Unsigned handwritten notes, in pencil, in DiMaggio's hand from his personal collection, on both sides of an off-white 5 x 3 slip, no date [circa 1954]. DiMaggio makes notes related to business arrangements for his then-wife, Marilyn Monroe. One side reads: "outside picture every fourth one (pic). 1. One for her and one for Studio after completion of four years. After all she is giving the studio three more years. 3. Call Lloyd Wright advice him to tell Feldman nothing is settled until after reading contract. And to make no outright commitment for Marilyn that she is definitely doing …." Reverse reads, "… show business. She is also in the business to make money. How long do they want her to be hungry. She makes millions for the studio, and she has a right to share in some. After all I don't go for this stuff. All for me and the crums [sic] for you…." Another, similar sheet bears pencil mathematical notations evidently related to payment under the terms of Monroe's contract. Accompanied by an unsigned sheet from a document related to salaries and options, including mentions of the films [There's No Business Like] Show Business and Pink Tights; also included is a letter of authenticity from the auction of the Joe DiMaggio Collection, signed by two of DiMaggio's granddaughters. Light handling wear, otherwise fine condition.
DiMaggio-like many men in the 1950s-subscribed to the notion that a woman's place was in the home...even when that woman was Marilyn Monroe. With his playing days now behind him and Monroe as his wife, DiMaggio had time to contemplate the starlet's career, as well as harbor his jealousy over the attention she generated from other men. This note, however, was strictly about the money that his wife would be bringing in, or what he perceived to be a lack thereof. "She is also in the business to make money. How long do they want her to be hungry. She makes millions for the studio, and she has a right to share in some. After all I don't go for this stuff. All for me and the crums [sic] for you," he angrily writes here while Monroe was in the middle of a seven-year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox.
Interestingly, the film The Girl in Pink Tights, referenced here, was a movie proposal at which Monroe balked over salary and starting a one-woman strike against the studio, which eventually gave her a supporting role in [There's No Business Like] Show Business. Her road to superstardom continued with roles in Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, with DiMaggio trying to pull the strings all the way. This note shows a darker, controlling side of DiMaggio that not everyone in the public saw. It also offers as evidence part of the reason that the couple's marriage was so short-lived, marrying in January and divorcing that October. One-of-a-kind insight into the Yankee Clipper. RRAuction COA.
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