Yes, the Louise Brooks Society really does exist

Believe it or not, but there is a person on the internet who is suggesting that the Louise Brooks Society doesn't exist -- not really, kinda, perhaps, maybe; or they wish it didn't exist, or something. But since we live in a fact based universe, let me take a few minutes and prove that it does exist by using the historical record.

Some of the earliest efforts of the LBS at reaching fans of the actress was through posting messages on various bulletin board systems (BBS), listserv’s and newsgroups (Usenet), as well as on AOL and Prodigy, back when those platforms were dominant. The earliest archived & dated newsgroup post mentioning the Louise Brooks Society, from October 27, 1995 (click to show), announces the website. Another, a query from the LBS asking about a screening of Pandora’s Box in Poland, dates to January 29, 1996. Another, from December 31, 1996, announces the move to its domain at pandorasbox.com, where it has resided since. Each of these posts are now part of the independent Google groups / Usenet Archive.

The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, an independent nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996, it allows users to go "back in time" to see how websites looked in the past. It is pretty cool. The earliest Wayback Machine capture of the Louise Brooks Society dates to April 11, 1997 (click on the link to verify), while the earliest LBS homepage captured by the Wayback Machine which includes a © copyright symbol dates to June 27, 1998. That's also worth noting.

Notably, the earliest Wayback Machine captures contain a statement noting that the website was launched under that name "Louise Brooks Society" in August 1995. That's my demonstrable claim, which also shows first use of that very specific term.

One of its very first media mentions and earliest dated print reference to the LBS dates to May 23, 1996, when it was named a USA Today “Hot Site” and mentioned in the newspaper’s syndicated “Net: New and notable” column. See the clipping below, which notes the site’s early URL. If you think this clipping is fake, then go look it up in a newspaper archive.

Since then and up to the present, the Louise Brooks Society has been mentioned in a number of newspapers, magazines and books published all around the world. The "In the News" page on the LBS website contains a long list of media mentions, many of which are linked to their source. 

The LBS has been called "an excellent homage to the art of the silent film as well as one of its most luminous stars” by the New York Times (August 29, 2002), and praised by the likes of Leonard Maltin (August 1, 2005), and the Irish Times, who pointed to the website's "extraordinary day-by-day chronology of her life" (June 2, 2018). In 1998, acclaimed journalist Steve Silberman wrote the first feature story about the LBS for Wired magazine. In "Fan Site Sparks Biopic," he called the LBS "an exemplary fan site" (April 10, 1998). In 2000, syndicated film critic and friend to Brooks, Jack Garner, wrote an article for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle which stated the Louise Brooks Society is “A fine example of a fan page, a thoughtful, artful site devoted to the life and times of a fabled silent movie legend.” (September 12, 2000). That’s high praise coming from someone once close to the actress. 

I mention these media mentions not to humblebrag - as the "LBS denier" has suggested, but to demonstrate that the Louise Brooks Society exists as part of the historical record.... And for the record, some of the books which contain a mention, acknowledgement, or thanks to the LBS include Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel (Pantheon, 2015), Sirens & Sinners: A Visual History of Weimar Film 1918-1933 (Thames & Hudson, 2013), Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever (Rizzoli, 2006), Jazz Age Beauties: The Lost Collection of Ziegfeld Photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston (Universe, 2006), German Expressionist Films (Pocket Essentials, 2002), Film ist Comics (Filmarchiv Austria, 1999), Geheimnisvolle Tiefe G.W. Pabst (Filmarchiv Austria, 1998), and others. 

Yours truly, Thomas Gladysz, the author of this very blog, was asked to write the entry on Louise Brooks for the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (University of Nebraska Press, 2004). It can be read online HERE.

Since its founding, the LBS has developed and grown and become a recognized website devoted to just about any film star — silent or sound. The Encyclopedia of Associations, a standard reference work found in many libraries, contains an entry on the Louise Brooks Society in editions of the book published in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017. (There may be others, but I haven't yet come across them.)

the 2013 book	the 2013 entry

What is the Louise Brooks Society? The Louise Brooks Society is a fan site. Or, as I have long claimed, a "virtual fan club in cyberspace." See the website's ABOUT page for its mission statement and history. And also see its ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS page for a list of the community of individuals who have aided the LBS over the years.

The "LBS denier" has made a point of stating that there are other fan clubs (yes, their are other webpages, Twitter accounts, and Facebook pages focused on Brooks), and also suggested there was a fan club that dates back to the 1920s (that's news to me). I recall once seeing fan club membership cards dating back to the silent era for various stars, such as William Haines, but never one for Louise Brooks. If a formal group existed back then, I would sure like to learn about it -- as well as see some proof that it did exist. The "LBS denier" has also repeatedly claimed that the group of friends around Louise Brooks during her years in Rochester formed the first "Louise Brooks Society." That is a nonsensical, ahistorical claim - or in other words, a real stretch.

Oh, and then there is the suggestion that I don't write this blog, or that I employ ghostwriters, or that I didn't write the four books which have my name on them..... none of which, he admits, he has read. These books, by the way, which were published in 2010, 2017, 2019, and 2023, carry the phrase "a publication of the Louise Brooks Society."

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.