vintage – Graveyard Snoop

Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 5)

Catch up with Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

And just like that, she was gone.

The Windsor Star; Windsor, Ontario; 30 Nov 1927

Lady Bledzo failed to make her two court appearances on Nov. 7, 1927, and seemingly vanished. There were a few casual mentions in newspaper articles reminiscing about her ex-boyfriend, Yellow Kid Weil, but never again was in she in the news for herself, and never again under that name.

It was her curious name that drew me to this story in the first place, and its disappearance convinced me that I could never know her true ending. What I had seen of her life didn’t promise a good finish. I resigned myself to the idea that she probably died somewhere seedy, unknown and alone.

Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 4)

Catch up with Part 1; Part 2; Part 3

The summer of 1927 had been the peak of drama for Lady Bledzo. As part of her very public lawsuit against ex-fiance Darby Day, Jr., she had appeared in national newspapers. She garnered the support of sympathetic and powerful media. She had provided letters, photos of injuries, and compelling and dramatic testimony about abuse. Lady Bledzo had given it her all.

And yet it failed utterly.

Continue reading “Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 4)”

Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 2)

Lady Bledzo, Part 1

Poised on a spare desk in the Chicago Avenue Police Station, Lady Bledzo didn’t look like she’d just come from a fight. In her crisp white suit and jaunty tie, with a fur across her lap, she looked like she was ready to go shopping.

But excursions to Wieboldt’s or anywhere else would wait.

There had been a fight, right on the sidewalk, and now there were reporters eager to hear her side of things. Lady Bledzo posed for photos and smiled at their questions.

She was happy to oblige.

Continue reading “Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 2)”

Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 1)

Lady Bledzo lit up newspapers for two years in the mid-1920s. Like a cabaret version of Billy the Kid, she came from nowhere, made a great scene — and then disappeared. By 1928, there was no trace of her.

She never held a defined occupation. She never got a listing in the census or the phone book. For weeks I’ve been trying to stretch the few available items about her into a full story. I even called in the assistance of Graveyard Snoopette. She, too, was stymied by this mysterious woman.

I have to admit that a full accounting can’t be done. Like Lady Bledzo herself, her story is not tidy nor complete. It will not be contained.

Her name came out of those Chicago Tribune archives. One name, with many variations to humble the researcher: Lady Bledzo; Rose Bledzo; Lady Rose Bledsoe; Lady Rosa Bledzo; Rose Leonora; Leonore Bleedson; Eleanora Bleedson; and twice, Lenor Grear.

And worse, I’m pretty sure that none of those are her actual birth name.

Fire up the Dusenberg and roll down your stockings. This one is a real lulu.

Continue reading “Unearthed: Lady Bledzo (Pt 1)”

Old Ad of the Week: Million-Dollar Smile

“Red-headed dynamite, I calls her!”

I read a lot of old newspapers, which means I see a lot of old ads. Some of them are too good to keep to myself.

Source: Chicago Tribune; March 6, 1938

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