From Chicago to New York City, 1927

This is a fun image to share! I paid more for this print than I've ever paid before or after - over $400 - but it was worth it! It's not dated, but if you look at the photographer's imprint in the bottom right corner it reads "Paul Stone Raymor, LTO, Chicago"

Chicago! So it most likely was shot before she left for New York in 1927. And on the back of the print there are a couple of stamps - one says "Culver Service, 205 East 42" and the other says "Ruth Etting, Sweetheart of Columbia Records" - so that must mean this print was distributed after she signed her record deal in 1926 - and while there may be a 42nd Street in Chicago too, the 42nd Street in NYC is the heart of Broadway. Ruth came to New York to appear in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 at the New Amsterdam Theatre, on Forty-Second Street. So it seems pretty clear that this image was shot sometime between 1926-1927 in Chicago, and was used to promote Ruth once she arrived in New York, for her first show on Broadway.

For many years this was my favorite image of Ruth Etting - I loved the pearls and the feathers! It's a very famous image of her, and used on a record album cover released in the 1980's, as well as elsewhere. So when I saw the image posted above, I had to have it! I've never seen it anywhere else, but the pearls wrapped around her upper arm are the same, and there are enough other similarities that it makes me think it may have been shot during the same session, or soon after.

It's not an art print - it's printed on thin paper and feels like a promo piece that was probably reproduced many many times - but that doesn't mean any of the other prints have survived. I was grateful to see this one, and grateful to be able to purchase it, and now I'm happy to share it with all of you!

I would say that my three favorite Ruth Etting images, are this one, the sister image I linked to above, and this shot from 1925, with pearls wrapped around her head. Evidently Ruth had a thing for pearls!

And finally, here's a closeup of the pearls wrapped around her upper arm - the way the pearls glow, and the delicacy of the netting - it's just a beautiful print!

No One's Fool, 1921

There's a lot of sheet music out there with Ruth Etting on the cover. Some of the songs she recorded, some she never recorded but sang on the radio, and others she may never have sung at all - but the publishers knew her face on the cover, might help sell more copies of the song! Most of what's available was published in the late 1920's and early 1930's, during the peak of her career.

But what about her early years in Chicago? She came to Chicago in 1914 at the age of seventeen to study art, got a job designing costumes at a night club called the Marigold Gardens, and by 1918 was the featured vocalist. In 1926 she signed a record deal with Columbia Records, that led to nation-wide exposure. So for eight years, from 1918-1926, she worked mostly in Chicago - appearing live and on local radio. It was during that time that she was known as Chicago's Sweetheart.

So the sheet music above for No One's Fool is particularly interesting because it's dated 1921. So she may not have had a big record deal yet, and she may not have had a lot of national exposure, but she had some! And only three years into her career.

The photograph on the cover is one of very few images from the beginning of her career - and may be the oldest image from that time in her life in existence. There are baby pictures that show up on eBay occasionally, but I've never seen a photo of Ruth as a young girl, or from before 1921. The same photograph was used in 1926 on the cover of What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry? - and it wasn't out of the ordinary for the same photos to be reused, but since this sheet music is from 1921, we know this particular photograph was shot sometime before that - so she was probably around 24, or maybe a little younger.