Burlesque beauties of the 1890s: Stunning vintage photos of 'loose women in tights' who perfected..

[Katashi_itto]

...art of the tease

By modern standards, the burlesque dancers of the 1890s are barely deserve notice for their attire - tights covering their legs from foot to waist, many wore long sleeves to cover their arms and nary a spot of cleavage to be found.
But in their time, these women were positively scandalous. Their form-fitting clothes showed off the shapes of their legs and thighs. Their corsets accentuated their bosoms. And everywhere they performed men threw themselves into frenzies of erotic desire.
Vintage photos collected by Charles H. McCaghy, a professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, reveal just how different beauty was 120 years ago than it is today.


Burlesque began in the United States when Lydia Thompson brought her troupe, the British Blondes, to New York City stages in 1868.
They were independent, confident women who performed on stage and defied most of the social and cultural mores of women of the day. And they were as wildly popular as they were reviled.
Most people in 'proper' society viewed these ladies as being in the same category as common street prostitutes -- selling their bodies for sex.

But men adored them. Their acts were considered 'low brow,' but that simply made them more approachable for the common man.
It was said some men were willing to kill themselves in fits of lustful passion after seeing Ms Thompson's shows. The veracity of these stories, however, was somewhat dubious.
The secret of burlesque dancers' sexual appeal was not that they revealed skin and sensitive body parts -- like modern-day strippers. Burlesque was so scandalous because women showed off their feminine shapes.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114487/Photos-reveal-scandalous-burlesque-dancers-1890s.html#ixzz2qqjgK2Vj

[tanyev]

1. OMG, I love the shoes in that top photo.

And the fringe around the bottom of the tights in photo #2 is pretty cool, too.

[Orrex]

2. She's a tramp.

You can plainly see BOTH of her elbows, fer chrissakes!

[alfredo]

3. That last outfit makes me want to see her act.

Of course I'd want to be really stoned.

[NBachers]

10. Maybe you'll be entertained by the "Naughty Bobby" at the link-thematic, but less bizarre

[alfredo]

13. I'll have to look that up.

[L0oniX]

4. In coming.

[Faygo Kid]

5. The last one is dated 1867

So it's hardly the 1890s. Nonetheless, I will have nightmares about it.

[Romulox]

6. More recent: Charles Atlas vs. Mario Lopez

It seems like standards for being considered "fit" are much higher these days, overall.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. "fit" and "elite athlete" are two different things.

The average soldier in WW2 weighed 144#, was 5' 8" tall and had a 33" chest. Charles Atlas was 5' 10" and weighed 180#.

The typical workday saw my 6' 0" 145# father climb ladders carrying a 100# sack of cement on each shoulder.

The elite are undoubtedly stronger than they once were. The average, definitely not.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/09/12/are-you-as-fit-as-a-world-war-ii-gi/

[Romulox]

36. Lopez is a TV presenter and a former child star. I don't know where you got "elite athlete" from...

[aikoaiko]

7. Pony Play!

[In_The_Wind]

20. Sorta looks like it.

[marble falls]

8. Boy howdy. How you going to keep them down on the farm? There were series of these kinds ....

of photos on cards given away in packs of cigarettes in the 1890's.

[narnian60]

9. I think the women's photos are gorgeous--especially the first one.

The horse one somewhat bizarre.

[riderinthestorm]

12. These women were feminists breaking conventional stereotypes of what women wear

and how they act.

The horse costume was designed to REALLY go outside the bounds of conventionality. The women in these acts would challenge the men on their perception of a woman's place in society.

I expect the horse costume was designed to demonstrate that women are/were perceived as little more than a work animal, "owned" by men.

The article at the link has a lot more info about it. Very cool.

[Auntie Bush]

31. The next to the last one looks old and not at all sexy.

It's hard to believe the one with the hour glass figure is all natural.

[okaawhatever]

33. Oh believe me, that hourglass figure is anything but natural. Chances are she was in great pain

and probably barely breathing to wear the corset that created that.

[jakeXT]

11. Earp/gambler/stage coach robber/Republican vs. Behan/cowboy/cattle rustler/Democrat

While she was living in San Francisco, Dolly seems to have taken her show on the road for there is a newspaper report of her performing one night in the fall of 1880 at the famous Bird Cage Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. This was during the height of the Behan-Earp feud. The Bird Cage was where everyone went at night, and the Behan/cowboy/cattle rustler/Democrat faction would sit in the boxes to the right of the stage-while the Earp/gambler/stage coach robber/Republican faction would occupy the boxes on the left. If one side cheered the act, the other side booed it, and this frequently led to gunfire. The saloon was crowded the night Dolly performed, her reputation apparently having preceded her, and the cheering and booing were consequently lustier than usual. So was the exchange of gunfire, which was said to have left twelve men dead and seven more wounded


http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=1486&submitted=TRUE&srch_text=&submitted2=&topic=San%20Francisco%20Women

[Katashi_itto]

14. Tombstone

[Boudica the Lyoness]

16. That was a cruel thing to do to a Tombstone addict

...now I want to watch the whole thing......again.

[dionysus]

17. i know, the strain of seeing just a taste, was more than i could bear...

I guess I'm no daisy, no daisy a'tall...

[Boudica the Lyoness]

21. lol

[dionysus]

32. well... bye. nt

[MADem]

28. I'd like to see how it ended--really ended, not that unsatisfying "dump series in middle of story"

business....

[msanthrope]

29. You're thinking "Deadwood" my friend. nt

[MADem]

30. You're RIGHT...I AM!!!!! Old age is discombobulating the brain cells!!!! nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. Is #3 not wearing a hat?

I just love that most, if not all, the women are showing unconventional clothes, but that they are also wearing head coverings.

[Katashi_itto]

35. I am not sure, either way they do look awesome.

[U4ikLefty]

22. Very painful methods. nt

[Brigid]

24. In a word, corsets.

And I have heard that some women would even have ribs removed.

The body type apparently popular at the time looks more like mine, rather than the anorexic look that is popular now.

[uppityperson]

27. Try looking under 391 or 746.92 at your local library

Fashion – 391

Fashion design – 746.92

[1000words]

23. OMG ... the feminine shape!

Conceptually speaking, how was our mindset different from that of fundamentalist Islam?

And it wasn't really that long ago ...

[Initech]

26. That last picture with the horse costume -a precursor to furries?

[raven mad]

34. Not tons of burlesque here even during the Gold Rush. The photos posted are awesome!

I know dancing/burlesque was quite a bit more sophisticated that portrayed in old John Wayne movies or on Gunsmoke!

"The Line" here was revered - during the Gold Rush and afterward. "The Line" (large part of 4th Avenue downtown) didn't "close" until the late-1940's!

Lael Morgan wrote THE book on it:


http://laelwarrenmorgan.com/good-time-girls.html

in the late 1940's, my mom-in-law was doing the books for 3 of the "girls". They MADE some money!