Miss Connie Francis

(1937-2025)

Miss Connie Francis was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, New Jersey on December 12, 1937. Francis attended Newark Arts High School in 1951 and 1952 before she and her family moved to Belleville, New Jersey.  Francis graduated as salutatorian of her class from Belleville High School in 1955.   She became an American pop singer, actress and one of the top-charting female vocalists of her time.  She was estimated to have sold more than 100 million records, worldwide. 

 She regularly performed at talent contests and pageants in the neighborhood and was eventually advised at the age of 14 before an appearance on the variety show, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts to change her last name to Francis for easier pronunication. Godfrey having trouble pronouncing her last name, suggested she change it. Godfrey also advised her to drop the accordion which was advise she gladly followed as she had begun to dislike the large and heavy instrument. 

She had a rocky start in the music industry with her first eight singles failing commercially after she signed with MGM Records in 1955.  Though she had her first taste of success in 1957, her recording contract with MGM came to an end.  

Francis considered pursuing a career in medicine and was accepted into New York University, but at what was meant to be her final session, she recorded a cover of the 1923 song Who's Sorry Now.  Though the song had a slow start, Dick Clark played it on his "American Bandstand" in January 1958 and invited her to perform it on "The Saturday Night Beechnut Show" (which would later become "The Dick Clark Show").  The performance launched her career and the song reached No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart and No. 4 in the United States resulting in MGM Records renewing her contract.  

Frankie Avalon, Connie Francis, Dick Clark and Fabian

Circa 1960s

After teaming up with the songwriting duo Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Francis had a slew of charting hits comprising both original and cover songs like Stupid Cupid, My Happiness, Among My Souvenirs and Lipstick on Your Collar though the recording she is most remembered for was Where the Boys Are. 

In 1984, she wrote her memoir titled Who's Sorry Now? which became a bestseller. She officially retired in 2018.  Francis was married four times and was also in a relationship with singer, Bobby Darin who was the love of her life though her father thwarted any chance of a lasting relationship with Darin.  Darin went on to marry Sandra Dee.

Bobby Darin performing with Connie Francis on The Ed Sullivan Show.

January 3, 1960

The tragedies that befell Francis would challenge the most resilient of souls.  Nevertheless, she navigated each dark, engulfing personal tunnel with unwavering tenacity, always eventually emerging aided by her sense of humor.  From the age of 10,  she worked on television with many comedians like Don Rickles and developed that sense of humor which sustained her throughout her life.

Francis wrote another autobiography titled Among My Souvenirs: The Real Story.

Writing Among My Souvenirs in 2017 was an enormous amount of work .. "A real roller-coaster ride".  After making a series of unsuccessful singles in the 1950s, Francis recorded Who's Sorry Now? which was a song her father had nagged her to record. Connie as a music student of her father, George at Art High School. They had a close, but complex relationship. In 1984, she told People magazine she allowed her father to exert "too much influence" over her life. George Franconero was her manager for 30 years directing her singing dates and accordion lessons from a young age. He was her first music teacher.

George Franconero, Sr., Ida Franconero

George Franconero, Jr. and Connie Francis

Among My Souvenirs rocketed up the charts and by the end of 1958, Billboard named Connie Francis the No.1 female vocalist in the country.  A string of hits followed in the early 1960s including Everybody's Somebody's Fool and Heartaches by the Number. 

A pop sensation, Hollywood soon came calling to cash in on her fame.  MGM placed her in the 1960s film, Where the Boys Are though Francis never caught the acting bug. She is quoted as saying "I just didn't feel comfortable, as though I didn't belong there."

Since a 1967 trip to Vietnam when she entertained the troops, Francis has remained especially close to the military veterans she calls "the real heroes"

Her voice became a defining sound of the 1950s and 1960s.

.. Francis in her own words .. 

"Not so much for the heights I have reached, but for the depths fromwhich I have come".

Connie is now at peace.  We remember her for the joy she gave us in her voice.

Rest in Peace, Miss Connie Francis

Sidenote: The first time Francis saw Elvis, in person, was shortly after his mother had died.  He was in the audience, front row center, at the Sahara in Las Vegas.  Knowing that, Francis was anxious to meet him after the show. She sang "Mama".  Elvis started to cry and left the showroom.

Hialeah Park

Hialeah, Florida

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Hialeah, most likely referring to the city in Florida, translates to "pretty prairie" or "beautiful meadow" in English.  This is based on its Seminole-Creek origin combining "haiyakpo" (prairie) and "hili" (pretty).  

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Hialeah Park .. known for their pink flamingos ..

The Hialeah Park Race Track is an historic rack track.  Its site covers 40 square blocks and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979.  On January 12, 1988 the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior, Donald P. Hodel. 

Among the races the track has hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses.

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Hialeah Park

Circa 1930

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The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in South Florida.  Originally opened in 1922 by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner, Missouri cattleman James H. Bright as part of their development of the town of Hialeah.  Hialeah Park opened as a greyhound racing track operated by the Miami Kennel Club.  The Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's Thoroughbred horse racing track on January 25, 1925.  The facility was severely damaged by a 1926 (category 4) hurricane and in 1930 was sold to Philadelphia horseman, Joseph E. Widener. 

Hailed as one of the most beautiful race tracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened, again, January 14, 1932.  It was became the place for the rich and famous to winter.  Not only did the greatest horses come to Hialeah, but such personalities such a Truman, Churchill, Kennedy and Nixon wheeled through the turnstiles and remarked on Hialeah's incredible beauty. 

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With Kentucky horseman, Colonel Edward R. Bradley as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flowers and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with the famous pink flamingos.  The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American flamingo by the Audubon Society.  

On January 16, 1936 Hialeah Park became the first thoroughbred horse racing venue to install a photo-finish camera, revolutionizing the accuracy of race results in the sport.

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Winston Churchill at Hialeah Park 

Circa 1946

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Other celebrities through the years were Jacqueline Kennedy, Joseph and Rose Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor.  The famous aviator, Amelia Earhart said her final good-byes to the continental United States from Hialeah as she left on her ill-fated flight around the world in 1937.

Jacqueline Kennedy

Kennedy Outing at Hialeah

Janet Auchincloss, Jacqueline Kennedy and Josephine Kennedy. 

Circa January 17, 1955

Joseph and Rose Kennedy

Rose Kennedy

Elizabeth Taylor

"If they build it, they will come."

Aerial Image

Circa 1940

Grandstand Entrance

Hialeah Park 

Miami, Florida 

View of the Bouganvillea covered grandstand entrance taken from the 

paddock of the Hialeah Race Track

 

Famous Authors and Their Typewriters

and 

Nelle Harper Lee, author 

of

To Kill a Mockingbirgd

While most novelists nowadays are inseparable from their laptops, up until some decades ago the typewriter was among the author's most treasured possessions.  Many of the greatest stories have been written on the typewriter, making it one of the most genius inventions of all time.  

Mark Twain

(1835-1910)

Mark Twain supposedly is the first ever author to submit a typed manuscript although  which script is not clear.  In his autobiography in 1904, he claimed he was the first person in the world to apply the type-machine to literature which he remembered to be The Adventures of Tom Sawyer written in 1876 and using a Remington typewriter. However, it is now believed this story was published from a hand-written manuscript.  Historians thinks it was Life on the Mississippi in 1882 that is the origiinal typed manuscript although it was dictated by Twain to a typist from a handwritten version.  The same Remington was given away twice by Twain for being frustrated by it, but it returned to him both times.  Before Twain owned a Remington, it is thought that in the early 1870s he acquired a Sholes & Glidden typewriter sold by Remington Arms.

Sholes & Glidden Typewriter 

The Remington 2 Standard was the Model T of typewriters, simple, reliable and practical.  It was the first typewriter to be produced in great quantity, introducing the world to typewriting and paving the way for the explosion in typewriter design and manufacturing which soon followed.  Introduced in 1878, the Remington 2 was the first typewriter to feature a shift key enabling both uppercae and lowercase characters.  Each key typed two characters much like a modern computer keyboard.  

Ernest Hemingway

(1899-1961)

In the times of Ernest Hemingway typewriters had become more manageable and were widely used by writers.  Hemingway had worn out several typewriters including the Corona No. 3, No. 4 and several Royal portables.  Supposedly, the author of The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929) and Old Man and the Sea (1952) preferred to write standing up, keeping his Royal Quiet de Luxe typewriter on a bookshelf.  

Agatha Christie

(1890-1976)

The typewriter connected to Agatha Christie's famous for Hercule Poroit and Miss Marple detectives, is the 1937 Remington Portable Typewriter. 

Christie started off with an Empire from her sister and got to appreciate the typewriter, in general, when she broke her wrist.  Dictating her stories to a secretary made Christie realize how much the writing and typing processes helped her choose the best words instead of repeating comparable sentences several times.  Writing on a typewriter also kept her in the writer's flow.  Other typewriters Agatha Christie presumably used were a Corona Portable and a Remington Victor T. 

Orson Welles 

(1915-1985)

Orson Welles proves that typewriters were perfect for writing plays.  The American cultural icon, producer, screenwriter and actor is mostly famous for the movie Citizen Kane (1941) and the play War of the Worlds (1938).  He used an Underwood Standard Portable typewriter with his name and address painted on the case.  

Danielle Steel

As Danielle Steel and many other famous authors prove it is not too late to start using a typewriter.  It can provide a welcome change from staring at the screen of your computer and who knows, it might just inspire you to write a great novel.  Steel's choice of typewriter is an Olympia SG1. Steel and several other writers today continue to use typewriters despite the widespread adoption of computers.  

Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during WWII used an Imperial 58 typewriter.  Churchill, known for his stirring speeches and extensive writings, relied on this robust machine to compose many of important wartime communications and literary works.  The Imperial 58 is a testament to Churchill's prolific output and enduring influence.  One of Churchills' Imperial typewriters is on display at the Churchill War Rooms in London.  This museum, part of the Imperial War Museums, preserves the underground bunker that sheltered Churchill and his government during the Blitz.  

Andy Rooney (1919-2011) and William F. Buckley, Jr. were among many writers who were very reluctant to switch from typewriters to computers.  

Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney at his 1920 Underwood Typewriter

"Those old Underwoods were the best typewriters ever built and one of the best of anything ever built.  Even when you weren't writing anything interesting they were satisfying to pound on and I never outgrew my sentimental attachment to them."

Andy Rooney

Andy Rooney's 1923 Underwood with auction tag.

"This vintage 1923 Underwood typewriter used by Andy Rooney in his home office."

William F. Buckley with his canine companion, Freddy.  

Freddy was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who was the brother of one of President Reagan's White house dogs.   

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr.

(1916-2009)

Circa May 6, 1970

Cronkite used a Remington 5 Streamline typewriter. The art deco style typewriter, popular in the 1930s was known for its sleek design and portability.  Cronkite also used a Corona typewriter. 

Truman Capote

(1924-1984)

"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about,, but the inner music that words make."

Truman Capote

Truman Capote's choice of typewriters was a 1961 Smith-Corona Electra 110 in his later years.  He likely typed his last three novels on it.  The typewriter was purchased from Joanne Carson.  Joan was good friends with Capote and even maintained a writing room and bedroom in her Los Angeles home for when Capote was in town and sitting down at at the Electra 110.

Vintage typewriters used by Harper Lee and Truman Capote, childhood friends in Monroeville, Alabama and sometimes collaborative authors sit side by side in a display arrea that was part of the Alabama Types: Poets, Playwrights and Storytellers exhibit at the Dinah Washington Cultural Center at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.  The Capote typewriter is part of a collection of vintage typewriters that traveled the Southeast in 2018 under the auspices of the Southern Literary Trail.  The Lee typewriter, on which she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, was on loan from Harper Lee LLC in Monroeville. 

Lee's father seeing that Nelle and Truman had fallen in love with words, encouraged them with a special gift.  When they were old enough to write stories on their own, he gave them a typewriter.  It was the 1930s equivalent of a word processor:  a rugged, steel-encased black Underwood No. 5 weighing 20 pounds. 

Nellie Harper Lee

(1926-2016)

The 1960 Southern Gothic novel's critical success and its thoughtful engagement with social issues have solidified its position as a fundamental text in American literature.  

"As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don't think you are the most important being on earth."

Nelle Harper Lee 

The Formative Years of Nelle Harper Lee

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama as the youngest of four children.  Her mother was a homemaker and her father, a lawyer though also serving in the state legislature.  Lee's name, 'Nelle' was her grandmother Ellen's name spelled backward and 'Harper' was in honor of Dr. William W. Harper.  The Southern environment of her childhood and her family's history which included being a distant relation to Confederate General Robert E. Lee influenced her later writing.  Lee studied English literature in high school and attended the University of Alabama initially studying law before deciding to pursue a career in writing using Harper Lee as her pen name to ensure proper pronunciation.

.. Lee's father was her model for Atticus Finch ..

in

.. To Kill a Mockingbird ..

Atticus Finch was played by Gregory Peck in the 1962 film adaptation who symbolizes moral integrity, justice and unwavering commitment to fairness.  He embodies the idea that everyone deserves equal treatment under the law and that one should always stand for what is right, even when faced with adversity and societal prejudice.  

RIP Atticus Finch

Harper Lee's Quiet Deluxe Royal Portable Typewriter

A letter typed and signed by Harper Lee to a devoted fan.

Circa September 13, 1960

Harper Lee moved to NYC in 1949 to follow her literary ambitions.  While working various jobs, she wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" completing the manuscript in 1957 and perfecting it with the help of her editor before its publication on July 11, 1960.  The novel's release during the Civil Rights Movement heightened its resonance with the American public.  Lee lived in Manhattan for several decades, maintaining a private life and engaging in few public appearances.  Although she began other literary projects, none reached completion, contributing to her reputation as a literary enigma. 

Helen Keller was an excellent typist.  Though Keller was blind she could use a standard typewriter as well as a braillewriter.* In fact, she was a better typist than her companions Anne Sullivan Macy and Polly Thomson.  

*The Perkins braillewriter was invented in 1951.  One of its features was an audible bell that sounded 7 spaces before the end of a line. 

1957 Smith Corona Silent-Super 

Alpine Blue

This typewriter started my personal writing journey in high school

eventually leading me to the creation of this blog using a Samsung Tablet S5e.

People who buy typewriters today include writers, collectors and those who enjoy the nostalgia and simplicity of using a machine that doesn't have distractions.  Even though most of us now use computers, there is something about the experience and the quiet focus that keeps typewriters alive and relevant, today. 

Oliver Typewriter No. 9, Visigraph, Remington Noiseless

Three Vintage Typewriters 

at the 

Mayville Train Depot

Town of Chautauqua Historical Society 

A Vintage Royal Typewriter 

Circa 1930s