I’ve got it in my
head, somehow, that Ginger Rogers is Steve G. Rogers/Captain America’s aunt.
Now, I know that Ginger Rogers was a stage name, so I’m thinking maybe she
wasn’t Steve’s dad’s biological sister, maybe more an honourary aunt. Like the
lady next door who helped raise the kids, or your parent’s childhood BFF.
And she always liked the name ‘Rogers’ – nice,
solid sounding name. So she used it for her stage name.
She didn’t like it
in the way that she wanted to be Joseph’s wife – Joe was like a brother to her,
that would be weird. Besides, Sarah was a super classy dame and sassy as a
spitfire to boot, and Ginger loved teasing her and calling her “Sis”.
Steven was born in
1920, and Ginger didn’t hit the height of her fame until 1938. So in between
she was just Aunty Ginny, who was away at dance classes a lot, and sometimes
doing shows, but always had time to swing by the Rogers tenement apartment with
some boiled sweets and some chatter.
When Steven was six, uncoordinated, gangly, still
unsteady on his feet, Aunt Ginny suggested she teach Steven to dance a little,
maybe help out his coordination. And Joe, who had swept Sarah off her feet with
a few well-placed dance moves taught to him by Gin, whole-heartedly approved.
And it’s not like
Aunty Gin wasn’t used to dancing with skinny little guys.
Ginger Rogers took her name from her mother’s second husband, so he could be an uncle to Steve, (and Ginger his aunt by marriage) but Ginger was a star on Broadway when she was 19, in 1926, so that would have been a big deal – and by 1930 she was in Hollywood, and Ginger never danced with a partner before Fred Astaire and couldn’t tap, she literally learned how as she went – Ginger always thought of herself as an actress who danced, not a dancer who acted, the proudest moment of her career was when she won an Oscar for Best Actress for a dramatic role, Kitty Foyle, she became a director at age 73.
OH! Thank you for all the corrections! Readers: Adjust your headcannons accordingly!
BUT, think of all the things you could add! Steve loves movies, and his aunt was a movie star! Steve had a war bonds tour with the USO, and so did Ginger Rogers, (so maybe he wasn’t certain about doing it, but she helped him through it) and Steve was out in Hollywood making Cap films before he went overseas. What does Steve think about all the pinups of his aunt in solider’s footlockers? Maybe he gives Bucky the present of one of them autographed. but Ginger was smart and determined and fought for her rights, and strong (she was the only partner of Fred Astaire who never cried in exhaustion at the grueling dance rehearsals) . Maybe Steve sees a lot of her in Peggy.
Oh, karadin you’re a goddess. YES. All these. YES.
