The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles, 1894

by Photo Researchers

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The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles, 1894

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Photo Researchers

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Photograph - Photograph

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Entitled "The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles" lithograph poster created by the Strobridge Lithographing Company,1894. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World Columbian Exposition, the greatest world's fair ever presented up until that time. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr. was named musical director of the event and given a venue on the fairground where he could present music, which he called the Trocadero. Ziegfeld, Jr. was dispatched to Europe to secure classical musicians to perform there, but he booked music hall acts, like trapeze artists, jugglers, and a mentalist instead. The father had no choice but to present these acts, but the bill needed a star. At the Casino Theater in New York Ziegfeld found one (Eugen) Sandow the Strong Man. Sandow could lift a man up in each hand, while two men stood on his back. Flo's acumen as a producer resulted in Sandow becoming one of the hits of the fair. He did this by making a sex symbol out of Sandow, allowing him to wear as revealing a costume as was permissible and letting women come back stage and feel his muscles for a fee that was donated to charity. With Sandow as its star, the Trocadero Vaudevilles toured the country throughout the 1890s , with a bill that also featured comedian Billy Van, aerialists the Five Jordans, impressionist The Great Amann and six other acts.

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September 24th, 2014

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