The Circus Blog

Posted By thecircusblog on September 8, 2009

“Sweethearts on Parade,” in 1932, Sally soon accepted a position at the Paramount Club, in response to an advertisement for “exotic acts and dancers.”  It was at the Paramount Club that she first performed the “fan dance,” using two large ostrich feather fans purchased at a second-hand shop. Following a “Lady Godiva” inspired stunt at the gates of the 1933 “Century of Progress” World’s Fair, Sally became a featured performer in the “Streets of Paris” concession and catapulted into stardom on May 30, 1933, with her first performance of the now legendary “Fan Dance.” Nearly every account of Sally Rand’s career includes the declaration that she “danced nude at the 1933 World’s Fair.”  Well, … maybe.  As often as not Sally Rand’s “nudity” was actually a body stocking or, perhaps, a coat of  white theatrical cream.  Whatever the reality, the illusion was sensational.  As Sally manipulated two pink seven-foot ostrich fans to conceal and reveal much, but not all, only the eagle-eyed could successfully claim to have seen anything. As you might imagine, the act was an unqualified sensation.  The diminutive (5′ 1″) damsel with the knockout figure (35-22-35) began packing them in by the thousands.  And it wasn’t long before the shouts hit the fans.  Pillars of the community were outraged, public officials were consulted, and officers of the law were dispatched.  Miss Rand found herself in court, answering to charges that certain performances at the Century of Progress Exposition were “lewd, lascivious, and degrading to public morals.”  To his credit, the judge was a man of sober perspective: “There is no harm and certainly no injury to public morals when the human body is exposed, some people probably would want to put pants on a horse. . . . When I go to the fair, I go to see the exhibits and perhaps to enjoy a little beer.  As far as I’m concerned, all these charges are just a lot of old stuff to me. Case dismissed for want of equity.” — Superior Judge Joseph B. David – July 19, 1933…

Source:               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Rand

I heard her name mentioned numerous times years ago and according to some of the old showmen Sally Rand got her start in a carnival girl show.

Categories: Fairs & Exhibitions
Tags: exotic dancers, Sally Rand