The "Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty"

[George Thompson]

A while ago I posted a biographical sketch of Ben Henderson, pitcher for the Portland Beavers, who used the word "jazz" in an interview in 1912.  One of the stories quoted in the sketch referred to Henderson as the "ten thousand dollar beauty" (see the 1911 passage below), a phrase that puzzled me, since Henderson, having no bargaining leverage, couldn't possibly have gained a contract that would have paid him $10,000.  A participant to the 19th Century Baseball list suggested that Henderson's contract had been sold for that sum by one team to another, a more likely speculation.

However, it appears that "ten thousand dollar beauty," was a catchphrase through the end of the 19th C and the first few decades of the 20th, meaning "the featured attraction".

The passages below were all found through Proquest's Historical Newspapers databases.  The 1882 passage is evidently playing on the familiarity of the expression.

1882:   A THIRTY TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR BEAUTY.  How a Discarded Romeo Got Even with His Faithless Juliet by Publishing Her Derelictions and Their Cost to Him before the Audience She Was Fascinating.  [caption to an illustration]
        National Police Gazette, February 18, 1882, p. 1.

1890:   The young woman may even have been good looking, or even pretty, four years ago, but at the present she could not get an engagement with a ten-cent show as the "ten thousand dollar beauty," but she carries a glib tongue in her head. . . .
        Los Angeles Times, August 2, 1890, p. 2, col.

1905:   "Drawing Cards" in Baseball.  The Individuality of Certain Star Players Makes Them Popular with the Fans.  ***   Baseball never had a bigger "card" than Mike Kelly, the famous "ten thousand dollar beauty," of the Boston team.
         National Police Gazette, September 9, 1905, p. 7

1906:   NICK ALTROCK, SHOEMAKER.  Sox Pitcher Quit Awl and Last to Go Into Baseball.  Father of  Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty Proud of Son's Work in Second Game of Series.  [headline]
        Washington Post, October 14, 1906, section S, p. 2, col.

1906:   "In the parades," she went on, "I ride the big elephant, and am known as ten thousand dollar beauty."
        Los Angeles Times, December 11, 1904, section F, p. 2, col.   ("The Greatest Show on Earth", by Antony E. Anderson)

1910:   LOUISE MONTAGUE DEAD.  Was Famous "Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty" of Forepaugh's Circus.  [headline]  Louise M. Montague, once heralded over the country as the “Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty,” died on Tuesday at her home, 104 Manhattan Avenue.  Louise Montague was an actress with Edward E. Rice's company in "The Corsair," and later became a star of David Henderson's "Sindbad the Sailor."  Adam Forepaugh, determined to make her beauty the feature of his circus, and in 1878 he engaged her to travel with his circus.  She was advertised as the "Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty."  and rode in the parades in a gorgeous chariot especially constructed for her.  New York Times, March 17, 1910, p. 1, col.

1911:   Ben Henderson, pitcher and "Ten Thousand Dollar Beauty" of the Beaver squad, who fell off the water wagon at Stockton with such eclat that he had to go to a hospital to recuperate, now seems to have fallen off the map.  Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1911, section III, p. 1, col. 6

1919:   [a horse show will include a category for polo ponies,] and so the public will be able to see in the ring some of the "ten thousand dollar beauties" that have hitherto been seen only on the playing field.
New York Times, October 5, 1919, p. 120, col.

This is the last occurence of this phrase turned up through these databases, except for an instance of it used with historical reference, from the 1930s.

For those yearning to know more of Miss Montague's beauty, here are two items from 1881, when she won Forepaugh's prize:
THE HANDSOMEST WOMAN.  Her First Appearance in Forepaugh's Parade To-day.  [headline]  Miss Louise Montague, the queen of beauty, who has been so fortunate as to secure Forepaugh's $10,000 offered for the handsomest woman in the world, will arrive in this city from Philadelphia early this morning. . . .   {She will ride in the parade to the showgrounds.]
        Washington Post, April 4, 1881, p. 3, col.

Miss Montague's claims to beauty is that she is a demi-blonde with classic features, a charming blue eye and a beautiful light complexion.  Of medium height, she possesses a full and symmetrical figure.  Her weight is 147 pounds.   A mass of wavy dark chestnut hair, combed well down over the narrow Grecian forehead, gives her somewhat of a matronly air, though it adds ten-fold to her beauty.
        National Police Gazette, April 23, 1881, p. 12.  For those who want ocular proof, the NPG offers an engraving from a photograph, also on p. 12.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.