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Summer 1939. "Amusements at carnival, Bozeman, Montana." Zaza in Bozeman -- has a certain ring to it, no? But we digress. Pony up a dime or move along. 35mm negative by Arthur Rothstein, Resettlement Administration. View full size.
I love you, Shorpy. I never know what interesting things I will learn here! Following the link to the 1939 edition of Life, I was fascinated enough to look through the rest of the magazine. The Letters to the Editor debating the need for military buildup and the unlikelihood of an attack on America gave me chills. Had history classes put such a human face on past events, I might have been a more attentive student.
Willy J. Jones ran the girlie revue the year we went to Canada. Long Tall Sally does a dance back in the alley, she wears a rose here, a rose there and a rose right where you're looking at young fellow and that ain't cigarette smoke coming out of your mouth! Hurry, Let's Go Now!
We used to go in and catch an act while on break. Willy didn't like us doing that because he said that leaving the show when our break was over, people would see us and think the show was no good and we were walking out, making it harder to build a tip. this was in 1972? We played the Canadian Fair Circuit, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Prince Albert and a couple of others I can't remember.
These old carnival photos are great!
Life magazine had an article about a Zaza in January of 1939.
This is from a world that has so completely vanished in one lifetime that it boggles the mind. (I admit that I first imagined Bluto, Wimpy, Popeye and Olive Oyl inhabiting this scene.)
Hurry, hurry, hurry!! Step right up and see Little Egypt do the dance of the pyramids. She walks, she talks, she crawls on her belly like a reptile. Just one thin dime, one tenth of a dollar, to discover the delights of Little Egypt.
I find this photo fascinating - wish it were a bit larger. Zaza(?) is an interesting study, what with the furtive glance, the suggestion of small town mousiness coupled with a bit of a hard edge, the high collared cape and an impressive pair of mitts! Easy to imagine her gentleman friend being the slicked down barker or perhaps Bruno the Strongman. And that cowboy would do well to keep his hand on his wallet, lest it wanders off on its own. A classic shot that looks as though it might have been posed, but doubtless wasn't. Hats off to Arthur Rothstein.
I think Rod Serling is standing just off camera.
Barbra Stanwyck is in there dancing, and Henry Fonda just bought a ticket. Sturges had bounced around all over the country in his youth, and had seen what America looks like.
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