The Washington times., 1937-04-02

How old is this agitation against
undress in the theater and the
night clubs? AS old, says Bernard
Sobel, as the organized amuse-
ment business. To prove 1t ne
cites that:
Mile. Hutin, at the Thalia The
alter in New York on February z,
1927, was denounced for wearing
skirts, well above the knees"
The very idea!
On June Z, 1861, Adah Isaacs, a
lady well conscious of the beauty
of her own figure, displayed her
self in tights while strapped to a
living horse in a play founded
upon Byron's poem, "Mazeppa. !"
The stunt so fired old New York
that Mile. Isaacs vas able to con-
tract profitable engagements in
London, Paris and Vienna.
Commercial managers were quick
to scent what the public wanted
and such plays as "The White
Faun" and "Humpty Dumpty"
took to the stage, somewhat dar-
ing, leading Olive Logan to ad-
dress the Woman'S Suffrage Con-
vention of May 1869 in these
words:
mo decent woman can now
look to the stage as a career.
Clothed in the dress of an hon.
est woman she is worth nothing
to the manager. Stripped as
naked as she dare, and it seems
there is little left when SO much
is done, she becomes a prize to
her manager, who knows that
crowds will rush to see her"
Lydia Thompson and the Brit
fish Blondes invaded Chicago in
1869 and Editor Wilbur F. Story
of the Chicago Times thought the
costumes were in bad taste, that
Miss Thompson a attained the
heighth Of impertinence by sin
Cling out a baldhead in the front
row and cooling soft lyrics to him.
What the editor wrote must
have riled Lydia Thompson, for
she hired a carriage, waited out
side of his home and when he
appeared gave him 20 laShes with
q cowhide. Lydia was lady.
Author Sobol gives the doubt.
full distinction of starting the
vogue for modern nudity to Earl
Carroll, closely followed by the
shuberts and Florenz ziegfeld.
Burlesque didn't take it up until
the $40 shows proved they
could get away with it."
Bernard Sobel is now one OF
Bill Ferguson's ace publicity men
in the Metro-G oldwyn-Mayer New
York office. He knows what he
is talking about since most of his
research was done for his book
"Burleycue," which shows tn
the matter of feminine undres:
was a problem in the theater long
before Gypsy Rose Lee begar
shedding brassier.
BERT GRANOFF PARTY
It was Warner Bros. who poured
the cocktails and passed the hors
d'ouvres yesterday afternoon al
4. The occasion A reception tt
Bert Granoff. who sang for ont
year from the orchestra pit a
Earle, who today moves up to tht
stage as the headline act in thu
house of Payette, LohmeyeI
Grimes, wonders. La Falce, Inc.
Baritone Granoff will be as
sisted by Carolyn Henry, a prett
soprano from Chicago who sing
gloriouSly with the star, Dean He
rick, a Windy City organist, VIII
can also extract fine music fror
@ piano keyboard.
They gave an mpromptu r.
cital for an audience of critics, an
having passed this hurdle, shout
have no fear Of the Friday fir
audience at the Earle.
There was a feeling Of jc
around the Warner Bros. clu
rooms, finally traced to the fax
that the Earle Theater had e
joyed a $4,000 plus Easter wee
The only one missed was Aubre
6eiber, who probably was buyir
herself q couple Of new frocks.
From Dan Terrell's Short HI