Tag Archives: Dolly Sisters

The Million Dollar Dollies (1918)

The Million Dollar Dollies (1918)

Produced by Emerald Pictures and distributed by Metro, The Million Dollar Dollies, was the first and only film that the Dolly Sisters appeared in together. It was released in early 1918 in the USA but did not surface in the UK until 1920.

Continue reading The Million Dollar Dollies (1918)

The Elegance of Roseray and Capella

The Elegance of Roseray and Capella

Roseray and Capella were one of the most famous French dancing acts of the Jazz Age. Not only were they accomplished acrobatic and adagio dancers but they were also extremely elegant and beautiful if somewhat audacious in terms of the brevity of their costuming which some thought rather salacious. Indeed, if the gossip about them being mother and son were true, it was an extraordinary act.

Continue reading The Elegance of Roseray and Capella

The Lorraine Sisters

The Lorraine Sisters

The Lorraine Sisters (Edna and Della) were a glamorous American sister act in the Jazz Age, who started off in vaudeville in America but swiftly found fame in Europe in the 1920s.

Continue reading The Lorraine Sisters

Cafe des Ambassadeurs

Cafe des Ambassadeurs

The Café des Ambassadeurs was one of most fashionable and best-known summer venues in Paris situated on the Avenue Gabriel at the entrance to the Champs-Elysées near the Place de la Concorde. Named after the nearby Hotel Crillon that had become the residence of foreign ambassadors, it was founded in 1764 as a simple open air bar, a small pavilion was added in 1772 and it evolved into one of the most famous of the Parisian café concerts.

Continue reading Cafe des Ambassadeurs

Charles Gesmar

Charles Gesmar by Angelo Luerti

Charles Ges(i)mar, simply known as Gesmar, was one of the greatest designers of costumes and posters during the golden age of the Paris music hall during the Jazz Age and was primarily renowned for his work for the great Parisian star Mistinguett. Although his tenure was short, his output was prolific and his creativity and talent unrivalled.

Continue reading Charles Gesmar

Hugh Willoughby

The British artist Hugh Willoughby rose to prominence in the new wave of costume designers and illustrators that emerged after the First World War during the Jazz Age. He made a name for himself in London and Paris before moving to the USA in the mid 1920s.

Continue reading Hugh Willoughby

The Kit Cat Club

The Kit Cat Club

The fashionable Kit Cat Club in the Haymarket, which to many people today still epitomises the gay carefree days of the 1920s, was opened in the summer of 1925 and immediately became one of the most famous nocturnal haunts in London. Decked out with the last word in restaurant and dance floor equipment it was regarded as the most sumptuous resort in Europe and was the only club in London that had been built expressly for the purpose of a club.

Continue reading The Kit Cat Club

The Kursaal Pleasure Palace Ostende

The Kursaal Pleasure Palace, Ostende

One of the premier locations in Europe in the 1920s and the show piece of Ostende was the magnificently appointed Kursaal entertainment complex.

Continue reading The Kursaal Pleasure Palace Ostende

Dancing Dora Duby

Dancing Dora Duby

The dark, glamorous and exotic sounding Dora Duby was an outstanding American solo dancer who found fame in Europe during the 1920s particularly in Paris where she was called the ‘Pet star’ of the famous Le Perroquet cabaret.

Continue reading Dancing Dora Duby

The Pony Trot

The Pony Trot

The Pony Trot was an extension of the Pony Ballet allegedly devised by John Tiller in the 1890s and made famous by the Dolly Sisters in 1914 and thereafter as an exhibition dance.

Continue reading The Pony Trot