...Welp, back from New Orleans, y'all... Hot as all get out down there... but we had a great time anyway. Lots of awesome food (...we ate 'till we didn't have right good sense...), and it generally appeared that the French Quarter was largely unaffected by Katrina - some businesses have not come back, tho - but it was quite crowded, which was encouraging.
So, as I noted in my last post, New Orleans was the spot where Ginger tied the knot for the first time to Jack Culpepper... which was the first of five fellows that were EXTREMELY fortunate enough to marry Ginger, yet even MORE extremely dunderheaded enough to lose her... it's just a major mystery to me why NONE of these dudes could get their act together.
Anyway, I actually went into the police headquarters in the French Quarter and asked about marriage records, since Ginger said the 'ceremony' was at the justice of the peace, and I assumed it was in the French Quarter (although it could have been in some other part of New Orleans.) When I told the fellow behind the counter I was looking for Ginger Rogers' marriage record, I bet y'all can guess what he said... "Was that when she married Fred?"
Anyway, they did not have records there, but did ultimately get me to the right source, which is the state capitol, Baton Rouge, where to go if the record is over 50 years old. So, I looked it up on their database, and sure enough, there was Edward Culpepper marrying Virginia McMath in March 1929 in Orleans Parish... so, of course, Huey rips off a check for $5.00 to obtain a copy of this document...why not?
And this led me to the new Gingerology poll...which of the five gooberheads that married (and subsequently lost) Ginger, was the LEAST Goobery? They all have their ups and downs (mainly downs), as I will break down as follows:
Hubby #1: Jack Culpepper
Pro - Was Ginger's first 'crush' - was also in show biz, so could have been a great help in her career
Con - Raving alcoholic who ended up keeping Ginger's career back, tried to jump out of a window and drag Ginger along
Hubby #2: Lew Ayres
Pro - Another major 'crush' for Ginger - pretty big name actor at the time
Con - Another lush who didn't really play the husband role well - partied all the time - Ginger hitting peak of popularity with Fred was more than he could take
Hubby #3: Jack Briggs
Pro - Unassuming 'bit' actor, war vet - 'genuine'
Con - Another one bit by the alcohol bug - could not handle the star that was Ginger
Hubby #4: Jacques Bergerac
Pro - Ginger was quite smitten with him - seemed to be an upbeat type, nice, true to Ginger
Con - Ended up running around on Ginger, which is totally inconceivable to Huey
Hubby #5: William Marshall
Pro - As a aspiring actor/director, Ginger had a sense of security he would be a 'rock' - gave the appearance of a 'family man'
Con - Ends up as a drunken sot like most of the others, was abusive to Ginger, effectively swore her off of movies (see "The Confession")
Well there you have it... Huey is bristling just having to write those little synopses about those clowns... but if anything, I have to hand THIS to each of them... they each DID win Ginger's heart, and that is something I am admittedly in awe of... but...they are STILL gooberheads, the whole bleedin' lot of them...
Vote early and often!
Keep It Gingery, y'all!
VKMfan
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First, Ron over at Fluffy Stuffin' posted a GREAT overview that discusses the 75th anniversary of the premiere of 'Top Hat'... awesome pics, too! Go check it out at: http://fluffystuffin.blogspot.com/ 
Hope y'all are having a quick week, as we hurl breathlessly towards Labor Day (yeah, it's time for a three-day weekend, y'all...) - stay safe, focused, and above all...
