{"product_id":"24438-african-americana-drag-variety-of-roses-female-impersonators-club-savoy-poster-ca-1950s","title":"[African Americana] [Drag] \"Variety of Roses...Female Impersonators\" - Club Savoy (Niagara Falls, NY) Poster ca. 1950s","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"description\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eBroadside poster, ca. 1950, from the Club Savoy in Niagara Falls, NY, featuring a large photograph of eight Black performers mostly in drag, advertising 2 shows every Saturday of the \"Most Spectacular Floor Show \/ Female Impersonators \/ Direct from Miami, Florida\" and including \"Such Acts As Our Original Mimex...Billie Holiday - as Brandy, Mr. Tanya Delmor - on Toe, Mr.. Jo-Jo-Exotic and Mr. Bobby Lopez - Afro. Cuban\" with \"Lady Clairoils - your Hostess.\"  14 x 22 inches. In fine condition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThroughout the 1950s, \"female impersonators\" were incredibly popular in nightclubs, bars, and other venues across the country. In particular, Black drag performers were trailblazing figures, including on the \"chitlin' circuit,\" and in large-scale drag balls. These artists, often lauded as \"dazzling\" by publications like \u003cem\u003eJet\u003c\/em\u003e, shaped early Rock N Roll and entertainment culture in ways only recently being properly acknowledged. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eMany of the drag venues in larger cities were surprisingly \u003c\/span\u003emultiracial, and it is notable that \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003ethe performers and audiences there eschewed the period's strict codes of Black-white segregation while simultaneously eluding dominant gender expressions. The present poster advertises an entirely Black troupe at an apparently Black venue. We find almost no information on the Club Savoy in Niagara Falls, other than some appearances listed by local jazz musicians of the period. Their address at 1117 Niagara, however, appears by 1962 in the \"Negro Motorist Green-Book\" for African American roadtrippers, but by then was listed as \"The Fairfield Pool Room.\"\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"artistName\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62444448809119,"sku":"24438","price":2000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/ClubSavoyinNiagaraFalls_NewYorkVintagePoster24438a.jpg?v=1754594364","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/24438-african-americana-drag-variety-of-roses-female-impersonators-club-savoy-poster-ca-1950s","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}