Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Today’s book has a lot of information on one of my favorite topics — costumes!

Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens by Liz Goldwyn (2006).

After making her documentary, also called Pretty Things, Ms. Goldwyn returned to her original focus, burlesque costumes, with this book. There’s lots of fabulous information about two prolific costumers with photos, sketches, pages from their account books, &c. Some of the sketches even still have fabric and trim samples attached. It’s marvelous inspiration.

The book also discusses burlesque in general and certain performers in specific, liberally illustrated with photographs and scrapbook pages. The biographies of Betty Rowland, Dian Rowland, June St. Claire, Lois de Fee, and Zorita are livened with first-hand stories from interviews conducted with some of the remaining “last generation”. I was a little surprised that despite numerous quotations from Sherry Britton, she didn’t rate a chapter of her own.

Ms. Goldwyn clearly loves her subject and her sources, but she’s not a dazzling writer. There are the occasional clunkers like the dancer who was “riding a horse wearing a white feather bikini”. Even if you skipped the text and just looked at the illustrations, this book would be worth it.

Dear Constant Reader,

Today’s review is about one of the other aspects of burlesque.

The Best Burlesque Sketches by Ralph G. Allen (1995).

Lest you think burlesque is all about the stripteasers, this book will introduce you to one of the other major talents in a burlesque show — the comic. It’s a collection of routines that were compiled for the Broadway show Sugar Babies. Many of the sketches are classics, like “The Gazeeka Box” or “Crazy House”. Some are just corny and some are racier than you might expect — the ending to “Meet Me Round the Corner” had to be toned down for the show!

Before my burlesque days, I spent quite some time performing commedia dell’arte in its earliest form. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s 16th century Italian improvisational comedic theatre. Scratch, who is a recognized authority, teaches a fantastic class on the subject, but I digress. I can clearly see the roots of commedia in these sketches — the stock characters, the vulgarity, the room for improvisation, the physical gags.

Most of the sketches require several men, a challenge if you are part of a troupe that’s mostly women. And much of the humor is dated. Some jokes can be modernized, but some would just have to be presented as a period piece and hope for the best. Even if you don’t plan on doing comedy, it’s worth reading to appreciate the entirety of a burlesque show and the atmosphere in which the dancers were performing.

Dear Constant Reader,

I appear to be on a bit of an ebook kick. I guess it’s because Amazon just makes it so easy to buy them! Today you’re getting 3 reviews in one.

Queens of Burlesque: Ann Arbor, Ann Corio, Gypsy Rose Lee, Lili St. Cyr and Sally Rand.
Dames of Burlesque: Blaze Starr, Tura Satana, Ricki Covette and Other Ecdysiasts.
Dolls of Burlesque: Irma The Body, Dorian Dennis, Connie Vaughn and More Vintage Strip Tease Artists.
all by Kevin I. Slaughter (2011).

These three little ebooks contain selections of burlesque publicity photos from the collection of “an unnamed friend of Underworld Amusements”. Some of the photos, after being shown full size, are repeated, enlarged and cropped. In a couple of cases, I was a little surprised as to what the editor thought should be the focus of the cropped photo.

Queens of Burlesque is the best organized of the lot, being divided into sections by dancer. As promised, there are pictures of Ann “Boom Boom” Arbor, Ann Corio, Gypsy Rose Lee, Lili St. Cyr and Sally Rand, each under her own chapter heading. In Dames and Dolls, the pictures are unidentified, unless the dancer’s name appears on her photo. However, these collections also have vintage cartoons and advertisements scattered amongst the photographs.

Although I have yet to check against the other photograph collections in my library, I think at least a few of the photos are unique to these books, and that makes them worthwhile.

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Wednesday, so how about a book review?

Papa’s Burlesque House: Growing Up in a Burlesque Theater by Bernard Livingston (1971).

This novel, purporting to be an as-told-to story, is more of a thinly veiled autobiography. The point-of-view character grew up in a large Jewish family in Baltimore during the Depression. His weak-willed father, unable to support the family, is pushed into managing a burlesque theatre by a pawn-broker uncle who has acquired the unsavory building.

Family life focuses around the theatre, since the narrator’s father can rarely leave. Shabbos dinner is held with the entire family crammed in the ticket booth. While his parents refuse to enter the theatre, the narrator frequently sneaks backstage and dallies with strippers. He becomes increasingly resentful of his parents’ plans for his life (he’s to become a lawyer — his older brother is going to be a doctor), especially after he learns a few things about his father.

The theatre, called The Burlesk, but known as The Scratch House, is a filthy, seedy dump on the infamous Block. The comics are drunks and the girls are third rate. Some of the activity at the Burlesk is down right unsavory and it will come back to bite the family badly. Not a pretty picture of burlesque, but a realistic one.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

Here’s another book review, just for you.

A Pictorial History of Burlesque by Bernard Sobel (1956).

Mr. Sobel is a big burlesque fan. In this, his second book on burlesque (the first being Burleycue: An Underground History of Burlesque Days), he writes glowingly about the comedy, the variety, the clever parodies, even the “Amazon parade” (a chorus of pretty girls in scanty costumes). Then he bemoans the later addition of striptease, which ruined good old-fashioned burlesque. Despite that attitude, he does give peelers a fair shake, with an entire chapter (plus some) dedicated to some of the foremost practitioners of the art.

As promised in the title, the book is filled with photographs illustrating the history of burlesque from the days of The British Blondes and minstrel shows to “modern” (mid-1950’s) stripteasers and comics. There are individual chapters on comedy, music, management and other topics interspersed with a roughly chronological history of the artform.

Literarily yours,

Dear Constant Reader,

I reviewed another book, just for you! This time it’s Burlesque Exotic Dancers of the 50s & 60s by Judson Rosebush (2010).

Like The Bare Truth: Stars of Burlesque From the ’40s and ’50s and The Queens of Burlesque: Vintage Photographs of the 1940s and 1950s, this is a collection of photographs, mostly of burlesque performers, but some are belly dancers. They appear to be booking photos, not publicity pictures. Era is obvious in the hair & makeup, but also the toplessness and even nudity of some of the performers.

The book opens with a short essay on the history of burlesque and the little that is known about these photos. The photos are nicely presented on glossy paper, one to a page. They’re in no particular order, other than photos of the same performer are grouped together. Information on the photos, like the dancer’s name and tagline, is reprinted at the bottom of the page. It’s easily readable on the original and so appears superfluous. Sometime information from the back of the photos is presented, but it’s not distinguished from the compilier’s own notes.

The photographs are a great source of inspiration for costumes, hair styles, makeup, and poses. Some of the performers are long forgotten, some are complete unknowns (that is, there’s no name on the photo), and there’s one or two you might know…

Best,

Dear Constant Reader,

In preparing for Madame Burlesque, I read as many burlesque memoirs and biographies as I could get my hands on (and I must say, the library at Stately Babydoll Manor is rather extensive). One of them was Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry by Blaze Starr.

Blaze Starr grew up in rural West Virginia as part of a big loving family. As a teenager, she knew there was more to life than hoeing corn and running moonshine, and set out for the big city. Working as a waitress in a doughnut shop in Washington D.C., she was discovered by a sleazy producer who convinced her to strip in his club. However, he also wanted her to strip at his place, and do more… The resourceful Blaze extricated herself from that situation, but realized stripping was the career for her. She started at Baltimore’s Two O’Clock Club and was soon in demand all over the country.

She was booked at the Sho-Bar in New Orleans where she met Governor Earl K. Long, and the rest, as they say, is history. Her long affair with the governor is the stuff of legend… and a movie! Blaze, based on this book, tells the story of the romance between the stripper and the governor. Paul Newman, as Earl Long, completely steals the show.

Throughout her story, Blaze is completely unapologetic. Yes, she has a dynamite body and big boobs and she used them to further her career. Yes, she had a well-publicized affair with the married governor, but she loved him and planned to marry him. She is honest about some of the stormy events in her life, usually involving her losing her temper and belting someone.

The story ends with Blaze considering having her memoirs written and then doing what she loves best,  performing at the newly reopened Two O’Clock Club, which she owns. The afterword is a lovely note from Blaze’s mother, who is so proud of her ambitious daughter.

More reviews to come!