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Roaldus Richmond
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"I was born on a farm up in Galais," she said. "You know
most of the girls in show business come from small towns and
farms. I don't mean I ever made the Big Time but I've been
in the racket a long while now. I just got this dopy of The
Billboard, and somebody's advertising my name, wants to know
where I mu. See right there Babe Parmelee that's me,
that's the name I go by. Everybody in the business calls me
Babe Parmelee. I wrote right in and I hope they've got a good
spot for me somewhere. I've been up here in the sticks all
winter, and I can't stand much more of it, I'll go wacky.
"This is a pretty good town for a small town, but my God,
it's dead, after you've been around like I have. What can you
do around here? It's a good place to come and die.
"I've done about everythiag in the show business. Night
clubs, cabarets, burlesque, vaudeville and carnivals too.
Lots of the big shots started in a carnival tent, went up to
burlesque, and then hit the Big Time. Plenty of girls that
are stars now were nothing but kootCh dancers in road shows
when they started.
"That's the way I started myself. Ly girl -friend and
we were still in high school aad one summer this carnival comes
along.
'yke were both kind of wild and crazy, we wanted to get
away from home and see the world. We were sick of school and
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getting hell when we stayed out late at night, and we were sick
of the silly boys around town. no we went out with these fellows
from the carnival. We thought they were swell, the real McCoy.
They dressed snappy and talked big city stuff, and we ate it
up. They spent money on us, we weren't used to that, and they
told us a couple good-looking girls like us could go places.
They made a lot of promises and put a lot of wild ideas in our
heads. They did kind of fall for us, see? For a While... We
were different than the hard-boiled babes they were used to
playing round with. We were young then, and innocent kind
of innocent and we were pretty.
"I was a lot slimmer than am now, I had a real swell
shape, and natural blonde hair. sometimes I'm sorry I dyed
it black, but at that time they told me there were too many
blondes and a brunette would go over better. had it red once,
too, before I got it dyed black. But I didn't like it red.
ry eyes were nice, they still are, but that's about all I got
left. I Iftd a good voice once, but sonetMng happened to it.
Probably I smoked and drank too much. Anyway it got too coarse
for singing, and it hai. to be dancing for me.
"But I was telling about the two carnival guys. They had
a couple of girls with the show, a couple of kootch dancers,
and their girls got burned up because they fooled around with
us. They had a big jamboree one night, a hell of a fight, and
both girls quit the show and scrammed. So the guys put us in
the show. God! but I was scared the first time I vent on, and
so was ritty. We were both natural dancers you don't have
to do much dancing in a kooteh tent anyway but we were soared.
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Of course there were men and boys who knew us and that made it
worse. But we said to hell with them. It was our chance to
get a start and we were going to take it, so we went out there
and stripped down and shook it for them. The other girls showed
us how to shake it good enough to get by. In that kind of a
show all they want you to do is strip and squirm around. The
way it comes natural for any woman to do. It's not dancing.
but we thought we were on our way to Broadway sure.
"We traveled all over the state with that bunch. One day
at a fair our fathers showed up with a sheriff, but we ducked
out back of the tent and hid in a truok until they went away.
We thought it was a great life. All that 1.P.oney to spend on
clothes and things, nobody to tell us what to do or when to
go to bed, and all kinds of men after us. But the show broke
up in the fall, and our two guys took a powder, beat it with-
out a word* And the rats took our last week's pay besides. I
guess that was our first real lesson.
nbut we'd been in it long enough so it was in our blood
then, and besides we didn't dare to go home. '4e had 301140 money
saved* a lot of clothes, and we still were young and pretty.
We had learned plenty about the racket* so we went to Boston.
The first job we got there was dancing in a Chinese joint,
but we didn't stay long* The Qhinks were always making passes,
and we weren't ready to drop the color line then. I've
seen times since when color didn't matter a damn when I was
so hungry and sick and tired I'd have gone to bed with a gor-
illa, I guess. It's not much to give away when you're starving*
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and I've been that hungry. It's funny how it can mean nothing
or everything.
"Kitty picked up a guy in Boston who said he'd take us
to New York and get us a real spot. Eta knew all the big names
and places, and he had a good line. Kitty thought he was going
to make us famous, and even marry her, but I wasn't believing
things so easy any more. he borrowed money from us and we
started for the Big Town. The sonofabitch ditched us in a
restaurant in New Laven when we went to the ladies room. nen
we came out he was gone, and we were almost broke and all our
bags and things were in his car. :Kitty was broken-hearted
about it. I told her we were lucky to get away from that guy
with the clothes on our backs.
1117i,
got hold of a couple of college boys, they were nice
kids too, and we gave them the old hard luck story. This time
it was true. They bought us a couple of suitcases, filled them
up with some kind of junk, and took us to a hotel. We stayed
three or four days. The boys had money, they lil;Ad to drink
(Lid wanted a good time, so we had one. But their money, I
guees„ ran out before time to pay up the hotel bill, so there
we were stranded in that room with two empty suitcapes, a flock
of empty bottles, and no dough. We threw the suitcases out
the window into an alley and sneaked out of the hotel.
started hitch -hiking to New York, and we rode into New York
in a truck, the first time for both of us.
nit was a pretty tough for a while, I'm telling you.
couldn't get a job, we had no clothes, nothing... There was
just one thing for us to do, and we did it.
"Ono of the customers kind of went for me, tin he took
us both out of that place and got us a job as entertainers in
a little cabaret. It wasn't much, but it was better than what
we'd been doing. It's plenty hard to break into anything good
in that town. all the show people who aren't in Eollywood are
in New York.
"Kitty finally got into a better nit club, and I went
with a burlesque company. I lost track of iltty after that,
but a couple of years ago I heard she was hittin6 the dope and
sne'd committed suicide. I don't know if it's true or net.
ate was a good kid, but an awful sucker for any guy with a line.
he was always handing money over to some no-good stooca.
he was too big-hearted, that kid.
"Well, it was up and down for me. 1 Wab doing okay for
awhile there, but I got in with a bad bunch. I started smoking
marihauana and that queered me. Wien I came to was out in
the sticks kootch-dancing in another carnival. And the next
thing I knew I was back home here flat on my fanny. I've been
down to New York quite a few times since, and every summer I've
traveled with road shows, but I can't seem to hit anythinci good.
I'm not so young any more and I've put on too much weight.
"Show people are good people, the befit people, but they
live fast and when they start slipping they Lc to 'All quick.
They're generous, good-hearted, they'll do anything to help
you. They act tough and hard-bolled„ but they're soft inside,
tender-hearted, sentimental. If I'd been smart I migLt've gone
places, I might've been right up there today instead of wasting
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away in this hick town. But I didn't use my head, didn't take
care of myself. I was having too much funs that's all I have
a damn about. Lots of the older ones warned me, but I wouldn't
listen, I went on raising hell. I thought I'd always be young
and slim and strong and pretty. I saw the high life het some
of them, but I never thought it'd gat me.
"just the same I wouldn't swap what I've seen and done,
the life I've had and people I've known, for the way most of
these girls earn a living. Getting broad hips sitting in an
office every day.
"I know this town, what there is to know about it, well
enough. Too damned well. I've spent a lot of time here on
and off. hverybody knows me, of course, I've got an awful rep
around here. ot that I care. So far as I'm concerned these
yokels are small-time pikers, all of them. ;tad they can talk
about me, call no a whore, but I'm just aa good as these hirls
that pretend they're so nice. These girls with nice office
jobs who go to church Sundays and bolon6, to tL country club.
itm just us much of a lady as they are.
"There's some pretty hood men around here though, and some
of the be3t ones, the real sports, are stonecutters. They're
men and they know how to treat a girl. They now Low to hive
a girl a good time as hood as you can get in this neck of
the woods. They're not afraid to spend money, and they're not
afraid what people are going to say about timm.
Anything I hate
is a goddamn hypocrite, and that's what most of these women
are, and the men too. 'Jut the stonecutters are all right,