Knickers worn by Bessie Bonehill
name: label: user
content: Bonehill, Bessie
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Velvet knickers, part of a costume worn by vaudeville performer Bessie Bonehill, a male impersonator. The dark green knickers have a white muslin waistband and are missing the button at their closure. Bonehill wore this costume while performing in New York in the 1890s. Her male impersonation act was a popular success in her native England as well as the United States, where she toured widely until her death in 1902.
topic: label: general subject association
content: Vaudeville
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: Exhibition
content: Entertainment Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dorothy M. Wallace
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0432.07
label: accession number
content: 1986.0432
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0432.07
objectType: label: Object Name
content: britches
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: green (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white (waistband color)
label: Physical Description
content: muslin (waistband material)
label: Physical Description
content: velvet (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: arsenic (dye material)
label: Measurements
content: overall, mounted: 27 in x 12 in x 9 in; 68.58 cm x 30.48 cm x 22.86 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 27 in x 19 in; 68.58 cm x 48.26 cm