Seattle Gay History: Women having fun 1900-1920

Seattle Gay History: Women having fun 1900-1920

by Don Paulson - SGN Contributing Writer These extremely rare Brownie Camera snapshots were found in the deep, musky archives of Old Seattle Paperworks in Seattle's Pike Street Market. Possibly taken in Seattle and rural Washington State. Nothing is known of these debonair Lotharios except their raid on a man's closet and their obvious happy moments of camaraderie and benign kink - but they had no idea the true rigors of male impersonation. Seattle's first known drag king was Mick Arthur in 1946 at the Garden of Allah Cabaret. Female impersonators must go through considerable efforts to create the illusion of the perfect woman, but drag kings go through hell to mask feminine features and movements - crisp movements rather than smooth, like how you hold a cigarette. Women generally have lighter skin and thinner eyebrows so there's cosmetic shadowing and loose hair applications for a mustache, beard, goatee, sideburns and shadow makeup for a "five o'clock shadow." Hairstyle is important, but the most challenging is breast binding. Some use a sports bra or ace bandages, others Saran Wrap or Duct Tape - which could cause tearing of the skin, excessive blistering and stretching of breast tissue on removal. Some drag kings have passed out on stage due to poor blood circulation and not being able to sweat. Add to this the illusion of male genitalia - "Hey! Someone stole my stockings!" Since I relate to the romantic, surely two of these charming women having fun turned out to be Gay and escaped to the relative safety of Seattle for that Lesbian sweet life - perhaps two of them pictured here are the known "masculine women' who patronized a bar in Pioneer Square in 1917.