The Geography of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is among other things a novel of locations. Even in the first chapter, Lorelei’s account features numerous references to real locations related to New York City nightlife and shopping as well as referral to places outside the city. With Henry Sell’s suggestion to Anita Loos that she take Lorelei on her trip and create further installments of the novel for Harper’s Bazar, Lorelei’s map expanded considerably. Visualizing these locations can help give a sense of the geographic imagination of the novel, and by extension tells us more about Lorelei’s milieu. Where Lorelei goes, and where she refers to but doesn’t go, and changes in locations between the magazine and book publication are important to her characterization and also help us to understand what Loos saw as recognizable touchstones for a popular audience.
Overview
The initial process for creating the maps for Blondes required tracking all of the locations in the novel. These locations were tracked in spreadsheets with data on the number of times each location appeared in each chapter (later dropped), whether the location was a reference only or an actual destination for Lorelei, Dorothy, or both, and included a description of the reference or the visits that took place in the novel. Additionally, this process included tracking each location’s latitude and longitude, the historical address, the type of location referenced (Hotels, Nightclubs & Restaurants, Parks & Beaches, Monuments, Streets, Shops, Museums & Theaters, etc.), and whether these locations appeared in the book edition, the magazine edition, or both.One of the primary challenges of locating particular historical locations included tracking down the historical addresses, especially for locations whose addresses changed or no longer exist. Many of these addresses were tracked down through various mentions in newspapers, magazines, reference books of the time period, and more recent periodicals. For example, one of the more difficult addresses to trace, was the historical location for the Trocadero in New York. There are various magazine references to the Trocadero, including pieces written about Fred and Adele Astaire’s notable performances at the club, but many did not include an address. Eventually, a reference book titled The Restaurants of New York (1925) by George Shepard Chappell was found that includes an address for the Trocadero and other well-known establishments. In some cases, when historical places could not be located, either by address or historical reference, their unknown locations were replaced with a central location in the designated city or street, or with an address of a location with similar historical significance. One example of this is the location for Chapeau Rouge. In Chapter 5, Lorelei mentions visiting Chapeau Rouge, a cabaret in Vienna, with Mr. Eisman. Location and historical information could not be traced for a Chapeau Rouge in Vienna, and it is possible that Loos was misplacing a cabaret in Prague, which is Lorelei’s next destination in the book. Instead, the address used in the map is a reference to Cabaret Fledermaus, a famous cabaret in Vienna at the time.
After the locations were tracked by chapter, the locations were then regrouped by city or region and prepared for mapping. The maps were created using ArcGIS Online. In ArcGIS, the locations were uploaded along with the data points described. The location labels and descriptions were made visible and color coded based on the type of location.
The following pages show maps with three cities Lorelei spends significant time in—New York City, London, and Paris—as well as Central Europe (the focus of Chapter 5 of Blondes) and a general world map showing other locations mentioned in the novel. In each map, readers can click on individual locations to view the location descriptions and attributes. In the attributes pop-up, one can select to zoom in on each location. Each map contains a legend in the top right corner. Additionally, readers can expand the maps to view them through ArcGIS Online by selecting the source file.