In a clipping from The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine in 1966, the article titled “The Shape Burlesque Is In” explains what the personal lives of Burlesque dancers at the time were like. “Some were divorced or separated, some had children; a small child was often brought along for company and convenience” was one quote generalizing dancers at The Roxy Theater (The Plain Dealer 1966). Some dancers did not make enough income to pay for day care if they had small children, so they had no choice but to bring them to the theater with them. Others simply enjoyed having their children close to them and were welcomed into the burlesque family. “One married burlesque couple, stripper and straight man, had in tow a small baby who cooed in a basket backstage during shows” explains how one dancer dealt with a newborn child (The Plain Dealer 1966). Having children was a common occurrence in the burlesque field at this time and did not necessarily mean the end of someone’s career. “Tempest Storm’s husband brought Patricia Ann, her two and a half year old daughter, over from the hotel in the afternoons” (The Plain Dealer 1966). These quotes give a lot of insight into the burlesque profession and how dancers dealt with husbands, children, and having a family while performing. It sheds light onto the “not so glamorous life of a burlesque stage dancer” and how they had personal family lives too.
Works Cited:“The Shape Burlesque is in.” The Plain Dealer: Sunday Magazine (January 1966). Newspaper Clipping. Series 5, Box 1, Folder 5. Charles H. McCaghy Collection of Exotic Dance from Burlesque to Clubs. Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theater Research Institute, Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus, OH. 2 Dec. 2015.
