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Gypsy Rose Lee Both ecdysiast Gypsy Rose Lee and her younger sister, actress June Havoc, wrote autobiographies in which they noted their mother’s reliance on their grandfather’s membership in a number of fraternal associations. This was also noted in the 1962 film, Gypsy. Gypsy "And where your mother booked the act at an Elk’s smoker by mistake," [p. 5.] "We made our debut, with Grandpa’s half-hearted permission and his money for costumes, at one of his lodges. It was a Knights of Pythias celebration following the installation of officers, and Grandpa played piano for us." [p. 10.] "We were still playing the lodge halls and my Grandma Dottie was alive." [p. 11.] "From the first, Grandpa’s lodges were a great help. Beside the Knights of Pythias, Grandpa belonged to seven others." [p. 13.] "Mother called on the head man of the lodge. The Mogul was very polite to Mother...." [p. 14.] "The sympathetic Mogul’s eyes strayed to mother’s left hand. She was fingering the lodge button, not obviously but just in case it had been overlooked." [p. 15.] [p. 14.] "Whenever we trouped, Mother carried several lodge buttons with her. She had a right to eight because of Grandpa, but with the exception of the Shriners and the Knights of Pythias, Grandpa’s lodges were fairly unimportant organizations." [p. 13.] "Of all the lodge insignia, Mother’s favorite was an elk’s tooth. Every town has an Elk’s Club, but aside from that she really liked the tooth. She wasn't exactly an Eastern Star, but she carried the pin too. Bubs [Rose’s third husband] had been a Mason." [p. 13-14.] "Just look at her. Almost six years old and still playing lodge halls." [p. 18.] "Fortunately, the judge was a Shriner. In the excitement Mother had been too disturbed to see his Shrine pin, but when he learned that Grandpa was also a Shriner and that Mother was an Eastern Star, or practically one, he dismissed the case." [p. 46.] "Grandpa’s lodge meetings were tiresome, too. On Ladies' Nights, Grandpa would expect Mother to go." [p. 154.] "I didn't get all the publicity on my own. Joe Flynn, the press agent for the Follies, was a past master at getting space." [p. 307.] Gypsy: Memoirs of America’s Most Celebrated Stripper, Gypsy Rose Lee (1914-1970). Berkley, California : Frog, Ltd., 1999. Originally published: New York : Harper, 1957. ISBN : 1-883319-95-1. pb. 353 pp. Early Havoc "Between them [mother and grandmother] they rocked Grandpa into putting me on in a toe-dance speciality at one of his lodge meetings." [p. 16.] Her grandfather, Charlie Thompson, was "a handy man, a gardener, a born father." [p. 24.] "Grandpa had his Shriners and a few other lodges; his house, which he had built himself; his three beautiful daughters—Mina, Belle and Rose—and one small son. He worked for the Great Northern Railroad for thirty years. He was a one-purpose man." [p. 24.] "When the smoke cleared away, though, we had won hands down. Later Mother admitted having a little help from Grandpa’s Shriners. She had spied the judge’s pin and immediately phoned Grandpa. He got all the good brothers together — and rescue was on the way. Besides, the judge admitted he had never seen such honest Mother-love." [p. 180.] Early Havoc, June Havoc. New York : Simon and Schuster, 1959. 313 p. 14 cm. x 21 cm. .

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