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The United States had been steeped in the Depression for more
than a decade when another World War broke out in Europe and
Asia. The world mobilized against a Nazi dictator, and American
isolationism after World War I began to fade. December 7, 1941,
changed national feelings about entering the war when a foreign
country bombed American soil for the first time in history. The
war began jumpstarting the economy as even the Works Project
Administration had been unable to do. Women’s roles changed
forever as Rosie the Riveter headed to work in factories to support
war efforts. Soldiers traveled across the country with thousands
stopping at Kansas City’s Union Station on their way to
war. On their layovers there was a splashy new form of entertainment
with an old name just waiting to catch their attention: Burlesque.
Gone were the days of “burlesque” as blue comedy and
troupes of dancing girls. Burlesque had become striptease.
The popularity of the Ziegfeld Follies in New York (and its subsequent national
tours), the abandonment of vaudeville and traditional burlesque in favor of
movies, and a changing national consciousness in the wake of a decade of poverty
had paved the way for less artistic skin shows across the country. Re-opened
in 1941 after a decade of darkness, the Folly Burlesque, the theater on the
corner of 12th and Central, was a hot spot for men from all walks of life.
Five shows a day, burlesque queens on “the wheel,” the touring circuit
that included theaters in several states, performed their routines. Burlesque
shows featured well-known male comics, skits and a lead showgirl called “the
talking woman,” because she was the one allowed to speak, and of course,
the ecdysiasts, commonly known as strippers. Each girl had a gimmick. Some
were simple: the World’s Tallest Exotic or Miss Perpetual Motion. Others
had elaborate costumes, everything from Marie Antoinette to a Hawaiian Princess
to a Russian Cossack.
The most famous burlesque queens had class and commanded respect
for their talents, mastering the art of suggestion rather than
employing blatant nudity. And each took a turn at the Folly Burlesque.
Missouri girl Sally Rand’s famous fan dance kept her moving
through Debussy’s “Claire de Lune,” her ostrich
plumes covering and uncovering parts of her nude body. The fans
weighed a whopping eight pounds apiece. Gypsy Rose Lee, probably
the most famous ecdysiast of all, was far more tease than strip.
Known for her quick wit and intellectual banter, Gypsy talked
her way through her routine, taking a powder puff to a bald audience
member’s head in each show and ruling the crowd with a majesty
not seen before or since. She was welcomed into the Hollywood
elite, was a frequent guest on talk shows, and became a best-selling
author even before her autobiography was turned into the Broadway
musical “Gypsy.”
Local laws and a group of censors who monitored the happenings
in burlesque theaters quickly regulated this new bedroom art
form. Kansas City had some of the strictest laws in the country
regulating decency. The line-up on the bulletin board at the
Folly Burlesque noted the following: “Women MUST Wear Net
Pants & Brassieres – Brassieres Must Have Cover For
Nipples – No Bumps Or Grinds Direct to Audience – No
Hanging on Curtains – Do Not Touch Body – No Extreme
Flash – Wear Panels – No Suggestive Lyrics in Any Vocal
Numbers! This is Local LAW and they are VERY STRICT.” Showgirl
Sherry Shannon was quoted in the Kansas City News – Press
as saying, “This is the strictest town in the circuit. Positively
the strictest. We watch ourselves pretty closely, I can tell
you!” Traditionally, burlesque houses kept a red light in
the footlights to advise their dancers of a censor’s presence
in the house. If things were taken too far, the theater was raided
and the exotic dancers arrested for indecency. The Folly Burlesque
was raided on and off for years. Favored talent Rose La Rose
was continually arrested around the country because she took
the red light as her personal cue to take things too far.
Henry Hogan, a former vaudeville comedian, worked at the Folly for decades,
taking tickets, selling refreshments and scaring away boys too young to attend
the girly-shows. He became a popular newspaper interviewee in the mid-1970s
as the Folly Burlesque’s centenarian concessionaire/handyman. He even
celebrated his 106th birthday on the stage of the theater alongside his 40-year-old
wife of 21 years. Hogan is still a local legend.
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As society began to change and the age of free love arrived,
the restrictions were lessened and burlesque became increasingly
dirty. By the late 1960s, body-stockinged strippers were no longer
able to compete with a Woodstock society, and the burlesque houses
ceased to be profitable. The owners of the Folly Burlesque, in
order to remain competitive, needed to take a more serious approach
to selling sex.
On the morning of December 28, 1969, the Kansas City Star’s headline read: “Old
Grind Gets Bumped at Folly Theater Here.” The article reported that “the
plan is to replace the show girls with showings of adult art films.” New
manager Stuber was quoted as saying, “These girls they have around here
all the time are vulgar, they’re cheap. They have cheapened the name of
burlesque. We’re still going to try to bring in some big names for burlesque
about once a month or so.”
The next morning, December 29, 1969, the Kansas City Star reported “Folly
Theater Blast Is Cause of Breakage.” An unknown arsonist
placed a stick of dynamite in a drainpipe on the west wall of
the theater, exposed after the demolition of the Hotel Missouri.
The blast broke windows in 18 businesses in the area. In a true
testament to the soundness of Louis Curtiss’s architecture,
the wall was not blown completely through. The plaster was knocked
off the inside wall from the force of the explosion, and an outer
covering of bricks blasted out on the outside, but the wall remained
intact. The arsonist never claimed credit, although it was widely
speculated that Stuber’s remarks in the Kansas City Star
the previous day sparked the attack. The Folly played adult films
until January 23, 1974, when she “died a quiet death.” (Kansas
City Star, January 24, 1974)
After a last forgettable X-rated movie, the theater closed its doors, presumably
for the last time. Sold to a New York property management company and slated
to become a parking lot for the new convention center across the street, she
was destined for the wrecking ball.
To learn more about burlesque, go to www.burlesquehistory.com
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