22.00 USD
According to Miss May de Sousa, her stage career began at the age of 14, in Chicago.
''Politics put me on the stage nine years ago,'' she was quoted as saying in a 1910 interview at the New York Theater during the run of "A Skylark." (Footlight Notes at
http://footlightnotes.tripod.com/MayDeSousa001.html)
She shaved a couple of years off her age for the interview (an oh so common practice at the time). The performance actually took place in 1899, rather than 1901. But, politics were indeed the reason the petite 14 year old stood on the stage of the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, singing, for a one time only performance and in front of a packed house, "Dear Midnight of Love."
By all accounts this was an absolutely terrible song (excerpt below), penned by none other than Bathhouse John Coughlin, one of the crookedest and most beloved by the people, of any politician in the history of Chicago, and that's saying something!
"Dear midnight of love,
Why did we meet?
Dear midnight of love,
Your face is so sweet.
Pure as the angels above,
Surely again we shall speak, Loving only as doves,
Dear midnight of love.”
(Chicagology at https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/leveedistrict/coughlinballads/)
Bathhouse John (sometimes known simply as "The Bath") ruled over the First Ward in those bad old days with his fellow Alderman Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna, selling labor and construction contracts, protection to the saloons and the pimps and making life as easy as possible for whichever mob, Irish or Italian, happened to be on top at the time.
May's father, John De Sousa, was a Chicago police detective with close connections to Bathhouse John, hence May's appearance onstage.
Well, she was a hit and since John Coughlin got up onstage beside her, and the place was packed with his cronies, no one was terribly surprised. But, her talent was real, and after a few years of experience locally, she ran off to London, managed to grab the starring role in the 1905 production of "Cinderella" at the Drury Lane Theater, received great reviews and her career took off.
From success in London she went on to success in Paris. Back in America again, she married New York stockbroker Eaton Arthur Haines in 1910. He was a miserable guy who apparently beat her until their divorce in 1914.
A few years later though, while performing in Australia, she married surgeon William O'Hara, a marriage that apparently worked, lasting more than 20 years. She retired from the stage and the two moved to Shanghai.
Here the story turns grim. In the run up to World War Two, Japan invaded China. Her husband William died in 1941 (we don't know how yet, but are looking) and she spent time as a prisoner of war in internment camps.
By the time of her release in 1943, May de Sousa was nearly 60. She had no wealth, no fame, no prospects, and returned to her hometown, Chicago, where she eventually took a job as a scrub woman working for the public school system.
In 1948, at the age of 66, she died of malnutrition in a Chicago charity ward. (Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_de_Sousa)
So very sad. We think they should make a musical out of her life story. At the curtain's close there would not be a dry eye in the house.
A beautiful card with all the appearance of a photo by Georg Gerlach of Berlin, but with no credit and bearing a publisher logo we're still trying to trace. On the reverse side is a real treat of some of the loveliest handwriting, German with a smattering of French, that we've seen. Posted in 1908.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
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