New-York tribune., 1919-06-19
Variety's Golden Days

Sir: And is there none to celebrate the
Incompatible Albert Chevalier, one Of the
great artists OF his day and perhaps the
Vur Do Ee Luv OH" "The Future Mrs.
'Awkins," "ln the Old Kent Road" or "Dear
Old Dytch"? Into the ruck of the offer
ings of the music halls, for the most part
as conventionalized and traditional as Ro-
man comedy, Chevalier with these
vivid authentic bits Of life-thumb-nail
sketches Of almost fawless finish. 1t makes
one glad to find that even the "Encyclo-
I remember Ida Mule, plump and
dimpled, suspended by wire as "Cupid,"
a recent broadway show, still-well, plump.
From little earlier, think around 1889
or go, comes memory of alluring charm
that of Mar Marie Jansen, with Francis Will
"When I Was Child of Three" in
throaty contralto that somehow made the
pulse of sentimental youth beat faster.
I have mental picture of Sally Cohen,
dressed in silver-scaled tights, leading the
march of the Amazons in Dreams, or Fun
worked with her husband, John T. Rice.
This about 1887. Along there, too is pigeon
holed the memory of slight, red d-haired
dancer in gray accordion plcated skirt doing
a high kicking act that was all pure grace
and beauty-Amela Glover, "The Little
Fawn.". with Russel's Comedians in "The
City Directory"
That must have been contemporary with
Donnclly and Girard in Natural Gas"
Etienne Girardot, who later starred in the
funniest farce ever staged, "Charley's
Aunt" did monkey tricks"
Those were the days when Variety and
didn't go to either; aoomem were sometimes
seen in the galleries at matinees. 1t was
not until the middle '9Os, when Roster and
Bial brought out Carmencita the Spanish
dancer, that it was considered respectable"
for women to 60 to variety shows; they
weren't vaudeville" then. And it was ten
years so after that before Bonita put
burlesque Oh the respectable" map. One
might hear Tony Pastor sing "'Blige a
Down, McClusky," one week, and the next ne XII
week Rose Sydel's London Bellies or Sam
T: Jacks Creoles in the same house. One
didn't refer, in the home circle, to either
or to having been to the place where they
of Ned Harrigan in "Reily and the Four Hun
dred," Of Flynn and Sheridan singing "The
Irish Jubilee" of Bonnie Kate Harvey ESQ
billed) with her fog horn rendition of
"Sligo" that somehow lifted you out of your
seat; of Dot Pullman, balancing on one foot
Loye" on a B-fat cornet!
Switching back to old variety acts, let
ever seen buck dancing in all it's pristine
symbolism and fervor who does not remem-
Der the timber octoroon billed as "Texar-
Kansas" that there was never an Indian
club swinger to equal Gus Hill and that
James Owen O'Connor wasn't as crazy as
he pretended to behe had sense enough to
do his Shakespearian monologue behind
net! SEMEX
If Miss Lizzie B. Raymond still lives, The
Coming Tower apologies for its limo
typer and proofreader's reference yesterday
to Little Raymond" Miss Raymond, as we
recall her, was far from little.
You can't pay more than sixty cents for
a restaurant meal in Rome now. Utopia,
or There's No Place Like Rome
zrMMY.cLAssfcAL VERSE
"What sooAld you
Gimme to Jimmy
Do the
Shimmy"
Truth compels to reply
That I would not
Give you anything
At all.
I give Harry Hampstead
Three dollars
In 1917
To see that World Series game
Where Jimmy
Did the shmmy
With Eddie Collins for his partner.
And don't wanna
Ever
Ever,