Father of Judy Garland, who was born Frances Ethel Gumm. TLS signed “Frank A. Gumm,” one page, 8.5 x 11, The Valley Theater letterhead, May 20, 1934. Letter to newspaper editor Jimmy Starr. In part: “I am presuming to write you a line in regard to my little girl, Frances Gumm, whom you were kind enough to notice in your column…you will recall perhaps that you referred to her as the ‘little hotcha singer and a showstopper.’ We appreciated this so much and the article is in the little girl’s scrapbook…The other day the little one, Frances, 10 years old, made a wisecrack that I think is ‘hot’ and I thought maybe you could use it. If you can I would get a big kick out of it and if you can’t there is no harm done in asking anyway I hope. It would run something like this: ‘The other day little Frances Gumm, the ten-year old member of the Gumm Sisters trio who appeared last week-end at the Movie Stars frolic at the Gilmore Stadium, wanted to go downtown in Los Angeles alone. Her mother protested that such a thing would be out of the question. Frances wanted to know why and her mother advised her of the danger of being kidnapped. Frances said ‘Well mother why would anyone want to kidnap me?’ Her mother replied ‘Well they would kidnap you and hold you for ransom.’ Little Frances thought for a moment and then replied, ‘Why mother, what’s the matter with ‘Ransom’ can’t he hold his own girls?’ Again thanking you for giving the baby the nice little mention you did and assuring you if you can use this gag I would be very grateful to you.” In very good condition, with three horizontal folds with moderate separation to one fold, moderate scattered toning, and staple holes and a paperclip impression to the upper left. Accompanied by a photo of the three Gumm sisters, captioned in Frank Gumm’s hand. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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