I do a lot of genealogical research. This often requires my reading newspapers from days gone by. It was during one of these lengthy sessions I stumbled across the strangest articles. Albeit funny though it is the timing is just creepy.
The article was published on the 15th of May 1930 and concerns a dog well two dogs actually. One named Ken and one named Laddie. Ken apparently got lost wearing Laddie's collar. Not all that unusual but then the article talks about Laddie, who apparently belonged to Agnes, was picked up as a puppy in Dayton while visiting her parents. Agnes sent Laddie's collar home once he had outgrown it and Ken, a puppy, inherited Laddie's old collar. Why is this odd you say? Because the date this is published is 10 months and 1 day after Peggy's suicide. The article refers to a visit to Dayton the previous summer and during that visit Laddie became Agnes' puppy. The only visit the previous summer was when her sister was dying from ingesting Bichloride of Mercury. It makes me wonder if the dog had perhaps been Peggy's or perhaps it was given to Agnes' as a balm to help her heal from the loss of her sister.
Hard to say what the actualities are but it's odd timing.
2 comments:
I cannot imagine Agnes' grief, and I hope Laddie was able to comfort her, even though she was probably too busy focusing on her radio work. I lost the two people who were closest to me last year, and lately I've reflected about what Agnes must have felt like during this time. It's good that she stayed busy- that's what I try to do.
Anyway, what I really wanted to say was that I truly appreciate the amount of time you spend researching Aggie and sharing it here with all of us who are just as curious about her life. She has always been a huge inspiration to me and this year I was lucky to go to Hollywood to see her home (I ran up to her house and clutched the remaining doorknob on the door, which is the last thing left standing from the horrible renovation that's taking place) as well as take a tour of where Citizen Kane was filmed- it was a spiritual experience and one that I'll never forget.
I doubt you remember me, but twelve years ago I had a blog (I was a high schooler then) and I talked about theatre and maybe a little bit about Agnes. You were very encouraging and I never forgot about that. You may have also been apart of a group on the site Tribe called Dueling Heads (Tallulah and Agnes) but I might be mixing those two things up. Anyway, thanks for all that you do and I truly hope you won't stop sharing your findings- the letter is an astounding find and a great insight to the real Aggie. :)
You have a wonderful piece of well researched cinema history here that I just stumbled upon. You sucked me in big time!
Would love to talk with you about it if available.
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