Episode 90: A Special Touch
A tennis sensation returns to play both on and off the courts. Wherever he goes hijinks will ensue.
#FrankShields, #Wimbledon1932, #SidneyWood, #HelenWillsMoody, #Wimbledon, #Nazibans, #NovakDjokovic, #BunnyAustin, #BaronvonCramm, #DavisCup1932, Olympics 1932
June – August 1932, plenty of sports competitions are occurring around the world. Frank Shields returns for Wimbledon and Davis
Cup with more antics with his teammates.
Other people and subjects include:
Huntington Hartford, John Jacob Astor VI aka “Jakey,” James “Henry” Van Alen, William “Sam” Van Alen, Rebecca “Billie” Tenny Shields, Julie Seligson, Bunny Austin, Daniel Prenn, Wilmer Allison, Helen Wills Moody Roark, Baron Gottfried von Cramm, Daniel Prenn, Bunny Austin, Fred Perry, Betty Nuthall, Jean Borotra, Jiro Sato, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Steffi Graff, Dorothea Lambert Chambers, Pete Sampras, Novak Djokovic, William Renshaw, Andre Agassi, Chris Eubanks, Carlos Alcaraz, Boris Becker, Lottie Dod, Wilfred Baddeley, Martina Hingis, Andy Murray, Amateur Era, Open Era, massage, tennis fashion trend knee length skirts, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Queen Mary of England, King George V of England, King Manuel of Portugal, King Gustav V of Sweden, Miss Verle Lowe, Jesse Owens, Olympics 1936 Berlin, Wimbledon 1932, Wimbledon 1931, Davis Cup, Wimbledon records, Davis Cup records, Olympics 1932, Los Angeles, Olympics Village, Olympic Boulevard, Baron Takeichi Nishi, horse Uranus, Olympic mascot Smoky, female Olympic events, Babe Didrickson, Stanislawa Walasiewicz, intersex, homosexuality, dangers in sports, gladiator games, soccer / football in Mayan rituals, polo, Persian cavalry, athlete comradery, dangers in sports, rise of Nazi regime, Nazi athlete bans & imprisonments, protests, Aryan ideology and supremacy, good sportsmanship, definitions and metrics, Katherine Middleton – Princess of Wales – Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William – Prince of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales
Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Extra Notes / Call to Action:
A special note on the collaboration with Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com
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Publish Date: July 23, 2023
Length: 24:00
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Kansas City Kitty by The Rhythmic Eight, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20s
Section 2 Music: It’s An Old Southern Custom by Carroll Gibbons, Album The Age of Style – Hits from the 30s
Section 3 Music: Eeny Meeny Miney Mo by Harry Roy, Albums The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s & Tea Dance 2
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 090 – A Special Touch
Outline
Wimbledon massage
Davis Cup antics
00:00
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast by Nicki Woodard. Based on historical research, this is a deep exploration into what happened to a set of actual heirs and heiresses to some of America’s most famous fortunes when the Great Depression hits.
Each episode has three primary sections. Section 1 is a narrative story. Section 2 goes deeper into the historical facts. Section 3 focuses on contemporary, emotional, and personal connections.
00:29
Story Recap
Plenty of troubles surmount as the Great Depression continues, but heiress Doris Duke seems to be rising in popularity.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:45
A Special Touch
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
A tennis sensation returns to play both on and off the courts. Wherever he goes hijinks will ensue.
01:00
[Music – Kansas City Kitty by The Rhythmic Eight, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20s]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:17
Another summer season means the return of multiple highly prestigious tennis tournaments.
And of course, the most prestigious of all – Wimbledon. Returning champions, tennis sensation and movie star handsome Frank Shields returns with his fellow Americans Sidney Wood and Ellsworth Vines both for the London tournament before resuming the Davis Cup circuit in France.
01:40
This year Frank ranks number 2 in the United States and recently married Rebecca “Billie” Tenney Shields back in February. Her father assisted Frank in getting the “amateur” player by giving Frank a position as a junior loan officer – a position Frank finds extremely confining and boring. Frank has gladly taken leave from the desk job to hit the circuit again.
02:04
In London, the charismatic and playful Frank is welcomed back. Many remember him from years past, and last year he and his doubles partner Sidney made an even bigger impression on British Queen Mary after accidentally eating her strawberries. She smiles down on them from her box. Last year 1931, Frank and Sidney were to face off in the finals, but Frank’s prior game against Frenchman Jean Borotra ended with Frank’s victory but a hobbling injury where the American coaches decided to pull the final game to ensure better participation in the Davis Cup. Frank is the only player to lose and Sidney to win the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final by walkover i.e. default, but Frank’s playing already won him legions more of fans.
02:51
Tuesday, June 28th, 1932 – Wimbledon
In preparation for the Quarterfinals for Men’s Singles, Sidney and Frank decide to enjoy a nice massage by a highly recommended Swedish male masseur who really knows how to work an athlete’s muscles. Sensing a little extra amorous touch by the masseur, Frank whispers his lack of similar inclination but that the next client waiting behind the curtain would appreciate the service with a special touch. As Frank heads off for his next match, Sidney yells from the table at Frank.
03:28
Frank plays heavy against British #1 favorite Bunny Austin. The flustered Sidney makes it in time to see Bunny defeat Frank. Then Sidney faces off against Japanese Jiro Satoh and loses. But not all is lost for the American team. In the Wimbledon finals on Saturday, July 2nd, 1932, Ellsworth Vines defeats Bunny for the championship. Present King George V and Queen Mary watch the highly anticipated Vines – Austin match, then leave the games early to attend the funeral of King Manuel of Portugal. Back in Los Angeles, Ellsworth’s fiancée Miss Verle Lowe throws an impromptu fudge victory party in celebration.
Another victory, American Helen Wills Moody wins her 5th Wimbledon Women’s Singles title amongst what will be a long winning streak. However she will not be joining the men only Davis Cup tournament and tour.
Next the young male American tennis team heads to Paris to continue the Davis Cup against Germany.
04:30
Friday, July 22, 1932 – Davis Cup, France
Frank plays hard against Baron Gottfried von Cramm. A steady and stylish player, the baron wins the first set 5 – 4. In the 2nd, Frank ups his game and rushes the net to win the second set, only to lose the third. Then Frank goes on to lose his next match to Daniel Prenn, who will then be defeated by American and Wimbledon champion Ellsworth Vines. Defeating Germany, the U.S. then plays against France, where the uneven and not doing too well this year Frank is replaced by another teammate Wilmer Allison.
05:11
Trying very hard to be good this year, the Jolly School Boy now relieved of the performance pressure finds other ways to amuse himself. Frank hits the nightclubs and begins a new game with his mates. As they stroll along the streets, the guys slow down their pace letting the pretty Billie get a few feet away from them. Whenever an inevitable flirtatious Frenchman approaches the seemingly single lady, Frank runs up and acts like a jealous husband scaring the poor would be lover, who scurries off in a panic.
While the street game was fun, France eventually beats the U.S. 3 to 2 in the challenge round.
05:49
After Frank and Billie return to their 73rd Street apartment, Frank heads off to Newport then Nationals. Luckily before the season ends, Frank runs into an old classmate Julie Seligson who offers Frank a position at his insurance company saving Frank from more dreary bank work – and how depressing that is with the string of bank failures still ongoing.
Forever happy and go lucky Frank gladly changes direction yet again.
06:18
[Music – It’s An Old Southern Custom by Carroll Gibbons, Album The Age of Style – Hits from the 30s]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
06:35
In general, sports are valued as both a game and a competition that can also unify. Something that should bring goodwill, especially among nations in the bigger challenges. But the nature of sport can be intertwined with darkness. Ironically, despite battling on the field, athletes might form friendships, comradery, and alliances that supersede sport and national rivalries.
07:01
Some of the earliest games were definitely bloodier and deadlier. The gladiator games of Ancient Rome over the centuries devolved into riots and terror. The earliest form of soccer is present among the Mayans and are part of the bloodlust in ritual sacrifices to the gods. Polo itself was designed as a warrior training exercise for Persian royal calvary. But the dangers that become even more prevalent come with hero worship and conformity.
07:26
This series is focused primarily on the Great Depression and re-exploring certain human experiences during an extremely stressful time. However we know that these economic circumstances also lead directly into World War II. As I peruse through newspapers and as well as looking up various names that appear throughout this episode, the closeness to those future events hint to a whole other crisis becoming apparent.
I have mentioned that Hitler and Mussolini pop up in adjoining news columns. Hitler will become Chancellor in January 1933. We know that the 1936 Olympics in Berlin will be a tipping point especially with the presence of African American runner Jesse Owens. Here we are 4 years earlier, and Hitler will rise to power within the next year and with that he will use German athletes as part of his Aryan race ideology.
But let’s explore a few other athletes first from this time period.
08:24
American Helen Wills Moody (later Roark) will win over 21 grand slam championship titles in singles, doubles, and mixed with 19 being singles events over the course of her career. Helen wins in singles Grand Slam Events – Wimbledon 8 times, the French Open 4 times, and the U.S. Open 7 times. Her last Wimbledon win is in 1938. She also gold medals in singles and doubles at the 1924 Olympics. Helen had to withdraw from the 1926 French Championships and later Wimbledon the same year due to appendicitis. An emergency appendectomy was performed in early June. Also in 1932, French Championships (the future French Open), she will partner in mixed doubles with Sidney Wood but they will lose to British Betty Nuthall and Fred Perry. Helen is the first female American sports star to become a global celebrity and started the trend of knee length skirts as the longer hem hindered her game.
09:26
Helen’s 8 wins at Wimbledon is not surpassed until 1990 by Czech American Martina Navratilova at 9. Swiss Roger Federer holds the men’s record at 8 in 2017, and Serena Williams will tie at 7 championships with German Steffi Graff and British Dorothea Lambert Chambers (the latter played between 1903 to 1914). In the Men’s Singles, a tie at 7 is held between American Pete Sampras, Serbian Novak Djokovic, and British William Renshaw (the latter who won between 1881 to 1889).
10:04
As previously mentioned in a prior episode, the Davis Cup will not include a female division until 1963, which will eventually be named the Billie Jean King Cup.
The Davis Cup has been won by the United States 32 times, Australia 28 times, British and France tied separately at 10 times each, and the 2022 winner is Canada. The 2023 results are still in play as of this recording.
10:31
The former Wimbledon schedule was to be held over the last week of June and first week of July, but has switched to the first two weeks of July in the more modern era. The Davis Cup occurs around Wimbledon. In 1932, the Davis Cup will not conflict with the Olympics as the event was removed after 1924. Tennis had been included in the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics and continued until 1924 after disputes emerged over the definition of amateur status. Tennis will return as demonstration games in 1968 and 1984 then resume as regular competitions from 1988 until present.
11:10
As mentioned this 1932 summer has plenty of competitions, but the one major event our regular elites don’t seem to be attending is the Olympics in Los Angeles from July 30th to August 14th, 1932. Due to circumstances from the Great Depression, several nations did not compete.
Here are some notable historical facts related to this particular Olympics. Overall, 37 nations attended. Only 3 nations competed in field hockey – the U.S., India, and Japan. It is the first time the Olympics Village will be constructed to house athletes. The Olympic mascot a terrier dog named Smoky is featured for the first time. In Los Angeles, 10th Street is renamed Olympic Boulevard. Japanese World War II officer Baron Takeichi (Tay-KYE-chi) Nishi won the gold in the equestrian event with his horse Uranus – the only time Japan would win this category. Baron Nishi will fight at Iwo Jima.
12:10
1932 is the second Olympics to feature female competitions. In 1928, women’s team gymnastics debuted, but in 1932 there is no event held so female gymnasts only participate in exhibition games and not true competition. Other female events made their debut in 1932 – 80 meter hurdles, javelin throw, and high jump. Women were only allowed to compete in 3 events, while the men had no such restrictions. American Babe Didrikson won gold in hurdles and javelin and silver in the high jump.
Poland’s Stanislawa Walasiewicz (Stan-ees-swava Vala-shei-viche) wins the gold in women’s 100 meter and will win the silver in 1936. After her death in 1980, it is determined that she is intersex and would have been disqualified back then from competition.
Overall there are 117 events across 20 disciplines, including track, cycling, wrestling, equestrian, swimming, and aquatics like water polo.
13:10
Meanwhile our tennis stars remain in Europe for Wimbledon and Davis Cup while our other heirs and heiresses are running about absorbed by their own various activities. Baby-faced richest boy Huntington Hartford plays tennis on the east coast for the upcoming tournaments. While John Jacob Astor VI, aka Jakey, has skipped the Olympics to be in Hawaii before heading to Asia.
13:31
Before the 1934 Davis Cup, Japanese Jiro Sato will commit suicide by jumping ship on the way to Europe. He will succumb to psychological fears over recent stomach problems that might cause him to lose in the upcoming tournament. British players Fred Perry and Bunny Austin expressed their sentiments in the press on Sato’s pleasant and cheery demeanor.
As for other foreign players, it should be noted that very soon certain celebrities will be coming into problems over politics within their own home countries especially as the Nazis rise to power. In 1933, British tennis stars Bunny Austin and Fred Perry will both denounce the Nazi banning Jews from the German Davis Cup team. Bunny will also face conflicts over his conscientious objector status throughout World War II.
14:18
Russian born in then Poland now Lithuania as well as having Jewish ancestry, Daniel Prenn will escape with his family from the growing anti-Semitism in Russia after World War I and flee to Berlin in 1920. However Prenn in particular will be publicly banned by Germany from playing in the Davis Cup despite his making it into the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1933 where he loses again to American Ellsworth Vines. Prenn will quickly re-apply for Polish citizenship (which he had only dismissed in 1932 and is then refused for his reapplication by the government in spite). Prenn then will apply and receive British citizenship for which he will continue playing for the rest of his career. Swedish King Gustav V protested these new racial policies, as does Baron von Cramm which will cause him further issues with the Nazis.
15:13
Baron Gottfried von Cramm is previously a hardly noticed tennis star now starting his own rise to tennis fame. At age 10, the baron loses the top joint of his right index finger after a horse took a bite larger than the offered sugar cube. Despite this, the baron becomes an avid tennis player. He will win his first grand slam title in the 1934 French Open. Von Cramm will lose Wimbledon 3 times first and second during the last two of British Fred Perry’s three time winning streak from 1933 to 1935, and the baron’s third loss will be to American Don Budge in 1937. In 1935, von Cramm gets further accolades for his good sportsmanship when he refuses to take a match point despite no one witnessing the error in the call, and thereby causing Germany to lose.
16:04
Soon enough the baron will be considered by the Nazi regime one of the symbols of the Aryan ideal and supremacy – blue eyed, blonde, and athletic. An image the Baron himself resists along with his protests for Prenn will make him a target, not so great especially when hiding a dark secret for which the Nazis will imprison him – homosexuality, and made far worse after admitting to a years earlier relationship with a Jewish actor and singer. Nonetheless, the baron will have two marriages with women. The baron’s international tennis friends will also protest his treatment.
16:42
In 1977, Baron von Cramm will be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, an organization founded in 1954 by James “Henry” Van Alen and with involvement of his brother William “Sam” Van Alen. Frank Shields himself is inducted in 1964, and Frank’s future and by then former great grandson-in-law Andre Agassi in 2011. Agassi also won Wimbledon in 1992. Many of the others mentioned in this episode will be inducted as well, but I don’t want things to get too convoluted by naming them all.
17:15
Beyond the tennis encounters covered in this episode, Baron Gottfried von Cramm deserves to be mentioned and slightly highlighted in our story. Why? Well, I will let those previously unaware of our regular characters’ histories in on a not so secret. The Baron is a future husband to one of our recurring heiresses though far beyond the scope of our story’s timeline. For the moment, I shall not tell which one as it might dampen the delicious craziness that is about to unfold over the next few months.
The whirl of marriage – divorce – marriage as partners change and collide in the dance of life, love, and extreme wealth. Game – Set – Match, until it begins again…
Ahhh, yes, the games over hearts and fortunes never ends…
18:11
[Music – Eeny Meeny Miney Mo by Harry Roy, Albums The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s & Tea Dance 2]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
18:27
The thrill and victory of a win, the agony of defeat, and yet how much confusion can there be?
Well, whenever designations change so do the metrics used to determine who’s who and when. Our current era’s debate over gender in sports will surely be a mess for the ages when going for clarification. But let’s focus on what seems to be a little more straightforward.
18:55
For Wimbledon, there is the Amateur Era from 1877 to 1967 and the modern Open Era which began in 1968 to present. Wimbledon did not occur from 1915 – 1918 during World War I, from 1940 to 1945 during World War II, and in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year 2023 has had some noticeable wins that might need some clarification.
In his debut at Wimbledon, American Chris Eubanks is the third African American player, or black American player, to make it to the Quarterfinals since the Open Era began in 1968. The last African American player, or black American player, was 27 years before him.
19:41
The 2023 defeat of former champion Serbian Novak Djokovic makes Spanish Carlos Alcaraz at age 20 the 3rd youngest male winner in the Open Era.
Reminder Sidney Wood is the youngest male competitor at age 15 at Wimbledon in 1927 and possibly third youngest winner of all time winning at 19 yrs and 245 days in 1931 when he won uncontested against Frank Shields. In trying to sort that out, it gets messy for sure.
However what is clear, the youngest ever in Men’s Singles is German Boris Becker who won at 17 yrs 7 months (or 228 days) in 1985, and for the Women’s Singles British Lottie Dod at 15 yrs 9 months (or 285 days) in 1887. Lottie will win 5 Wimbledon championships. The previous youngest male Men’s Singles winner was Wilfred Baddeley in 1891 at 19 yrs 175 days.
Swiss Martina Hingis is the youngest ever at 13 when she won the Wimbledon junior division in 1994. Martina also is youngest at Wimbledon Female Doubles at 15 yrs and 282 days in 1996 (a 3 days difference from Lottie but in a different category), and Martina will win the Women’s Singles at 17 in 1997. She is also the youngest winner EVER to win a grand slam title at age 12 in the French Open Junior Division in 1993.
Serena Williams won Wimbledon Mixed Doubles at age 16 in 1998.
21:24
British Fred Perry wins 3 consecutive Wimbledons with the last in 1936, and the next British win will be Andy Murray in 2013. Britain holds the record for Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles at 37 but the majority of 35 wins during the Amateur Era with only 2 during the Open Era, the last being in 2016. America holds the second record number of overall wins at 33. For Women’s Singles, America holds a far lead at 57 wins then Britain a distant second at 36.
22:01
And as with all big events, royal spotting trends continue with photos of Katherine, the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Cambridge enjoying the events with her husband Prince William and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who makes her own debut at the tournament this year. Every year, at least one royal will get a spotlight photo for the event and Katherine’s green dress seems to be this year’s hit.
Ohhh, how important are the rules of fair competition and good sportsmanship in the realm of sports. Unfortunately, such notions and clear cut rules rarely appear in the realm of love and wealth. Our heirs and heiresses could use such clear delineations for the games of love and wealth ahead of them.
22:45
I would also like to point out my own ongoing collaboration with British music company Past Perfect Vintage Music. Their wonderful digitally remastered collection enhances every episode. And rumor has it there’s more developments to come… Check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
23:11
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
Hoping that a change in political power will end the ongoing Great Depression, one heir vows his continuing and undying support to a presidential nominee.
Until then…
Credits
23:31
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast written, produced, and voiced by Nicki Woodard, based on historical research. Archival music has been provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
Please come visit us at As The Money Burns via Goodpods, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
24:00
THE END.