It’s not very often one meets someone who had Marilyn Monroe at their wedding – as a bridesmaid no less. But for those who know Melinda Mason, it seemed only natural.
The wedding in question was held on the starlet’s birthday, June 1, 2010 in Las Vegas and Mason surprised her attendees with a couple of special guests: Susan Griffiths and Suzie Kennedy, two of the world’s most famous Monroe impersonators.
A self-professed “Marilyn geek,” Mason has been collecting Monroe items for 25 years. Now her wedding photos seamlessly mesh with the over 100 other Monroe items she has on display in her Fergus home – a display that is moving this week to the Wellington Museum and Archives.
Mason says as a teenager, it was the resemblance to Madonna that initially sparked an interest in Monroe.
“On the News one night they did a comparison between Marilyn Monroe and Madonna, and I thought, ‘who is this Marilyn? She’s just gorgeous,’” Mason says. “She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.”
Unlike many fans, Mason shies away from trinkets and mass-produced items. Her collection started with a variety of Marilyn dolls and a Seven Year Itch plate, but now she saves up for more valuable items, regularly scouring eBay and online auctions for new purchases.
Mason has also travelled to Los Angeles multiple times for auctions and Monroe events and says her fascination with the starlet has allowed her to connect with people all over the world.
“One year I went and I had three roommates I had never met before in my life… one girl was from Belgium and the other two were from Australia,” she reflects.
“It’s amazing that you can have something in common with people from all over the world. That’s the neatest part about it, just meeting people and seeing how far people come.”
With the 50th anniversary of her death having just passed in 2012, Monroe has become more popular than ever and Mason says it is becoming more difficult to find legitimate items on sites like eBay, especially when it comes to articles supposedly owned by Monroe.
“If you want to know for sure that you have something that belonged to Marilyn, the only provenance … is that it originated in the 1999 Christie’s Auction,” she says.
“You’re not going to buy something for $500 on eBay that she owned.”
The famous Christie’s auction of Marilyn Monroe’s personal property was held in October, 1999. The event, coined “the Sale of the Century,” generated over $13 million for items such as: clothing, furniture, film scripts, kitchen items, books and cosmetics.
One of Mason’s favourite items is a hat that originated in the sale, still bearing its Christie’s tags, but she says in today’s market it would have been extremely difficult to obtain.
“There’s just too many people searching for Marilyn Monroe (items),” she says. “She’s just more popular now than she was when she was alive – especially during the last few years when feature films such as My Week With Marilyn have been coming out, really introducing her to a whole new generation.”
Other features of note in Mason’s trove include: the original airline tickets from Monroe’s honeymoon to Korea with her second husband, New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio, a cancelled bank cheque dated December 1950 that Monroe signed and the first issue of Playboy magazine, published in 1953, which features Monroe on its cover.
“I try to go for things that are within reason that I can own, because the price of things goes up,” she says. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford that hat now. That was 2005 and it’s that much different only 10 years later. I’m glad I got them when I did.”
When asked if her collection will ever be complete, Mason says there are still a few things on her wish list. Currently she has her sights on one of the 400 books from Monroe’s library.
“I have a list of all the books she owned, so I’m going through and reading some of them,” Mason says. “But I’d really love to have one of those books… hopefully one day they’ll show up again in an auction.”
Otherwise, she says she has most of the pieces she initially wanted to obtain.
“I’ve definitely slowed down over the years, you only have so much room and I’m getting pretty stacked. I’ve got all the big things I really wanted: something she signed, something she owned and something from Joe (DiMaggio),” she says.
By sharing her collection with the public, Mason hopes to provide insight into Monroe’s life and who she was as an individual.
“Everyone is walking around with her T-shirt on, but they couldn’t name one of her movies,” Mason says. “It’s so amazing how just the photo is enough, but I’d love if people could learn more about her and the real person that she was.”
Over 100 of Melinda’s items will be on display at the Wellington County Museum and Archives from Sept. 12 to Jan. 11.
To celebrate the show’s opening, a movie night will be held at the museum on Sept. 12 at 7pm. Monroe’s iconic movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes will be shown, along with 1950s-themed sodas, popcorn, treats and hula hoops.
There will be an opportunity to tour the exhibit and ask Mason questions following the film.
