Jay E. House (1868-1936) was a nationally known newspaper columnist in the 1920s. Early on, he wrote for the Topeka Daily Capital and other small town Kansas papers. Beginning in 1919, his column "On Second Thought" began running in the Philadelphia Public Ledger and then the New York Evening Post. He wrote, as well, for the Saturday Evening Post and other publications, authored books, and once even served as mayor of Topeka, where he first got his start.
I wasn't familiar with House, but just recently I ran across a couple of clipping in the Hutchinson News (a small town Kansas newspaper) which both piqued my interest and referenced Jay House and Louise Brooks.
Apparently, House mentioned Brooks in one of his Philadelphia Public Ledger columns, which in turn led the Hutchinson News to respond in an article on December 18, 1926. The Hutchinson News response was occasioned by the local showing of Love Em and Leave Em, the latest Louise Brooks' film.
This all may be nothing more than ballywho and local boosterism, but still, it shows that Brooks was kinda famous in Kansas even in 1926.
[I haven't been able to get a hold of House's original column -- nor access the archives of the Philadelphia Public Ledger for the period in question in order to track down the House column that started it all. Can anyone help?]
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