Great Gatsby Stories-The flapper girls and other wealthy musings.

Edith Cummings, F.Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Edith Cummings Munsen: Born March 26, 1899 – November 20, 1984

Edith Cummings graced the cover of Time on August 25, 1924, as an emblem of her era. She was the first female athlete to be featured on the magazine’s cover.

Born into wealth ....and simply spent her adult life pursuing activities that were amusing and fun. Along the way she would occasionally give away money when a good cause appeared.

Her escapades made her a national celebrity and an early influencer of young ladies who were in the process of throwing away their traditional female chains. They became known as flappers (a title first used by F.Scott Fitzgerald) and following her exploits Edith became known as "The Fairway Flapper." While living her teenage debutante life Edith became part of a clique called the Big Four. The rich young ladies were described as "the four most attractive and socially desirable young women in Chicago."

Acrylic on canvas-180x80cm-click on image to expand.

Golf entered Edith's life as a way of pleasing her father, who had great pleasure in becoming her golf teacher. What he was not aware of was that Edith`s initial interest in the game was only passing, "but it kept him happy." After graduating from Westover School in 1917 the casual pursuit was becoming serious. She was now regularly practicing her game on Lake Forest, Illinois where both her father and mother had been club champions. She followed them by winning the same in 1918.

Edith`s game had now improved so much she decided to have a go at tournament golf. Photo shows Edith Cummings at 20 years old.

Photo shows a young Scott Fitzgerald at 21 years old.

It was also at this time that she met a young Princeton University student named F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was a failed romantic relationship with Ediths best friend, Chicago socialite Genevra King that brought them into contact, although it was only a passing friendship.

Fitzgerald had a number of mental issues, not least that he suffered from a fear of poverty. It was the result of his family falling into destitution when he was a fragile 12 years old.

Changing times:

The drive for change had already begun in the first years of the 20th century, stalled during World War I, and took off during the Roaring 20s, when women cast off corsets and shortened their skirts, no small changes when it came to swinging a golf club.

The Photo displays one of the beautiful dresses worn by a flapper in 1927 (not necessarily on the golfcourse).

It was in 1919 that Edith qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur for the first time. Although not successfull she would go on to win the event in 1923, and also the Western Amateur Championship in 1924.

She was now accepted as the foremost American socialite and one of the premier amateur golfers of the Jazz age.

When the Time story came out Edith was preparing to defend her Amateur title at Rhode Island Country Club. The fame that came from the article might have interfered with her focus as she struggled to rekindle the magic of the previous year at Westchester. Almost inevitably she was eliminated in the early rounds of match play.

Photo: Edith Cummings and Marion Hollins competing in the 1924 Western Amateur Open. Edith had a smooth round swing that repeated like clockwork. Some say it was her mesmerising rhythm that captured the fantasy of Scott Fitzgerald.

For more on the great lady players of this time click on the link. https://www.billknowlesgolfart.com/post/early-ladies-swing-stories-1920-1940

The Gatsby connection

How Fitzgerald describes Jordan in the Great Gatsby:

“I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet. Her gray sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming, discontented face. It occurred to me now that I had seen her, or a picture of her, somewhere before.”

Both Jordan and Edith were well-known golfers. The “picture of her” that film story narrator Nick mentioned could have been Edith on the cover of Time magazine.

https://whsgatsby14.weebly.com/the-girls-who-inspired-gatsby.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LpQuCHCVwQ

Fitzgerald reportedly created the name of Cummings' character by combining the names of two car manufacturers, the Jordan Automobiles and the Baker Motor Vehicle.

Zelda Fitzgerald

After Edith Cummings came a beautiful socialite named Zelda Fitzgerald who was now recognized as the most acclaimed of the early twenties flappers, although it was Fitzgerald who gave her the title of the first flapper girl.

Zelda came from a happy childhood, full of energetic passion and brashness, playing the role of a tomboy, and leaving all the boys crawling in her wake. It was in 1923 , five years after they had first met at a country club in Zelda`s hometown Montgomery, Alabama. Although intitially dating and developing a relationship Zelda was unimpressed by Fitzgeralds low income and his aspirations to succeed in writing. After a short engagement Zelda decided to break off their romance and search for a wealthier man. She played golf every day with her best friend Xandra Karman for a while, and had a good swing. Fitzgerald also played with Zelda on some occasions at their home club the White Bear Yacht Club in Minnesota, but unlike his wife, he showed little aptitude or interest for the game.

When Fitzgerald published his first book, This Side of Paradise, he started receiving recognition. Only after becoming famous did Zelda change her mind about him and decided to marry Fitzgerald. The two were never a comfortable fit.

The lady members of the white Bear country club 1900

More to come.

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