Today's Bat Bulletins (Okay, They're From 1966)

Someone who was Batman didn’t want to be, and someone who wasn’t Batman wanted to be.

The huge, sudden fad that exploded in 1966 when Batman became a hit resulted in all kinds of things. First is this wire story from April 3, 1966. It appears (are you ready for this one?) Batman had it with jokers!

Mrs. Batman Lives With Cat in Detroit
By PHIL THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT (AP) - You won't believe this but Batman is a woman with a Southern accent. And her Robin is a gray cat named Smokey.
"I'm not going to change my name, but I am going to get an unlisted telephone," Ann Batman, 29, said Saturday.
"Ever since that television program started I've been getting about 10 telephone calls a day. But I figure this Batman stuff will die out in a couple of months and then they'll leave me alone."
Mrs. Batman, a divorcee, is the only Batman listed in the Detroit telephone book.
"When these kids first started calling me and asking to talk to Batman I went and looked in the telephone book for other folks named Batman," she said.
"I wanted to see if they were being bothered, too. But I was the only one and I get all the calls."
Mrs. Batman, whose Batmobile is a red 1964 sedan, is a restaurant manager. She lives alone in an apartment with her cat. She said she came to Detroit from Fayetteville, N.C., about eight years ago and that her 9-year-old daughter was staying at Fayetteville with Mrs. Batman's mother, Mrs. Beulah Worrell.
"It's mostly little kids that call and ask for Batman, but I've had a few teen-agers call. I hang up on the older ones because I know they're kidding me.
"The little ones I just tell that Batman isn't in at the moment. I tell them I'll tell Batman they called when he gets in and that seems to make them happy.
"One boy called me and said he had a picture of Batman and could he bring it over and get it autographed. I told him Batman wasn't in and I didn't know when he would be. He never called again."
Mrs. Batman said she takes a lot of kidding about her name.
"Whenever I go somewhere I have to give my name, the people give me that 'are you kidding?' look. It happens at the laundry, at the bank and all over," she said.
Mrs. Batman said her name never had caused any difficulty until the Batman television program went on the air.
"I do not watch Batman," she said firmly. "And I never will. I've been kidded so much because of him that I never want to see his program."

I have not been able to trace Mrs. Batman past this particular story. There’s only one man, Chief O’Hara, who can find her and free her from the notorious vines bearing the evil fruits of crime... sorry, I got into a 1966 flashback there.

Now the story about another woman. This appeared on the wire November 11, 1966. Some you will be disappointed there is no photo accompanying this one as it’s about a topless waitress. I hope she got her acting career together. I wonder if “Ruby Diamond” was a stage name.

N.Y. Batgirl Undraped Crusader
NEW YORK (AP)— A girl who wore a Batman mask and nothing much else above her waist joined two other topless waitresses in an East Side Manhattan supper club Thursday night.
The latest addition to the newly-emerged ranks of topless waitresses here identified herself as Miss Anita Batgirl and said, "I've been in show business for eight years and I want very much to become a dramatic actress."
A capacity-crowd of about 150 persons — mostly middle-aged men — were on hand in the Crystal Room on East 54th Street to be served drinks by the three waitresses who wore only silver-dollar size pasties and some costume jewelry above the waist.
Two of the waitresses Wednesday night showed up in the club in their topless uniforms and quickly were given summonses to appear in court Monday to answer to charges of a city administrative code violation.
They were identified as Ruby Diamond, 27, and Mery Rooney, 24, both blondes.
The subpoena servings only briefly interrupted the girls on their rounds, and they continued working after the incident.
"We started taking reservations for Thursday night an hour and a half ago and we're sold out already, a club spokesman said early Thursday afternoon. The club is owned by a woman.
Meanwhile, the police declined to say what they were up to.
"We're looking into the situation — from a distance," said Chief Inspector Stanford Garelik.

We can only guess whether the waitresses served while doing the Batusi.

These were mere minor Bat-blips that barely showed up on the radar in 1966. Kids were paying more attention to the show.