“The Gag Stuff Is Out”

Sometimes there are stories that are just too crazy to make up. This is one of them; it ran in the New York Times in July 1952. The headline caught my eye for obvious reasons.

Here’s the text (which is a wire-service item from the United Press):

CHICAGO, July 17 – The headquarters of Senator Estes Kefauver ordered a blackout today on photographs of pretty girls in coon-skin caps “draped over tables.”

In an order to staff members, Kefauver workers were reminded that the Tennessee Senator is “the leading candidate” for the nomination and would play it straight.

“It is a serious office,” the order said. “The gag stuff, therefore, is out. No more planned pictures of girls in coon-skin caps draped over tables. No more gag shots of any kind.”

Okay, I get it. Senior Kefauver campaign staff understood that the party bosses were not favorably inclined toward their candidate, and that they needed to do anything they could to avoid having Kefauver dismissed as a lightweight or a joke. And I understand that staffers can get goofy at the end of a long campaign. However, the mind boggles at the incident (or incidents) that led to this memo being written.

I am 100% certain that Kefauver – a known appreciator of pretty women – was not behind this order. It seems likely to have come from campaign manager Gael Sullivan, who should have been focused on more important things at this point in the campaign, like wooing uncommitted delegates. The campaign’s failure in that area was surely far more damaging to Kefauver’s chances than any gag shots, no matter how numerous.

Also, the date here is worth noting. July 17th was smack in the dead zone between the Republican convention (July 7th through 11th) and the Democratic convention (July 21st through 26th). Both conventions took place in Chicago, so there was likely a sizable contingent of political reporters hanging out in the Windy City between the conventions with no actual news to report. It’s kind of reassuring that political “silly season” was just as much a thing in 1952 as it is now.

Also, if any of the pictures of “girls in coon-skin caps draped over tables” still survive, I have not seen them. Believe me, I have looked. (The image at the top of this post is a composite that I created.)