Blog 2131 – 07.26.2021

Hello Betty Boop,

Betty Boop, famous cartoon flapper from the nineteen twenties, was inspired by black jazz singer Baby Esther who though famous in Harlem and New York City never became main stream in her own right. But the character she inspired has turned up everywhere over the almost one hundred years since she first made the scene.

Yesterday, my wife Linda Lee and I drove up to Yankton, South Dakota, from Norfolk, Nebraska where I have been working almost two months and will probably be working several more. It was our second drive up there in two weeks and we had planned to eat at JoDean’s Steak House the first time but opted for The Frying Pan then instead. Yesterday, we did drop in at JoDean’s, and who was there to remind us to use sanitizer but Betty Boop herself or at least a life-sized representation of her.

Our beloved eighty-four year old mother, Betty Lou Lloyd Stokes, has long identified with the Betty Boop character so I texted the above picture to her daughter-in-law Jackie in South Carolina where our beloved Betty resides with her son Luke and Jackie his lovely wife. We had just spoken to mom on the phone and told her we were headed to JoDean’s Steakhouse for supper before to our surprise she was there in the person of BB to greet us. I asked asked Jackie to share the picture with our Betty Lou.

My cousin Linda Darlene Silver, two years younger than me, passed in October of 2017 at the age of sixty-five. She too, long identified with the Betty Boop character and used pics of BB with all her texts and emails to friends and family. Every time I see a picture or statue of Betty Boob I remember our Betty Lou and our Linda Darlene too. In addition to all the pretty blondes like Marilyn Monroe and my wife, and all the lovely red heads like Susan Sarandon and my wife’s sister Sarah, there are all the lovely brunettes like Elizabeth Taylor, Betty Boop, Halle Berry, and Vanessa Willians to name but a few.

So Betty Boop it turns our reminds me of all you lovely women and girls out there. Always a pleasure to think of all those lovely flowers blooming everywhere. “Hello, Betty Boop.”

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HM7aWHayhA0HwKeBRtBXmSi06LgQepnY/view?usp=drivesdk

Travelin’ Man