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Circa 1940s. "Joan Davis -- 'Fame' award." The radio star and early television comedienne who posthumously attained a new generation of fans with cable reruns in the 1980s of her ancient sitcom I Married Joan. 4x5 acetate negative from the Shorpy Publicity Archive. View full size.
I still remember the "I Married Joan" jingle. Now, I can't get it out of my head!
She's biting the crown to see if it's real gold, as comic characters used to do when handed a coin. They did a few classic Vaudeville bits on I Married Joan. Does anyone else remember her doing "Slowly I Turned," otherwise known as "Niagara Falls"?
It looks like she is taking a bite out of that tambourine.
A closer look at the item Joan Davis is holding reveals an absence of cymbals which are required to achieve the proper tambourine sound. It looks like a studio prop version of some sort of crown. (I watched I Married Joan a lot as a kid in the 1950's. Loved it.)
[It does look rather diademical. - Dave]
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