Vaudeville flirtation act dress worn by Nellie Burt: Museum Object and Cultural History
Vaudeville flirtation act dress worn by Nellie Burt: date made: late 19th century. Object Name: dress. Physical Description: satin (overall material).
The object in the museum catalogue
Handmade dress worn in vaudeville performances by actress Nellie Burt. The dress is made of blue satin with black velvet check patterns and three tulips applied to pink bodice. The costume also includes a white apron. Burt was a comedian and actress who performed a "flirtation act" involving witty repartee while dancing with partner Billy Gould in the years leading up to 1905, when the act broke up. Burt was donor's great-aunt. Donor stated that Nellie wore this dress while performing a 14-week stint at Tony Pastor's Opera House in New York City. Burt was born about 1850 and died in 1916.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: late 19th century
- Object Name: dress
- Physical Description: satin (overall material)
- Physical Description: velvet (overall material)
- Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 115 cm x 70 cm; 45 9/32 in x 27 9/16 in
- place made: United States: New York, New York City
- used: United States: New York, New York City
- associated subject: Vaudeville
- associated subject: Theater
- associated subject: Comedy
- ID Number: 1998.0002.01
- accession number: 1998.0002
- catalog number: 1998.0002.01
- Credit Line: Jean P. Warner
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
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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.
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