Marilyn Monroe Collection

Marilyn Monroe's Personal Mexican Soda Tumblers

From her final residence at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood, California, Marilyn Monroe's personal assortment of Mexican soda glass tumblers. Each unique in size, dimension and color, these glasses were likely hand-blown by Mexican tradesmen. Marilyn made several trips to Mexico in the early 1960s to purchase furniture, decorations and accessories for her new home, a small Mexican styled bungalow at the end of a quiet and secluded cul-de-sac. These tumblers were possibly purchased during one of these outings.

One of these glasses can be seen to the left of Marilyn's kitchen sink in the photo below.

This image was taken the day after Marilyn died.

Photo Copyright: Gene Anthony Archives

From the book "Marilyn: The Last Months" by Eunice Murray:

Marilyn was her natural self again when they drove to market day in Toluca. Once again she wore her casual costume of black silk slacks, colorful Pucci print blouse, soft flat shoes and a scarf over her hair. Toluca is a suburb about twenty miles from Mexico City. They drove there easily one morning, traveling in a convoy of two cars, their party composed of Marilyn and Eunice, Fred and Nieves Field, and three of the presidential guards. They would discover if Marilyn would need protection on the trip to Taxco. Eunice recalls that day with pleasure: "We had a wonderful, lighthearted time of discovering colorful handcrafted items she could buy for her home."

Marilyn Monroe's Mexican tumblers on display at Christie's prior to the 1999 auction.

Photo copyright Gary Vitacco-Robles.

Provenance: Christie's New York: The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe, October 27-28, 1999. Click here to buy your copy of the Christie's auction catalog for the sale of Marilyn Monroe's personal items.