Black and Brown Burlesque Brown Skin Exotics and the Tinted Double Cover of Calvacade of Burlesque 1954
Actually,
I have no idea if THIS Mary Mack was a woman of color, though she is
exotic, the buzz word for anyone back then peeling it off who wasn't of
European extraction. There WAS a brown skin Mary Mack working in a
"colored review" around 1920, but this isn't her. Maybe this Mary
named herself after the original Mary Mack?
The Savannah Club was
operated by Joe Schiavone and located in Greenwich Village. 68 West
Third Street. A block from Washington Square Park, just off Laguardia
Place. It is currently an Indonesian Coffee Shop named Kopi-Kopi and it
features a COFFEE AVOCADO MILKSHAKE, so they are still "mixing" things
well.
Because no libraries had this magazine, it has never been
indexed and there may be some relatives who would like to see these
images of their beautiful ground-breaking ancestors, the names are added
here.
Sandra
Stephanie
Venus La Doll
Betty Brisbane
La Bomme
Mary Alexander
China Doll
Mary Smith (Not Illustrated)
Enjoy this historical article on the Savannah Club. Calvacade of Burlesque September 1954.
BOOKS AND AFFORDABLE E-BOOKS AVAILABLE HERE
Today,
brought back to life from black and tan burlesque heaven is Ruby
Richards. AKA "The Black Pearl" and once called "Sloe-eyed Ruby" by a
smut magazine. What? I had to look it up. It means having eyes shaped
like almonds. Well, I'm glad that racial slur is gone. She also performed
under the name "Curlytop" which which might also be a bit arcane, but
they might be referring to her hat, not her hair. See Below. Jet
Magazine March 5, 1953.
Ruby was called one other thing…"The
sexiest gal on Broadway in years" so why don't we know about her?
Let's blame Jim Crow. Ruby performed under Jim Crow like several
generations of astounding talent so we missed it.
The Black Pearl name came from her appearance as just that in a giant oyster shell she emerged from in a stage act at the Paris Folies Bergere. Researching Ruby's story, I have seen a few pictures online, but not many…par for the whole course with a woman of color from the golden days. We can triple the search results here! When one of you creates a Wikipedia page for the performer, cite my article. Wiki thinks what we do here is spam. However, because the "legitimate" sources were as racist as the rest of the country, we have a problem here. Unless Wiki starts to realize there is history which wasn't reported by the "papers of record" we'll be reliving ignorance all over again, this time on their often wrong encyclopedia.
What CAN be learned, thankfully, comes often from Jet Magazine, lifeblood and bible for the African-American nation within a nation. Thank God for Jet. Ruby was singing and dancing for years but you won't read much about her except in the race magazines of the 1950s. Jet, Hue...and probably ephemeral smut magazines like the pictures I found here.
The photos above ran in a magazine alongside an article with "Those Nude Pics of Sheree North" who is the woman who played Kramer's mom on Seinfield decades later. I see Wiki has missed that too...and she was on the COVER. My point is made. There is history in flea markets, and Wiki is missing it.
Ruby was signed to the Latin Quarter by BARBARA WALTER'S FATHER Lou Walters. Good for him, and we can congratulate Barbara for her long career in journalism. Did you know Barbara's dad was a showbiz maven with an eye for female talent and once ran entertainment at the Tropicana Casino in Vegas?
Ruby was born in the West Indies and moved to France apparently around 1950. Before the Latin Quarter gig, she was a Cotton Club dancer and singer. She was no dummy. She saved her earnings and invested in Harlem real estate. She studied Voice at the French Conservatory of Music. I don't believe anyone has yet made the web connection with Ruby Richards and Ruby dancing…here with Louis Jordan. Enjoy!
In the middle of her career, Ruby is reported to have changed her name to ZI ZI RICHARDE for some reason. I have no idea why…but it could have been to escape her lovely vocal here with Hot Lips Page's I Bongo You! Hot Lips would "bongo" her. She would "bongo" back!
Jim Linderman is the author of True Burlesque the Blog. Some of his books and affordable ebooks are available HERE
