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Update! Exotic World
has moved to Las Vegas!
In 2006, Exotic World became the Burlesque
Hall of Fame and moved its operations to
Las Vegas.
Though there is apparently no permanent site for the museum as of yet,
the "new" Hall of Fame currently features the
annual
Miss Exotic World Pageant with a line up
of festivities at the Palms Casino
Resort. Now a non-profit organization, the Hall of fame is also the
home of the Exotic Dancers'
League of America trade union.
Original Article:
 In
the middle of nowhere, just outside of Victorville,
California
is the “town” of Helendale and its most famous attraction – Exotic
World. Once the private residence of famed dancer Jennie Lee,
Exotic World is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to
preserving the art and artifacts of the golden age of Burlesque.
While many retired
dancers of this era kept their "risqué" pasts quiet -- Jennie Lee,
founder of the League of Exotic Dancers and former "Bazoom Girl" (a
moniker she earned for effortlessly twirling tassels on both her bosom
and behind), decided to buck convention and put her past on display.
Literally.
Jennie's collection of Burlesque
memorabilia made its debut at the "Sassy Lassy" nightclub in San
Pedro,
California, which she
co-owned with her husband, Charlie Arroyo ("The Singing Cowboy").
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When Jennie fell ill with breast cancer, she
and Charlie moved out to an abandoned goat farm in the middle of the
Mojave Desert, promptly evicting the farm's four-footed tenants in favor
of creating a suitable space for her ever-expanding collection.
Following her death in 1990, Jennie's
friend and fellow Burlesque veteran Dixie Evans quit her job and moved
out to the ranch to help transform Jennie's collection into "Exotic
World, Home of the Movers & Shakers' Burlesque Museum & Striptease
Hall of Fame." As news of the museum continued to spread, people from
all over the world started to send additional items, and the museum
eventually took over the entire farm.
As you drive into Exotic World half naked
Grecian goddesses and lawn jockeys greet you from the front yard. Inside
the walls are filled with photographs and playbills of busty strippers
from days gone by, and a wealth a wealth of memorabilia, including,
pasties, lip-prints, and even the jewel-encrusted g-strings of such
Burlesque legends as Blaze Starr, Lili St. Cyr, Candy Barr and Chesty
Morgan; as well as Sally Rand's ivory-handled fans, Gypsy Rose Lee's glove
collection, Jayne Mansfield's heart-shaped couch, and even the ashes of
Miss Sheri Champagne, one of Burley-Q's all-time greats. Also
displayed is a nude velvet painting of Farrah Fawcett, and the ashes of
The Bazoom Girl herself, Jennie Lee, the founder of Exotic World.
Burlesque's golden age, which featured flirtatious
feathered striptease artists, began in the '20s and ended in the '50s.
Playboy magazine and the arrival of television brought the curtain down on
burlesque. In the Burlesque era,
the art form's true stars possessed not only the most bodacious of bodies,
but also extravagant costumes, playful choreography, a powerful sense of
humor, and more often than not, an exceptional gimmick.
A famously close-knit
bunch, retired Burlesque stars often drop in unannounced from parts
unknown. As Dixie Evans says, "The girls love coming by. They enjoy
knowing that someone cares about preserving their work."
The Burlesque Hall
of Fame
PO Box 1437
Las Vegas,
Nevada
89125
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, updated May, 2008 |
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