Professor Butter Beard’s “Marilyn Monroe's Iconic Flying Skirt”
“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb…. And I also know that I am not blonde.” - Dolly Parton
Let’s hear it for all the blondies! Mae West, Glinda, Apollo, Veronica Lake, Sting, Alexander Skarsgård, Madonna, Scooby Doo’s Freddy….. Oh, my mind wanders. But, honestly, is there any more memorable blonde than Miss Marilyn Monroe? And will there ever be a more memorable capture of pure joy than Sam Shaw’s photograph of Marilyn with her white dress flying in the New York City subway breeze?
It was the early autumn of 1954, and the director Billy Wilder was filming “The Seven Year Itch.” In the film, Marilyn and co-star Tom Ewell exit the Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theatre in New York City having just watched the 1954 horror film “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” When they hear a subway train passing below the grate in the sidewalk, Marilyn's character steps onto the grate saying: "Ooh, do you feel the breeze from the subway?" as the wind blows her pleated white dress up into the air. Instead of rushing to cover her exposed legs, she exclaims, “Isn't it delicious?”
Mr. Wilder went on to ask Sam Shah to be the special still photographer for “The Seven Year Itch” and to create the perfect marketing moment. It was Sam’s idea to use a picture from the movie theater scene as the logo to promote the film, and it was his job to create the images.
According to his granddaughter, Melissa Stevens, the idea originated from an earlier photoshoot that Sam orchestrated in the 1940’s for “Friday” magazine. It featured a sailor and a young girl at Coney Island playing in a wind tunnel. A playful photograph showing the girl’s skirt moving from the wind appeared on the cover and the magazine sold out immediately. Over a decade later, when Sam read the script for “The Seven Year Itch,” he saw a chance to revisit this “skirt-blowing” idea and turned it into one of the most memorable images ever created.
Ms. Stevens writes, “Most people don't know there were two separate shoots. The first was a publicity event in New York where a large crowd of bystanders and the press were invited to create hype. On the New York set, front row access was reserved for my grandfather Sam. Amidst the roar of the crowd, Marilyn turned, looked directly at her friend and called out “Hi, Sam Spade.” Marilyn gave all her friends nicknames and this one was inspired by Humphrey Bogart’s character from “The Maltese Falcon.” Sam clicked the camera and captured Marilyn in what he always referred to as “her composition.” Sixty years later, Marilyn’s powerful pose and Sam’s picture continue to captivate.” The noise of the crowd rendered the film footage unusable, and Billy Wilder reshot the scene on a closed soundstage in Los Angeles.
After Marilyn’s death in 1962, the dress’s designer William Travilla kept the infamous frock locked up with many of the costumes he had made over the years for the actress, to the point that for years there was talk of a "Lost Collection.” Only after his own death in 1990, were the clothes put on display by Bill Sarris, a colleague and good friend of Travilla. It then joined the private collection of Hollywood memorabilia owned by Debbie Reynolds at the Hollywood Motion Picture Museum. In 2011, Reynolds announced that she would sell the entire collection at an auction, to be held in multiple auctions, the first on June 18th, 2011. Before the auction, it was estimated that the dress would sell for a price between $1 and $2 million, but it actually sold for more than $5.6 million.
When I crave something sweet with my afternoon Earl Grey, it is usually a dark chocolate brownie that comes to mind. But with all these thoughts of famous blondes, the craving morphed into something a bit more white but with the same powerful burst of shimmering flavor. I played with my carrot cake equations and brought together the unique earthy qualities of parsnips, the warmth of cinnamon and ginger, and the comfort of white chocolate. Go ahead, be the parent who hides parsnips in their blondies. It’s worth the initial questioning smirks and the resulting giggles of yumminess.
Blondies with Parsnips, Cinnamon and White Chocolate
Makes one dozen Blondies (I admit that I usually double all my brownie recipes)
Batter:
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
16 Tbsp (two sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 cup freshly grated parsnips (usually one large parsnip)
½ cup white chocolate morsels
Streusel Topping:
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp nut flour (I prefer hazelnut)
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp fine sea salt
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and diced into ¼” cubes
To Finish:
½ cup white chocolate morsels, melted and poured into a piping bag
1) Make the streusel topping: Whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut in the chilled butter in small chunks until the mix looks like sand. Work with your fingers to gather the dough into small clumps. Set aside.
2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8” pan with two sheets of parchment paper leaving a small overhang on all four sides.
3) Whisk together the dry mix: flour, spices and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, melted butter and then the eggs. Fold in the grated parsnips. Fold in the dry mix until everything is moistened. Finally, fold in the white chocolate morsels. Spread the finished batter evenly in the prepared pan.
4) Crumble the streusel topping evenly over the batter and lightly press in with your hand. Bake the blondie for 30-35 minutes until lightly browed and center is set. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
5) Melt the final ½ cup white chocolate chips using a double boiler, or a microwave (zapping in 20 second bits and stirring after each zap) until fully melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate into a small piping bag, cut an 1/8” opening at the top and pipe the chocolate diagonally over the cooled blondie.
6) Cut the blondie into twelve (or nine!) pieces.
Sam Shaw and Marilyn Monroe, backstage at 20th Century Fox studio, Los Angeles, California, 1954, owned by the Shaw Family Archives
