Finding tea in "Gone With the Wind"

My friend Herb Bridges, one of the world's foremost authorities on "Gone With the Wind," kindly dug into his photo collection when I asked if he had any photos of teacups in GWTW. I vaguely remembered seeing some in the movie, but examining these photos was quite helpful. Now, if I ever come across a teacup that looks like this, I'll know to get it!

In this scene, a teacup-holding Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) and Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) are talking about their daughter just before she takes a deadly fall on a horse.

In this image, daughter Bonnie Blue Butler (Cammie King) is visiting with her mother Scarlett, although of course Scarlett wasn't exactly the sort of mother who might have had a tea party with her little girl. Early in my journalism career I actually had the privilege of interviewing Cammie King (by then Cammie King Conlon), who died last year. She was a wonderful interview, very friendly and forthcoming with all I asked her. She wrote me a wonderful thank-you note after I sent her a copy of the article, and I have it framed along with a picture of her in GWTW that she autographed for me. (Above photos courtesy of Herb Bridges)

The other "Gone With the Wind" star I interviewed was Butterfly McQueen, who played Prissy. She came to my town to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie in 1989, and the local museum director and I picked her up from the Atlanta Greyhound Bus Station in what I can assure you was a *most* memorable ride. She still had that same unforgettable voice we all remember from the movie. One of the things I remember is that Butterfly was a vegetarian and wanted to go to a takeout restaurant where she could watch them squeeze the orange juice. We did! Here, a much younger me (at left) lines up as my friend Herb Bridges and Butterfly sign some books.

And though I've never met Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett's sister Carreen, I do have an autographed photo of her that Herb surprised me with a few years ago. While I was at one time a huge GWTW fan, and I still enjoy the movie on occasion, I later developed a much greater appreciation for the book and author Margaret Mitchell. She was a remarkable journalist before she became a world-famous novelist, and to this day I admire her research skills and her personal courage. In recent years, I have been pleased to see her get the recognition she deserves for anonymously financing the college educations of some black medical students in Atlanta. Recently I watched on PBS a documentary by former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, "Change in the Wind," about the unlikely friendship between Margaret Mitchell and Dr. Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College. It's a great documentary, and if you ever get the chance to see it I think you'll learn that the South has long been about far more than the Hollywood stereotypes of hoop skirts and mint juleps!