The story of the World War II-era Hollywood starlet and a Columbus furniture store

When you peel back the plaster walls of an old building, the hidden structure often can tell a story. You see it in the wood, nails, framing and whatever may be buried behind those walls.

The same is true when you write about an old building. Somebody, somewhere knows way more about the history of the building than you do. And, if you are lucky, they send you an email and share a story or two.

Buildings, just like people, have a history.

I recently documented the transformation of 1245 Broadway, once an old furniture store built more than a century ago, that is now high-tech office and assembly space for Starrett-Bytewise, a company that makes laser-measurement instruments.

The most distinctive feature in that building is the large second-floor bay window. For decades, that opening has been closed. Someone decided it would look better with a 1970s facade, and they put concrete blocks in place of the window.

Lots of cinder blocks, because the window is 287 square feet, roughly the size of one of the four service boxes of a tennis court. It was believed to be the single largest sheet of display glass in the United States, said one of the contractors with Thayer-Bray Construction.

Hang tight, folks, we’re getting to the story here.

The window was brought back to life over the past year as the W.C. Bradley Co. refitted its building to accommodate Starrett-Bytewise. Instead of one sheet of glass, there are nine pieces of glass now filling the hole.

It is a nice view of Broadway.

But why did a furniture store in downtown Columbus need such a window? Enter Clason Kyle, a fountain of local knowledge. Historians know all the facts, Clason knows the good stuff.

Clason saw the story about the new old building. He put all the facts at the top of the email, such as it was built and occupied by the Maxwell Brothers and McDonald furniture store for many years.

The room with the large window was there was a purpose, Clason said.

That bricked-up room facing the street on the second floor was not originally bricked-up but was used by the firm as a display room for special suites of furniture, “sometimes a dining room, sometimes a living room and not infrequently a bedroom,” Kyle wrote.

That is all fine and nice. Now, for the good stuff. Apparently in 1939, as the winds of war were building, there was a massive traffic jam at Broadway and 13^th Street. The interest involved a Hollywood starlet named Jeanette MacDonald.

I told you the story was going to get better. But it’s Clason’s story, so I will let him tell it.

“Jeanette MacDonald was at the peak of her fame as a motion picture star and operatic vocalist when she came to Columbus to give a concert at the soldout 2,700 seat Royal Theater,” Clason wrote.

Miss MacDonald — I have Googled her and as Hollywood actresses of the 1930s and ’40s go, she was the real deal — stayed at the Waverly Hotel, which was located where the Carmike Cinemas headquarters are located.

“So, in a typically Southern gesture of hospitality, M Bros. and McDonald refurnished her suite at the hotel with the best of their furniture line,” Clason wrote.

When the Miss MacDonald left town, the furniture folks decided to showcase the bed and other furniture in the second-floor showroom.

“They displayed her ‘bedroom’ suite in their window on the world looking out on Broadway,” Clason wrote. “Nearly everybody in Columbus wanted to see where she had slept.”

I sent Clason’s email to Andy Hidle, general manager of Starrett-Bytewise. Turns out Hidle can use Google, too. He searched for “Jeanette MacDonald” and “Columbus, Ga.” and found a 1943 soft drink advertisement. Miss MacDonald was featured in a World War II-era Royal Crown Cola ad.

So, she had a business relationship with the Columbus-based company.

It’s funny, you write about an old building and you end up getting a history lesson on an old movie star.

Man, I love this job.

This story was originally published December 10, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "The story of the World War II-era Hollywood starlet and a Columbus furniture store."