"The Fascinating Widow": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This sheet music for the song "The Fascinating Widow" was composed by Kerry Mills with lyrics by E. Ray Goetz, and published by F. A. Mills, Inc., in New York, New York, in 1910. The cover features two images of American stage and film actor and female impersonator Julian Eltinge.

Julian Eltinge, born William Julian Dalton (1881-1941), was an American actor and female impersonator. Eltinge began his career in vaudeville and acheived his greatest sucess in the 1910 musical comedy The Fascinating Widow, written by Otto Hauerbach specifically for Eltinge. The play premiered in Atlantic City, New Jersey, then toured the United States for 10 months before appearing on Broadway in September 1911. Eltinge is considered to be one of the greatest female impersonators of the 20th century.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1910
• depicted (sitter): Eltinge, Julian
• maker: F. A. Mills
• Object Name: sheet music
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 13 1/2 in x 10 5/8 in; 34.29 cm x 26.9875 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• ID Number: 2014.0312.01
• accession number: 2014.0312
• catalog number: 2014.0312.01
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.