Posted on

Remembering Marilyn in Monterey

Marilyn makes the cover of Carmel magazine’s Summer/Fall issue, with an article by Michael Chatfield about her links to the Monterey area inside, which you can also read here.

“Marilyn, like so many others then and now, succumbed several times to the tempting siren call of the Monterey Bay area. The Salinas Californian documented her first known visit of August 5, 1948: ‘…she came here to help promote a diamond sale at Carlyle’s Jewelers…’

The starlet stayed around for about a week, staying at the Jeffrey Hotel on Main Street. While here, she evidently made appearances at several service club luncheons. It was at one of those meetings that representatives of Castroville, an agricultural town 15 miles from Salinas that— then and now—specializes in the growing of artichokes, had the bright idea to make the ambitious future movie star the ‘California Artichoke Queen.’

A few years later, Marilyn returned to Monterey County, this time to do what she had set her sights on doing: act in a Hollywood movie. Some scenes for the 1952 potboiler Clash by Night were filmed on Cannery Row, then a still-bustling sardine-processing district. She was by no means the international superstar she was to become: Marilyn’s salary for this film was $500 per week.

Two years later—when Marilyn was a big star—she put in an appearance a little bit south of Monterey County. She and the Yankee Clipper tied the knot in a San Francisco civil ceremony on January 14, 1954, and proceeded south toward Los Angeles by automobile. The newlyweds spend their first night as man and wife at the Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo.

The next day, a reporter from the local newspaper spotted the celebrities having lunch at that establishment and phoned his newsroom to summon a photographer. San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune snapper Paul Nelson arrived on the scene and immediately spotted them. According to a November 13, 2013 story published by that paper (now the Tribune), Nelson said to DiMaggio, ‘I’m with the press. I would like to shoot your picture but I know you’re on your honeymoon. You name it.’

‘My wife doesn’t have any make-up,’ Joltin’ Joe replied. ‘I’d really rather not.’ And that was that. Respecting their privacy, Nelson retreated. What a contrast that story illustrates. In today’s tabloid press, the couple would probably have a name like ‘Marjoe,’ or ‘Monaggio’ and be relentlessly hounded by paparazzi.”

Thanks to Peter Gonzalez

Posted on

Remembering Marilyn in Salinas

Today’s UK Express features rare and lovely photos of Marilyn during one of her earliest public appearances in Salinas, California. Although the article dates the trip to 1947, it actually occurred in February 1948. You can read more about her Salinas adventures here.

“The opportunity arose when jeweller Stanley Seedman decided he wanted to promote his store in Salinas, California. Having been a part time movie star promoter Stanley decided to take advantage of the connection during a jewellery sale.

The diamond salesman chose a young starlet named Doreen Nash, but she cancelled at the last minute, so an up-and-coming blonde called Marilyn Monroe got the job instead.

Marilyn spent a week in the Monterey Bay Area, modelling jewellery at Carlyle’s and signing autographs.

During that time, she met representatives from CalChoke (The California Artichoke Association) who presented her with a sash.

The photographs of Marilyn wearing the sash and holding artichokes were used in advertisements and passed throughout the produce industry.”

Posted on

‘A Salinas Star For Marilyn?’

Writing from Salinas, California (birthplace of author John Steinbeck) for the Toronto Star, Petti Fong reported an unusual Marilyn sighting:

“The first sign this region is still all about agriculture is the life-size mural of Marilyn Monroe just a few steps into the National Steinbeck Centre — she holds up artichokes as provocatively as if she were offering up herself. When she was still just plain Norma Jean Baker, Marilyn Monroe was crowned Miss California Artichoke Queen…”

Although the article dates the event back to 1947, it actually occurred on February 20, 1948. Marilyn was also crowned ‘Diamond Queen’ during an appearance at Carlyle’s Jewellers on Main St.  You can read about it here.

Writing for The Salinas Californian on March 9, Dave Nordstrand suggested a possible third sighting, and an intriguing proposal:

“Later in life, when she’d become a movie star, rumor was that she and husband Joe DiMaggio stopped for the night while passing through Salinas.

They checked into what once was the Santa Lucia Inn on North Main Street, a place with cognac, Peking duck and other fine items on the menu.

Peking duck or not, Monroe has proven ties to Salinas.

Maybe we ought to put a star on the sidewalk in front of 362 Main St. as a reminder of her visit.”

Posted on

Marilyn in Salinas, 1948

A newspaper clipping from an appearance by Marilyn at Carlyle’s Jeweler’s in Salinas, California, in 1948 (during her trip she was also crowned ‘Artichoke Queen’  in nearby Castroville.)

“In 1948, she came here to help promote a diamond sale at Carlyle’s Jewelers, 362 Main St. The store had hired a starlet named Noreen Nash, but Nash had to cancel.

So Monroe filled in.

On that trip, she checked into a room at the Jeffrey Hotel in the 200 block of Main Street.

Before her abrupt arrival, she’d been baking in the sun in Palm Springs. Her nose had burned. It had begun to peel. Still, Marilyn showed up. She stood behind the counter at Carlyle’s.

Patrons squeezed in. Marilyn flashed her brilliant smile. She chatted in an amiable way and autographed pictures of herself.

That day, the jewelry store sold lots of diamonds.”

The Californian

Last year’s collection of Marilyn’s writings, Fragments, includes a diary entry recording a bus journey to Salinas (though not necessarily at the same time.)

Posted on

Vanity Fair: Analysing Marilyn

page 14

Pardon me
are you the janitors wife

page 147
caught a Greyhound
Bus from Monterey to Salinas. On the
Bus I was the person
woman with about
sixty Italian fishermen
and I’ve never met
sixty such charming gentlemen—they
were wonderful. Some
company was sending them
downstate where their boats
and (they hoped) fish were
waiting for them. Some
could hardly speak english
not only do I love Greeks
[illegible] I love Italians.
they’re warm, lusty and friendly
as hell—I’d love to go to
Italy someday.

From a 1951 notebook, written by Marilyn during filming of Love Nest. The first line is from the script; the second may have been written during filming of Clash by Night in Monterey less than a year later, shortly after her love affair with Italian-American baseball star Joe DiMaggio began.

This and other excerpts from Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters are featured in ‘Marilyn and her Monsters’, an article for November’s Vanity Fair. A complementary piece, ‘The Writing on the Wall’, analyses Marilyn’s large, extravagantly looped handwriting (which I have often seen as a reflection of her open, generous yet somehow elusive spirit.)