Taylor Swift’s homage to Clara Bow, America’s ‘hottest Jazz baby’

Clara Bow appeared in 58 films in just over a decade. John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images by Deirdre Clemente, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Annie Delgado, University of Nevada, Las Vegas One track on Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” honors a long-celebrated, oft-miscast heroine of American feminism: actress Clara Bow. As historians of the 1920s, we’ve studied Bow’s fame and her cultural legacy. At her ranch in rural Nevada, we oversee a collection of her personal artifacts, including her clothing and a makeup case. Bow was a woman way ahead of her time, a star who owned her success and her sexuality. There’s the popular perception that Bow was a victim of her own demons. But her story is anything but a cautionary tale. It is a victory march. America’s ‘hottest Jazz baby’ Bow’s career got its start in her native New York, where in 1921, at the age of 16, she won a beauty contest and got a bit part in a film as her prize. Bow took every opportunity to be on set and learn the craft. She showed up early, stayed late and studied how to work with the cameras and lights. In a...