucky Girl!"
and other plays featured in ERBzine
3674. Joan acted with a number of theatrical companies in California
and Utah as described by Danton
Burroughs.
Some of Joan's characteristics and
even Tarzana Ranch found their way into ERB's novel: "The Girl From
Hollywood." Joan had said: "My father did
considerable research on the story The Girl from Hollywood
and our ranch was used as the basis for the background. Dad even instilled
some of my speeches and mannerisms into the character of one of the girls.
He believed very much in this story and always felt that it was killed
quickly by certain Hollywood elements."
Joan died of a heart attack following a long battle with
cancer. Featured in ERBzine are: Joan's Tributes, Tarzan Radio
Shows in MP3, countless letters to and from ERB, and her burial
place in Shelbyville, Indiana, where her remains lies side by
side with husband James.
Sue-On and I were thrilled to meet
Joan and Jim in 1971 in Tarzana. We were welcomed by Hully Burroughs at
the ERB, Inc. offices on Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana. He spent much of
the afternoon chatting, showing us around the offices and even exploring
the usually out of bounds warehouse. Hully posed for photos and invited
us back for the next day since there was a board meeting and Joan and Jim
were coming in from Apple Valley for the meeting. He wanted us to meet
them since he had seen how thrilled I was to see the many metal 15" master
ET discs for the 1932 Tarzan radio show they had starred in. I had told
him I had a large collection of old radio shows on tape, including 77 of
these Tarzan shows. He even asked if I would stay and catalogue these disks
and related material in the warehouse.
We stayed over in a motel down the
street and returned the next day to meet the Pierces -- and to hear so
many great stories, especially about their radio roles and Jim's film career.
We were surprised to learn that they hadn't heard the shows since the '30s.
We took their photos, but were so starstruck we failed to ask them for
autographs, let alone ask to have our photos taken with them.
After returning home to Canada to
resume teaching our high school classes we sent them tapes of the Tarzan
shows. A few weeks later a huge box arrived from Tarzana. Inside the box
were stacks of ERB, Inc. editions and dust jackets. Most of the books contained
stickers explaining that they had been rescued from the disastrous Burroughs
warehouse fire back in the '50s.
We never had a chance to meet the
couple again, but made a point many years later to visit their "Tarzan"
and "Jane" gravesites in the Shelbyville, Indiana, cemetery. Since 1996,
when I started creating Websites for ERB, Inc. I have shared all the information
I could find on this famous couple. Danton even had Cathy and the ERB,
Inc. office staff photocopy his copy of James H. Pierce's autobiography
and loads of other material for me. This I also shared on the Web after
laboriously typing out the whole book and scanning its photographs for
Webpage display.
Many of my tributes to Joan are featured
in the following links:
Joan Burroughs Tributes: 5 Pages
http://www.erbzine.com/mag11/1102.html
Joan Burroughs Photo Gallery
http://www.erbzine.com/mag11/1105a.html
Joan Burroughs Tarzan Radio Shows
http://www.erbzine.com/mag27/2728.html
Hillmans meet Joan and Jim in Tarzana
http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/0193.html
http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/0192.html
The Battle of Hollywood by James H. Pierce
Memories of Joan, Photos, Letters
http://www.erbzine.com/mag27/2729.html
Joan Burroughs: Screen Test Photos
http://www.erbzine.com/mag20/2087.html
Joan Burroughs and Jim Pierce: Burial Sites
http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/1385.html
Joan Burroughs: The Early Years Photo Collage
http://www.erbzine.com/cards/joanall.jpg
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/erb2/joan2photos.jpg
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/erb2/joan3photos.jpg
https://www.erbzine.com/cards/erb2/joan4photos.jpg
Joan and Jim: The Entertainment Years Collage
http://www.erbzine.com/cards/erb/pierceall.jpg
*** 1915: ERB's Beyond
Thirty was copyrighted by Street and Smith.
It was published in their February 1916 All-Around issue with a non-related
cover by N. C. Wyeth. There were 61 pages and no related illustrations
for the story. The story didn't see hardcover publication until 1957 when
it was paired with "The Man-Eater" and published by Science-Fiction
and Fantasy Publications (Bradford M. Day). Gil Kane did the B/W dust jacket
art and there was no interior art. When Beyond Thirty appeared
in paperback during the "Burroughs Boom" and later, the title was changed
to "Lost Continent."
Beyond Thirty: History ~ Art ~ Info
http://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0763.html
Read the e-Text Edition
http://www.erbzine.com/craft/o3bth.html
*** 1983;: John Flint Roy Poem: .....Who Hasn't
Dreamed?... This poem, a tribute to Edgar Rice Burroughs,
his Tarzan, and all fans, was written by Roy on New Years Eve. Read the
whole poem in ERBzine
2858. Mr. Roy was a legendary chronicler of Edgar Rice Burroughs
data in many ERB fanzines. He also wrote "A Reader's Guide to Barsoom,"
available at Amazon. His poem and book and more were both featured in two
of our previous ERBzine ERB Events for JULY
25 and DECEMBER
8
Who Hasn't Dreamed?
By John Flint Roy
Who hasn't dreamed, and in his dream
Has heard the apes of Kerchak scream,
Or danced the Dum-Dum in the night
Beneath the jungle's bright moonlight?
Who hasn't hurtled through the trees
And brought swift Bara to his knees?
You are that smooth-skinned demigod,
That phantom of the jungle broad.
And now you doze on Tantor's back,
While ebon warriors plan attack.
Nkima comes to warn his friend
Of ambush hid around the bend.
But Tantor bolts beneath a limb;
Half-stunned, you're locked in battle grim,
Captured, and tortured at the stake.
Then Numa roars - and you awake.
James Michael Moody, Greystoke Chronologist, was
one of the many fans of the late Mr. Roy. Moody tells of his meeting with
Roy in 1986 in an article on his website. Mr. Moody's article also gives
an interesting perspective on the history of ERB fanzines up to that time:
John Flint Roy Poem
http://www.erbzine.com/mag28/2858.html
Roy featured in ERB EVENTS: JULY 25
http://www.erbzine.com/mag63/6338.html#JULY25
Roy featured in ERB EVENTS: DECEMBER 8
http://www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6356.html#DECEMBER8
Off-Site Reference:
Greystoke
Chronologist
*** 1942: War Correspondent Edgar
Rice Burroughs was in the Pacific under the auspices of the U.S. military,
and he no doubt needed to keep his remaining hair looking sharp while wearing
that uniform that war correspondents had to wear. While on a short R
and R in Sydney, Australia, he searched without success for
a shop where he could have his hair trimmed. The local newspaper,
The
Sun, published a story about it on this date. The newspaper article
also said a bunch of other things about ERB, including the fact that he
had "...written over 22 Tarzan books and innumerable
Tarzan short stories."
Innumerable? If only it were true!
Wouldn't it be great if ERB had written so many Tarzan stories, even if
they were short stories, that it was impossible to count them all? We'd
have an unlimited supply of ERB reading material, if 'twere true. There
were "Jungle Tales," and a few more Tarzan short stories
collated for Tarzan
and the Castaways.
There are at least a couple of others
-- including a short parody and an unfinished Jungle Tale of Tarzan's youth
which Danton sent me. It was largely handwritten so I typed it out for
possible future release. Beyond that I'm not aware of any more "innumerable"
stories :)
We've featured the Australia page
a few times previously in numerous other DECEMBER DAILY EVENTS this
series but it still makes for an interesting read.
*** 1921: ERB’s domestic royalties
for the year were $100,000
*** 1934: Looking Back on this year,
Ed lamented the loss of old friendships: ". . . the unjust and abominable
treatment I received from others whom I thought were my friends. Perhaps
they felt that they were justified, for they only heard one side of the
story and that garbled and slanderous. Under the circumstances I could
not tell my side even when I had the opportunity. I just had to keep my
mouth shut and take it. The fact that some have since acknowledged their
errors and apologized did little to lessen the hurt.
"My family all understand, and acknowledge
that my action was warranted. My two brothers, my niece, and my nephew,
who have met Florence since our marriage, all love her and appreciate the
fact that she is a very fine woman. You can have no idea what we went through,
though -- bombarded with filthy anonymous letters for years.
"While some of my "friends" would
not accept Florence, she has always accepted my friends; and without exception
they have all liked her. She has done nothing to alienate my affection
for my children, even though Emma has forbidden them coming to my home.
On the contrary, she is always urging me to see them; and when any of them
do come to our home, she is very sweet to them."
*** 1944: George Dahlberg visited Ed in hospital
to wish him a "Happy New Year." Dorothy brought him a trick glass
of bourbon which doesn't pour -- Ed amused himself fooling visitors and
hospital staff with it. Dorothy and Joan visited him regularly throughout
his hospital stay.
ERB Bio Timeline and Personal Journals
http://www.ERBzine.com/bio
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www.ERBzine.com/mag63/6358pics.html
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BILL
HILLMAN
hillmans@wcgwave.ca
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