Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

In April the American Burlesque Collection was contacted by the Burlesque Hall of Fame about a loan for their new exhibit Let’s Get Loud! The Heritage of Latin Burlesque. They needed something to represent Kitten Natividad and ABC has one of her costumes, among other items which were featured in the 2021 exhibit, ¡Viva Estriptís!. The costume was made by Sue Nice for Kitten’s Australian tour. Kitten sold the costume to Lili VonSchtupp, who wore it for her Jack of Hearts photo in The Burlesque Deck. From Lili, it came to ABC.

We were happy to honor Kitten in this way. The catch was that the exhibit was opening within days of the request. They would need the costume right away.

Now, if you or I want to lend something we own to someone we know, it’s easy. We just do it. Maybe there’s a little conversation about who’s going to pick it up or when the thing needs to be returned, but there aren’t a lot of details and the ones that do pop up can usually be settled with a quick text. Things are very different when the loan is from one museum to another.

Every museum has their own version of a “standard” agreement. And, as you can guess, none of them are the same! The loan agreements cover every detail: insurance, shipping, mounting and display, security, how the loaning institution is to be acknowledged…down to minutiae like the lighting and humidity. It took a long time of back and forth until there was an agreement both museums found acceptable. It took weeks and weeks before it was settled and in the meantime the exhibit had opened to the public.

After the agreement was signed, Scratch prepared a Condition Report, which recorded the condition of each item at the time it left A.B.C.’s custody. The condition report includes photos and notes on any pre-existing damage like missing rhinestones, loose threads, or stains.

Then we had to get it there in the same shape it left our care. We knew we wanted to individually package each of the six elements of the costume before putting them all in the shipping box. I created some envelopes out of unbleached muslin. It’s lightweight, breathable, and doesn’t have any dyes or chemical treatment which might affect the costume. Some of the costume pieces could be folded mostly flat without risk of damage, but if you know Kitten, you can figure out which items had to be shipped with padding inside them to keep them from being crushed. Then each element was wrapped in acid-free tissue and slipped into its own custom envelope.

Scratch packed it all in a box, and then packed that box securely in another box before shipping the costume off. We breathed a little easier when word came that it had been received safe and sound. Many museums send their artifacts by courier, but we’re a touch small for that.

The costume was mounted in time for The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in early June.

and here it is!




(All exhibit photos by Scratch)

Because they had limited exhibit space, BHoF decided only to display the robe and Scratch hand-carried the other pieces back with him.

Let’s Get Loud! The Heritage of Latin Burlesque runs until October. If you get the chance to see it, I want to hear all about it!

(with input from Scratch)

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 20 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.