Friday, September 15, 2017

Peak pansy

Yes, we've all heard elements of this story before - drag queen balls in New York, gay nightclubs in Berlin and Paris - in the 1920's and into the 30's.   But this account of what the media (and participants) called "the pansy craze" is still pretty interesting.

I don't think I had heard of this particular song before:
Like New York, Berlin’s regular drag balls made it a popular destination for LGBT tourists. Yet many regarded this tolerance as a sign of the country’s decadence, and Hitler’s rise to power saw countless bars, clubs and cafes closed. Nazi stormtroopers tore the heart out of Berlin’s cabaret scene, arresting anyone deemed entartete: degenerate. Max Hansen, who recorded War’n Sie Schon Mal In Mich Verliebt? (Weren’t You Ever In Love With Me?), in which a drunk Hitler made passes at a Jewish man, had to make a quick exit from Germany, and other cabaret stars either followed or went back into the closet.
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3 comments:

  1. TimT10:24 am

    Wow:

    Hitler und der Sigi Cohn
    kennen sich seit Jahren schon,
    eines Tages geh’n sie aus,
    miteinand’ ins Hofbräuhaus.
    Doch schon nach der fünften Maß,
    werden Hitlers Augen nass,
    er umarmt den Sigi Cohn
    und stottert blass:
    Warst Du schon mal in mich verlieb

    Hitler and Sigi Cohn
    Knew each other for years and years
    Upon one day they went out
    Together to the Hofbräuhaus -
    But then upon the 15th beer
    Hitler's eyes grew moist
    He placed his arms round Sigi Cohn
    And faintly stuttered
    Were you ever in love with me....

    Okay, now that's brave.

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  2. TimT10:27 am

    Some of the cabaret pisstakes of the Nazis and Hitler sound pretty funny. No wonder the Nazis took it down.

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  3. Steve1:05 pm

    Maybe you would have been there, doing anti fascist poetry, too, Tim. As a warm up to the drag act...

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