Sunday, November 5, 1933

Mother and I didn't go to Sunday school or church today. John and Clara and Ollie and Mrs. Raifert were all over tonight.

Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (January 12, 1884 – November 5, 1933)

Guinan was one of five siblings born in Waco, Texas. When she was 16 years old,
her family moved to Denver, Colorado, where she was in amateur stage productions
and played the organ in church. Guinan married John Moynahan, a cartoonist for the
Rocky Mountain News. The union was childless. Moynahan's career took them to
Chicago, where Guinan studied music before divorcing him and starting her career as a
professional singer. She toured regional vaudeville with some success, but became
better known for her entertaining "wild west"-related patter.

"Texas" Guinan moved to New York and worked as a chorus girl in Vaudeville
 and did some acting in movies. During Prohibition she opened a speakeasy called the
300 Club, which became famous for its scantily-clad fan dancers. Guinan has been credited
with coining a number of phrases. "Butter and egg men" referred to her well-off patrons,
 and she often demanded that the audience "give the little ladies a great big hand". She
traditionally greeted her patrons with "Hello, suckers!"

Guinan returned to acting and eventually wound up taking her show, "Too Hot for
Paris," on tour. While on the road, she contracted amoebic dysentery in Vancouver,
 British Columbia, and died there on November 5, 1933 at the age of 49, exactly one month
 before Prohibition was repealed. 7,500 people attended her funeral. Guinan is interred
in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York.