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The .Omaha Sunday -Bee Magazine Page
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"My Wife Is a Show Girl; She Cannot
Sing, Cannot Dance, Cannot Act She
Only Fills Space. What Earthly Use Is
a Show GxYl"--By Mr.' Ignatz Jacobson,
Who Married a Show Ctrl
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"I Invented the Show Girl. She
Has Turned Out a Disappointment.
It Is True .That a Show Girl Is No
Earthly Use. Let Me Explain."
By Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr the
Father of the Show Girl Idea.
"Listen to Me. I'm a Show Girl. I'M
Tell You What a Show Girl Is Good
For. Pay No Attention to My
By Mrs. Jacobson, a Show
Girl Who Wants a Divorce
Husband.
99
AJiOTJO tfct court ptpm la th mtrt
isonlal fqnabblB between Mr. Ignats
Jkoobson, of New York, and bli wife,
who ! a Bhow Girl with on of Mr. Florenz
Zletfeld'i tUgt productions, Appe&ra this
interesting sworn statement:
"My wife Is a Show- Girl; she cannot sing,
ah cannot danee, ah cannot act she only
fills space. What earthly use la a Chow
Olrir
Tor th answer to this poser a statement
as first sought from the young lady herself
the Show Girl wife of Mr. Jacobson. k And
that Is printed below on this page. -
Pursuing this entrancing line of investi
gation still further the question was carried
to Mr. Ziegfeld himself, for he is the In
ventor, creator, patentee and father of the
Show Girl Idea. While historians may bare
some doubt as to, who began the war, there
is common agreement among the vest living
authorities that Ziegfeld began the Show
Girls. The original manuscript of Mr.
Zlegfeld's utterances on this profound sub
ject has been filed In the Library of Con
gress and a copy sent to the British Museum
to be kept for the benefit of dramatlo
historians of the future. Read it below on
this page.
One very remarkable discovery has been
made by Mr. Ziegfeld that big girls have
small brains. Like big shaggy dogs, they
can't be taught cute tricks. After years of
patient experiment Mr. Ziegfeld has found
that short girls, small girls, girls whose"
brains are closer to the ground are the
best material.
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"I'm the Show Girl. Now Listen!"
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By Mrs. I gnatz Jacobson., V,
I am a Show GlrL Now, listen. I will tell you some
thing about Show Girls, ray no attention to my bus
band. He says I cannot sing. Of course, he means he does
not like the way I sing. I know people who do not like
grand opera and cannot appreciate Caruso My husband
belongs in that class.
He says I cannot dance. Wen, 1 cannot dance with
him because he does not know how.
And I cannot act! Well, I cannot act to suit him.
and that Is one of the reasons the divorce suit of
Jacobson against Jacobson Is before the courts.
But the main thing that Interests me Is his state
ment that "she only fills space." Ah I ' What a pro
found thought! An exquisite diamond cannot sing, cao
not dance, cannot act it only fills space. The dictionary
does not sing, nor dance, nor act it fills space, although
I have heard some of my friends object to the dictionary
as tiresome reading because ft changes the subject so
often. The Golden Rule doe not sing, nor act, nor
dance, nor does it fill much space. I am willing to
take my position alongside tne brilliant diamond, the
worthy dictionary and the Golden Rule, and rest my
vcase at this point
You ask'xne "What earthly use is a Show GlrL' Ask
any of the men who have recently married them. Better
' yet, let Mr. Ziegfeld, the father of the Show Girl, answer
this. I am so modest!
Head of 1915 Model Show Girl Showing: What Is Claimed to
. Hold Some Brains and Mouth that Is Designed to Speak
a Few Words Coherently and Even Sing a -Little.
C The Real Truth Revealed by the Inventor of Show Girls
A
Dy Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
s
I
The .mproved 1915 Model jf Show Girl WJich Is Designed
INVENTED the Show Girl, and, therefore,
like any other inventor, am qualified to
discuss and analyse the child of my
brain.
Some Inventions are a blessing, such as
the telephone, elevators and bread. Others,
like the fountain pen. cigar lighters and
patent leather shoes, do not contribute much
to the general welfare and uplift I confess
that I shall have to place the Show Girl in
the latter category. She. Is a bitter disap
pointment She was a novelty for awhile.
For a while the 8bow Girl was a hit The
tired business man came to my theatre to
get his mind off hit. work, and after he had
seen my bevy of bouncing, - blonde and
brunette beauties It was hard for him to get
his mind back to his work again.
But he got onto them the same as X did,"
and why?. For the very reason that Mr.
Jacobson givesthey cant act can't clng
can't dance, but they can EAT.
When all was said and done and the
novelty had worn off, those -down front de
cided that they'd rather hear a pretty voice
or see a little, vivacious, piquant pretty
minx aim at and HIT a chandelier with her
tootales than see a lot of Roman Senators
walk In slowly along the back of thestage
like twelve good men and true coming In
with a verdict of guilty.
Inventors have their troubles. ' Belh
Morse and Fulton had nothing on me. 80
give me credit You take a larga girl whose
chief accomplishment Is dispensing "ham
and" to the multitude, or taking things oft
the dumbwaiter, and try to Invest her with
what we call "stage presence" and you hare
a Job that makes the laying of the Atlantlo
cable look like a day off. Most of them
when they start In 'their, new training do
not know what to do with their arms. They
act as though there ought to be dishes In
them, and they walk as if they were answer
ing the front doorbell, with all the grace of
a daschund.
80 I bad to work, plead, pray, Implore,
threaten at rehearsals, and even then I
nearly gave up hope of making them appear
artistic. But I stuck to it I felt that the
time had come for a novelty, and I was con
' vlnced that my new Show Girl was the in
novation to fill the bill. ' My star at the
time was Anna Held, petite and pretty. I
wanted a good background for her. I was
sure that if I could train a line of tall girls
to act and wear clothes well It would serve
as a pretty backdrop and make her all the
more petite. .
So I advertised: v
"Wanted Girls 6. feet 8 inches or
more In height of ' smart appearance. "
Apply at office of Florens Ziegfeld, Jr." ,
The next day my office looked like an in
telligence office. There were over 250 of
them waiting for me. ; With my hopes run
ning high I hurried Into ' my private room
and gave word for the procession to start
It was an astonishing experience for me.
Halt of them started to flash references on
. me; some wanted to know how many chil
dren we had and if we kept a dog; while
" six of them Insisted at the start of the In
terview that they would, expect to have
Thursday and Sunday afternoons off and
'would have to "sleep in." They apparently
had not got the idea. ' If the fellow who
wrote "I Lot the Ladlea" had dropped in
about that time I would have asked. "Why?"
WelL anyhow, out of the 250 Amasons I
' selected eight . Now, these did not come
from the Old Ladies' Home In Brooklyn. I
have been accused of getting my Show Girls
' there, but I never did. I have restrained
myself. I have never bad any inclination
to break home ties, especially Old Ladles'
Home ties. -
After looking over those 250 heavyweights
I was tempted, but I didn't yield. -1 picked
out the' most promising eight an eight that
would make the eyes of Billy Wray, the
Harvard crew trainer, open In admiration.
They were big, ungainly creaturesr so big
that I was constrained to be respectful to -them,
but I could picture them In handsome
gowns, properly fitted, walking majestically
across the stage, and I remained optimistic.
Many a time during rehearsals I was dis
couraged. . I was at the point of driving the
tall pelicans into the obscurity whence they
came.. "Let . those ladles go back to their
cooking and scrubbing," I said to my stage
manager, but countermanded the order. I '
persevered.
"Don't try to sing," I commanded, for
when they opened their ' mouths they
sounded like a bunch of pheasants.
"Don't try to dance." I ordered when I saw -that
that, too, was Impossible. -
"Don't try to act Just walk where you're
told and when you're told. Make yourselves
. up to look as well as you can."
When the dress rehearsals came 1 was
almostIn tears. "Try to carry your gown
as though you had worn one once!" I shouted.
That made them mad. Their heads shot up
a yard or so in the air. The effect pleased
me. "Keep yeur heads there!" I yelled. "It
you lower them an inch I'll fine you."
The result was satisfying. The critics
balled a novelty. The publio welcomed the.
big, near-gawky girls, that somehow had
had some statellness drummed Into them,
though it had cost months and tears and
almost bloodshed to do It t called them tha
Sadie Girls. 1
The Show Girl became an Institution. No
body expected her to dance nor sing nor
act. If she looked well and wore her
clothes well she served her decorative pur
pose. And she commanded a better salary
than did, the hard working girls of the
chorus, who were ready to strike because
of the Innovation. And I didn't blame them.
For $18 a week they were doing real work.
They were dancing and singing and acting.
But because they lacked Inches they earned
half what the waving palms In the picture
hats received for "standing around and try-
lng to look swell," as a rebel put it
But the Show Girl whom I made the
- fashion dropped out. To tell the truth I
dropped her. She has gone where she be
longs, to dressmaking establishments, to
wear handsome gowns and ehow dumpy
women how they won't look in them. Th
Show Girl has found her level.
I don't deny that my conscience troubles
me, not about theS Show Girl's end, but hei
beginning. I shouldn't have done it and I
apologise. It was a wrong to the girls ol
the chorus, who are the backbone of a pro
duction.
During my experiment with the Show Girl
1 made an important scientific discovery.
Big girls are not clever. It is the little, not
the big, girls who can be taught to work.
The Show Girl can no longer nwrely ol'
space. In these days of snappy aancing
and demand for chorus work the Show Glr;
finds herself backed "vff the boards" by the
chorus girl.
' The Show Girl, like that other well-known
bird, the dodo. Is extinct The new 1915
model is not a show girl "she fills space,"'
of course, but she can also sing, dance and
talk.
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Original Show Girls at Invented and Patented by Mr. Ziegfeld These, Ha Confesses, Were V
Copyright ltla, by the etac Cemsasr. Orwt Britain ni(iiu Kutrrtl