By Jeff Abell
Every town has that person — a personality larger than life who shines bright in a gray world.
For Burlington in the 1940s through 1960s, that bright light was Myrtle French.
Her claim to fame did not come from an innovative invention or from starring on the stage but rather from the service she provided for more than three decades. The business became an institution in Burlington, and Myrtle became the Google of her day.
In 1942, the French Information Service opened its doors and, more importantly, its telephone line to city residents. It was a memorable day for Myrtle, who wrote about it in her autobiography, “Myrtle Knows the Answers.”
“That first shrill ring of my new telephone sent a chill up and down my spine, and I prayed to God to give me the correct answer,” she wrote.
The correct answer she had, and she kept having them. Daily, she answered questions ranging from the ordinary — what was playing at the movie theater — to the peculiar, including reportedly finding an elephant for legendary bandleader Jimmy Dorsey.
According to a local newspaper account, Dorsey’s request was spurred by a bet with a friend. It didn’t take Myrtle long to secure the pachyderm through a connection in the circus. The animal was flown from Pennsylvania to California at Dorsey’s expense.
That success added to her resume as the city’s preeminent problem solver. On any given day, Myrtle might help find a babysitter for a frantic couple or secure a plane for a pilot.
In a 2009 interview, Bob McCannon of Burlington called her a “character” and said she was a rare, one-of-a-kind person. He added that she was the life of every party, flamboyant yet humble.
“You would go to an event, and there was Myrtle. Myrt was the kind of person you don’t see much anymore. She overcame her share of obstacles. She lost so much yet kept going. If she didn’t have the answer right away, she would work like the dickens to find it,” he said.
The road to success was difficult to travel. Myrtle’s business was born out of misfortune and personal loss.
In her autobiography, Myrtle wrote she was on her way to the altar when she received the news that changed the course of her life.
On her wedding day, she learned the love of her life was killed in a plane crash. Not long after, her beloved aunt died.
“I had lost the two persons I loved most. I was lost. Suddenly, I no longer knew which way to turn. Life didn’t seem worth living ... “ she wrote.
Depressed and alone, she saw her life without purpose or a future. Then, fate stepped in, and a business plan began to form.
The idea to create an information service was prompted by the announcement of the construction of the Iowa Army and Ammunition Plant in Middletown before World War II.
Myrtle believed new hires at the plant in Middletown would be looking for housing in Burlington en masse, and she was right. In six months, she found lodging for 600 workers and became a local legend.
Her business mushroomed from there.
Manning up to four phones at a time and flanked by stacks of books, her slogan was “Myrtle has the answers.” Her fame was not limited to Burlington — she regularly received calls from California and even overseas.
In her downtown Burlington office, French would answer the onslaught of ringing phones with a smile on her face and the name of any given business on her lips. Business owners paid a monthly fee for French to promote them.
“She would barter for everything. She was one heck of a promoter. It was a relationship that seemed to work,” McCannon recalled.
The service flourished as more residents relied on her as an educator and as a friend. She relished her larger-than-life persona, including being crowned Hobo Queen at the national convention in Britt, Iowa.
“I certainly could never have been chosen a beauty queen, so I was very much satisfied with being chosen Hobo Queen of 1949,” she said of the crown she wore for about a decade.
In later years, Myrtle mounted a short-lived campaign for city mayor.
After losing her bid, she became a goodwill ambassador for the city she loved. She died in 1976 at the age of 69.
To friends, she was simply “Myrt.” And she considered everyone in Burlington a friend. She educated, entertained, and gave back to the city she loved. She lived her life without regret, and Burlington was better for it.
In a world full of questions, Myrtle indeed had the answers.