The Ides of March edition

Mr B as Mathias in The Bells, a fun silent with Boris Karloff as well.

I am not really prone to superstition (and my cat-twins Benni and Bjorn were born on this day 9 years ago), so I'm more likely to celebrate the Ides of any month. But of course, there is the historical murder of Julius Caesar (though given that was pre-Gregorian calendar change, I wonder when the date really was!) and all that fallout...so...

Lionel Barrymore confessed to at least one superstition, that of not looking at the shiny, lit-up Wrigley gum ad atop a building in New York City (as he was rounding the corner of Broadway and 45th street) when he lived there. According to Mr. B, he and John avoided looking at it, though he said he had no idea why they thought to see it was bad luck. I believe the ad or image he was probably looking at was as follows:

1922 view of Times Square--ad upper left

Later on, he would have been appalled by seeing what replaced the ad which Wrigley had constructed in 1917 with this monstrosity in 1936:

Ad upper right--Bway, Times Square, looking north from W. 44th street, in 1939. Was there from 1936-60

a postcard of the ad above

You can catch a glimpse of it in old color footage on this youtube video below!
Vintage NY Neon--the ad is early

 Now as a Cubbies fan, I can't hate on the Wrigleys, and I've quite enjoyed their gum over time. Chiclets are the best!  But in any event, the fortuitous averting of his eyes, according to Mr B, meant he ran into his agent Maury Small (literally), who talked him seriously into movies with BP Schulberg. The rest was cinematic history!

Happy ides of March, all!