A scarf, also known as a Kremer, muffler or neck-wrap, is a piece of fabric worn around the neck, near the head or around the waist for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or religious reasons. They can come in a variety of different colours.
Ancient Rome is one of the many origins of the scarf, where the garment was used to keep clean rather than warm. It was called the sudarium, which translates from Latin to English as “sweat cloth”, and was used to wipe the sweat from the neck and face in hot weather. They were originally worn by men around their neck or tied to their belt. Soon women started using the scarves, which were made of cloth and not made of wool, pashmina, or silk, and ever since the scarf has been fashionable among women.
“A scar on the hand the hand might be quite continental, But demons are a ghoul’s best friend.“
— Maila Nurmi.
Here’s been many comparisons between Vampira and Elvira over the years, and no love lost. Still, these two dames have many common characteristics, notably that they’re the most popular female horror hosts in American television history… and that no one will ever forget them. So here’s the story of one of them, the one and only Vampira.
Maila Syrjanieme Nurmi was born on December 11, 1921, in Petsamo, Finland. Her uncle was an Olympic champion in track running, Paavo Nurmi. Her family moved to the United States when Maila was only two years old. The youngster was already dreaming of being an eventual Hollywood star and at the tender age of 17, she took a trip to Los Angeles to find fortune. Of course, glory doesn’t come easily and Maila became an exotic dancer and photo model to survive.
She would be present on New York’s theater scene, hired by producer Mike Todd for a mysterious revue called Spook Scandals, where she played a vampire. This show ran for one whole representation, but why worry when Howard Hawks became interested in Maila? His project was to make our Finnish beauty a new Lauren Bacall, so everyone returned to California, as he promised Maila the first role in a film written by William Faulkner, nothing less. This production never came to be and it was back to the dancing floor for Maila.
At some point in 1954, Maila disguised herself as Morticia Addams (a cartoon character from New Yorker Magazine who would eventually become popular on TV and films) for a masked ball. As simply as that, Vampira was born. Maila’s appearance appealed to Hunt Stromberg Jr., program director for KABC Channel 7, who was looking for somebody to spice up his night time programming. In a very short time, Maila officially became Vampira to host a show presenting horror movies each Saturday night at 11 PM.
Needless to say, her singular features, subtle humor and faux-blasé attitude contributed to make her a fast popular success. Introduced with appropriate organ music, Vampira came out of the fog at the start of each show, saying something like: “I am… Vampira. I hope you had a terrible week.” Before commercial breaks, she took the habit of reciting weird poetry or even give out cocktail recipes that could give chills to the most veteran witches.