the period 1870 to 1920 saw a huge growth in “variety theater” in america. it drew greater audiences than the “legitimate” theater which presented serious literary works and appealed to “elite” audiences. by contrast the variety stage was democratic and broad in approach. The variety stage strove to attract all classes of people from every cultural background by offering varied programs and relatively low admission fees. To succeed at show business entrepreneurs provided public entertainment that transcended the specific tastes of a particular class or ethnicity. It emphasized action and caricature. more below

it’s the caricature part which i want to focus on here.

when i was redesigning the nonist i searched pretty deeply into the library of congress image collection for inspiration. one thing i was particularly struck by were the vaudevillian performers who billed themselves as simply “entertainers” offering everything under the sun, magic, music, drama, usually with a strong focus on caricature work. the wonderful thing about it all is that their broadsheets, advertisements, and program guides invariably depict the “entertainer” in a wide range of over the top guises which are, if you’ll excuse the language, fucking incredible. hilarious.

the interesting thing is that even though they are ridiculous to our naturalism adapted eyes you cant help but look at these entertainers and imagine them hustling

for their bread. sweating, flopping about, hamming it up, acting the fool, doing any god damned thing they had to on stage to get ahead and continue on the circuit. looking at them the thought of some of our modern day, ultra-wealthy, preening, pompous ass-hats, (tom cruise anyone?) acting like morons off the stage seem even less deserving of our interest than they already do. perhaps i’m romanticizing a bit, (in fact i’m sure i am) but take a look for yourself.

below you’ll find a tiny sampling of what the library of congress site has to offer on the subject. focuse here is on the “impersonators.” click all for larger images. enjoy.

haha. c’mon. gotta give em an a for effort.