BURLESQUE POSTER LONDON GAIETY GIRLS ARRIVE FAMOUS 680 Start Price USD 10.94 Current Price USD 10.94 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, September 16, 2008 End Time Thursday, October 16, 2008 Location Trenton, NJ See more about 'BURLESQUE POSTER LONDON GAIETY GIRLS ARRIVE FAMOUS 680' Description Up for sale is a new print of a poster for a very famous burlesque troupe from London?The Gaiety Girls.  Their name came from a popular musical theater in London, The Gaiety,  which produced burlesque and light musicals.  The Gaiety Girls, a chorus line of beautiful, sexy women,  were the creation of the theater manager, George Edwards.  In the late 1800s he brought the troupe to America for a tour of major cities.  This magnificent 1891 poster depicts their arrival in New York City on a passenger steamship.  The troupe is shown as a very proper group of maids properly dressed in long dresses made of English tweeds.  They are, however, endowed with large chests.  Here, they are pictured as not attracting attention?which was usually not the case.  For example when they arrived in Boston?s train depot for a run at a local theater, a local paper reported the platform was thronging with men, young and old, keen to catch a glimpse of ankle!  One of the throng was a writer for the paper.  He was of the opinion that the "15 young ladies are far superior in appearance to any of the burlesque companies that have appeared in the city."  He accurately forecast that "bald headed men" and "youths" would be in competition for front rows at the Opera House!  In fact, at the first performance, he was in the front row.   If you are a theater fan or a collector of burlesque memorabilia, you want to own this poster.  Donaldson Lithograph Company produced the original lithograph from which this reprint was made.   The word burlesque has been used to describe a theatrical genre over a two hundred year period from the 1840?s to the 1940?s.  The problem is that genre evolved during that two-hundred year period and most people apply the term to the type of theatre at the end of the period.  In fact, the productions were ribald almost from the start, but in the beginning the ribald was less flamboyant then the later period.  Burlesque theatre ridiculed the serious and, less often, made the ridiculous serious.  As it evolved, it became an entertainment for lower and middle class audiences.  What packed the houses were the sights of women in flesh covered tights sandwiched between comedy and music.  Over time the shows became more and more risqué resulting in reform mayors (including New York?s LaGuardia) demanding the police raid the theatres presenting them.  Such a raid is the subject of the movie The Night They Raided Minsky?s.  As radio and television developed many of the performers who did comedy in the burlesque houses became radio and television stars.  Included among these were future musical comedy stars Jackie Gleason, Fanny Brice, Bert Lahr, W.C. Fields, Red Skelton, Phil Silvers, and Bob Hope.   Perhaps its most lasting legacy is that it changed the role of females in entertainment.  At a time when society demanded women dress in Victorian style full-length dresses?burlesque challenged that style?an, in later periods, may have influenced the movies.  Would Busby Berkley and even Ester Williams ever been possible without the groundbreaking burlesque troupes?  For better or worse,  burlesque left a lasting impression on the theatre.    This print is on a  quality 100# high glossy text paper.  The poster measures 13.75? (w) X 10.5 (h).  It has  a small border to allow for framing.  This is perfect for a standard 16? x 20?  frame, a manageable size for a variety of decorating purposes.   The condition of this item is new.   SAVE ON MULTIPLE PURCHASES!!   We ship all items paid for in a single transaction for ONE low shipping and handling fee, whether it?s one or one-hundred.   We have hundreds more items in our eBay store. Click on the link above and take this opportunity to browse. Please make us a regular stop on your visits to eBay. Be sure to add me to your favorites list!   You can see all of our theater posters in our store by simply typing the word ?THEATER? in the search box and you will see everything we have.   Click here to visit store   Aads 680 Powered by eBay Turbo ListerThe free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items. Place a Bid!