Recently while out and about in Toronto, I stumbled upon the following image of Jinx Falkenburg in a Sports store.

1940s Vintage Photo of Jinx Falkenburg Sitting with Bowling Ball and Soft Drink — Source: Corbis Images

I asked the sales lady who the woman was and she proclaimed that it was the famous Jinx! “Famous Jinx I asked?” “Yes she said the Famous Jinx from the 1930s and 40s!” I scratched my head and ran off to the internet and discovered that I DID know who Jinx Falkenburg was! Well..sort of. You see I discovered that she stared in “Cover girl” a movie I have seen at least a million times but apparently never paid much attention to after the movie was over. How terrible of me! Like really terrible 🙁 Sorry vintage movie buffs everywhere.

Jinx is amazing!

Let’s Learn All about Jinx Falkenburg- The 1930’s and 1940’s “Did It All” Girl

Born in Barcelona, Spain, to American parents, her father Eugene “Genie” Lincoln Falkenburg was an engineer for Westinghouse. Thinking the name would bring good luck, she was nicknamed Jinx by her mother Marguerite “Mickey” Crooks Falkenburg, an accomplished athlete and tennis player (Brazil women’s champion in 1927), and the name stuck (Source: Wikipedia).

She was an Actress:

Tahiti Nights-1944

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg in the classic movie Tahiti Nights. Jinx is dresses in a sarong hawaiian dress with tropical hair flowers in her 1940s hairstyle. — Source: Flickr-Vintage Stars

Nine Girls-1944

I LOVE her outfit in the picture! Her shoes are outstanding, just outstanding.

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg in the classic movie Nine Girls in 1944. Jix is wearing a peasant top and a cute 1940s skirt with 1940s shoes and 1940s hairstyle. Super 1940s fashion! — Source: Flickr-Vintage Stars

Jinx Falkenburg and Evelyn Keyes find a pleasant way to pass the time between their scenes in Nine Girls.

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg and Evelyn Keyes finding a pleasant way to pass the time between their scenes in Nine Girls. They are wearing 1940s fashions - 1940s playsuit & 1940s top and shorts. — (Source: A Certain Cinema)

Interested in seeing the movie? You can see it all for FREE below. OMG the 1940s hairstyles are incredible in this movie!

Cover Girl-1944

One of my most favourite movies of all time! The 1940s fashions…drool!

1940s Vintage Movie Poster for Cover Girl in 1944 featuring Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly and Jink Falkenburg.

Cover Girl, 1944 screenshot. L-R: Eve Arden, Jinx Falkenburg, Otto Kruger, Anita Colby.

Jinx is the third “woman”model” who comes into the scene below.

Two Senoritas from Chicago-1943

Other Movies:

She was also an Expert Swimmer

While living in Santiago, Chile where she spent her early years she first received media attention at age two when the New York Sun ran a full-page picture and story of her exploits as a “baby swimmer.” (Source: Wikipedia).

Bowler (as seen in the first picture I posted)

Further Reading: Vintage Bowling Advertising & 1940s & 1950s Vintage Bowling Fun

Tennis Star

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg posing for a picture while playing tennis. — Source: farm3.staticflickr.com

Jinx the Tennis Star in 1949.

Further Reading: Vintage Tennis Outfits Inspiration 1920s-1950s

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg tennis star in 1949 posing for a photo in 1940s tennis outfit.

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenberg in a two piece outfit laying amongst tennis balls holding a tennis racket. — Source: Flickr-Glen.H

Jinx was also a Famous Model

One of the highest-paid and most ubiquitous cover-girl models in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.

A revolution in Chile caused the family to return to the United States and the family moved to Los Angeles, California. She attended Hollywood High School but left in 1935 at the age of 16 to pursue a career in acting and modeling.

In 1937 her modeling career took off when she met celebrity fashion photographer Paul Hesse,whose Sunset Strip studio was a gathering place for advertising moguls and motion picture industry celebrities. Calling her “the most charming, most vital personality I have ever had the pleasure to photograph”, he took her picture for the August 1937 cover of The American Magazine, triggering similar offers from 60 other publications.

Falkenburg eventually wound up on over 200 magazine covers and in some 1,500 commercial advertisements in the 1930s and 1940s. She was considered to be one of the most beautiful women of that era, known for her All-American girl athletic good looks. The New Yorker magazine said she “possessed one of the most photogenic faces and frames in the Western world.” The New York World Telegram claimed her face was seen more often and in more places than any other woman in the country. And a headline story in the January 27, 1941 Life Magazine said Jinx Falkenburg “is the leading candidate for America’s No. 1 Girl for 1941.” (Source: Wikipedia).

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg with a 1940s hairstyle with hair clips by her ears posing for a modeling photo. — Source: Old arts and Photographs of the world

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg the model in a 1940s hairstyle with a big bow on her head.

1940s vintage advertisment for “Max Factor Hollywood” featuring Jinx Falkenburg.

Her biggest breakthrough as a model came in 1940 when she was picked by New York-based Liebmann Brewery, maker of Rheingold Beer, to be the first “Miss Rheingold.”

Liz Note: I love a good beer so I support this move completely 🙂

1940s vintage ad for Rheingold Beer featuring Jinx Falkenburg in stunning 1940s fashions. — Source: Photobucket

Jinx also was a big supporter of the USO during the war and traveled extensively entertaining troops.

Photo Note: India-Burma-China, November 1944. Harry Brown, Betty Yeaton, soldier, Jinx Falkenberg, Pat O’Brien, Ruth and Jimmy Dodd.

1940s vintage photo of Jinx Falkenburg in a two piece tropical outfit with a hair flower in her hair posing for a photo for USO effort. India-Burma-China, November 1944. Harry Brown, Betty Yeaton, soldier, Jinx Falkenberg, Pat O'Brien, Ruth and Jimmy Dodd. — Source:Flickr- califboy101

In her personal life she married a journalist and influential publicist Tex McCrary in 1945.

1940s Vintage Polaroid Ad featuring Jinx Falkenburg and Tex McCrary — This ad is too funny!

In 1947, McCrary and Falkenburg had their first network TV show, Jinx and Tex at Home, broadcast Sunday nights on NBC. The program combined film and live interviews of celebrities in their residences (Source: Wikipedia). It was a huge hit and started the ball in motion for other endeavors together.

They separated in 1980 sadly but remained friends till his death in 2003, one month before Jinx passed away (August 27th, 2003).

And there you have it, a brief overview of a woman that really “Did it all”. I think she is fantastic and I really enjoyed learning about her life of which I did not post all here (so please go and investigate more yourself).

FURTHER READING: Vintage Women’s History 1920s-1960s

Liz 🙂

If you read my blog then you know that I was jetting off for a romantic two day getaway to Cuba with my husband recently. Well we are now back and I wanted to share my experience and some of the pics we took.

So here we go…

We left on a Sunday evening which got us into Havana somewhat late to do anything super fun (plus it was raining cats and dogs..seriously I think I saw a dog drop from the sky lol) so we decided to hit up our hotel, have a drink and food and go to bed.

We were staying in the Hotel Sevilla and by the end of our trip we were in love with it. Wonderful views, great pool and lovely rooms. Highly recommend it.

Here is the exterior at night.

The hotel has been around since the late 1800s and they had all these old pics of the building thru the years all over the hotel and it really has not changed that much.

The lobby.

We were staying on the 7th floor but one floor below us was the floor that the famous gangster “Al Capone” stayed in the 1920s. According to the sign below, he rented out the whole floor! Wow!

Al Capone Room Hotel Sevilla Havana Cuba

My husband all excited to be standing at the door lol!

After a good nights sleep we ventured up to the rooftop restaurant for our breakfast and I literally lost my mind when I saw where we were eating.

Hotel Sevilla Havana Cuba top floor eating area

What??!! Seriously insanely beautiful. It was an old ballroom now converted into their fancy restaurant. I could just see all the fancy parties that were held there in my head (along with the fantastic dresses…of course!). The colours of the wall reminded me of the St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto where my wedding was held. That building was built-in the 1850s and it had a very similar feel. Here are some more pics.

View from the Rooftop of Havana Cuba of the Hotel Sevilla

After I finished drooling over the hall we got ready to wander the city but first we realized we forgot our toothpaste..crumb. Emergency purchase done but I don’t think this is Spanish.

It was while brushing my teeth that I fully realized that we had a seriously good view from our room AND the windows opened which allowed you to hear the hustle and bustle of life below (which I loved). Here is the view from our room.

In the above pic of you look to the back of the pic you can see we had a view of the fort in Havana..cool!

It was raining in the am..a lot (had to make another emergency purchase of an umbrella) and so this pic is right as the weather turned and a big boat was coming in.

view of the fort in Havana Cuba from hotel room.

Now that I had an umbrella we ventured onto Obispo street which is filled with restaurants and shopping and is one of our fav places to walk around in. We were on a mission for a Mojito and a bucanero beer (our fav) from the last hotel we had stayed while on our honeymoon at “Ambos Mundos“. There was a piano player playing and he was really really good, in fact every piano player we saw was really good. So we just sat back and enjoyed the show and waited for the rain to stop.

Ambos Mundos Havana Cuba enjoying a mojito and a Bucanero.

Okay rain done, off to explore the streets of Havana, well to be truthful we were on another mission….to find our favorite brewpub we enjoyed last time (because to be honest, on this trip all I wanted to do was eat, drink and explore the city with my husband).

Bingo mission accomplished! Love this place and there was a band playing too, double yay!

Brewery in Havana Cuba with musicians playing.

One of these tall drink things for your beer was only $12! Holy cow!

Interesting beer cocktails avail.

So we had a few beers and some food and this was the price of our visit…cheap!

After we ate I needed a pic in the square with random sculptures and wooden people cut outs.

I don’t think the cut-out solider is impressed, he is giving me the “eye” lol

Part of our plan while we were in Havana was to just wander the city and see what we see. Loved doing this because we got to enjoy life in Havana without a tour book. Here are some of the pics of what we saw and then I will end part one because I have a million more pics and this blog post is long enough already.