75th Anniversary of Gone With the Wind

I love the classic, blockbuster movie, Gone With the Wind, and have written five posts about it [three are from the theme tea I hosted in 2013].  

I recently acquired two Gone With the Wind books, and one commemorative magazine.

When I was in Chattanooga, TN this past June, I saw a 1936 hardcover edition of the novel in an antique store for $15.  I almost bought it, but decided to wait until I got home and order a copy from half.com instead.  The 1,037 page book arrived a couple of weeks ago.  I've been taking it to the hospital to read while I sit at my mother's bedside.  What a talented writer Margaret Mitchell was. She descriptively brings all the characters to life in one's imagination.

The second book is a Gone With the Wind cookbook inspired by the motion picture.  It includes recipes for Tara Pork Scramble; Gerald O'Hara's Ham Steak; Mammy's Shrimp Cakes and Creole Rice; Melanie's Shirred Eggs with Ham and Popovers;  Aunt Pittypat's Cream Scones, and so much more.  I can hardly wait to try some of the recipes.

The 75th Commemorative Magazine is chock full of interesting trivia.  I read it from cover to cover one afternoon at the hospital.  There's a full page advertisement for Scarlett Letters, a book scheduled to be released in October 2014.  It's a collection of Margaret Mitchell's letters pertaining to the 1939 movie.  Also recently published this year is The Complete Gone With the Wind Trivia Book.  I'll definitely be purchasing both books.

Margaret Mitchell began writing the novel while she was recovering from a broken ankle. Her husband bought her a typewriter and suggested she write her own book to keep occupied because he was tired of lugging armloads of books home from the library.  The book took 10 years to complete and she wrote the last chapter first.  It was her only published novel, although she wrote several articles for the Atlanta Journal.

She died at age 49 when she was hit by a speeding car as she crossed Peachtree Street at 13th Street in Atlanta.

Tea in Texas magazine advertised a celebration for the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind at the Civil War Museum in Fort Worth this year. Scarlett's green velvet hat is on permanent display there.  I love the how they used the three beginning words of Rhett Butler's famous last line at the top of their invitation: "Frankly My Dear, You Won't Want to Miss It!" I've got to use that phrase on my invitations the next time I have a Gone With the Wind tea party.

[Photo courtesy of Tea in Texas Magazine]

The former J.L. Hudson department store in Detroit, MI had a circulating library on the Mezzanine floor which was very popular, even though a branch of the Detroit Public Library was located just across the street.  I found it interesting that Gone With the Wind held the record for the largest circulated book in the library's history.

In the book, Hudson's Hub of America's Heartland, author Jean Pitrone stated:  "By 1936 Detroiters looked forward to a continuing pattern of economic recovery.  At Hudson's women flocked back to the Beauty Shop to get $5.00 permanents, then stopped at the Books and Magazines Department to buy copies of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind.  They lingered at lunchtime in one or another of Hudson's five restaurants where they talked of "Scarlett and Rhett" and of King Edward VIII, the popular former Prince of Wales, and his well publicized love affair with an American woman - Wallis Simpson."

I don't own any Gone With the Wind tea accessories, but I found pictures of two Franklin Mint teapots on the Internet.

[1994 Franklin Mint]

[1998 Franklin Mint  - Scarlett in her BBQ dress]

A "Scarlett O'Hara Sweet as Sugar" Hamilton Collection teacup.  There are six in the collection.

Happy 75th Anniversary Gone With the Wind.  Long may you live!