Way Back When:
Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun
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Maier Doublemint Twins.
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by Harriet Brill Outlaw
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I can hear you singing the rest of the jingle for Doublemint Gum IF you can remember way back when the Doublemint Twins sang it in perfect harmony. But did you know the first spokestwins were from right here in Baldwin County? My dad told me all about the girls from Silverhill who became famous. He faithfully tuned in to their radio show each week, "Ya'll get quiet now. 'Women with Wings' is about to come on. You know I knew the stars of this show in high school." He said that every week and every time we heard an ad for Wrigley's gum. Funny thing, my dad never even went to Robertsdale High School or lived in Silverhill, but like everyone else around here, he claimed to know the famous duo.
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Maier Doublemint Twins.
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These girls had already earned show biz fame when they were chosen to be the original Doublemint Twins. Marie and Mildred Maier were actually not twins, but Mildred kept her birthdate a secret her entire life. Even her tombstone does not have a birth date engraved. Their parents had immigrated from the old country in the early 1900s and bought part of the old Foresman place when the girls were young. The girls attended Silverhill School, milking cows each day before riding the bus into town. In an interview when they returned home for a visit in 1971, they fondly recalled Fannie Lane Emmons and Louise Lundberg as two of their favorite teachers. They first tasted the spotlight when Mildred was crowned Satsuma Queen while in high school at the Normal Teacher Training School in Daphne. She taught her younger sister to sing in harmony while doing chores and soon they were performing at school and social events in the county.
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Their father Augustine Maier was one of the founders of the Robertsdale Hub Truckers, a farmer cooperative. He sent Mildred to Chicago to market potatoes for the group and she always got at least a quarter a bag more than the other brokers. This encouraged her self-confidence in her gift of charm. While in Chicago she attended a Vaudeville show and was immediately smitten with the idea of performing on the Windy City stage.
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Maier Doublemint Twins.
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She convinced her sister who was then attending Robertsdale High School, to come with her and audition for one of the top producers and they got the job, going on stage with the act, Pete 'n' Piddle. Crowds cheered as the Vaudeville announcer introduced the sister act with singing, miming, and comedy. Marie was soon chosen as Miss Tavern Pale Ale and was used in the company posters and ads. The girls developed a signature look with their bright apricot hair and hazel eyes, which sparkled until their deaths at ripe old ages
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The Miami Herald newspaper clipping of August 5, 1973.
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They were guests on many radio programs and worked with personalities like Don Ameche, Betsy Palmer, Tim O'Connor, and Johnny Desmond. Wrigley had produced Doublemint gum since 1914, but a genius marketing man thought of using twins as representatives in ad campaigns in 1939. When the Maier sisters read that P. K. Wrigley was looking for twins, they showed up in bright green dresses and began singing as soon as they went into his office. Of course, they told Mr. Wrigley they were twins! He put them in front of cameras and voila - they were hired. While they were the official Twins, they wrote and marketed a radio show about gum-smacking stewardesses on a jet airliner before there were any jets. The show was dubbed too 'Buck Rogerish' for the first producer they approached, but Mr. Wrigley thought it would be great and he broadcast "Women with Wings" for a year out of a Chicago station. Of course, the sponsor was Doublemint Gum. They worked for Wrigley for about a year and a half, 1939-'40, helping Wrigley sell $34 million worth of chewing gum. However, Wrigley made the girls buy their own chewing gum to smack on the show! During their wandering minstrel days, their mother accompanied them. But even after they became the Doublemint Twins, the girls never actually chewed gum. Their mother told them it was just not ladylike. Mother really believed in those southern standards of propriety!
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The Fort Pierce Tribune, printed October 28, 1973.
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They moved into a big house on Miami Beach in 1968 where Mildred became a very successful real estate agent with Justice Realty selling everything from high rises to warehouses. Marie became an optician but continued to work in advertising for the rest of her life. Neither ever married and in an interview in 1983 for the Miami Herald they said that as soon as their house sold they were moving back to Alabama. They were dressed to the hilt and their makeup was perfectly applied for the interviewer in Miami. They showed her their freckled arms and said, "See, we are truly redheads." Marie, who was actually three inches taller than Mildred, only wore flat heel shoes, whereas Mildred always wore platform or spiked heels. They showed the reporter their three closets of matching outfits.
They often came back to Baldwin County to visit and were the guest of honor for several Gulf Shores Shrimp Festival parades. In their shows, one song that they sang often was Moon Over Miami, but when they came home to visit their favorite places in Baldwin County, they said that the moon over Miami did not hold a candle to the moon over Mobile Bay.
The Maier family plots, sisters Mildred and Marie, parents August and Mary, at the Silverhill Cemetery.
Mildred Maier
(14 Feb 1905
missing from stone)
05 Apr 1997
Original Doublemint Twin
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Marie Maier
25 May 1914
14 Aug 1991
Original Doublemint Twin
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August Maier
15 Oct 1882
28 Dec 1958
Father
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Mary Maier
01 Dec 1877
15 Oct 1969
Mother
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And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, "The rest of the story..." While reading everything I could find about the sisters and going to their graves, I realized something just didn't jive about the ages of the girls. Several resources referred to the sisters as about a year apart in age. Come to find out - no wonder Mildred did not want her birth on the tombstone. She was born in 1905 - that means she was actually 9 years older than Marie. Who would have guessed? Obviously, no one, even Mr. Wrigley! But now you know, and if you are like me, you are craving a piece of gum.
Go here to read about the UFO report made by the Maier sisters.
Printed in the Gulf Coast Media
gulfcoastmedia.com
January 8, 2025
Written October 2024
by Harriet Brill Outlaw
Gulf Coast Media Contributor
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
This is part of a bi-weekly series with content exclusive to Gulf Coast Media.
Do you remember way back when? ... Gulf Coast Media featured a column series written by
Harriet Outlaw, covering topics like Spanish moss, local ghosts and unique cultural artifacts?
Now, Outlaw's work returns with a new twist. Her series, "Way Back When," delves into
forgotten people and places along the Gulf Coast, bringing to light the characters and stories
that shaped local culture. Look for stories about notable figures like Hatchett Chandler and
Walter Overton, and explore places rich with untold history.
Outlaw's storytelling is both entertaining and educational, blending history with a down-to-earth
narrative style. She has authored several books and produced documentaries with local
schools and the Baldwin County Commission, available on YouTube.
Have a story from "Way Back When" to share? Contact her at harrietoutlaw@ gmail.com.
Resources
Outlaw, Harriet Brill. Email communication with Debbie Owen, containing photographs and document, "Way Back When: Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun." written October 2024 by Harriet Outlaw. Email January 2025, harrietoutlaw@ gmail.com.
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