Of Mary Janes...

I've changed my profile photo to this one of me (yes, I was a blondie back then) on my second birthday, holding up two of my presents: a Fisher-Price barn lunchbox and my new "Mary Jane" shoes...which I immediately dubbed my "Janes."

I find my mind often works like the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie book.

One idea leads to another...to another...to another. I guess it goes with being a woman. Supposedly, we talk in circles...allegedly.

I think it has more to do with being of a curious nature. *grin*

I went online to explore the history of "Mary Jane" shoes. (All links are underlined if you want to learn even more.)

And funny enough I found it on Wikipedia: Mary Jane was a character created by Richard Outcault for his comic strip, "Buster Brown," which was first published in 1902. She was the sister of the title character, Buster Brown.

In 1904, Outcault travelled to the St. Louis World's Fair and sold licenses to up to 200 companies to use the Buster Brown characters to advertise their products. Among them was the Brown Shoe Company, who later hired actors to tour the country, performing as the Buster Brown characters in theaters and stores.

This strategy helped the Brown Shoe Company become the most prominently associated brand with the Buster Brown characters. The style of shoe Buster Brown's sister wore came to be known by her name, Mary Jane.

So then I found myself clicking on the link to the "Buster Brown" comic strip....to learn: Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault which was known for his association with the Brown Shoe Company. (The name "Buster" came either directly or indirectly from the popularity of Buster Keaton, then a child-star of vaudeville.)

This mischievous young boy was loosely based on a boy near Outcault's home in Flushing, New York. Buster Brown, his sister Mary Jane, and his dog Tige, a Boston Terrier, were well known to the American public in the early 20th century. Tige is thought to be the first talking pet to appear in American comics, and, like that of many of his successors, his speech goes unnoticed by adults.

Which then led me to look at the link for Buster Keaton to learn that: Buster Keaton (born Joseph Frank Keaton, October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American silent film comic actor and filmmaker.

His trademark was physical comedy with a stoic, deadpan expression on his face, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face" (referencing the Nathaniel Hawthorne story about the "Old Man of the Mountain").

Keaton's career as a performer and director is widely considered to be among the most innovative and important work in the history of cinema. He was recognized as the seventh greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

A 2002 world-wide poll by Sight and Sound ranked Keaton's The General as the 15th best film of all time. Three other Keaton films received votes in the survey: Our Hospitality, Sherlock, Jr., and The Navigator.

Keaton acquired the nickname "Buster" at about six months of age.

Keaton told interviewer Fletcher Markle that Harry Houdini happened to be present one day when the young Keaton took a tumble down a long flight of stairs without injury. After the infant sat up and shook off his experience, Houdini remarked, "That was a real buster!"

According to Keaton, in those days, the word buster was used to refer to a spill or a fall that had the potential to produce injury. Thereafter, it was Keaton's father who began to use the nickname to refer to the youngster.

Then, of course, I had to know more about the Brown Shoe Company which makes Buster Brown shoes...the kind I wore as a child: The company was created in St. Louis and was originally named Bryan, Brown & Company after its founders George Warren Brown and Alvin Bryan.

The name was changed to Brown Shoe Company in 1893.

The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis was endowed in 1925 by G.W. Brown's widow.

Brown Shoe Company Inc. is a $2.5 billion footwear company with worldwide operations. The company operates the 1000-store Famous Footwear chain. It also operates 400 Naturalizer stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Brown Shoe's wholesale divisions own and market leading footwear brands including Naturalizer, LifeStride, Connie, Buster Brown; it also markets licensed brands including Via Spiga, Franco Sarto, Etienne Aigner, Dr. Scholl's and Carlos by Carlos Santana for adults, and Barbie, Spider-Man and Bob-the-Builder character footwear for children.

Wow! Interesting, huh?

Makes me want to dye my hair blond and find a pair of original Buster Brown Mary Janes...*wink*

*sigh*

Memories...