Valada. Valaida. Lavada. Luvada. Ovada. Aviator. Arvada. Avada.
What's in a name? Papa Snow knew best! He sure knew how to play the name game with his children and they took their cue from him. I can only guess that Mama Snow went along with it because the legend says that John V. Snow was so fascinated by all things Russian that he originally named Valada, his most famous offspring, after the city of Vladivostock. There is no record to confirm that but maybe that's why she eventually changed her name to ValAIDA! And then came her younger sister Lavada Snow, sometimes called LUvada and alternately known as Lavada Carter.
Lavada Snow was born nine years after Valada (Valaida) in 1912. The whole family consisted of show people and both sisters were child stars on the black vaudeville stage; Valaida by the age of five and Lavada by age three. Supposedly, at the instigation of her sister, she married Herman Carter in Shanghai at the age of 14. Herman was the brother of Jack Carter who was the boyfriend of Valaida who suggested it would be cute if they married brothers. Lavada and Herman got hitched but Valaida soon changed her mind about Jack.
Lavada often appeared onstage in some of the same stage productions that her sister starred in. She sang and danced with the Noble Sissle orchestra and appeared in shows produced by Sissle and Eubie Blake. The younger Miss Snow was supposedly a talented violinist but said she preferred singing and dancing to keep the public from thinking she was copying her sister. Between the two, the public often declared Lavada the lesser in talent but the greater in beauty. At least one early source states that Lavada Carter divorced Herman Carter in 1931 in Baltimore. The same source says that she later married Arthur Russell of The Three Dukes. Both sisters were beautiful and talented and the record seems to indicate that Valaida forever maintained her status as Lavada's idol.
But who were Ovada, Arvada and Aviator?
Ovada was supposedly a brother that died young while Aviator was the natural born name of Arvada aka Avada Snow, the only surviving brother who followed his sisters onto the stage as a dancer and drummer. Sheesh!
This is the third of a series of four posts as it relates to the legend of Valaida Snow.
Love the Snow sisters! Valaida made it into one of my novels!
Posted by: Brandon | August 06, 2011 at 07:44 PM
Now thats what I call fun useless trivia LOVE IT!!!!
Posted by: jahlaune | August 07, 2011 at 04:23 AM
Corey I *love* your thorough research and can't wait for the final installation of the Valaida Snow series x L
Posted by: Lascasartoris | August 07, 2011 at 10:42 AM