Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Dorothy Herbert RBBB 1934 (From Chris Berry)


Ringling Barnum DOROTHY HERBERT (1934), originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

This poster looks quite provocative from a distance. Were the artists at Erie Litho pushing the limits of 1930s censorship with this design?

Posted by Buckles at 9/02/2008 12:33:00 PM

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, when you see original wardrobe of this period and a decade earlier it can be quite revealing if not downright risque. I know a collector who has original wardrobe of Lillian Leitzel's and it is quite provocative to say the least! Most of it is netting with a few discreetly placed groups of sequins/stones or beads to cover up the essentials. I presume this wardrobe was used during her appearances in Europe in Theatres and Variete during winter dates, but wardrobe throughout circus history has always been on the verge of if not expressly sexual. Before Burlesque in this country, the circus was where the gentleman folk could get thrills and not just the death-defying kind. If you compare styles of bathing suits through the ages in America, especially those of women, with corresponding circus wardrobe of the same periods, circus wardrobe was in most cases far ahead of the prevailing social mores of the period for appropriate dress. Think of Victorian times, when a woman's ankles were to be kept covered, yet female circus performers were wearing tights and leotards. Many acts required form-fitting wardrobe that would not get in the way of dangerous maneuvers, especially in aerial acts. Side Show banners were also quite revealing long before "pin-up" illustrations became popular in the 1930s and 40s. Even depictions of Barnum's Feejee Mermaid in newspapers of the time, show bare female breasts, but of course under the guise of science. I just saw the RBBB Red Unit in Moline, IL on Suday 8/31/09 and there wasn't a single woman's leotard that did not ride below the girl's tops of the hip bone. That style wasn't seen until the late 1960s-early 70s when the "sexual revolution" was still not out in the open in the Leave It to Beaver (no pun intended) generation of Moms and Dads. In that unit, the "love interest" of Bello's appeared in a full "pants suit" that went right up to her neck (although the under fabric was nude beige colored covered in rhinestones or sequins), which was probably designed because Bello certainly couldn't be interested in a regular showgirl with her costume over her hip bones and her cleavage cinched up to the bulging point, as that would be too salacious. Of course, all clowns are supposed to be non-sexual anyway, although male clowns in drag are acceptable in lewd roles such as the nurse in the Dentist's Gag because it is SO outrageous, but a female clown playing that lewd role would never be acceptable. The whole question of sexuality in the presentation of circus performance is a PhD dissertation just waiting to be researched and written. Hmmm, Doctor Cockerline does have a nice ring to it!
Neil Cockerline
Minneapolis, MN

02 September, 2008 16:45
Anonymous said...

These old lithos with Chattanooga tails generally come from the collection of the late Arthur L Chumley, longtime collector and fan.

Harry Hertzberg bought much or most of Chumley's collection in 1930 for a reported $500, quite a bit of it having been previously in the hands of Billie Allee the pioneer collector who had died in 1926.

Chumley continued to collect and ran ads selling posters as late as 1954 or so.

02 September, 2008 21:44
Roger Smith said...

It was my privilege to know her as Mrs. A.W. Kinnard, in the late 1960s.

I later heard it said Dorothy Herbert had more circus paper out on her than any other performer.

Roger Smith

02 September, 2008 22:25
Anonymous said...

Chumley also distributed some photos. As to the Allee material Ole Whitey mentions, Chumley certainly sold batches of heralds Allee collected in the 1880s-90s to Hertzberg and others and they are identifiable by the town played, St. Joseph, Missouri. I believe a well-known collector and editor got the last of the Chumley material. And yes, Dorothy Herbert probably had more paper issued for her than any other 20th-century performer.
Dick Flint
Baltimore

03 September, 2008 02:20

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