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@clarklovescarole
Chronicling Clark & Carole
This site is devoted to chronicling newspaper articles, gossip items, and other tidbits about Clark Gable and Carole Lombard from 1936 to 1942.
— 1936 Articles
— 1937 Articles
— 1938 Articles
— 1939 Articles
— 1940 Articles
— 1941 Articles
— 1942 Articles
1942 articles
January 1942: Last Bit of Normal Life
January 1942: Bond Drive Trip Announced
Jan. 13, 1942: Blonde Carole Lombard Travels To Help USA
Jan. 15, 1942: Movie Star Turns To Selling Bonds
Jan. 16, 1942: Carole Lombard Proves Bond Selling Star Too
Jan. 16, 1942: Carole Turns Tea Into Bond Sales Extravaganza
Jan. 16, 1942: Indianapolis News Covers 'Intense' Day
Jan. 16, 1942: Carole Called Victory Girl
Jan. 17, 1942: Carole Lombard In Lost Airliner
Jan. 17, 1942: Carole Lombard, 21 Others, Believed Dead in Plane Crash
Jan. 17, 1942: Gable Gives Up All Hope
Jan. 17, 1942: Gable Paces Floor In Anguish
Jan. 17, 1942: Indiana Saddened By Film Star’s Death After Aiding In Huge Defense Bond Rally
Jan. 17, 1942: Actress Took Plane Despite Mother's Plea
Jan. 18, 1942: Hollywood Shocked By Carole Lombard’s Sudden Death In Plane
January 1942: Leaving Las Vegas
January 1942: Carole Laid To Rest
February-June 1942: Clark After Carole
February-June 1942: Clark After Carole
February 3, 1942 – Times the Picture Paper
Clark Gable is out of the hotel, back in the house he shared with Carole Lombard; he is feeling and looking much better…
February 3, 1942 – Fort Worth Star Telegram
Still shaken over the death of his wife, Carole Lombard, in a Nevada plane crash, Clark Gable Tuesday motored to Oregon for an extended vacation. The film star was accompanied only by his chauffeur.
March 15, 1942 – The La Crosse Tribune
Clark Gable has resumed work in “Somewhere I’ll Find You,” which was suspended at the time of Carole Lombard‘s death.
May 4, 1942 – Evening Star
Clark Gable, who wanted to join the army, but was told he was more valuable to morale as a movie star, at least joins the Army Air Forces cinematically in “Shadow Of The Wing.“ Victor Fleming, who guided Gable in “Test Pilot” and “Gone With The Wind,” will direct.
May 16, 1942 – The Buffalo News
Clark Gable Settles The Gloom Gossipers
By May Mann
No one living man can call the turn of events, determine his own future or alter his life. Nor, apparently, can the world call the turn for him. For Clark Gable is facing his own immediate future far differently from Hollywood and the world predicted!
Following the tragic death of his wife, Carole Lombard, Gable's associates in Hollywood declared:
“Gable undoubtedly will return to the screen one day, but most assuredly not for the rest of 1942.”
“Clark Gable will leave the screen to make a defense bond tour of the United States, carrying on the interrupted mission of Carole Lombard.”
“If and when Clark Gable does return to the movies, he will never play the robust romantic roles for which he became famous. Gable, crushed by the tragic loss of his wife, will turn his acting talents to more serious roles like Spencer Tracy’s in ‘Boy’s Town.’”
All of which clearly shows how few people know Gable. Less than three weeks after the airliner carrying Carole Lombard home from her successful bond selling tour in Indiana crashed in the Nevada rocky terrain, Gable reported to his studio, haggard to be sure, but determined to carry on.
Men as strong and active as Gable have cracked under an equal shock and strain. William Powell, planning to marry the late Jean Harlow, left the screen for two years after she died.
“I’m ready to start work when you are,” Gable told his producer, Pandro S. Berman, walking unexpectedly into his office.
“Better take it easy, fellow. The studio has decided to shelve the picture.”
“And waste all of that dough?” Gable said. “You’ve got a week shooting on celluloid. It must be a quarter of a million tied up. Call your players together. I’m ready. I’ve got to keep busy. Got to keep working.”
So it was that Clark Gable, Hollywood’s top star, returned to the screen when everyone said he wouldn’t.
As for his turning to more serious roles, Gable stepped into the picture. “Somewhere I’ll Find You” – just where he left off. Playing opposite Lana Turner in a swiftly paced drama adventure as a daring headline hunter, a modern war correspondent covering the war in Indo-China.
Gable asked only two considerations. That the title be changed since it was too suggestive of the recent loss of his wife. Secondly, that the set be closed; that no publicity be given out while he tries to adjust himself to his loss and to the future that he is facing. The picture has been retitled “Shadow of the Wing.”
Not so much as a line of news has been released on it. It will emerge sometime in July or August. Further squelching reports that he will quit pictures, another film, based on Margaret Steel’s best seller, “The Sun Is My Undoing,” is being put into shape to follow immediately.
Between pictures, when Gable feels he has a strong enough grip on himself and on his emotions, he will go across the country as a super bond salesman for Uncle Sam.
It is memorable that Carole said when she was finding it difficult to persuade women to buy her bonds, “If my husband Clark Gable were here – you’d buy from him!” It is a safe prediction that Gable will sell more defense bonds than any man in America.
At 41 Gable is A-1 and subject to military service as Private Clark Gable unless Uncle Sam designates otherwise.
Clark is keeping the Gable ranch for the present. Jessie, the cook, Carole’s maid, Florence, and Fred, the ranch hand, are still with him. Carole’s room has never been disturbed. Her clothes hang in long rows in the closet.
Sometimes Clark visits her sunny, chintz-decorated suite. Often he spends hours in the afternoon sitting on her chaise lounge looking about him – remembering.
He takes long walks about the ranch with his two dogs, Bob, a bird dog, and Commissioner, a dachshund that belonged to Carole. There’s his horse, Sonny, and a cat, Taby, a stray of the alley variety that Clark and Carole found meowing outside their house two years ago.
Too, with spring, Clark spends long hours cultivating the grounds with his tractor – surcease under the California son. Weekends, he’s off through the desert. But active and robust, he’s not retiring to brood over the loss of his wife, who was also his closest pal and hunting partner – no matter how keenly he feels it. Many times a millionaire today, Gable doesn’t have to work. He wants to.
Gable has expressed resentment that Carole’s friends so quickly resume their gay Hollywood social routine. He has kept quietly to himself – driving to his studio some 15 miles each day in his open roadster, returning at night for dinner; a workout with his dogs and a few hours of reading.
Gable has several reels of 16 mm film – pictures of himself and Carole about the ranch, on hunting trips that he frequently runs in a small projection room.
Clark Gable is today definitely over the first great shock. He says, “If Carole had to go, I’m glad she could go in a blaze of glory. She was a great little showman. It was a great closing act.”
May 22, 1942 – The St. Louis Star and Times
In Hollywood by Jimmie Fidler
I hear unconfirmed whispers that MGM heads have persuaded Clark Gable that he’s more valuable before a camera than behind a gun, on part-time army, part-time MGM duties…
June 19, 1942 – The Bakersfield Californian
Clark Gable To Be Major
WASHINGTON - The Washington Evening Star says that Clark Gable, the movie actor, took a physical examination at Bolling Field here today, seeking a commission in the Army Air Force.
“It was understood, on reliable authority,” the Star reported, “that, if Mr. Gable passes the physical examination, he will be commissioned as a major.”
The public relations section of the Air Force said it had no comment to make at this time. The Star’s account continued:
“Mr. Gable, it was learned from a source outside the war department, conferred with Lieutenant General H.H. Arnold, head of the Air Force yesterday. It was understood that Mr. Gable, if he is commissioned, will make movies for the air forces. Lieutenant Jimmy Stewart, another actor in uniform, has been doing this.”
Gable has not been active publicly since his wife, actress Carole Lombard, was killed in a passenger plane accident several months ago. A Hollywood friend said Gable recently told him:
“They tell me my proper place is before the camera. I can’t agree. I have no interest in acting as long as this war is on.”
January 1942: Carole Laid To Rest
Gable’s Head Bowed After Wife’s Funeral — Clark Gable (in dark glasses) bowed his head in grief as he was driven away after funeral services at Glendale, California, Thursday for his wife, actress, Carole Lombard, and her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, who were among victims of a Nevada plane crash. In the car with him were Eddie Mannix, MGM studio executive, and Al Menasco, a close friend.
January 22, 1942 – The San Francisco Examiner
Funeral Held For Carole Lombard
Cinema’s grief stricken land of make believe paid a final solemn tribute today to one of its most beloved actresses, Carole Lombard.
Funeral services for the beautiful blonde wife of film star Clark Gable were held in a little flowered chapel atop a grassy hill that overlooked the sprawling motion picture studios that made their names world famous.
With her to a lasting resting place also went her mother and close companion, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, who brought her into the world at Fort Wayne, Indiana, 32 years ago and saw her rise to the highest pinnacle of movie fame. They were among 22 persons who lost their lives in a blazing crash of a huge luxury airliner on a snow-capped Nevada mountain last Friday as the attractive and patriotic actress was returning from a government defense bond selling campaign in Indianapolis.
Private service
In accordance with Miss Lombard’s wishes, the services, which lasted less than 15 minutes, were private. They were attended only by her sorrowing husband, a few relatives and 200 of her most intimate friends. The services were the most impressive for a film celebrity since those for Jean Harlow in 1937. Officiating at the chapel services and at the mausoleum where the bodies of Will Rogers, Marie Dressler, Alexandra Pantages, Tom Mix, Florenz Ziegfeld, and other screen notables, was the Rev. Gordon C. Chapman, pastor of the Westwood Hills Community Methodist Church.
The caskets stood in a little stone-walled chancel at the front of the chapel and were completely hidden by identical blankets of gardenias and other floral pieces. The flowery banks extended all along each side of the chapel, some of them in designs of red, white and blue flags and of a red rose V for Victory against a white petaled background.
Brief eulogy
The services consisted only of a prayer, a short eulogy by the minister and the reading of a favorite poem of Miss Lombard and Mrs. Peters, as stipulated in their wills. An organist provided the only music. Interment in the mausoleum was private.
Among those attending the chapel services, besides Gable, were his mother, Mrs. W.H. Gable; Miss Lombard’s two brothers, Stuart and Frederick Peters, and the latter’s wife; Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy and her husband, Arthur Hornblow; Mr. and Mrs. Fred MacMurray, Director Ernst Lubitsch and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. William Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Zeppo Marx, and Mary Livingstone and her husband, Jack Benny, with whom Miss Lombard made her last picture recently.
The Rev. Mr. Chapman based his eulogy on the 14th chapter of John’s Gospel and the 23rd Psalm.
January 22, 1942 – United Press
Simple Rites For Star
Carole Lombard joined the other movie immortals in Forest Lawn Memorial Park today.
After a brief, simple service – in accordance with the wish expressed in her will – the bodies of Miss Lombard and her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, were interred in the green acres where are buried Marie Dressler, Will Rogers, Jean Harlow, Doug Fairbanks, Lon Chaney, Tom Mix and many another movie star.
The sealed coffin of Miss Lombard and her mother, killed in last Friday’s aerial tragedy in Nevada, were blanketed with gardenias in the Memorial church. Whether by chance or on purpose, the caskets formed a perfect V in front of the pulpit, where the Rev. Gordon C. Chapman said a prayer, read a Psalm and recited one of Miss Lombard’s favorite poems.
GABLE AT SERVICE
Grim of mouth and wearing dark glasses to cover his red-rimmed eyes, Miss Lombard’s husband, Clark Gable, sat in an ante-room late yesterday during the 10-minute service. None of the invited friends, numbering less than 50 and including Spencer Tracy, Fred MacMurray, Jack Benny, Myrna Loy and Miss Lombard’s first husband, William Powell, ever saw him.
Miss Lombard had suggested in her will that the services be ultra simple. And simple they were. Police stopped sightseers at the bottom of the long road leading to the chapel on the top of the hill overlooking the San Fernando Valley, where Mr. and Mrs. G enjoyed what they said were the happiest years of their lives.
Photographers remained outside the cemetery. A dozen members of the press came not only as newspapermen, but as friends and sincere mourners.
FLORAL TRIBUTES
There was no music. Miss Lombard would not have wanted it. Floral tributes, including two large United States flags made of red and white carnations and blue cornflowers, lined the chapel. None of the bouquets bore cards. The Rev. Chapman, pastor of the Westwood Community Methodist Church, said a brief prayer. He read the 23rd Psalm. Then he recited the poem, work of an unknown author. It began like this:
“My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me.
I cannot choose the colors;
He worketh steadily.
At times he weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget he sees the upper
And I the lower side.”
HUSBAND MOURNS
With that, the Rev. Chapman said a benediction, and the mourners led by the caskets into the gray afternoon, Interment was private, with only members of the families as witnesses. Gable declined with thanks an offer from the Army for a squadron of soldiers to fire a salute in memory of Miss Lombard’s war work.
He left the cemetery at the sunset, alone in the backseat of a rented limousine. His fans and Miss Lombard’s, numbering by now perhaps 100 at the gates, glimpse him hatless, with chin in hand, as the car purred away.
January 23, 1942 – The Long Beach Sun
Clark Gable Present At Final Rite For Studio Publicist Winkler
Hollywood, January 22 – Representatives of every walk of life in the film colony, from police officers to studio heads, today gathered at the Church Of The Recessional for last rites conducted over the body of Otto Winkler, publicity man who perished in the plane crash which took the life of Carole Lombard and 20 others.
Clark Gable, who only yesterday attended his wife’s funeral at the same church, sat with Mrs. Winkler in the family alcove during the services conducted by Dr. James H. Lash. Walter Pidgeon, one of the actors publicized by Winkler, delivered the eulogy, while Allan Jones sang one of Winkler‘s favorite songs.
Others in the large attendance were Louis B. Mayer, production chief of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Lana Turner, Rosalind Russell, Nelson Eddy, Robert Z. Leonard and many Los Angeles newsmen.
January 23, 1942 – Anderson Herald
Studio Awaits Gable Return
Hollywood, January 22 – Clark Gable will return to work as soon as he has recovered from the shock of the airplane crash death of his wife, Carole Lombard, MGM studio said today.
“We are leaving it to Clark to tell us when he is ready to resume work,” a studio official said.
Gable started a new picture “Somewhere I’ll Find You,” the day before Miss Lombard and 21 others were dashed to death high on a Nevada mountain. Today Gable attended the funeral of Otto Winkler, his studio publicity agent, who had accompanied Miss Lombard on her defense bond selling campaign in Indiana.
January 24, 1942 – Los Angeles Evening Citizen News
Will of Carole Lombard Leaves Estate to Gable
Carole Lombard left her entire estate to her husband, Clark Gable, it was announced today by W.I. Gilbert Jr., attorney. He did not disclose the amount of the estate. Simply written, the testament requested that her funeral expenses and any other indebtedness be paid in full and the remainder go to Gable.
The will also named Gable executor of the estate. The film star was killed a week ago in an airplane crash near Las Vegas, Vegas, Nevada, while she was returning from an appearance in Indianapolis on behalf of Defense Savings Bonds.
January 24, 1942 – Lansing State Journal
Clark Gable Seeks Solace In His Work
HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 24 - Clark Gable, turned from a swashbuckling, carefree prankster into a depressed, grief-stricken recluse by the tragic death of Carole Lombard, will seek solace in work.
The fun-loving screen star was so anguished by loss of his beautiful blonde wife that he wanted only to be alone. Shield by studio executives, Gable has been so alone that friends became alarmed at his depressed brooding.
Gable hasn’t yet gone to his Encino ranch where he and Carole lived so fully and joyously. He’s in seclusion at a friend’s house. He has left it only twice since he brought Miss Lombard‘s body home Wednesday morning – to attend funeral services for her and her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, that afternoon, and services for his friend and publicity man, Otto Winkler, Thursday.
He was waiting at the nearby Burbank airport to greet Carole Friday night of last week when he received word of the crash which killed her, Mrs. Peters, Winkler, and 19 other persons near Las Vegas, Nevada. He flew to Las Vegas, was dissuaded from joining in the search for the bodies – then went to seclusion. Friends argued that he should plunge into work.
Told To Keep Busy
“You’ve got to find something to occupy your time; something to do with your mind besides brood,” they told him. Gable agreed to go ahead with the picture on which he had done one day’s work – “Somewhere I’ll Find You.” He didn’t set the date and the studio didn’t ask him to.
“We will wait until Gable feels that he is mentally and physically able,” a spokesman said. “He has gone through a horrible ordeal.”
There’s not a parallel case of any star losing an equally famous wife or husband so tragically and soon going back to the lots. Norma Shearer went into seclusion for a year after her producer husband, Irving Thalberg, died. She had threatened to retire.
Mary Astor was out of pictures several months after her husband, Director Kenneth Hawks, was killed in an airplane crash over the Pacific while filming a picture.
William Powell interrupted a picture to seek solace on a yacht cruise after his fiancé, Jean Harlow, died in 1936. Five weeks later, he collapsed on the set. A physician said he was exhausted and overweight from grief. Powell and the platinum blonde had been inseparable.
So had Gable and Miss Lombard.
January 25, 1942 – Army News
Roosevelt’s Tribute to Carole Lombard
LOS ANGELES, Thursday — “Mrs. Roosevelt and I are deeply distressed. Carole was our friend and our guest in happier days.”
This message from President Roosevelt today reached Clark Gable, husband of Carole Lombard, who was killed when an airliner crashed in Nevada last week.
“She brought joy to all who knew her and to the millions who knew her only as an artist,” the telegram continued. “She gave unselfishly of her time and talent to serve her government in peace and war. She loved her country. She is and always will be a star, one we shall never forget, nor cease to be grateful too. Deepest sympathy.”
January 1942: Leaving Las Vegas
January 19, 1942 – Daily News
Clark Gable Maintains Vigil In Las Vegas
Clark Gable, husband of Carole Lombard, killed with 21 others when the TWA skyliner crashed on a snow-covered Nevada mountain, refused to leave Las Vegas last night.
“I don’t want to go back to an empty house in Los Angeles,” he told MGM officials who urged him to leave the vicinity of the crash. Gable, unable to get a horse to ride to the almost inaccessible country where the plane went down, remained in a bungalow at El Rancho Vegas, while the search went on and after rescuers were returning with his wife’s body. Sleep came to the sorrowing husband Saturday night only after he had taken a heavy soporific dose. Meals have been brought to him in his room
Studio officials say no character he ever portrayed exhibited the depth and sincerity of emotions. he has shown at the death of his beloved wife. Gable took his meals in his room, with windows darkened. From time to time he paced back-and-forth on the cabin porch, speaking to no one.
Screen actor Spencer Tracy, his close friend, tried to get Gable to return to Los Angeles, but his decision to remain was firm.
“He seems to feel that what is left for him is here in Las Vegas,” said Howard Strickling, publicity head of the studio. “He has had no hope of Carole’s life since I told him at the Lockheed airport Friday night the plane had crashed. He told me he thought that if he had gone with Carole on the trip, the accident might’ve been avoided – at least they might not have been on the plane.”
Gable also feels keenly the loss of his friend and press agent, Otto Winkler, assigned by the studio to handle the star’s publicity, and of Miss Lombard’s mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Knight Peters.
Gable asked Winkler to make the trip and look after Miss Lombard‘s interests.
Mrs. Jill Winkler, the publicity man’s wife, is at El Rancho Vegas with the studio party. She has been overwhelmed with grief and is confined to her bed.
From the studio, besides Tracy and Strickling, are Eddie Mannix, vice president, and Ralph Wheelwright, of the publicity department.
January 19, 1942 – The Boston Globe
Clark Gable Goes Home Tonight With Wife’s Body
LAS VEGAS, Nev., Jan. 19 - Film star Clark Gable said today he would return to Hollywood tonight with the body of his actress wife, Carole Lombard, who perished with 21 others when a huge airliner crashed in a towering mountain range Friday night.
Funeral services for the gay, blonde actress tentatively were set for Wednesday. Gable awaited positive identification of Miss Lombard‘s mother, who accompanied her on the fateful flight, before returning to his California home. He planned to leave Las Vegas at 9:20 PM PST, arriving in Los Angeles at 8:30 AM Tuesday.
Only by using dental charts flown to Las Vegas from Hollywood could authorities identify the crushed, burned body of the blonde actress. Mountain climbers and soldiers recovered it yesterday from a snowbank beneath the torn wing of the transcontinental and western airplane which smashed into the steep cliff of a mountain peak. Miss Lombard‘s body and eight others, still unidentified, were wrapped in Army blankets and raised with ropes up the face of the 400-foot cliff. They were then carried on horses to the mountain community of Goodsprings and then down the mountain side in Army ambulances.
Gable, “Pappy“ to Miss Lombard, had made two fruitless attempts to join the searching parties Saturday before he returned to the hotel. When the news came, he was with Don McElwaine, of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, when the latter received a note from the searchers.
“Bad news?“ asked Gable quietly.
“I’m afraid it looks hopeless,“ McElwaine replied.
“Oh God,” Gable moaned, dropping his head into his hands.
January 21, 1942 - The Washington Daily News
He Walks Alone Again
Steeped in grief, Clark Gable, husband of Carole Lombard, who met her death in an air crash recently, leaves his Las Vegas, Nevada, hotel after completing funeral plans for his wife.
January 21, 1942 – The Birmingham News
GABLE MOURNS WIFE - Deep in sorrow over the death of his wife, Carole Lombard, in a tragic transport plane crash, Clark Gable (above) leaves his hotel at Las Vegas, Nev., for a brief automobile ride while morticians prepared her charred body for burial.
Funeral Is Planned For Carole Lombard
A haggard, dispirited Clark Gable brought the bodies of his wife, his mother-in-law and one of his closest friends – victims of a Nevada air crash – back to Southern California Wednesday.
The matinee idol, wearing dark glasses, slipped from a westbound Union Pacific train at Pomona, 30 miles east of here Wednesday morning, while attendants unloaded the coffins containing the flame-seared, battered bodies of actress Carole Lombard, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters and Otto Winkler, publicity agent for MGM studio.
A handful of early risers at the railroad depot caught just a glimpse of Gable as he slighted on the opposite side of the train from the platform, and with a few friends surrounding him, stepped rapidly to a waiting limousine.
His studio, MGM, arranged the secretive course to forestall a meeting with expected large crowds at the Union Station in Los Angeles.
Bodies of the three victims were put in hearses, which departed for Forest Lawn emorial Park in Glendale, where private funeral services – limited to about 40 persons – are tentatively set for Thursday.
January 21, 1942 – The Chico Enterprise
The nation mourns with Clark Gable, above, the death of his actress wife, Carole Lombard, in an airliner crash in Las Vegas, Nevada, from where the actor is shown leaving to return to Hollywood for Miss Lombard’s funeral.
POMONA, January 21 – Bodies of actress Carole Lombard and her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, were removed from a westbound Union Pacific train here today.
Clark Gable, the actress’s husband, accompanied her remains from Las Vegas, Nevada – near where she died in a flaming airliner crash last Friday night – stepped from the train and into a waiting limousine. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio had arranged the secret departure to avoid crowds certain to await the party in Los Angeles. Also taken from the train was the body of Otto Winkler, movie publicist, and close friend of the Gables. A waiting hearse left with the bodies for Forest Lawn Park in Glendale, where funeral services are tentatively set tomorrow.
January 21, 1942 – Oroville Mercury Register
GABLE RETURNS TO HOLLYWOOD
January 22, 1942 – The Los Angeles Times
Clark Gable Comes Home “Alone” From Tragic Mountain Of Nevada
Clark Gable rode home alone yesterday. He was only one of scores of passengers aboard the Union Pacific Los Angeles Limited, and with him were his friends who helped him keep his four-day vigil of death in Las Vegas.
In the baggage car were three caskets containing the crushed bodies of his wife, Carole Lombard; his mother-in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters, and his friend, Otto Winkler.
But Clark Gable was alone. For him there was no one else aboard. For him there was nothing but the realization that Carole was dead.
He arrived with his party at the Las Vegas station at 10:30 PM. The train originally had been scheduled to leave at 9:20 PM, but was delayed. At the same time, the three caskets were quietly placed in a baggage compartment two cars ahead of Gable’s. There was no crowd of curious citizens on the loading platform, only other passengers bound like Gable for Los Angeles. Nevertheless, studio officials saw to it that the actor boarded the train from the side opposite the platform.
Immediately he went to drawing room A in car 33. He remained there until the train reached Pomona.
There, shielded by studio employees from curious eyes, Gable left his car on the side opposite to the Pomona station where the train paused.
A limousine awaited him. He was shepherded into it before a newspaper camera could click to record for Gable’s legions of fans the arrival of their idol. Off the train, too, came the three caskets. They were placed in waiting ambulances and taken to Forest Lawn Memorial Park where the private funeral services for Miss Lombard and her mother were conducted at 4 PM. Hardly any of the passengers knew Gable was aboard. When he arrived in Los Angeles by automobile from Pomona, Gable refused to go to the ranch in Encino, where he and Carole had made their home — the place he had made ready for her return.
He went instead to the home of friends who tried to give him solace in his loneliness. But Clark Gable was still alone.
January 18, 1942: Hollywood Shocked By Carole Lombard’s Sudden Death In Plane
By The Associated Press
The film capital, shocked and saddened by the plane crash death of Carole Lombard, was quick today to pay tribute to the actress it counted as one of its favorite daughters.
Elsewhere, too, were heard expressions of sorrow and esteem.
From Secretary Morgenthau came the simple eulogy that she died in service to her country.
Mr. Morgenthau sent this telegram to her husband, Clark Gable:
“My deepest sympathy goes to you today. Your wife died in the service of our country. Her brilliant work for the Treasury this week in selling defense bonds in Indianapolis will be long remembered and honored by us all.”
Here studio magnates and laborers on the big stages joined with the movie-going public in voicing genuine grief. Miss Lombard’s roll of friends was as diversified as her acting ability.
One of her closest friends was Madeline Fields, or “Fieldsie,” who was Carole’s secretary and intimate friend for years before becoming Mrs. Walter Lang, the wife of a director. She was reported prostrated with grief.
Actors Are Shocked
“There is nothing one can say – it is too terrible,” commented Robert Taylor.
“The hand of every actor in Hollywood is extended to Clark Gable, their associate and friend,” said Edward Arnold, president of the Screen Actors Guild. “It is doubly tragic as Miss Lombard was returning from important patriotic duty in connection with national defense.”
Spencer Tracy added, “So little can be put into words when a tragedy of this kind of strikes.”
A somber-faced Walter Pidgeon agreed and said, “I am too shocked to express anything but the deepest grief.”
Ginger Rogers, whose dressing room adjoined Miss Lombard’s at RKO Studio, said, “The world has lost a star who brought joy to millions, and her associates have lost a wonderful friend.”
Can Never Be Replaced
Harold Lloyd, who had known Miss Lombard for many years, observed, “Like all great personalities in pictures who have passed on, she can never be replaced.” Another old-time friend, Lupe Velez, cried, “It’s too awful. The film world will never forget her.”
Gloom was cast over Columbia Studios, where the star was to have started work February 1 on a comedy with Melvyn Douglas.
At Palm Springs, William Powell, Miss Lombard’s former husband, was “so unbelievably shocked that I don’t know what to say.”
“My wife and I have been up all night waiting for reports,” Mr. Powell said. “Our deepest sympathy goes to Clark Gable and Carole’s two brothers.”
Miss Lombard and Mr. Powell were married in 1931 after playing together in films. She divorced him two years later in Reno.
Indiana Grieves
“No daughter of any state has made a more glorious contribution to her nation,” was the message of condolence telegraphed to Clark Gable by Gov. Henry F. Schricker, as an expression of Indiana’s grief over the death of the Hoosier-born film star.
The governor, who two nights ago shared the platform with Miss Lombard at a statewide defense bond rally in Indianapolis, said when told of the plane crash: “She came out here to do her duty. I am profoundly distressed about it.”
In his message to Miss Lombard’s husband, Gov. Schricker said: “I am profoundly shocked and grieved to hear of the airplane tragedy. Her return to Indiana not only endeared her to the people here, but her gracious presence at the first great national defense bond rally struck a blow for victory that will never be forgotten. No daughter of any state has made a more glorious contribution to her nation. Such unselfishness and heroic service will live forever in the hearts of our people.”
… At New York, Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Of America, said, “Carole Lombard has given her life in the service of America. She is a first-line casualty of the war.”
Sends Wire To Gable
Mr. Hays disclosed he had talked with Miss Lombard just before she left for the airport at Indianapolis, where she had opened a defense nond sales campaign, which netted more than $2 million the first day – four times the quota set.
In a telegram Thursday to Mr. Gable, Mr. Hays said he told the film star’s husband, “Carole was perfect. She was gay and radiant, but tears came to her eyes as she voiced her appreciation of the reception she had received from the people of her home state.
“Miss Lombard wanted to serve and help her nation in this hour of its greatest crisis,” Mr. Hays said. “She gave her life for the cause. I am shocked and grieved and saddened.”
January 17, 1942: Gable Paces Floor In Anguish
Clark Gable couldn’t come to the phone – distraught, crushed, he paced the floor of a Las Vegas hotel cottable while the New York Journal-American reporter waited on the other end of the wire. Friends sketched the picture – the Hollywood star, cast for once in genuine tragedy.
No acting now as Gable waited word of the transport plane loss with his wife, the beautiful Carole Lombard. Gable arrived at Las Vegas with Edward J. Mannix, of M-G-M, and William Streeter, a friend.
Can Only Wait
As soon as the wheels of his plane touched the ground, he leaped out, searched the faces of those who met him for some sign that everything was all right.
Seeing in their eyes, their white faces, that it was not, he started back into the plane. He said: “Let’s go there – let’s do something – come on, pilot – start that engine.”
Friendly hands pulled him back, said that there was nothing he could do – nothing but wait.
Searchers Fail
Soon two Army majors from the gunnery school at Las Vegas returned from the search for the transport.
Major Clint Taylor reported: “We found nothing. We saw flames at one time, but we couldn’t tell whether it was desert brush or the plane. Then the flames died out and we lost the location in the darkness.”
Again, Gable interrupted: “Why can’t I go there?”
They persuaded him to wait – to do nothing, and so Clark Gable walked to the floor – waiting – waiting – waiting until wreckage of the crash transport was sighted.
(January 17, 1942 – Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph)
January 17, 1942: Actress Took Plane Despite Mother’s Plea
Indianapolis, January 17 (AP) – “Carole, don’t take that plane.”
Those were the words Mr. and Mrs. James C. Todd of Indianapolis heard movie star Carole Lombard’s mother say to her at the Indianapolis municipal airport early yesterday morning.
The blonde screen actor boarded the plane, however, and she and her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, presumably rode to their death in a crash in the Nevada mountains.
Mr. and Mrs. Todd were at the airport awaiting the arrival of another plane when they overheard Mrs. Peters ask her daughter not to fly back to California.
Miss Lombard came here by train Thursday to take part in a defense bond rally.
(January 17, 1942 – The Boston Globe)
Jan. 17, 1942: Gable Gives Up All Hope
Clark Gable, brokenhearted, turned back today from the mountainside climb toward the wreckage of a transport plane carrying his actress wife, Carole Lombard, and 21 other persons, leaving the search to an experienced crew of Indians, soldiers and hardrock miners.
Searchers reported they were able by the aid of strong field glasses to see high on the Charleston Range what appeared to be charred airplane wreckage amid broken pine trees.
The location was that at which flames had been sighted last night at the time the plane was believed to have crashed.
Gable, who flew to join the search after a sleepless night, was forced to return to Las Vegas because the party lacked horses enough for all the searchers. Gabe had accompanied the party along a winding, rutted dirt road, so far as automobiles could pass.
Grief-stricken, his eyes ringed from anxiety and loss of sleep, Gable sought to walk on, but was persuaded by friends to give up the obstacle-studded climb.
Miss Lombard was accompanied by her mother and publicity representative, Otto Winkler, returning from Indianapolis, Indiana, where Miss Lombard had appeared at defense bond sales rally.
(Jan. 17, 1942 - The Boston Globe)
January 17, 1942: Indiana Saddened By Film Star’s Death After Aiding In Huge Defense Bond Rally
Indianapolis, Indiana, January 17 – In cruel irony, it was the great love of Carole Lombard for her husband, Clark Gable, that led her to her death in the Nevada airplane crash, Fred F Bays, Indiana Democratic state chairman, revealed today.
Bays, who had charge of arrangements for the huge statewide defense bond rally in Indianapolis Thursday night addressed by Miss Lombard, said that Otto Winkler, Hollywood publicity director, who also died in the tragedy, had told him that he pleaded in vain for the famous blonde cinema act actress to return to California by train.
“But Miss Lombard insisted that she wanted to hurry back to Clark Gable, and that the airplane was the quickest method to reach him,” Bass asserted. “She said that she and Clark have been together constantly since their marriage and that she didn’t want to leave him if only for a few days.”
The hotel suite of Miss Lombard Thursday night was filled with flowers sent by Gable. There will be more flowers tonight and throughout the weekend and faraway California.
“All of Indiana was greatly shocked and saddened by Miss Lombard’s death,” Bays said, “for all of Indiana was represented at the patriotic rally and learned to love Miss Lombard for her gracious personality and her helpful cooperation. The last thing that Miss Lombard said to me was that she had to leave Hollywood to see something magnificently done. She wanted me to thank everyone for making her visit to Indiana one of the happiest events in her life.”
From Governor Henry F. Schricker and other high officials and from the humblest citizens who cheered the Hollywood star’s patient and tireless efforts at the first statewide war rally in the nation here Thursday night came sorrowful words and high tribute to her patriotism.
Gov. Schricker described her as “a martyr of the war.”
“It’s a sad tragedy,” the state’s highest official said. “She came out here to do her duty for her country.”
She had left Indianapolis in a happy frame of mind. She was overjoyed at being able to sell more than $2 million worth of war bonds and had learned that the Indiana program would be used by Treasury Department officials as a model for other states.
Miss Lombard had been entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Pulliam at their downtown hotel suite just before she left for the airport. It was a happy gathering, all rejoicing in the success of this initial rally.
The film star was thrilled when a large delegation from her home city, Fort Wayne, participated in the meeting. They also had greeted her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, who also died in the crash. Carole’s name was Jane Peters when she lived in Fort Wayne. Mrs. Peters also formally lived in Logansport, Indiana.
January 17, 1942 – The Tribune
Clark Gable Joined Search For Body of Film Star Wife
Las Vegas, Nevada – Film star Clark Gable joined ground crews of hardrock miners, Indian trailblazers, and soldiers hewing a path up Table Rock Mountain today in search of the wreckage of a huge air transport, in which his actress wife, Carole Lombard, and 21 others were believed to have perished.
Miss Lombard was accompanied by her mother and publicity representative, Otto Winkler, returning from Indianapolis, Indiana, where Miss Lombard had appeared at a defense bond sales rally. Also on the plane were 15 officers and the men of the Army ferry community station at Long Beach, California. Miss Lois Hamilton of Detroit was the only other passenger.
Ground crews were unable to sight the wreckage of the plane, although a Western Air Express pilot informed TWA that he believed he had seen the wreckage of a plane burning on the eastern slope of Table Rock Mountain dividing Death Valley from Nevada.
The pilot, Art Cheney, reported he was unable to get close enough to identify the ship. The country is extremely mountainous.
Joins Search
Gable, who had had waited some time at Lockheed air terminal in Los Angeles for the “delayed” flight on which Miss Lombard and her party had been passengers, flew to Las Vegas by Western Air Express, arriving early today.
He joined the search at once. When the ground crews moved toward the wreckage scene this morning, soldiers, cowboys and Indians had before them one of the most difficult climbs in western America terrain.
The Transcontinental and Western Airlines plane crashed about 20 miles west here at 7:30 PM a few minutes after it had left Las Vegas on the last flight of a transcontinental flight to Los Angeles, 300 miles west of here.
Miners in the vicinity said they heard the plane explode with a thunderous roar. Flames from the burning wreckage could be seen for miles.
Fatal Coin Toss
A flip of the coin apparently resulted in the death of Carole Lombard, studio friends said today.
She wanted to fly to Indianapolis; her studio agent, Otto Winkler, wanted to travel by train.
They compromised in an agreement to fly one way and ride the train the other, then flipped a nickel to decide the order of travel.
(January 17, 1942 - Leader Tribune (Marion, Indiana)
January 17, 1942: Carole Lombard, 21 Others Believed Dead in Plane Crash
Actor Clark Gable, star’s husband, among parties on way to scene – almost no hope held anyone survived
By Robert C. Miller
Las Vegas, Nevada (U. P.) – Gay, laughing, Carole Lombard, beloved by moviegoers the world over, was almost certainly a charred corpse today, along with the 21 other persons who were aboard the Transcontinental and Western Airways passenger plane which crashed and exploded in the desolate Potosi Mountains last night.
Faint Hope Exists Some May Be Alive
Until searchers reach the wreckage, there remained a faint possibility that some had survived, but witnesses who heard the impact of the giant, twin-motored plane against a mountain side, heard the resultant explosion, saw a sheet of flame mount in the sky, and they could not believe anyone had survived.
Clark Gable Fighting To Reach Wife’s Body
Clark Gable, as much of a silver screen idol as she, and the other half of one of Hollywood’s few real-love marriages, rushed here by plane from Los Angeles and joined miners, Indians and soldiers struggling up the towering side of Table Rock Mountain into which the plane crashed.
Pilot Sees Flames
Los Angeles officers of TWA said Pilot Art Cheney of Western Air Express, who flew over Table Rock Mountain shortly after the crash, had reported to them he saw flames on the slopes, and believed it was the TWA plane.
Aboard the great transport were 15 pilot officers and enlisted personnel of the U.S. Army Ferry Command returning to their West Coast bases.
Miss Lombard was returning to Hollywood from Indianapolis where, at patriotic rallies, she had sold $2 million in defense bonds. She was a native Hoosier. With her was her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, and her press agent, Otto Winkler, a studio representative of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which held her contract.
A Lois Hamilton was another passenger. The others were eight officers and seven enlisted men of the Army Air Force returning from furlough to their stations with the West Coast interceptor command.
The plane crashed about 20 miles west of here at 7:30 PM, a few minutes after it had left Las Vegas on the last leg of its transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles, 300 miles west of here.
Thunderous Explosion
Miners heard the plane explode with a thunderous roar. The flames could be seen for miles. O.E. Saylor, purchasing agent at the Blue Diamond lead mine, said he heard the plane overhead a few minutes after it left Las Vegas.
“Then we heard an explosion and saw the plane afire against the mountain,” he said.
Dan Houston, an employee at the mine, didn’t hear the crash but joined onlookers five minutes later and still could see the glow of fire against the mountain.
“It’s a steep hill and plenty high, and I doubt that anyone will climb it in less than half a day,” he said.
Clark County police officers recruited, Tweed Wilson, septuagenarian Indian, to lead the party up the mountain. Army officers ordered trucks and “jeeps” into the area.
The scene of the crash was almost inaccessible. A dozen horsemen and a tractor were pressed into service.
The snow-covered mountain is an 8,000-foot elevation at the lower end of the Charleston Range, which separates Nevada from Death Valley in California. It rises almost 5,000 feet from the valley on the other side.
Willard George, Los Angeles furrier who owns the ranch where Tweed Wilson works, said he saw the plane passing in the twilight and its tail appeared to be bobbing up and down in a peculiar manner.
“It seemed to be out of control for a time,” he said, “as though someone was fighting in the cockpit.”
A few minutes after the plane passed from view, it crashed against the mountain, not far from a beacon marking its course.
Major H.W. Anderson, executive officer of the Air Corps gunnery school at McCarran Field, was in charge of the searching party. Because of the rugged terrain, it was believed it would be almost noon before the party reached the scene.
First word from the scene was expected to come from airplanes scheduled to fly over the wreck.
The plane was not traveling its usual course from Albuquerque to Los Angeles and there was no immediate explanation why it swung north to Las Vegas.
The transport left Las Vegas just at dusk, and apparently was behind schedule. The course from Las Vegas to Los Angeles is not lighted, although beacons marked the path.
Members of the crew included W.O. Williams, pilot; Morgan A. Gillett, copilot, and Miss Alice F. Getz, hostess.
(January 17, 1942 – The Herald News (Passaic, NJ)
January 17, 1942: Carole Lombard In Lost Airliner
Los Angeles, Saturday – An airliner in which Carole Lombard, the film star, was a passenger is reported missing, and, it is feared, has crashed.
Twenty-one other passengers, including Carole’s mother, and a crew of three were on board.
The Trans-Continental Western Airline Company state that their transport machine, which left Las Vegas, Nevada, last night, is overdue, and the pilot of another plane reported that while flying over a mountain on the same route he saw a large fire. A search party has gone out.
Workers at the Blue Diamond Mine, about 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas, report that they saw a flare, and heard an explosion about thirty minutes after the plane (a Douglas) had left Las Vegas yesterday evening.
The pilot of a Western Air Line machine has reported seeing wreckage of a plane on a mountain side, but added that he could not see any signs of life.
A search party has left Boulder City and another has gone from Los Angeles.
Her husband, Clark Gable, was waiting for his wife at the aerodrome at Burbank, California, when he was told of the crash. He charted a plane to go to the scene.
Miss Lombard was returning from a trip to Indianapolis, her home state, to help sell Government Defense Bonds. She sold $2,500,000 worth on Thursday alone.
According to a report circulating in Hollywood, Carole Lombard, and her publicity agent, Otto Winkler, tossed a coin to decide which way they should return to Hollywood. Carole Lombard won and elected to go by plane.
SNOW COVERED DESERT 8,000 FEET UP
The scene of the crash is reported to be forty miles west of Las Vegas, and rugged country near the edge of the desert. The district is over 8,000 feet above sea level and the ground is covered with deep snow.
It is likely to be some time before rescuers reach the scene, as they will have to use pack horses over the last twenty miles.
HER LONG RUN OF SCREEN SUCCESS
Born in Indiana, Carole Lombard, golden-haired and blue-eyed, married Clark Gable in 1939. Her previous husband was William Powell. She is 32, and has had a long run of screen successes. Unlike many other film stars, she has never been on the stage.
One of her latest films was “They Knew What They Wanted,“ in which she played opposite Charles Laughton. Carole Lombard‘s real name, before her marriage, was Jane Peters. Her mother is Mrs. Elizabeth Peters.
(January 17, 1942 – Leicester Mercury)
January 16, 1942: Carole Called Victory Girl
The following article and photos appeared in the January 16, 1942 edition of The Indianapolis News.
Carole Called Victory Girl at War Rally
By MABEL WHEELER SHIDELER
Indiana’s victory girl!
Who is she?
She’s Carole Lombard, slender star of the silver screen, who proved herself a No. 1 saleswoman of the country at the first Defense bond rally in the United States, celebrated with thrilling ceremonies and such fanfare here.
Like a gallant trouper, she stood in the cold wind for almost an hour for the flag-raising services, shivering but smiling, greeting the crowd with sparkle and gay camaraderie, posing patiently for pictures, reviewing the Culver Military Academy rifle honor guard and generally entering into the spirit of the occasion.
“Heads up, hands up, America!” she said in concluding her greeting. “Let’s give a cheer that will be heard in Tokyo and Berlin!”
And the crowd responded with gusto, one voice above the others calling, “Carole, the victory girl,” as she made the victory sign with her fingers agasint the background of the Stars and Stripes.
And then the sale began. Before she could get to her table in the Statehouse, the money and checks began coming in.
“Inside!” one of the officials called, “It’s time to get in the Statehouse.” The fair Carole, pulling her fur coat tighter around her, was rushed into the rotunda, which was packed with persons eager to buy bonds.
As she stepped on the small rostrum with the Governor to greet the vast audience, a voice from the balcony called, “One thousand dollars.”
“We are off,” she called. “Let’s go.”
And as the crowd cheered, she went to her table and the patriotic pageant started. Old, young, middle-aged, grandpas with canes, mothers with babies in their arms, little wide-eyed girls and sheepish, shy youths, eager to buy, filed past the table.
Not one bought without a word from Carole, who went at her task without gloves.
But as the crowd pressed in, she found she could not keep up with the buyers, and called for help. Some of the women on the committee responded. But she did not slow up.
“Glad to see you. Hello. Yes, I’m fine and so is Clark – How many? Thanks. How nice of you. Tired? Oh no. It’s fun.”
So she chatted as she sold, untiring – always smiling.
She gave a ringing laugh when a mother with a sleeping child told her the baby for whom she was buying the bond was her namesake.
“Why bless her heart,” said Carole, and patted the baby gently on the cheek.
She proved that she was just like all the rest of the girls, however, for she said in an aside to a friend: “I must have a few minutes off,” and she slipped into the Governor’s office to use a powder puff and lip stick to repair ravages which were apparent to no one but herself.
“Yes,” she said, “it was cold on the lawn and I am breathless, but is it wonderful, real fun! I love it!”
And then she was back again to find the crowd would not buy until Carole was selling.
“How are we doing?” she asked after almost an hour of steady selling.
“Past the million mark,” was the answer. “The Governor missed his guess.”
Governor Henry F. Schricker had set the goal for the afternoon at $1,000,000.
“We’ll make it two,” she laughed, and turned back to business.
Those who watched her work in the afternoon felt that a sailor’s summation of her was apropos: “She was a real sport, I’ll say.”
January 16, 1942: Indianapolis News Covers 'Intense' Day
The following coverage including multiple pictures and full-length articles appeared in The Indianapolis Star on January 16, 1942.
Indiana Pledges $2,000,000 for War Effort At Nation’s First State-Wide Bond Rally
Caption: As the Stars and Stripes – the flag that flew from the Capitol dome in Washington Dec. 8 when war was declared – soared to the top of a tall mast in flag-raising ceremonies on the east lawn of the Statehouse yesterday, this quartet of Indiana notables looked on. Shown on the platform are (left to right) Governor Henry F. Schricker, Carole Lombard, Will H. Hays, and Mayor Reginald H. Sullivan. (January 16, 1942 — The Indianapolis Star)
January 16, 1942 – Carole Turns Tea Into Bond Sales Extravaganza
Charming Manner, Delectable Clothes Fascinate All at Governor’s Mansion
By Mary E. Bostwick
So irresistible was the spell cast by Miss Carole Lombard of the movies at the tea given in her honor yesterday afternoon by Mrs. Henry F. Schricker at the Governor’s mansion that, though it was supposed to be a completely social affair, guests began taking orders for defense bonds from each other.
Seeing that nearly everybody at the party was a member of the Indiana defense savings staff, this was quite an achievement.
Miss Lombard’s charming manner and her extremely delectable clothes undoubtedly had something to do with this. She was all in black – Ah, but what black!
When she arrived at the party she was wearing a black broadtail coat, toque and muff, and when she laid aside the coat to take up her place in the receiving line, it was revealed that she had on a sheer black woollen frock with long sleeves and cut with a plain square neck, set off with a large purple orchid, black suede cut-out sandals, a silver bracelet on her left arm, a ruby ring and ruby clips on her hat, which was a sort of round little pill-box number, very much off the face and worn with a veil.
Combine all this with one of the fairest blonds in Hollywood, and no wonder every one of the approximately 100 women at the tea could be seen at one time or another standing with their lips moving but not saying anything, while she took mental fashion notes.
Mrs. Schricker’s telephone jingled all day yesterday, the telephoners being people determined to come to the party, whether they had cards to it or not. But the guest list remained strictly limited – 118 city chairmen of the women’s organizations committee of the Indiana Defense Savings staff, 35 members of the corresponding Marion country organization, and wives of members of the state board.
The tea table was decorated with freesias and sweet peas and big bowls of marigolds adorned the other downstairs rooms, while outside of the mansion was adorned with teenage admirers, lined up three-deep along the driveway, waiting to see Miss Lombard go in and then waiting around until she came out again. Numerous handsome Indiana state policemen, in full uniform, also were part of the exterior décor.
Miss Lombard was in fine spirits, said she was having a grand time and wasn’t tired at all. She hadn’t had to sign any autographs earlier in the day – just hand out pledges, already autographed, for defense bonds.
Urges Women To Keep Balance
When she arrived at her suite in the Claypool Hotel, the rooms contained large quantities of roses, sent by Miss Lombard’s husband, Clark Gable. Miss Lombard said Mr. Gable always did this when she was away from home. What’s more, when Mr. Gable’s away from home, said Miss Lombard, she has his hotel rooms filled with roses, too, so everything evens up.
What about those glamorous blackout curtains in Hollywood we’ve been hearing about – movie stars hanging up blackout curtains made of black velvet costing $10 a yard? Miss Lombard said she hadn’t seen any.
And what sort of blackout curtains did Miss Lombard have in her Hollywood home? “Black oil cloth,” said Miss Lombard.
And what can women do best to help win the war?
“I think morale work is the most important just now,” she said. “That is, until a regular women’s army has been organized, as we’ve been promised it will be. I think it’s particularly important for women to do their best to keep their mental balance, not get hysterical, and concentrate on taking care of their own homes and their own families the very best they can.
Campaign a Success
Miss Lombard also spoke to the guests at the tea, complimenting them on the fine work they’re doing selling defense bonds and stamps. She also answered questions. As usual, somebody wanted to know what her husband’s doing now that there’s a war on, and she replied, Mr. Gable is head of the Victory Committee in Hollywood.
Miss Lombard was accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Peters, of Culver City, Cal.
Mrs. Peters also wore a costume well worth a second look – black, with a jet embroidered overblouse, dull gold jewelry, a gray feather toque and silver fox furs. …
Ceiling and visibility permitting, Carole and Mrs. Peters were to board a TWA plane at the somewhat dismal hour of 4:23 a.m. and head back for Hollywood where Miss Lombard will keep on doing defense bond work for the coming year, with time out to make a picture.
(January 16, 1942 – The Indianapolis Star)
January 16, 1942: Carole Lombard Proves Bond Selling Star Too
These three Indianapolis Railways employees are shown buying $3,700 worth of United States defense savings bonds from Miss Carole Lombard (right) for 148 employees of the firm. Left to right in uniform are William E. Hall, Hiram G. Mason and Emmett Logsdon. (January 16, 1942 – The Indianapolis Star)
Carole Lombard Proves Bond Selling Star Too
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 16 (AP) — Carole Lombard proved herself a star in salesmanship, too, in the nation’s first statewide war rally.
In one hour yesterday in a crowded corridor of the Statehouse, the movie actress sold $2,017,513 worth of defense bonds – at the rate of $560.42 a second.
Last night she and Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, both born Hoosiers, urged an audience of more than 12,000 to buy more bonds.
“People are learning to do without their little luxuries in order to gain victory and peace,” Miss Lombard told the audience.
“While other industries are making every effort to turn out the machines we need and ‘keep them flying,’ I can assure you the motion picture industry is going all out to keep the national spirit soaring, and as one contribution to the American people will endeavor to ‘keep them smiling,’” Hays said.
He said the motion picture is vital to the nation to relieve the heavy strain of war, for, while recording history and providing important information and visual instruction, it also is “an essential factor in relaxing nerves too tightly stretched and in strengthening morale.”
(January 16, 1942 – Associated Press)
January 15, 1942: Movie Star Turns To Selling Bonds
January 15, 1942 – Associated Press
MOVIE STAR TURNS TO SELLING BONDS
Statehouse Ceremony Signal for Indiana Campaign
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 15 — (AP) — Carole Lombard of Hollywood, born Jane Peters in Fort Wayne, Ind., turned defense bond salesman today to aid her home state in an all-star attraction billed as the nation’s first state-wide rally of the war.
The 33-year-old blonde movie actress, Clark Gable’s wife, and Will H. Hays of Sullivan, Ind., president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, Inc., were headliners of an all-day program including a flag-raising, bond sale and speeches.
On the afternoon’s double feature bill were the raising on the statehouse lawn of the flag which flew over the nation’s capital when war was declared on Japan and Miss Lombard’s bond peddling in the statehouse rotunda.
Everybody who agreed to buy a defense bond was promised a red-white-and-blue receipt carrying the star’s photograph, signature and message: “Thank you for joining with me in this vital crusade to make America strong.”
Speakers for the flag-raising included Alex Arch of South Bend, Ind., who fired the first shot for the United States in the World War, and Arthur P. Braxton of Paoli, Ind., who placed a French 75 for firing of the shot. Arch was a sergeant, and Braxton a second lieutenant.
Tonight, Miss Lombard, Hays, and Governor Schricker will speak in Indianapolis’ Cadle Tabernacle. The Indiana and Purdue University bands, three drum and bugle corps, two choirs, soldiers and sailors and Culver Military Academy cadets will be on the program.
January 15, 1942 – Chicago Tribune
Carole Lombard paused briefly in town yesterday in a flurry of mink cape, defense vigor and Hoosier eloquence:
“My old man (Clark Gable) is head of the Hollywood Victory board,” adjusting her diamond earrings, “and is it terrific? First unity Hollywood ever had. We’re to have from 10 to 25 shows on the road at one time, all the money to go for bombers and things Morgenthau wants. From now on it’s sell-a-bond, sell-a-bond, sell-a-bond. You finish a picture and before you get off the lot, it’s ‘Pittsburgh by 4 o’clock!’ and off you go again. It’s terrific!”
“Hello sweetie,” to redheaded Don Budge, passing thru the W-G-N lobby where she sat.
“O, Bobby, dear,” to Bobby Riggs who trailed him. “The Mickey Rooney of the tennis court,” in an aside.
“A terrific lamb… No, I don’t expect to take Indiana like Willkie did, but I’m a native, too. Fort Wayne. Left there when I was six… I’m going to raise a flag over the Indianapolis courthouse tomorrow for a war rally, the flag that flew over the White House the day war was declared. No, not 1917, Dec. 8…
"If they sing 'The Star Spangled Banner,' I’m lost. I’ll have to let the crowd carry it. Once I took lessons in voice for six months. I was going to be Carmen, Aida, Mignon, everything. I’d practice my mi-mi-mi every night. It was terrific!
"Well, then I sang, and they played it back. It was terrific! I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Is that me? Get a double!’ The rest of my singing lessons I gave away…”