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Pansy Craze

The Pansy Craze was an American national queer movement. During the Pansy Craze of 1930–1933 (however the exact dates are debated), drag queens, known as "pansy performers", experienced a surge in underground popularity, especially in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco.

History

The pre-history of the Pansy Craze was rooted in the Harlem's Hamilton Lodge masquerade balls in 1869. In the 1920s, queer cabarets and speakeasies featuring female impersonators or drag performers were opened in many cities internationally including in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, and San Francisco. Venues that featured queer entertainment was enjoyed by all people, which also gave queer people a cover. Prohibition in the United States (from 1920 to 1933) had forced a new mixing of all kinds of people—all in search of the same illicit drink, and economics made for a culture of at least mild tolerance if not outright "anything goes".

The term “pansy craze,” was coined by the historian George Chauncey in the book "Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940" (Basic Books, 1994). The dates of the movement are debated, the range is anywhere from late 1920s until 1935. The center of the Pansy Craze is also debated, either in New York City, or Chicago; but it had existed in many other United States cities.

Performer Gene Malin is considered the "Queen of the Pansy Craze", he worked primarily in New York City starting in 1930. Malin had ditched wearing gowns and started performing in tuxedos and top hats, as a high-camp gay man. Many acts of the time impersonated Malin's dress style and demeanor but added their own spin, including Gladys Bentley. Bruz Fletcher was a high society gay singer and piano man, working primarily Los Angeles within the Pansy Craze.

The Pansy Craze culture grew, but was also negatively affected by the Prohibition, forcing clubs to close. Malin died in 1933, which had signaled the ending of the movement.

Gene Malin

Main article: Gene Malin

This change is probably best illustrated by the brief meteoric rise of the career of Gene Malin. Several columnists noted Malin's talent, and in 1930, at age 22, Malin was booked at Louis Schwartz's elegant Club Abbey at 46th and 8th Ave. Although Malin was at times assisted by Helen Morgan JR., a popular drag artist of the day. Malin initially appeared as a female impersonator billed as Jean Malin or Imogene Wilson, but later appeared as an openly gay male. He moved on stage and among the audience members as a tuxedo-clad, elegant, witty, wisecracking master of ceremonies.

Malin was killed in a car accident on August 10, 1933, following a farewell performance at the Ship Cafe in Venice, California.

Bruz Fletcher

The career of Bruz Fletcher (1906–1941) ran from about 1929 to 1940, including a long run from 1934 to 1940 at Club Bali in Los Angeles, a gay bar. Before committing suicide in 1941, at age 34, he became a master of gay code and double speak to survive and flourish in a very homophobic era. A singer, composer, novelist, playwright, the darling of sophisticated night spots in the 1930s. He left behind three albums of complex coded songs and two novels. His drama-filled life was a sad story of extremes and incredible plot twists. One of his more risqué recordings was called "My Doctor" (1935). His signature song "Drunk with Love" was daringly adopted by Frances Faye and became a standard in gay bars for decades to follow.

Ray Bourbon

Main article: Ray Bourbon

In 1932, Ray (Rae) Bourbon was working full-time as a female impersonator at clubs such as Jimmy's Back Yard in Hollywood and Tait's in San Francisco. At the latter, in May 1933, police raided his "Boys Will Be Girls" review during a live radio broadcast. In the later 1930s and early 1940s, he headlined at the Rendezvous in Los Angeles and starred in his own revue titled "Don't Call Me Madam". Through the 1950s and 1960s, Bourbon entertained at hundreds of clubs throughout the U.S. and released dozens of albums, certainly the most prolific female impersonator to have done the latter. His comedy was at once highbrow and lowbrow, overtly gay and covertly subversive. Despite his influence on gays, he remained vague about his own sexuality. He was married twice, and fathered at least one son. Bourbon excelled at generating numerous conflicting stories about himself.

See also

• Karyl Norman

Sources

• George Chauncey: Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890–1940 (Basic Books, 1994), especially Chapter 11: "Pansies on Parade"
• Chad Heap, Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife, 1885–1940 (University of Chicago Press, 2009), especially Chapter 6, "The Pansy and Lesbian Craze in White and Black"

External links

• Musicals 101.com
• Queer Music Heritage: "The Pansy Craze: the Story and the Music by JD Doyle
• Queer Music History 101 by JD Doyle
• Queer Cultural Center – Bentley Profile.
• "Don't Call me Madam: The Life and Work of Ray Bourbon"