Burlesque: Exotic Dancers of the 50s & 60s

There Were Big Changes After the 1940s & 1950s When I recently reviewed “Queens of Burlesque: Vintage Photographs from the 1940s and 1950s” by Len Rothe there was only one exposed nipple in the entire book. Pasties were in, bare nipples, no matter how beautiful, were censored. In this volume which covers an additional decade, beautiful bare nipples are everywhere. On page 17 of this volume, there is a beautiful dancer standing next to a fake Greek Column wearing only a pair of high heels and lipstick. That’s a big change in publicity and booking photographs for burlesque dancers. This particular photo is of an unknown stripper who is obviously advertising the fact that she wasn’t afraid to take it all off in her performances. The publicity photo is airbrushed slightly so while nipples are clear as day, pubic hair is mysteriously missing--only hinted at. The photo of the unknown is facing another full page photo of Lili St Cyr, one of the most successful and famous Burlesque Stars who was also known to take it all off, but she hardly gets a glance compared to her unknown competition pictured on the following page. By the l960’s Burlesque was dying. “A new kind of nightclub opened in Las Angeles, CA, called Whiskey a Go Go and featured not strippers, but scantily clad dancers who danced not on a stage, but on podiums or in cages hanging from the ceiling. The following year Carol Doda introduces topless Go Go dancing at the Condor Club in San Francisco, dispensing with pasties. The Condor Club goes bottomless in 1969, commencing a trend of explicit full nudity in strip tease dancing. “The final steps of this progression are the table dance, in which case the stripper brings a little pedestal or stool to dance upon next to the customer’s table, and finally, the lap dance, pioneered by the Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre in Sam Francisco in 1980.” This collection of publicity photos begins with a brief history of Burlesque featuring Sally Rand, Gypsy Rose Lee, Georgia Sothern, Margie Hart, Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm. “The collection was acquired by the book’s author from Mark Gabor, noted author of two ‘history of the pinup’ books, who amazed the collection during his field research.’” In 1958 Honey Bee became the first burlesque star to get breast enlargements and that, for better or worse, opened up a whole new world of changes for standards of beauty. As the reader examines this book carefully, he or she can realize that these famous stars were not only the last of their eras, but that many of them remained so until the art form died out as a national pastime. It’s amazing that so many of them kept their looks into late middle age. They were indeed very beautiful and seductive women. It’s nice we of today can still see and appreciate them across the decades.

This is a wonderful collection of rare 8x10 promo images for Burlesque stars of the 50's and 60's. Excellent quality B&W photos, a few have been autographed, great that these were so well preserved. About 4 pages of text introduction highlights performers and clubs of the time.

In the 1950s and '60s, burlesque was banned in New York City. I lived right across the Hudson River in compact, overcrowded Union City, New Jersey, better known as the home of the Hudson Burlesque. On the way to Cub Scout meetings, I had to pass the stage door. Smells and sounds I did experience, but never a glimpse of any of the performers.  The Queens of Burlesque: Vintage Photographs from the 1940s and 1950s (Schiffer Pictorial Essay)  But busloads of gents from the City came in droves, and they more than glimpsed. So here we have the women I could only imagine, but never see, in full-page, glossy black and white.

I got this book as a gift for my daughter and she absolutely loved it.would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the oldies...

"Burlesque: Exotic Dancers of the 50's & 60's" (Schiffer) harkens back to our recent, historical past, with its series of black and white publicity images from the girls who closed out the mid-century movement. Author Judson Rosebush begins by covering the colorful history of the field from names like Mae Dix, Sally Rand, Ann Corio and Gypsy Rose Lee to emporiums such as Minsky's, the Zeigfield Follies and the clubs of Vegas, San Francisco and L.A. Eventually, the field gave way to the raunchier topless clubs and the go-go dancers of the 60's, but for capturing a moment in time, Rosebush's book aptly captures the history and look of a long gone era.

this is not the end but just the beginning.

This book is basically a picture book. There is a short introduction which could have used a better editor and then the book is filled with full page pictures of the performers. A fair percentage of them are belly dancers, which seemed odd. One definitely got the impression that someone bought a localized collection and then quickly churned out a book. Some of the performers are even anonymous. Many of the biggest names in Burlesque during that era are missing. Having said that it was somewhat interesting from a photographers point of view to look at the photographic style of these old promotional pictures and it does show the range of beauty that was burlesque. In the end, there is little of substance here and the book is disappointing.

Really cool book with beautiful photos. Only quip is that some of the photos are clearly from the 70's and 80's. You can tell just by the ladies hair and clothes. Schiffer should really take their quality up a notch. I little better layout and design sense along with better quality paper and materials and their books would be amazing.

Very nice book like new!!

期待通りの商品でした。すべてモノクロでしたが素晴らしいと思います。

I have the other 2 titles in this series which are great. This one relies more on early 70s promo shots. It's a weak edition compared to the other 2 but worth owning as a curiosity

If you love classy Burlesque photographs from a bygone age, check out the books from Len Rothe. This tome looks like an old collection of junk from someone's garage. Unhelpful, unfunny captions and dodgy, sometimes badly edited photos shoved together create an awkward collection. Don't bother.