Girl Show: Into the Canvas World of Bump and Grind

by A.W. Stencell

Girls! Girls! Girls! The carnivals, the girls, and the scams ― a journey back through time to the glory years of traveling adult entertainment. Many of these photos have never been seen before, and no one has published a book exclusively devoted to the women (and men) who performed in Girl Shows. Picture yourself at a carnival in the 1950s. It’s summer, and after you wander through the midway, you head towards the sideshow area. There, on stage in front of huge banners, is Tirza ― The Wine Bath Girl. A crowd has already gathered, and the talker is describing the pleasures to be found inside, but only after you’ve bought your ticket. “See the beautiful Tirza, in the altogether, taking a full bath ― in wine!” Interested? Unfortunately, you can’t attend these Girl Shows anymore. The last performances occurred in the mid-1970s. But you can see 200 photos from 1900 onwards in A.W. Stencell’s book about this cultural phenomenon. And you can read about their European origins, their American developments, their heyday after World War II, and their ultimate demise in the face of men's magazines, strip clubs, and x-rated videos.

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Tera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives the entire history of the girl show from the birth of Burlesque in Athens to modern day stripping.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stripping for rubes and hayseeds on the carnival circuit during the first half of the 20th century. Show business at its most tawdry with the here today and gone today ambiance of a show under canvas that was headed to the next wide spot in the road making a bawdy spectacle into something dirty and transgressive.

Not badly written, full of photographs of the barkers, touts and especially of course the girls, in and out of their costumes. A nice touch are reproductions of small help wanted ads for strippers, talkers and comics.

[Christine P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I got a copy of this book. It is hard to find information on this type of entertainment and I especially appreciate the Canadian content in this work. Finding Canadian burlesque history is incredibly difficult. The photos reproduced in this book are pretty low resolution, but I think that is probably because of the quality of the existing photos, rather than a flaw in the printing. The photos feature fun examples of burlesque costuming and gives a very authentic view of the average burlesque show in America.

[Amanda Losonsky-Prentice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great history on Canvas Striptease.