The Whirl of the Town - 1897

The Whirl of the Town was presented at the Casino Theatre in New York in May of 1897, the fourth production of its kind at that venue. Entertainment in the form of a musical show/revue, satirizing the hit shows of the past season with a slim plot but plenty of variety, had proven to be popular; and Caroline Siedle designed costumes for many of the offerings at the Casino. For this show, the concept was built around the idea of a mermaid who enters into the bustle of New York City and Coney Island. It enjoyed a very successful summer run at the theater.

Here’s Madge Lessing’s description of her role in The Whirl of the Town, from the Sept. 11, 1901 issue of The Sketch, prior to the show opening in England at the Century Theater:

“I’m ‘Dimples’. For a few minutes you’ll see me in this dress as a mermaid. I’ve been stolen out of a tank in the New York Aquarium by a kleptomaniac, who takes me right into the whirl of the town, and I dance and sing and wear lovely dresses and go everywhere. It is such a life, such a round of gaiety; but, somehow, after a while I pine for the sea. At length an opportunity occurs, and I race down to the beach and I dash through a great breaker and I disappear, as I must now,” she laughingly remarked as she obeyed the call-boy’s summons.

Unfortunately the show was not a hit for London audiences.

Madge Lessing was born in England in 1873, but came to the US around 1890, and had a successful stage career. She was featured in several shows at the Casino, before returning to London in 1900 and continuing as a popular stage star in the UK and Europe. She can be seen on countless postcards of the period. She married and retired from the stage in 1920. 

This design by Siedle is for a brilliant red bathing costume, modest by today’s standards but typically saucy for the theater at that time. A red costume will always stand out on stage, and this would certainly make an impression! The drawing is labeled “Dimples in bathing dress Act 3”, with “this color” written at the top. Also at the top, written in blue pencil in an unknown hand, is “handle with care (to be returned)”.

On the rear of the board is Miss Lessing’s name, along with a rather urgent note scrawled in the same blue pencil:

 Head to be drawn

on from photo
Madge Lessing
to be returned
to Simpson
Crawford & 
Simpson

 at once 

Simpson, Crawford & Simpson was a luxury department store on Sixth Avenue in New York City. As to why this drawing was to be returned there, large stores often had entire dressmaking workrooms that were sometimes put to use for costuming during a busy theatrical season. It’s possible that some of the costumes for the show were being created at this location. The instruction that the head was to be drawn on from a photo might indicate that the image was to be used in advertising of some sort; the drawing was temporarily needed for that purpose and lent with strict instructions for its return. This is all supposition on my part, but certainly not impossible. In fact, the newspaper engraving on the right might be the very kind of thing it was needed for - used as a reference for drawing costume details.

Miss Lessing is shown wearing this costume in this unidentified newspaper photo of several characters from the show. It’s always gratifying to find photographic evidence of an outfit!