Burlesque in photos of the 1920s through the 1950s not only includes images of performers, but also photographs where costumes, stage sets, or a sense of performance are present. Burlesque photos don’t have the same sense of intimacy that is commonly found in pinup or nude photos.

Irving Klaw’s photos and movies from the late 1940s through most of the 1950s often have a burlesque quality. Two color Klaw films are available on DVD (Varietease and Teaserama) and the black and white fetish and bondage films often have performers as models. Bettie Page’s photos sometimes have a distinct burlesque quality. Hundreds, if not thousands, of photos were shot by Klaw of minor and major performers doing their acts in sequence.

I’m only showing two of Klaw’s photos here – Sara Don in her dressing room. Those after the cut will be from a 1930s/early 1940s vaudeville/burlesque performer’s scrapbook.

The following photos are from Sue’s scrapbook. Effie Sue and her younger sister Vonda Lou were circus kids. After their father injured his back in 1935 Sue, at about 10, and her sister went on the road doing song and dance comedy routines to support their family. By the late 1930s they were minor performers in the vaudeville and burlesque circuit. The first two photos were taken in Dayton, Ohio about 1940. Sue’s in the first photo, her sister Lou in the second. The rest of the photos date from about 1942 or a little later. The studio photos were taken in Atlanta. Included in the scrapbook were photos from other performers, often inscribed. Three are shown here. The last photo is of Lou and a comedian working on a routine on the roof of a theater in Florida in 1946.