A-Dora-Hall-Able

In his comment on last night's post (appropriately #666 in case you're counting) featuring Mitzi Gaynor, Bryce Digdug referenced the famed Dora Hall. Dora is an entertainer I never saw in her lifetime but have heard Bryce mention many time. The wife of Solo Cup founder Leo Hulseman, Ms. Hall fancied herself a great performer. Judge for yourself on this rare clip of her singing Hang on Sloopy as to her actual talents. Today that song may seem about as old as the Great Wall of China, but Ms. Hall was born in 1900, about half a century before those for whom the song was intended.

Legend has it, according to Bryce, that in order to promote Dora's career, Mr. Hulseman would run free record promotions on Solo products. You could check a box of records you wanted, usually a list that included contemporary hits of the time by the Beatles, Petula Clark, the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, etc. Solo would then mail you an album with a note on the order of "Thank you for your support of Solo products and participation in our free music promotion. Due to popular demand, The Rolling Stones Beggars' Banquet is currently unavailable. We are pleased to send you instead a copy of Dora Hall's Down at Papa Joe's.

Official information on Dora is hard to come by these days, and a clip of her on I've Got a Secret was yanked from YouTube. Since she was so inescapable in her day, this is a bit surprising. I wonder if the same will be true of Paris Hilton in 2037? In the meantime, you might enjoy this unofficial web tribute to the mysterious career of Ms. Hall. Sadly, she never covered You're So Vain.