About this project

Kay Kemble (1911-1989) is a character invented for this project. Kay sang on radio commercials as a child and went on to lead Big Bands and swing ensembles in the 30's and 40's. She worked at Scott Air Field as a WAAC enlistee and a civilian. She produced war bond rallies, and her all-female band promoted a popular shampoo brand. In the 80's there was renewed interest in Kay's musical career.

Kay informally adopted the orphaned niece and nephew of her partner Wilmetta "Teeny" Stockton, and in the early 70's the family moved from St. Louis to New Orleans. After Kay and Teeny's deaths, family members remained in New Orleans until displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 2014, I arranged to archive, organize, and restore Kay's memorabilia. Most items were damaged due to age, hurried packing , and lack of funds for formal archiving.

I've "become" Kay in reproduction radio broadcasts, and created artifacts to represent damaged or destroyed items in the collection.



Thursday, December 3, 2020

Guessing what films Kay saw at the second-run theater

Four three or four years, Kay and her partner Wilmetta "Teeny" Stockton lived and worked in Mill Creek Valley, an African-American section of St. Louis. Kay and Teeny loved to go to the local movie palace, but the selection of films was sketchy fror a number of reasons, including post-war shortages and a low-income neighborhood. 

Sometimes the "new" movies which showed up at neighborhood theaters were actually years old. Kay and Teeny used to joke that they'd gone to see the 1946 version of the film "Luxury Liner," only to find that they'd bought tickets for the 1933 version. 




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