Blue Vaudeville: Sex, Morals and the Mass Marketing of Amusement, 1895-1915

by Andrew L. Erdman

This work reveals the often racy, ribald, and sexually charged nature of the vaudeville stage, looking at a broad array of provocative performers from disrobing dancers to nude posers to skimpily dressed athletes. Examining the ways in which big-time vaudeville nonetheless managed to market itself as pure, safe, and morally acceptable, this work compares the industry’s marketing and promotional practices to those of other emergent mass-marketers of the vaudeville era in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Included are in-depth examinations of important figures from the vaudeville stage such as Annette Kellerman and Eva Tanguay. The work attempts to address historical context as one means of understanding these performers with an appreciation for their rebelliousness. It discusses censorship and content control in the vaudeville era, and concludes with an analysis of film’s part in the fall of vaudeville. Many photographs, cartoons, and other illustrations are included.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Andrew L. Erdman is a historian and psychotherapist who revels in uncovering misunderstood aspects of cultural history and how they relate to misunderstood parts of ourselves. A doctoral program in theatre studies led him to a deepened interest in the history of popular culture. A theatre kid who aspired to be a rock star, Erdman grew up to write for magazines, television shows, and the stage. His writings have also appeared in scholarly journals and he has taught at New York University, Brooklyn College, and elsewhere.

He is the author of: Beautiful: The Story of Julian Eltinge, America's Greatest Female Impersonator (Oxford University Press, 2024), Queen of Vaudeville: The Story of Eva Tanguay (Cornell University Press, 2012), and Blue Vaudeville: Sex, Morals, and the Mass Marketing of Amusement, 1895-1915 (McFarland, 2004).

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting look at vaudeville. This book does not so much concern itself with the history of vaudeville and its performers so much as vaudeville as a cultural institution/brand. It has a great deal to say about branding and consumer economy in the early parts of the 20th Century and also a great deal to say about the sexualisation of the female form during that same time period. The last few pages address the vaudeville/film relationship. I wish that subject had been more fleshed out, but it was a very interesting read.