Updates

Today, I updated the Womanless Archive and the New York City page of My Ephemera.

82 Club Postcard

I added this postcard to my female impersonator ephemera collection.

The postcard depicts the performers at New York City's 82 Club (also known as "Club 82") circa 1960. The nightclub was in the East Village at 82 East 4th St. It had a 20 year run and closed its doors for good in 1978.

Vampire Girls

Looking for femulations on eBay, I came across an unusual postcard depicting a vaudeville act called “Vampire Girls Company.” The “girls” are actually boys and according to the postcard, they were performing at the “New Garden Theatre.”

The back of the postcard indicates that Waterloo, IA was the site of photo on the front of the postcard. I can find no other information concerning the Vampire Girls.   

New Ephemera

I collect female impersonator ephemera.

The majority of the items in my collection are postcards. I also have some programs, matchbook covers, advertisements, and other odds and ends.

I acquired most of the items via eBay. I am very conservative in my bidding and seldom bid more than $5 to $10 for an item.

I also have friends and relatives who have given me items for my collection, which is how I obtained the latest addition: a 2- x 6-inch advertisement from the Aqua Nightclub in Key West, Florida.

The ad looks like a ticket printed on semi-glossy card stock. There is ad copy on both sides of the item, but the photo of the girls only appear on one side.

still more ephemera

I usually go months without adding new items to my female impersonator ephemera collection, so it is unusual that I added two new items in matter of days!

Anyway, I just added the "souvenir" from Finocchio's in San Francisco. It looks like it is from the early 1960s. (You can click on the image to make it look BIGGER!)

You can view other items in my collection on my ephemera web page.

new ephemera

I have another addition to my female impersonator ephemera collection: a drink menu from Sammy Lee's Show Room in Melbourne, Australia. Going by the hairdos on the "girls," I would estimate a late 1960s date for this item.

You can view other items in my collection on my ephemera web page.

new ephemera en femme

Just added another "mailing souvenir" from Finocchio's to my collection of female impersonator ephemera. This addition is one of the oldest, if not the oldest Finocchio's item in my collection. It probably dates from the late 1950s to early 1960s.

This item is different from the other Finocchio's mailing souvenirs and drink menus in my collection. The others only feature a group photo of the impersonators performing at the night club, whereas this one has eight solo photos of the impersonators along with the group photo. Very cool!

Of course, you can click on the image to enlarge it. You won't hurt it, although it is ticklish!

travestis parisiens

Updated Below

I collect female impersonator ephemera. (You can view my collection here.)

During my search for additions to my collection, I often encounter a set of early 20th Century postcards from France titled “Travestis Parisiens,” which translates to “Parisian Transvestites.” The postcards depict a person in various stages of dress/undress being assisted by an angel. The beautiful images are artist signed Jean Tam.

Are the transvestites depicted by artist Tam males dressing as females or females dressing as males or both. The postcards appear below; you be the judge.

By the way, these postcards are too expensive for me and are not part of my collection.

UPDATE: I don't speak French, so I used Babel Fish to translate "Travestis Parisiens" from French to English and it cam up with "Parisian Transvestites."

According to Jamiegottagun, who knows how to mind her French P's and Q's, Babel Fish is wrong and the correct translation is "Dressing up Parisian." Therefore, the persons depicted in the postcard images are not necessarily transvestites, although the females donning men's duds are definitely crossdressing.

 

won

I won this item on eBay on January 2 and it finally arrived in the mail on Saturday. It must have gone around the Horn before it got to me!

It is a "souvenir" from Finocchio's, the world famous female impersonator club that operated in San Francisco during the last half of the 20th Century.

The "souvenir" is actually a folder intended to contain a photo of Finocchio's customers. A photographer would come around to each table in the club and ask customers if they wanted their photo taken. The results were delivered in this souvenir folder. By the way, there is a photo in the folder showing an unknown couple seated at a table in the club.

I estimate that this item is from the 1940s. I own a lot of Finocchio's ephemera (see it here) and it is the first Finocchio's souvenir photo folder I have ever encountered.

"new" female impersonator ephemera

I added this newly-acquired (via eBay) Finocchio's mailing souvenir (circa 1950) to my female impersonator ephemera collection. You can view it and the rest of my collection on my ephemera Web page.

FYI, Finocchio's was a popular nightclub in San Francisco featuring female impersonators during the second half of the last century.

As usual, click on the image to magnify it.

ephemera with provenance

Yesterday, I received a new addition to my female impersonator ephemera collection: The Wonder Club matchbook you see on the right.

About a month ago, I received an e-mail out of the blue from Dennis, who wrote, "While doing a search on Google for 'The Wonder Club New Orleans,' your page came up. I noticed your interest in ephemera and since I was researching the Wonder Club because I have a matchbook from there I was going to offer on eBay I thought you might be interested in it and I wouldn't have to list it."

I was definitely interested and after exchanging e-mails, Dennis offered the matchbook cover gratis because it was not in the best condition. He also provided the following story about how he obtained it.

"I'm a collector of nautical/navy stuff and I won an old US Navy hat (the obsolete, brimless, Donald Duck type) on eBay a few years ago. I had put it away for a couple of years, but took it out recently to display it in my new apartment.

"As I was checking it and 'squaring it away,' I felt something in the headband. I figured out how to get it out without damaging the hat or the object. It was the matchbook! Some sailor had stashed this book of matches in his hat years ago and there it was until I found it last week.

"He (or someone) had written in pencil Lt.(?) Becht on the inside of the matchbook. You can see it in one of the pictures. This hat belonged to an enlisted man. There is no name written in the hat although there usually is."

"I know what I'm gonna say next might seem crazy or something, but here goes - I have no use for this item, but I hate to throw ANYTHING away. Due to its - not so great condition - and wanting someone who collects these types of items to have it, it's yours if you want it for free.

"This arrangement will satisfy my borderline craziness for refusing to throw anything away and at the same time, take it off my hands. Just tell me where to send it and I'll put it in the mail. All I ask is if you find out anything about the matchbook, Lt. Brecht or the club itself let me know."

What a great story!

Dennis, thank you so much for an interesting addition to my collection.

By the way, I estimate that the matchbook is from the 1940s or early 1950s. It features a photo of Mr. Billy Richard, "Gay Guy from Hollywood."

And, as usual, click on the image to magnify it.

new ephemera

I added this newly-acquired Finocchio's mailing souvenir (circa 1960) to my female impersonator ephemera collection. You can view it and the rest of my collection on my ephemera Web page.

FYI, Finocchio's was a popular nightclub in San Francisco featuring female impersonators during the second half of the last century.

As usual, click on the image to magnify it.

another addition

My recent success on eBay made for a busy week updating my female impersonator ephemera Web pages. Yesterday, another eBay acquisition arrived in the mail and I added it to my San Francisico page last night.

reorganized ephemera

I reorganized my ephemera pages.

Instead of displaying everything on one page, I organized the collection according to location.

The United States pages are almost fully populated, while the United Kingdom and Continental Europe pages are sparse. I plan to add ephemera to those pages as soon as possible, i.e., as soon as I have time to scan the items.

Finocchio's ephemera

Last week, I had some success on eBay and added some female impersonator ephemera to my collection.

The first item arrived in yesterday's mail: a drink menu from Finocchio's, a San Francisco nightspot renowned for its female impersonators. I scanned the menu, added it to my ephemera page, and you can see it here.

yet another ephemera update

I have yet another new addition to my ephemera collection: a postcard from The Beige Room in San Francisco.

my ephemera update

I have two new additions to my ephemera collection: a postcard and a souvenir photograph from Club 82 / 82 Club in NYC.

another mention

I just discovered that the PGA-Auctions blog mentioned my female impersonator ephemera collection back on November 8.

my interview

My interview with blogger Marty Weil appears in his blog "ephemera" today. The interview concerns my female impersonator ephemera collection, some of which you can view here.

Enjoy!

eldorado

The image is a postcard size advertisement for Eldorado, which was a Berlin nightclub well-known for its diverse clientele during the Weimar era.

The ad was up for auction on eBay and I lost out. My high bid was about one-third of the winning bid.

I wish I could have added this card to my female impersonator ephemera collection, but I was loathe to bid higher because of the card's condition; the card had damage from being folded twice. (I cleaned up the image you see using Photoshop).

"Located at the corner of Motzstraße and Kalckreuthstraße in Berlin's Schöneberg district, the Eldorado was a popular destination during the 1920s and early 1930s for lesbians, homosexual men, transvestites of both sexes and slumming tourists. The nightclub featured cabaret shows, dancing and drinking in a stylish atmosphere." You can read more about it here.

The card would have been a nice addition to my collection, but it was too pricey and too damaged for my purse.