Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

This is one of those books I was sure I reviewed ages ago, but didn’t…

Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society’s Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Societal Evil by Neil Miller, 2010.

“Banned in Boston”. Anyone who is a fan of classic burlesque knows that phrase. But who did the banning? Professor Miller presents the history of the New England Watch and Ward Society, founded in 1878 as the New England Society for the Suppression of Vice, the first branch of Anthony Comstock’s New York organization. The Society was a volunteer organization dedicated to keeping Boston, the Athens of America, as well as the rest of New England, clean and moral. Essentially vigilantes, the Society used quasi-legal methods to expose and punish immoral crimes, such as gambling, drug use, and prostitution. Sometimes they worked with local police and sometimes they set up their own raids and stings. But ultimately the Society was about censorship.

Any book, play, or motion picture that did not meet with the Watch and Ward’s approval could be banned. At the height of the Society’s power, there was a gentleman’s agreement between them and the booksellers. Banned books would quietly be taken off the shelves and the bookstore owners would then not be prosecuted for selling obscene material. Eventually the “Banned in Boston” label was used as a selling point in the rest of the country.

There’s one chapter in the book on burlesque and the Watch and Ward. The Society objected to profanity and suggestive language, costumes that showed off the female figure, and risqué dance movements. By the 1930s, they were keeping tabs on burlesque shows in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and Providence. In 1932 one investigator complained that Bubbles Keller had “pliable hips, oscillating buttocks, and breasts that seemed forever quivering.” Doth he protest too much?

According to Ann Corio, the box office at the Old Howard would warn the performers that a Watch and Ward member was in the house by hitting a button that would turn on a red light in the footlights. The performers would then go ahead with the “Boston version”, a cleaned up act. It’s unclear if this really happened, since the Old Howard was shut down a few times for violations before being closed for good in 1953 when Irma the Body was secretly filmed by vice cops.

It’s worth reading to understand the atmosphere in Boston during the Golden Age of burlesque, but despite the prominent photo of Sally Keith on the book cover, the burlesque specific chapter is relatively short. Much of the book is concerned with censorship of books and legitimate theatre. I found it interesting that when Eugene O’Neill’s play Strange Interlude was banned in Boston (to great outcry), it was produced with great success in liberal Quincy*.

Despite the book being published almost 15 years ago, it’s still a timely cautionary tale of what can happen when private citizens decide what is “decent” and “moral” for others and take enforcement into their own hands.

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*For those unfamiliar with Boston politics, Quincy is pretty conservative these days and some years ago, blocked a certain burlesque troupe from opening a studio there.