A Historic Enigma

[Julie Gaum]

Back in the 1880s private universities, even in the U.S.,were limited to young gentlemen from wealthy families. Perhaps that is the reason that
Clayton Fotterall McMichael decided that my alum, the University of Pennsylvania, needed a theatrical troupe that would "get up in frocks and spoof everyone and everthing naturally". And that they did --- traveling in their own railroad car, annually presenting top notch musicals and high caliber tunes picked up by Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald among other notables, competing with Broadway shows for decades. The Mask and Wig Club was featured on the Ed Sullivan show no less than four times and in 1894 the high society mothers of Philadelphia chipped in to buy them a clubhouse now of historical importance. This, the oldest all-male collegiate musical troupe in the U.S.was later followed by Princeton's Triangle Club, Harvard's Hasty Pudding and others but their theatrical professionalism remains to this day.
And yet, when looking at their first cast photo from 1889 I see some forty males dressed in various costumes befitting that play, and about thirty wearing medium to long length gowns, white or dark hose, low heels of the day, wigs and a few ladies' hats. No makeup is evident --- that would appear in later years. No mention in the historic write-ups of members cross dressing before joining or after leaving school, of being considered strange, weird or anything but "the funniest students on campus". One was quoted as saying, "So happy to get back in drag" bu that's it! Could be that they were ALL entertainers as, certainly, many had the talent similar to Shakespeare's all-male plays, but one has to wonder --- surely there were cross dressers among the wealthy in the 1890s and in the more recent years? I just have to wonder.
Julie

[Teresa]

I can't speak for the US but in those days in the UK Cding was considered a homosexual pursuit which was a criminal offense. Period dramas have shown clubs existed offering discrete facilities for the wealthy often overlooked by the law.

[kimdl93]

I imagine playing female roles gave CDing males an outlet, even in repressive times. That may be why they kept women out of the theatre for so long!

[Beverley Sims]

Julie,
I am sure there were many, there are documented instances of the wealthy, dressing.

[Katey888]

Julie - I'm sure you're right... I'd guess a good few of those, if not all, were at least into a little experimentation... probably much more than just experiments...

And hasn't it always been the way anyway, that the wealthy or aristocratic have been able to - sometimes literally - get away with murder compared with us common folk...? Of course, that's just plain old envy on my part...

You wonder whether some of these people would have left memoirs that revealed their passion for 'drag' or more - but again, perhaps an indication of the extent of shame or taboo has meant that men of standing would never be prepared to admit as such...

Interesting historical note, Julie - thanks for sharing that..

Katey x

[Wildaboutheels]

EVOLUTION was very much alive in the late 1800s... as in male BRAINS interpretation of their vision. Omnipotent. Such a nice simple solution.

Plus, it was not a time of "the entire earth revolves around me" mentality [so prevalent today] and what people THINK of me. [especially the "younger" generation] Not that the younger generation needs any defense, but most of them are simply products of the way they are being raised. Helicopter parents and both money and self esteem handed out to kids in buckets for starters.

I don't find it surprising at all.

Quite soon, men will become almost irrelevant to producing offspring and there will likely come with it a huge increase in MtF Crossdressing as men will become even "less needed" by females. The handwriting is on the wall. Of course there will always be women who want/need/require fathers for their children.

It's quite likely only the wealthy could afford to CD back then? Today with online shopping, the floodgates are open for any male with at least one working EYE.

[Tina_gm]

In many ways we are more repressive now than ever. political correctness has deemed any mention of anything minority off limits except for its ok. Minorities themselves of their own minority can spoof themselves, sorta. A couple hundred years ago, men slept with men in the same bed out of necessity. two men would share rides in carriages that today would appear "gay" And there were sooooo many male bonding groups and clubs which would also by today's standards appear something other than "normal"

[Persephone]

Gendermutt nailed it!

And I love the way everyone grabbed onto the "Wealthy" bit. So hip, so contemporary, so politically correct. So absurd! But sailors in the British navy were about as far from wealhy as you can get, and boredom on long sailing voyages was a very real and very dangerous problem, so every ship had a chest of costumes, props, and plays, yes, with appropriate female costumes, and sailors would put on plays for their own entertainment, for the Captain and officers entertainment, and quite probably as a bit of intership rivalry when in port.

In 1914-1917 Ernest Shackleton commanded an Antarctic exploration ship, the Endurance, which became trapped over the winter in the Antarctic ice. The ship was eventually crushed and Shackleton and the men made temporary camps on the ice. To keep the men from going crazy in these, some of the most brutal conditions imaginable, one of the things they did was to use the contents of the chest to perform plays! After months and months and an 800-mile trip across open Antarctic water in an open boat, Shackleton was able to rescue all of the men with no loss of life!

They were saved, in part, from madness by women's clothes!

Hugs,
Persephone.

[Eselka]

That is a very intersting thread ! I don't know much about the history of crossdressing in France, but to take an example from another culture, male crossdressing was a common thing in Japanese plays in the 17-18th century (kabuki). Well in this case the reason was most likely that women were forbidden to step on stage, which I believe is a possible explanation of male crossdressing in the old days. Re-creating a feminine presence where there are no women, as in the British navy as you mentionned Penelope. I'm not sure it explains everything though, but it might be a part of the broader picture

[kimdl93]

They were saved, in part, from madness by women's clothes!

Hugs,
Persephone.

I can relate.

[Julie Gaum]

Not PC and not political in any way and we can only go by what information has been passed down to the present. Granted that its very likely that putting on plays passed the time and diverted one's fear of impending doom. Though if you have ever been at Mystic Seaport or elsewhere where one can board an old sailing vessel
with close quarters and rum provided as a daily ration one has to question whether show-time is what the crew had in mind --- or the officers for that matter. Several hundred years after the first Noh play in Japan it was women who performed the first male and female parts of the Kabuki. As these plays ran all day long the actresses earned money "on the side" and were called prostiute singers. The shoguns replaced them with young boys with the same results --- and so the all-male plays and musicals resulted in Japan by the early 1700s. On the other side of the world the Italians looked to Greek plays for the birth of the opera. Young men before their voices changed and the countertenors or tenor altinos (falsetto) filled the bill. The beautiful voices of a boys' choir eventually divided into castrato (yep) and houte-contre so opera began sans femme. I digress. Must remind all that from the 13th Century to present gays and transvestites were lumped in with all the other "crazies" to be dumped into confinement of undiscribable horror or to be shocked or have part of their brains cut out. And yes, the Royalty of Europe and England along with their relatives and wealthy friends were left alone regardless of any sexual or gender proclivities they may display. Interestingly, actors, poets and the like were also excused from close scrutiny. Is not CDing role playing in a fashion? Would not CDs have a greater attraction to the theater than the "average". If true, could not also apply down through the ages? I rest my case.
Julie
Julie

[kimdl93]

You pretty much nailed that, Julie!