AP News BHoF article
Strippers Hold Reunion at Museum of ‘Au Naturel’ History
- by MICHAEL FLEEMAN April 28, 1991[Source 1]
HELENDALE, Calif. (AP) _ The Smithsonian may have Archie Bunker’s chair, but the Strippers Hall of Fame displays the silver, sequined pasties worn by Jennie ″The Bazoom Girl″ Lee.
It also boasts Jayne Mansfield’s sofa - pink, of course - and Blaze Starr’s autographed photo - nude, of course.
It’s all on display at the museum operated by 65-year-old Dixie Evans, the self-described ″Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque.″
This weekend, strippers past and present who belong to the 500-strong Exotic Dancers League of America arrived in Helendale, well off the beaten path in the Mojave Desert 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, to talk shop and drop tops.
The gathering attracted names that used to drive men wild: Dusty Sage, Sheri Champagne, Jeanine ″Eye-Full Tower″ France, Flame O’Neil, and Tanayo, the ″Costa Rican Dream Girl.″
Some of them are grandmothers now, but they squeezed into sleeveless gold lame dresses and skimpy pink bras.
And over fried chicken and macaroni salad, they talked about the good old days, when stripping was more show businesses than just show and the final flash of flesh only came after an excruciatingly long bump-and-grind buildup.
Some of them put on a brief show Friday on a stage at the end of a pool behind the museum, strutting to a tape recording of the ″The Stripper.″
Though the kicks weren’t quite as elastic and the flesh shook a bit more than it used to, they ended the production to hearty applause and a few whistles.
″I loved to dance,″ said a bustier-clad Miss Tanayo, who really was born in Costa Rica and danced in American clubs from 1959 until her retirement in 1980.
″I loved the attention the customers gave me. I loved the smiles. I loved the applause.″
Miss Sage, wearing an abbreviated black-and-white maid costume and black stockings, said she got a relatively late start in striptease, taking to the stage for the first time at age 24 back in 1965.
″They had to drag me off the stage. It was fun,″ she said.
But after nine years, Miss Sage retired.
″I wanted to leave while my body was still good,″ she said.
She said the reunion brought back many good memories. That was much of the idea behind the event, said Miss Evans.
The blond, boa-bedecked Miss Evans, who’ll strike a sultry, lips-puckered pose at the drop of a hat, took over the museum from founder Miss Lee, who died of cancer last year.
The museum sits on a 40-acre ranch. The grounds are decorated with partially clad statues, including one of Miss Lee. The ″Bazoom Girl″ is everywhere in the museum, and her ashes are kept in a room off the pool.
From the walls hang photos of Gypsy Rose Lee, Candy Barr, Tempest Storm, Lilly Christine, and Brandy ″Boom Boom,″ identified as Miss Nude Wisconsin 1989.
Across a courtyard, in another room, are the pasties and g-strings used by Miss Lee, plus Miss Evans’ old red sparkling dress, a collection of shiny rhinestone jewelry, and lots more pictures.
″We’re trying to protect our past,″ said Miss Evans. ″It was a glamorous, glamorous era. It was theater; that’s what it was. And whether people approved or disapproved, we existed.″
See also [ The Burlesque Hall of Fame ]
Sources
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root