Post by BrokenSword on Jan 4, 2009 8:46:25 GMT -6
August, 1869 and twenty-nine year-old General George Custer found himself stationed at Fort Hayes in Kansas, an area that offered little to nothing in the way of the action he had come west to find. No campaigning, and a generally third rate social life left Custer bored and probably developing nervous tics.
Attempting to escape this environment, Custer applied for a position at West Point which was denied, leaving him to make do with hunting antelope, game birds, entertaining the rare visitor of note (Lords Paget and Waterpark from Great Britain), cavorting with his menagerie of pets, composed mostly of dogs of every description - and writing.
Under the pen name of ‘Nomad,’ some of Custer’s articles were published by “Field and Farm“, and “Turf” magazines. He proclaimed the buffalo chase to be as “exciting as a cavalry charge,” but apparently - not quite, and it would seem he found some things which were even more exciting than that. Blonds, royalty and Mardi Gras.
The regiment was re-assigned to Fort Leavenworth in the late fall of 1869. Custer was called to Monroe, Michigan on personal business in December. His old commander and friend, General Philip Sheridan was recovering from an illness, and was in Chicago at this time. Custer stopped there to pay a visit and found Sheridan’s aides (including Tony Forsyth) were in attendance to the ailing general at that time as well. The reunited Civil War comrades all attended the theater together, and saw a production of “Rip Van Winkle” during which Custer reported laughing, “until my sides ached.”
At the Crosby Opera House, Lydia Thompson and her Ixion Burlesque Company of British blond beauties were performing ‘Ixion,’ with Lydia in the lead role, quite naturally. George was as smitten with her as was nearly every other man who came into her presence. The Chicago Times reported that, ‘Gen’l Custer seems to be spending more time chasing blonds than Indian maidens.’
George wrote to his wife, Libbie, that ‘the boys’ were tormenting him mercilessly, and actually enclosed a clipping of the Chicago Times’ gossip piece. He also reported to her that ‘the boys’ had outdone him at ‘euchre’ and he was resolved to resist the temptations of cards for as long as they were married. Right.
It is not so certain [to me, at least] that he wasn’t less resolved when it came to blonds. Rebecca Richmond (Mrs. Custer’s cousin) kept an autograph book at her home. Each person invited to sign the book was also asked to fill out a questionnaire of forty questions. Among the answers that George Custer responded with was this:
Favorite style of beauty - "Blonde (a la Lydia Thompson)"
Just a little playful humor? Probably. Many of his responses on the questionnaire certainly were so:
Favorite time of day - "Immediately after the second bell rings for dinner"
The saddest words your ears could hear - "Reveille at 4 o’clock"
Toward the end of the document however, his responses turned more serious in nature, and uncertain in tone:
Greatest fear - "The battlefield"
Aims in life - "To avoid death"
But, Lydia Thompson's burlesque company obviously made an impression on Custer that seems to have remained a fascination for him for the rest of his short life. While entertaining the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, in January 1872, he escorted the Grand Duke to Thompson’s production of "Blue Beard" in St. Louis, just before the famous buffalo hunt. It would appear that the Grand Duke was equally fascinated with the blond burlesquers, because, after that performance, the Grand Duke presented Lydia with the gift of an extravagant bracelet - adorned with diamonds, pearls and opals. In early February 1872 and while in Memphis, Alexis and the entire ducal suite, with Custer and (this time) his wife, Libbie, attended yet another performance.
The Lydia Thompson burlesque troupe of ‘British Blonds’ was just finishing its Memphis run of performances, and were engaged to appear New Orleans within a few days time. The Grand Duke and his entourage were making their way to the same city for the occasion of Mardi Gras, and Lydia’s troupe took passage on the same river boat. All arrived in the Crescent City on February 12, 1872. The Custers’ and Lydia’s old friend, as well as her fellow performer, actor Lawrence Barrett met and joined up with the ducal suite in New Orleans.
The following few days were a brutal round of banquets, all night drinking parties, parades and theater hopping sessions followed by post-performance parties and rowdy carousing, with the ladies of burlesque (and many others) in attendance. In fact, the Grand Duke’s scheduled departure from the USA, for Cuba, was delayed for three days while many members of his party recovered from their excesses during the Mardi Gras celebrations.
In addition to Grand Duke Alexis and General Custer, Lydia’s name was connected with many of the famous men of the times. These associations provided valuable publicity at no monetary expense. The tales of her life and ‘associations’ were mainly the stuff of fiction, but Lydia did her best to fan the flames of gossip, parlaying it all into financial reward - and the making of herself a legend of the theater. The highly scandalous stories of her off stage escapades abounded, but appear to have been just as carefully calculated and choreographed, as were the troupe’s on stage routines.
Legend says that Lydia’s mother was ‘a Quaker lady who was fond of the stage,’ while the truth is that she was (Quaker or not), a ‘pub lady’ in England. Legend and mythology also say that Lydia took to the stage, as early as nine or ten years of age, due to the dire financial straights of her widowed mother. Lydia’s father (Philip Thompson) died when she was but four years old, however her mother quickly became tied in with another pub owner, Edward Hodges of the Canonbury Tavern, and her situation was not dire. Lydia’s full birth name was Eliza Hodges Thompson, which gives one pause to wonder just who her actual father may have been, as well as her younger brother - Alfred Hodges Thompson. In any case, Lydia took to the stage, at the age of at least fourteen or a little older, and not because of the ‘dire financial’ circumstances of a widowed mother, or when she was only ten.
Lydia married in 1863, and in that same year, gave birth to a daughter - future Broadway and Hollywood actress, Agnes Lydia 'Zeffie' Tilbury. One year and three months after her marriage, Lydia became a widow, when her riding master husband was killed in a steeple-chase fall, and was rolled over by his horse.
Lydia Thompson became, in her day, the undisputed Queen of Burlesque and her British blonds (some of whom were neither, nor) proved to be highly popular in every city in which they performed. Before coming to America, they had toured Europe for several years and never failed to pack the performance houses there. Lydia’s shows were universally described as, “highly sexy, while never vulgar’” by contemporary critics and reviewers.
After a highly publicized arrival in America, Lydia opened in New York in a presentation of “Ixion,” in September 1868. Along with her had come 'manager' Alexander Henderson (to whom she was allegedly, around this time, married) and a cast of British burlesque actresses and comedians who within weeks would be famous.
By the summer of 1869, the Ixion Burlesque and its star Lydia, with her troupe of British blonds (trademarked by their short, short skirts and shapely thighs), had become the most popular performing company in New York. They came under fierce attack from every other corner of the competing burlesque industry there. Rumors, gossip and complete lies were leveled at Lydia, and spread by jealous competitors in the trade - to the point that Lydia felt compelled (or saw opportunit for rich publicity) to make a statement in the press -
AN APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC
“I have appeared before you as an artiste for a period of thirty-five weeks during which time you have afforded to myself and Troupe the most liberal patronage. The notices which the press has bestowed upon our efforts have been in the highest degree complimentary until within recent weeks, since when a series of attacks of a personal nature have appeared leveled against Mr. Henderson (who is my joint partner in the Ixion Burlesque troupe) and myself.
“After so many months of flattering recognition and approval of the class of entertainment over which I preside, it is suddenly discovered by a certain clique that the performances are disgusting, vulgar, licentious and degrading, etc. Such attacks, it is too evident, emanate from unscrupulous persons, instigated solely by private malice, with the avowed and published object of injuring me personally in your good opinion and driving myself and the company from the city.
“Against unjust strictures, which are not criticism, I have no recourse but to appeal to that public who have been so generous and kind to me, for their assistance in obtaining justice.
“Unconscious of having failed, by either act or deed, in my duty to the public as an artiste, I confidently appeal to you for consideration and sympathy in the outrageous and unjustifiable attacks that are being made against myself and the troupe and to assure you that so long as I have the honour of appearing before you, my best exertions shall be made to deserve and merit a continuance of your kindly support and approval.”
Lydia Thompson
Niblo's Garden, NYC
June 7th 1869
What had originally been scheduled as a six week engagement, in New York City, became a six year tour of every major city and performing house in the country. Many of her blond beauties went on to fine individual careers by way of real talent. Several of the male performers became recognized and celebrated as the top comics in the country at that time.
The result of her tour, was burlesque's rocketing into the position of the most popular form of entertainment in the USA during the second half of the 19th Century. Many burlesque companies immitated Lydia's 'blond' theme in their own shows, but none were thought to have been as entertaining as the original Thompson company.
And Lydia? She, and her troupe, thrived on the ‘scandalous’ publicity surrounding her private affairs. Intentionally conducted within the public’s view, they became the heart of juicy whispers. Being seen with many of the male celebrities and captains of industry of the day served as Lydia’s advance publicity, enhancing the sizes of opening night crowds.
Her totally public exploits with the likes of Russian Grand Duke Alexis and General George Custer (1872), the tales of the ‘public horse-whipping’ of the ungentlemanly proprietor of the Chicago Times who had published a piece reflecting on the virtue of the 'British Blondes' (1869), and her arrest in the so-called ‘lesbian attacker’ incident (1870), kept ample fuel heaped on the fires of curiosity in every city on the tour schedule.
Lydia and company departed America for England in 1874, but made several return trips where she remained popular, and ALWAYS newsworthy. Her days in burlesque was pretty much at an end by 1887, when she made an attempt to move into comic opera. Unfortunately, her voice was no longer up to the demands of performing on stage, and jobs became very difficult for her to find. A benefit for her was held in 1899, in an effort to relieve her difficult economic circumstances, and she made her final on-stage appearance in 1904.
Lydia Thompson passed away, in London, on November 17, 1908 - only three days after Grand Duke Alexis had died in Paris. She left behind a legendary role in theater history, and a genuine legacy, by developing and bringing to the public, a girly show of superior quality combined with comedy, which has remained a popular form of entertainment ever since. The squeaky voiced ‘dumb blond’ character had its genesis in Lydia’s troupe of British Blonds, as did Mae West’s notorious (and perfected) roll of the sexually super-charged vamp.
Off stage, Lydia was a skillful manager possessed of inspired casting instincts, and a master at self-promotion thru calculated and carefully timed publicity. None of Lydia’s ‘scandals’ were actually despicable or destructive in nature, but were confined rather to the realm of ‘naughty’ public behavior, with overtly suggestive mannerisms and flagrant flirtations.
Ever charming to the men, and even admired by many of the, somewhat repressed, ladies of her time, Lydia made for herself a seldom equaled reputation and a giant place in the history of live stage performers.
She also left behind, a daughter of considerable talent. Zeffie Tilbury, who went on to become an actress on Broadway and in Hollywood films, appearing in both silent and sound features. Zeffie had a role with Laurel and Hardy in ‘Bohemian Girl’, in which she demonstrated grand comedic talent through her hysterically funny performance - talent certainly inherited from her famous mother. She portrayed Henry Fonda’s grandmother in John Ford’s epic ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, and appeared in ‘Charlie Chan’ and ‘Thin Man’ films.
Zeffie performed with everyone from Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, to Roy Rogers and the Little Rascals. Always the grandmother type, or the cantankerous old lady. There are scenes with Zeffie playing piano and singing with the Little Rascals. Also scenes of her engaging in crazy roller skating antics (she was 73), and at one point, of Alfalfa's slingshot misfiring and whacking her in the butt.
Zeffie Tilbury retired in 1943, and lived outside Los Angeles until her death in 1950. She was married twice in her lifetime, but had no children.
Lydia Thompson
Lydia in costume as 'Ixion'
Zeffie Tilbury on Broadway
Zeffie with Little Rascals
Zeffie in her typical screen persona
Attempting to escape this environment, Custer applied for a position at West Point which was denied, leaving him to make do with hunting antelope, game birds, entertaining the rare visitor of note (Lords Paget and Waterpark from Great Britain), cavorting with his menagerie of pets, composed mostly of dogs of every description - and writing.
Under the pen name of ‘Nomad,’ some of Custer’s articles were published by “Field and Farm“, and “Turf” magazines. He proclaimed the buffalo chase to be as “exciting as a cavalry charge,” but apparently - not quite, and it would seem he found some things which were even more exciting than that. Blonds, royalty and Mardi Gras.
The regiment was re-assigned to Fort Leavenworth in the late fall of 1869. Custer was called to Monroe, Michigan on personal business in December. His old commander and friend, General Philip Sheridan was recovering from an illness, and was in Chicago at this time. Custer stopped there to pay a visit and found Sheridan’s aides (including Tony Forsyth) were in attendance to the ailing general at that time as well. The reunited Civil War comrades all attended the theater together, and saw a production of “Rip Van Winkle” during which Custer reported laughing, “until my sides ached.”
At the Crosby Opera House, Lydia Thompson and her Ixion Burlesque Company of British blond beauties were performing ‘Ixion,’ with Lydia in the lead role, quite naturally. George was as smitten with her as was nearly every other man who came into her presence. The Chicago Times reported that, ‘Gen’l Custer seems to be spending more time chasing blonds than Indian maidens.’
George wrote to his wife, Libbie, that ‘the boys’ were tormenting him mercilessly, and actually enclosed a clipping of the Chicago Times’ gossip piece. He also reported to her that ‘the boys’ had outdone him at ‘euchre’ and he was resolved to resist the temptations of cards for as long as they were married. Right.
It is not so certain [to me, at least] that he wasn’t less resolved when it came to blonds. Rebecca Richmond (Mrs. Custer’s cousin) kept an autograph book at her home. Each person invited to sign the book was also asked to fill out a questionnaire of forty questions. Among the answers that George Custer responded with was this:
Favorite style of beauty - "Blonde (a la Lydia Thompson)"
Just a little playful humor? Probably. Many of his responses on the questionnaire certainly were so:
Favorite time of day - "Immediately after the second bell rings for dinner"
The saddest words your ears could hear - "Reveille at 4 o’clock"
Toward the end of the document however, his responses turned more serious in nature, and uncertain in tone:
Greatest fear - "The battlefield"
Aims in life - "To avoid death"
But, Lydia Thompson's burlesque company obviously made an impression on Custer that seems to have remained a fascination for him for the rest of his short life. While entertaining the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, in January 1872, he escorted the Grand Duke to Thompson’s production of "Blue Beard" in St. Louis, just before the famous buffalo hunt. It would appear that the Grand Duke was equally fascinated with the blond burlesquers, because, after that performance, the Grand Duke presented Lydia with the gift of an extravagant bracelet - adorned with diamonds, pearls and opals. In early February 1872 and while in Memphis, Alexis and the entire ducal suite, with Custer and (this time) his wife, Libbie, attended yet another performance.
The Lydia Thompson burlesque troupe of ‘British Blonds’ was just finishing its Memphis run of performances, and were engaged to appear New Orleans within a few days time. The Grand Duke and his entourage were making their way to the same city for the occasion of Mardi Gras, and Lydia’s troupe took passage on the same river boat. All arrived in the Crescent City on February 12, 1872. The Custers’ and Lydia’s old friend, as well as her fellow performer, actor Lawrence Barrett met and joined up with the ducal suite in New Orleans.
The following few days were a brutal round of banquets, all night drinking parties, parades and theater hopping sessions followed by post-performance parties and rowdy carousing, with the ladies of burlesque (and many others) in attendance. In fact, the Grand Duke’s scheduled departure from the USA, for Cuba, was delayed for three days while many members of his party recovered from their excesses during the Mardi Gras celebrations.
In addition to Grand Duke Alexis and General Custer, Lydia’s name was connected with many of the famous men of the times. These associations provided valuable publicity at no monetary expense. The tales of her life and ‘associations’ were mainly the stuff of fiction, but Lydia did her best to fan the flames of gossip, parlaying it all into financial reward - and the making of herself a legend of the theater. The highly scandalous stories of her off stage escapades abounded, but appear to have been just as carefully calculated and choreographed, as were the troupe’s on stage routines.
Legend says that Lydia’s mother was ‘a Quaker lady who was fond of the stage,’ while the truth is that she was (Quaker or not), a ‘pub lady’ in England. Legend and mythology also say that Lydia took to the stage, as early as nine or ten years of age, due to the dire financial straights of her widowed mother. Lydia’s father (Philip Thompson) died when she was but four years old, however her mother quickly became tied in with another pub owner, Edward Hodges of the Canonbury Tavern, and her situation was not dire. Lydia’s full birth name was Eliza Hodges Thompson, which gives one pause to wonder just who her actual father may have been, as well as her younger brother - Alfred Hodges Thompson. In any case, Lydia took to the stage, at the age of at least fourteen or a little older, and not because of the ‘dire financial’ circumstances of a widowed mother, or when she was only ten.
Lydia married in 1863, and in that same year, gave birth to a daughter - future Broadway and Hollywood actress, Agnes Lydia 'Zeffie' Tilbury. One year and three months after her marriage, Lydia became a widow, when her riding master husband was killed in a steeple-chase fall, and was rolled over by his horse.
Lydia Thompson became, in her day, the undisputed Queen of Burlesque and her British blonds (some of whom were neither, nor) proved to be highly popular in every city in which they performed. Before coming to America, they had toured Europe for several years and never failed to pack the performance houses there. Lydia’s shows were universally described as, “highly sexy, while never vulgar’” by contemporary critics and reviewers.
After a highly publicized arrival in America, Lydia opened in New York in a presentation of “Ixion,” in September 1868. Along with her had come 'manager' Alexander Henderson (to whom she was allegedly, around this time, married) and a cast of British burlesque actresses and comedians who within weeks would be famous.
By the summer of 1869, the Ixion Burlesque and its star Lydia, with her troupe of British blonds (trademarked by their short, short skirts and shapely thighs), had become the most popular performing company in New York. They came under fierce attack from every other corner of the competing burlesque industry there. Rumors, gossip and complete lies were leveled at Lydia, and spread by jealous competitors in the trade - to the point that Lydia felt compelled (or saw opportunit for rich publicity) to make a statement in the press -
AN APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC
“I have appeared before you as an artiste for a period of thirty-five weeks during which time you have afforded to myself and Troupe the most liberal patronage. The notices which the press has bestowed upon our efforts have been in the highest degree complimentary until within recent weeks, since when a series of attacks of a personal nature have appeared leveled against Mr. Henderson (who is my joint partner in the Ixion Burlesque troupe) and myself.
“After so many months of flattering recognition and approval of the class of entertainment over which I preside, it is suddenly discovered by a certain clique that the performances are disgusting, vulgar, licentious and degrading, etc. Such attacks, it is too evident, emanate from unscrupulous persons, instigated solely by private malice, with the avowed and published object of injuring me personally in your good opinion and driving myself and the company from the city.
“Against unjust strictures, which are not criticism, I have no recourse but to appeal to that public who have been so generous and kind to me, for their assistance in obtaining justice.
“Unconscious of having failed, by either act or deed, in my duty to the public as an artiste, I confidently appeal to you for consideration and sympathy in the outrageous and unjustifiable attacks that are being made against myself and the troupe and to assure you that so long as I have the honour of appearing before you, my best exertions shall be made to deserve and merit a continuance of your kindly support and approval.”
Lydia Thompson
Niblo's Garden, NYC
June 7th 1869
What had originally been scheduled as a six week engagement, in New York City, became a six year tour of every major city and performing house in the country. Many of her blond beauties went on to fine individual careers by way of real talent. Several of the male performers became recognized and celebrated as the top comics in the country at that time.
The result of her tour, was burlesque's rocketing into the position of the most popular form of entertainment in the USA during the second half of the 19th Century. Many burlesque companies immitated Lydia's 'blond' theme in their own shows, but none were thought to have been as entertaining as the original Thompson company.
And Lydia? She, and her troupe, thrived on the ‘scandalous’ publicity surrounding her private affairs. Intentionally conducted within the public’s view, they became the heart of juicy whispers. Being seen with many of the male celebrities and captains of industry of the day served as Lydia’s advance publicity, enhancing the sizes of opening night crowds.
Her totally public exploits with the likes of Russian Grand Duke Alexis and General George Custer (1872), the tales of the ‘public horse-whipping’ of the ungentlemanly proprietor of the Chicago Times who had published a piece reflecting on the virtue of the 'British Blondes' (1869), and her arrest in the so-called ‘lesbian attacker’ incident (1870), kept ample fuel heaped on the fires of curiosity in every city on the tour schedule.
Lydia and company departed America for England in 1874, but made several return trips where she remained popular, and ALWAYS newsworthy. Her days in burlesque was pretty much at an end by 1887, when she made an attempt to move into comic opera. Unfortunately, her voice was no longer up to the demands of performing on stage, and jobs became very difficult for her to find. A benefit for her was held in 1899, in an effort to relieve her difficult economic circumstances, and she made her final on-stage appearance in 1904.
Lydia Thompson passed away, in London, on November 17, 1908 - only three days after Grand Duke Alexis had died in Paris. She left behind a legendary role in theater history, and a genuine legacy, by developing and bringing to the public, a girly show of superior quality combined with comedy, which has remained a popular form of entertainment ever since. The squeaky voiced ‘dumb blond’ character had its genesis in Lydia’s troupe of British Blonds, as did Mae West’s notorious (and perfected) roll of the sexually super-charged vamp.
Off stage, Lydia was a skillful manager possessed of inspired casting instincts, and a master at self-promotion thru calculated and carefully timed publicity. None of Lydia’s ‘scandals’ were actually despicable or destructive in nature, but were confined rather to the realm of ‘naughty’ public behavior, with overtly suggestive mannerisms and flagrant flirtations.
Ever charming to the men, and even admired by many of the, somewhat repressed, ladies of her time, Lydia made for herself a seldom equaled reputation and a giant place in the history of live stage performers.
She also left behind, a daughter of considerable talent. Zeffie Tilbury, who went on to become an actress on Broadway and in Hollywood films, appearing in both silent and sound features. Zeffie had a role with Laurel and Hardy in ‘Bohemian Girl’, in which she demonstrated grand comedic talent through her hysterically funny performance - talent certainly inherited from her famous mother. She portrayed Henry Fonda’s grandmother in John Ford’s epic ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, and appeared in ‘Charlie Chan’ and ‘Thin Man’ films.
Zeffie performed with everyone from Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, to Roy Rogers and the Little Rascals. Always the grandmother type, or the cantankerous old lady. There are scenes with Zeffie playing piano and singing with the Little Rascals. Also scenes of her engaging in crazy roller skating antics (she was 73), and at one point, of Alfalfa's slingshot misfiring and whacking her in the butt.
Zeffie Tilbury retired in 1943, and lived outside Los Angeles until her death in 1950. She was married twice in her lifetime, but had no children.
Lydia Thompson
Lydia in costume as 'Ixion'
Zeffie Tilbury on Broadway
Zeffie with Little Rascals
Zeffie in her typical screen persona