Casa Susanna

by Michel Hurst (Editor), Robert Swope (Editor)

Some time ago, while at a New York flea market, inveterate collectors Michael Hurst and Robert Swope discovered a large body of snapshots: album after aged album of well-preserved images, taken roughly between the mid-50s and mid-60s, depicting a group of cross-dressers united around a place called Casa Susanna, a rather large and charmingly banal Victorian-style house in small-town New Jersey. The inhabitants, visitors, guests, and hosts used it as a weekend headquarters for a regular “girl’s life.” Someone—probably “Susanna” or the matriarch—nailed a wonder board on a tree proclaiming it “Casa Susanna,” and thus a Queendom was born.

Through these wonderfully intimate shots—perhaps never intended to see the light of day outside the sanctum of the “house”—Susanna and her gorgeous friends styled era-specific fashion shows and dress-up Christmas and tea parties. As gloriously primped as these documentary snaps are, it is in the more private and intimate life at Casa Susanna, where the girls sweep the front porch, cook, knit, play Scrabble, relax at the nearby lake and, of course, dress for the occasion, that the stunning insight to a very private club becomes nothing less than brilliant and awe inspiring in its pre-glam, pre-drag-pose ordinariness and nascent preening and posturing in new identities. It is not glamour for the stage but for each other, like other women who dress up to spend time with friends, flaunting their own sense of style. There is an evident pleasure of being here, at Casa Susanna, that is a liberation, a simplification of the conflicts inherent in a double life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, LGBT, Transgender

128 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Caddyshack Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully curated book. It provides a fascinating, captivating, striking and poignant visual exploration of identity and the complexities of gender expression through a collection of photographs from a clandestine retreat located in the Catskills in the 1960s and 1970s. The book offers a glimpse into a unique space where men could dress as women and explore their femininity in a supportive environment.

[SusannaRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of discovered photographs of transgender women living freely, during a time when they would be institutionalized for their self-expression. Divorced of context or background, the viewer is left to imagine the lives of these women, and what drove them to this secret oasis of freedom.

Through their smiles you can clearly see the touching sisterly affinity that they have for one another. You witness the world that they carefully crafted for themselves, wherein they are glamorous models and sweetly domestic housewives. This book is a beautiful encapsulation of the innately human desire to be seen by others as one sees oneself.

[Joe Ro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so happy this exists, I love it but I wish we knew more about the people in the images and the story behind CASA SUSANNA

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, we went to see a production of Harvey Fierstein's Casa Valentina, which he wrote based on this collection of photos that someone found in a box at a flea market in New York. Fascinating photographs, sad and beautiful and brave and historic. Only three pages to read, but dozens of photographs to look at. Fascinating

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A total charmer of a book - found photographs of 1950s cross dressers weekending in the Catskills at Casa Susanna. They all look so happy!

[Redgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool and interesting.