Dawson City - A History of Growing Pains 1896 - 1906
As prepared by Dawson Historian, John Gould.
MINING CAMP NO LONGER
Dance hall girls and soubrettes - changes in character of the men who frequented the resorts - while there is more fashion there is also less money - heavy poker the exception.
Dawson is fast taking upon itself all the enervating luxuries of a gay metropolis. With the passing with each succeeding month the frontier simplicity of the unsophisticated sour dough is giving place to the whims and caprices of the coquettish or physical enjoyment and personal luxuries of the jeunesse doree. The old timers wander down from the creeks from time to time and return with a longing for the days of yore, when the boiled white shirt and high standing collar were never tolerated, and where woollen shirts and mackinaw coats were in evidence in there yellowest and dirtiest hue. But in those days of hurry up and go- as- you- please dances the boys of the yellow mackinaw had the long pokes, and as the perspiration dropped from their tangled locks and oozed from their smoke stained necks it was back in old Missouri, and all the hootch flowed like a running brook, the bald face Pelly Kid, the Swede from Hunker, the Eldorado King yelled out in
course. "Everybody step up to the trough and have a drink!"
In those good old days of 95/97 and '98 the dance hall queen cared not so much for the personal adornment, but rather pride herself on her staying power for drinks and revelry as the dance became maddening, and the drinks flowed one after the other in rapid succession until the close of festivities at breakfast time.
But what a contrast between then and today. The devotees at the shrine of Bacchus and the dance halls are now more generally arrayed in the polished garb of civilization, and the dance queens have to appear with the band box adornments and their tresses arranged in the latest rolls and chignon puffs fresh from the hair dressers' parlor. Their gowns must be in the most stylish creations of fashion's stamp, as executed by the many and expensive dressmakers in Dawson.
To watch the proceedings at the dance halls now is to notice how lackadaisically the gallant and fair partner circulates and whirls around the hall. There is no longer the hop, skip and jump of bygone days - a furious leap from aside, a huge glide or a whoop of enthusiasm to enliven the scene and amuse the ever present band of onlookers or rubber neckers, their late designation according to modem parlance. The duties of a dance hall queen are now arduous and exacting. She must have a smiling countenance, whether she is dancing or wandering about to coax one of the male gender on to the floor. Before it was the male sex who rushed for the chance to claim a partner. So, with the expense about then same and patronage lessening as the chariot wheel of time rolls along. It is no wonder that it takes a Napoleon in finance to maintain a dance hall and at the same time balance the cash book on the right side.
The dance queens are deserting the dance halls for the more profitable ranks of the vaudeville favorites, who sit in the boxes during the performance, cashing in checks and occasionally waltzing on the floor when the play is over and the dance is on until 6 a.m.
So it has happened that the fascinating soubrette - she of the stage paint and penciled eyelashes - has driven the dance queens to dire extremes, m the early days Maud Biggs,
Irene, Lucile Elliott, Gussie LaMore, Freida, the Oatley sisters. Pearl Hall, Annie Merril, Jacqueline, Blanche LaMont, Myrtle Drummond and Daisy D"Avara were the queens of the dance, and their rule broke many a claim owner who tried to monopolize their uncertain and coquettish smiles. But the art of dressing now always the fair sex and the demand for the hairdressing, manicuring, massaging and other tricks for covering natures defects have given rise to a number of "beauty parlors." Just think - of it Dawson with "beauty parlors." These exist, however, and thrive.
There the dance queens and soubrettes sit every afternoon to have their tress fashioned in the latest Greek and Turban knots, the braided bug, chignon puffs, scallops and loops both bewildering and fetching to suit their peculiar style of beauty. There the jaded complection is rejuvenated by liberal application of washes, lotions, powders and cosmetics until the fairies hardly recognize themselves in the transformations.
These beauty parlors are growing in number and importance. A news reporter visited some of the leading ones in order to learn the names of some of the noted patrons, but the proprietor declined to give them, and declared it would never do to make public the process by which they added to the charms of the languishing soubrette and dance queen.
When asked if Jacqueline, Sid, Nellie Holgate, Daisy D'Avars, Beatrice Lome, Vivian, Blanche Cammetta, Gussie LaMore, Cecil Marion, Lucy, Lovel, Blossom, Flossie, Bessie Pierce, Kate Pierce, and Lulu ever visited the parlors in search of lost beauty with the added peach bloom of rosy cheeks and the bright vermilion of cherry lips, she answered very evasively and beseeched the hard hearted man to withdraw. As he did so he heard the ohs and ahs of the frightened soubrette who was hiding behind a portiere, fright lest it should become known that she borrowed from art's domain for her languishing eyes,
blooming cheeks and glossy tresses. But pull the curtain further aside. Let their identity and daily presence in the beauty parlor for ever remain a profound secret. (Dawson Daily News Nov. 24, 1899)
©John Gould
(This is copyrighted material and under no circumstances is allowed to be copied or used without the express permission of the author)