Characters on the set of a play. Photographic postcard. 191-.

Part of James Gardiner Collection: photographs of military, naval, and prisoner-of-war camp drag.

Men dressed as policemen, a clown, sailor, officer and a character in drag. A World War One group. The set appears to be a rather rough-looking outdoor one, possibly a military camp. The figure in drag is the young Billie Manders, at this point only a teenager, who went on to become one of the most celebrated female impersonators on the music hall stage in England and Wales throughout the 1920s. Only the seated figure at centre and the Royal Naval Division sailor are in genuine uniform; the others are costumes from the Boer War period.

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Item Information:

Identifier: d791sg455
Collection: James Gardiner 20th Century Drag Postcards
Institution: Wellcome Library
Date Issued: 1910 to 1919?
Genre: Photographs
Prints
Topic(s): Female impersonators
World War, 1914-1918
Resource Type: Still Image
Analog Format: 1 photograph : photoprint ;
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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