Not Your Average Joe

Joe

Marion Barbara “Joe” Carstairs would be the first to tell you that she was “never a little girl.” Born February 1, 1900, in London, Joe was the first child of American heiress Frances Evelyn Bostwick (the second child of Jabez Bostwick, a founding partner of Standard Oil). Her legal father was Captain Albert Carstairs of the Royal Irish Rifles, or, at least, we think. Captain Carstairs re-enlisted in the army one week before Joe’s birth. He and Evelyn divorced soon after that, and some suggest that he may not have been Joe’s biological father.

据传记作家凯特·萨默斯（Kate Summerscale）称，乔的母亲以她的中间名伊夫琳（Evelyn）凭借她的中间名伊夫琳（Evelyn）被“喂食”。她以一连串的恋人和丈夫而闻名。乔的最爱是罗杰·德·佩里尼伯爵（Count Roger dePérigny），他比父亲更像是一个好友。该伯爵与他的新继女分享了他的许多爱好，有些人比其他的有益健康。然而，最重要的是他对事情的热爱很快。实际上，德·佩里尼（DePérigny）修改了他的一名赛车，以便16岁的乔（Joe）可以驾驶它。毫不奇怪，伊芙琳和罗杰之间的关系并没有持续。

Joe the Driver

乔对速度和刺激的热爱确实持久。她说服了她的祖母乔的个人偶像内利·博斯特威克（Nelly Bostwick），让她能够在第一次世界大战期间加入美国红十字会。在她的学年期间，乔是一个假小子，但在法国，她锻造了一个新的身份。她在波西米亚人（包括奥斯卡的侄女多莉·王尔德（Dolly Wilde））度过了大部分的空闲时间。多莉（Dolly）和乔（Joe）成为了迅速的朋友，最终成为恋人。“我的上帝，这真是一件奇妙的事情，”乔后来叙述，“我发现这太可惜了，我等了这么久。”

Dolly was just the beginning of Joe’s (let’s call it prolific) love life. She would photograph each of her girlfriends and lovers, and at the time of her death, the album contained 120 portraits. Notable amongst her liaisons were Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and Tallulah Bankhead.

乔新娘转身企业主

消息of Joe’s homosexual liaisons eventually reached her mother. Evelyn sent for Joe and demanded that she cease her illicit actions and return home. Her mother threatened that if Joe did not marry a man, she would be stripped of her rather sizable inheritance. She did as her mother demanded. Though, in true Joe Carstairs fashion, she did so by marrying a French aristocrat that rumors suggested her mother was also involved with. The pair were wed, split the dowry between them, and parted ways after the reception.

With the money from her “marriage,” Joe was able to pursue other ventures. She took a series of odd jobs working in a bar in Margate, followed by a Bugatti showroom, and a chicken farm in Southhampton. Afterward, Joe purchased a fleet of Daimlers and opened X-Garage, an all-women operated chauffeur service. Her first employees were many of the women she had driven ambulances with during The Great War. They were available for longterm travel and often provided tours of war memorials in France and Belgium. The company enjoyed a lot of success and some high-profile clientele.

在这段时间里,乔遇见并爱上了一个young woman named Ruth Baldwin. By some reports, Ruth was the only woman Joe ever truly loved. In 1925 the pair took a Christmas vacation to the Swiss Alps. Ruth gave Joe a stuffed leather doll by German toy manufacturer Steiff. She named the doll Lord Tod Wadley and as biographer Kate Summerscale put it, she “traded her life for his.” Lord Tod went everywhere with Joe, and he was dressed in the most refined custom suits from Saville Row and Italian leather shoes.

乔·摩托艇赛车手

Although she loved cars, boats were even better. In an interview about what she was like as a child, Joe said, “I didn’t admire anything. Except boats.” The death of Joe’s beloved grandmother, Nelly, made her an even richer woman.

She began commissioning powerboats to be built at a shipyard in Cowes. The first she named Gwen after a lover. It was a 17-foot hydroplane. Gwen flipped during one of its early test runs and was rechristened Newg. Get it? It’s Gwen but flipped upside down.

Joe saw a lot of racing success, taking the trophies at several competitions in Southampton and Cannes. She took Newg to The Duke of York’s Trophy, a four-and-a-half mile race down the Thames. In 1925 Joe became “the fastest woman on water” during the race. Unfortunately, her propeller got tangled in the weeds, and she ultimately came in fifth but not before securing her new title. She took the trophy the following year with a new supercharged engine. One success led to a handful of other victories. With her racing credentials unquestionable, Joe set her sights on The Harmsworth Trophy.

Three boats were commissioned for the 1928 Harmsworth race. Each was built to travel at 100-knots, the fastest boats on the water. The series was named Estelle for Joe’s late mother. If that sounds strange, it is. Joe’s mother was named Evelyn. With a laugh, she claimed that she had simply misremembered her mother’s name when someone pointed out her error. It seems as likely as not that she had done so on purpose.

Of the three boats, one sank, and one was never completed. Estelle II, painted sleek black, was Joe’s boat for the race. 150,000 onlookers watched as Joe took the lead, but an accident sent Estelle flying into the air and sent Joe and her mechanic splashing down into the water of Lake Saint Claire.

Joe was undeterred by her loss. She re-entered the following year in a boat she built herself but could not find victory. In 1930 she entered yet again and broke the American water-speed record before both of her boats broke down irreparably. In an interview after the race, she said, “Well, you’d better get a good look at me, because I am not coming over again.”

Joe the Queen

她的赛车生涯她身后(和税收问题both the United States and England ahead), Joe looked to new horizons. Namely, the Bahamian island of Whale Cay. It was for sale following a failed attempt to turn it into a resort island. The Bahamas were also a tax haven. Joe was enamored with the island at first sight and felt the feeling was mutual. “This island had a particular liking for me,” she declared.

大约200人已经将小岛称为房屋。乔席卷了自己的救世主，女王的概念。她为自己建造了一栋很棒的房子，并在此之后不久就建造了道路，商店，水果种植园，一个灯塔和教堂。欢迎任何希望住在鲸鱼Cay上的人，但希望他们能工作。

这笔交易很简单，在岛上生活，工作，为您的工作报酬，最重要的是，也许遵守规则。任何没有按照乔的要求，她需要很多人都从岛上驱逐出境。乔是毫无疑问的女王，预计她的臣民将是忠诚的。如果您是的话，生活是美好的，乔是仁慈的。如果你不是，好吧...

鲸鱼珊瑚著名或臭名昭著的是更合适的。那是一个幻想。乔（Joe）以穿着军事式制服和虚假胡须而闻名，以主持她的岛屿并发出命令。她多次接待了当时的许多著名名人和贵宾，包括温莎公爵和公爵夫人。至少一次，她炮制了一个计划让岛上居民对大房子进行袭击，以激动她的客人。

In 1940 an American pilot landed his amphibious plane off the coast of Whale Cay and went ashore. He did not stay long. A friend of his, who happened to be a reporter, wrote, “He came back in a big hurry, reporting in some alarm that when he landed in the water, a short, stock-built dame came popping out of the house on the cay with a double-barrelled shotgun in her dukes and dull menace in her lovely orbs.”

When the thrill of Whale Cay began to diminish, Joe moved on to live in Miami, and then Naples, Florida. She died in 1993, at 93 years old, Lord Tod at her side. In her will, she requested the doll be cremated and buried alongside her. She is laid to rest in Oakland Cemetary in Sag Harbor, New York.

乔个人

Marion Barbara “Joe” Carstairs was a complicated individual. It is easy to look at her story and see faults and flaws. They are undeniable. Yet, despite her shortcomings, her temper, her self-centeredness, Joe wanted to contribute. She tried to do what she truly believed to be the best. Joe was unquestionably generous to her friends. The women of X-Garage and the crew who worked on her boats were paid stipends for life. Long after their work was finished. She was also absolutely fearless and proved it time and time again. From ambulance driving in WWI to a daring nighttime rescue in U-boat infested waters during WWII, she never flinched.

Possibly the most crucial takeaway from Joe’s story is that she was ever herself. Joe marched to the beat of her own drum and did not care if anyone disliked it. The argument can certainly be made that the privilege of wealth allowed her the social freedom to do as she pleased. However, one cannot help but be inspired by her wild individualism, her自豪，以及她使反对者颠覆的能力。乔在乔结束时。

A note on pronouns:

Marion Barbara Carstairs选择被称为Joe。她穿着专门设计的男士服装，以减少胸围。她还会戴着虚假的胡须走来走去岛上。如果她今天还活着，她可能会确定为跨性别者。但是，乔将自己称为女人，因此，出于本文的目的，为了不假设，我也有。