On Tuesday, January 6 – the first day after the Christmas holidays end – Julien’s Auctions invites you to celebrate Merry Merry Marilyn. Bids are open for the online event, now in its third incarnation, with glitzy memorabilia fit for the holiday season and beyond (like this Bert Reisfeld poster.)
SOLD for $5,120
However, other artefacts bring us closer to Marilyn’s own life and times…
At left, a colour transparency by David Conover, the US Army photographer who ‘discovered’ 18-year-old Norma Jeane Dougherty on the factory floor at a Los Angeles munitions plant in 1944. At right, from a set including an original transparency, negatives, and later prints.
SOLD for $448 (left) and $640 (right)
At left, a small 1970s print from Norma Jeane’s 1945 shoot for Andre de Dienes, among several related lots. And at right, one of three prints from a 1946 shoot with the newly blonde Marilyn. On the verso, the title ‘Peace of Mind’ is written in Andre’s hand.
SOLD for $192 (left) and $640 (right)
At left, a poster from another 1946 shoot, signed by Joseph Jasgur. And at right, a set of 75 collector cards inscribed by the photographer to Greg Schreiner, founder of Marilyn Remembered.
SOLD for $576 (left) and $320 (right)
At left, a rather quirky 1957 calendar for a Toledo, Ohio restaurant, George’s Cigar & Grill, with a plastic overlay covering (most of) Marilyn’s ‘Golden Dreams’ pose from her 1949 nude calendar shoot for photographer Tom Kelley.
SOLD for $256
And at right, a ‘very large and somewhat sacrilegious’ Catholic rosary, made from hand-carved wooden beads in the Congo, Africa. Marilyn’s nude pose is depicted on a resin crucifix – with her nipples blacked out for modesty – alongside the French title, ‘L’immaculee Con(go)’, with further text on the back: ‘Coeur Immacule De Faire Die(u) Pour Vous’, or ‘Immaculate Heart of God Works for You.’ (From the Greg Schreiner Collection.)
SOLD for $448
An oversized print showing Marilyn on location for Niagara in 1952, and a set of notecards, all signed by photographer George Bailey, a local resident who published a booklet about his memories of the shoot in 1998.
Print SOLD for $512; notecards SOLD for $75
At left, a 1980s print of Marilyn in a scene from Niagara, with ‘Movie Star News Est. 1938’ embossed on the lower corner. And at right, a 1990s greyscale print signed by the artist, Moore.
SOLD for $384 (left) and $640 (right)
Above, at top: a counter cheque for $23.66 paid to Gift Service Unimited, written out by Marilyn on December 20, 1952, with the Beverly Hills Hotel as her given address. (Some last-minute Christmas shopping, perhaps?)
SOLD for $5,760
And below: a rare colour transparency, showing Marilyn at the Shrine Auditorium with hairdresser Gladys Rasmussen and makeup artist Allan ‘Whitey’ Snyder on December 4, 1953. Possibly shot by Phil Stern, who photographed the star backstage at the Los Angeles Examiner Christmas benefit show.
SOLD for $1,600
Above, at top: an ink blotter advertising the Schlosser Textile Company of New York, with a sweetly risqué illustration by Earl Moran (circa 1946.) The model’s identity remained secret until the 1970s, when Playboy founder Hugh Hefner acquired Moran’s previously unpublished photos of Marilyn.
SOLD for $192
And below: a Marilyn Monroe Paper Dolls booklet published in an ‘authorised edition’ by the Saalfield Pub. Co of Akron, Ohio in 1953, featuring four pages of designs inspired by Marilyn’s costumes from hit films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
SOLD for $384
A group of rare colour transparencies showing Marilyn at the Beverly Hills Hotel for the Photoplay Awards on March 8, 1954, where she was named Most Popular Actress of the preceding year.
Wearing the same Travilla gown from her Shrine Auditorium appearance, Marilyn is pictured with columnist Sidney Skolsky, who escorted her to the event; actor Alan Ladd, who presented her award; and producer Samuel Goldwyn, who wanted her to star in his upcoming adaptation of the hit musical, Guys and Dolls.
However, at the insistence of Joe Mankiewicz – who had directed Marilyn in All About Eve – the coveted role went to Broadway actress Vivian Blaine.
SOLD for $384
A negative from a contact sheet printed by photographer Richard Avedon, showing Marilyn in New York with filmmaker Billy Wilder for Harper’s Bazaar in September 1954. The handwritten inscription reads: ‘For Billy Wilder from Dick Avedon.’
SOLD for $512
At left: a colour print showing Marilyn filming the iconic ‘subway grate scene’ for The Seven Year Itch during the same New York trip; and at right, a 2012 poster for Marilyn: The Exhibit at the Hollywood Museum, featuring a photo of Marilyn signing autographs during a press party for the movie.
Both items are signed by photographer George Barris.
SOLD for $1,024 (left) and $192 (right)
Above, at top: A ceramic black ashtray similar to one seen in this 1954 photo of Marilyn with husband Joe DiMaggio at the Stork Club in New York.
SOLD for $768
Below: a colour transparency of Joe DiMaggio with his now ex-wife on her 29th birthday at the New York premiere of The Seven Year Itch on June 1st, 1955.
SOLD for $6,400
You can read all my posts on Merry Merry Marilyn right here.
The Marilyn Report 