Military Camp: Crossdressing In the Service
by Ralph Judd, Ph.D.
Servicemen shows in the military with female impersonations began to flourish around World War I. At first the recreation policy of the military brass required isolation of the troops from venereal disease (read girls) and confinement with whole some ideas. Basic needs were pretty much ignored. This attitude may have given rise to that old saw and double entendre popular with soldiers: "Nothing's too good for our boys in the service."
On August 28,1917 General John J. Pershing published General Order no. 26- II-1, which stated that the Young Men's Christian Association would "provide for the amusement and recreation of the troops by means of its usual program of social, physical, educational, and religious services."
There immediately sprang up YMCA "Huts" around the world, paid for by government and private subscriptions. The Eagle Hut in London was esteemed as one of the most cosmopolitan gathering places in Europe - a great clubhouse for soldiers.
In Summary of World War Work of the American YMCA can be found the activities of the Eagle Hut for one month (February 1919):
134,566 meals were served; 3191 sodas; 14,540 ices; 19,335 cakes; 6985 kits packed; 1564 valuables cared for; 1871 baths provided; 11,438 men entertained all night; entertainments attracting 17,250 in attendance; 84 "sing songs" attended by 1680; there were 2886 who played at billiards; 11 lectures attended by 2775; 12 religious meetings were attended by 6700; literature to the number of 11,710 pieces distributed; 13,394 served at information bureau; 675 articles of clothing mended.
Obviously, a busy place. Worth noting: no mention of dances. Female companionship was even harder to find in the huts near the front lines or in the holiday leave areas. Nature ran its course. Occasionally the Y became a place where unauthorized male-with-male intimacy occurred.
U.S. Army, 1942. From the left: Corporal Nelson Barclift impersonates Norwegian ballet dancer and American movie actress Vera Zorlina. Irving Berlin in WWI uniform. Private Julie Oshins does a striptease as he impersonates Gypsy Rose Lee. Sergeant Erza Stone in WWII uniform. Far right: A chorus "girl".
Meanwhile Irving Berlin was already a thriving and celebrated songwriter when he was drafted and assigned to Fort Yaphank on Long Island in New York. One day his Commanding Officer called him in and asked him to put on a soldier show which would raise funds to build a visitors' lounge. Berlin agreed and embraced the General's edict that although the cast would be all-male, there would be female impersonators doing comedy, singing, and dancing.
Yip Yip Yaphank, U.S. Army, 1918. Soldiers in blackface and drag perform "Mandy" in the Century Theater on Broadway
Berlin's creation, Yip Yip Yaphank, opened on Broadway in the Century Theater in June 1918. Among the Berlin songs nestled one entitled "I Can Always Find a Little Sunshine in the YMCA." When it was sung, there was considerable unauthorized snickering by knowing soldiers in the audience and the song was pulled from the show. However, remaining in the program was a minstrel number, "Mandy," which was performed by a chorus of servicemen in blackface and in little girls' clothing.
U.S. Army 1918. Private J. T. Morey of the 107th Ambulance Co., of the 27th Division is making up private Daniel Burns, Co. A, 102nd Military Police, who is going to play "Lotta Noyse" in You Know Me Al. The show was so successful when produced in camp that the soldiers came to New York and gave performances for the home folks.
Another soldier show that played in New York City was You Know Me Al. Its heroine in real life was a Military Policeman.
Overseas with the A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Force) soldier shows really began in earnest after the Armistice. Following November 11, 1918 there was a prolonged period of waiting before the soldiers could go home.
During this time Command Control shifted from fighting to entertaining. General Pershing issued General Orders 241 which directed "the attention of all concerned to the importance of encouraging the development of all kinds of appropriate talent." Supervisory officers were assigned. Tours were planned. The creation of shows became a joint A.E.F./YMCA venture.
A few real girls from field detachments of the YMCA, the Red Cross, the Knights of Columbus, and the Salvation Army joined the troupes of troops. But most of the "girls" were played by soldiers and every regiment thought that its "chorus girls" were the greatest.
One favorite routine had a gentleman inquire of one of the "girls," "Are you a lady?" "Gawd, I try to be," she answers in Brooklynese.
Although theaters were quickly built, performances took place in ruined cathedrals, tents, chateaux, huts, and on open-air platforms. Every cast wanted to play Paris: the largest theaters and the largest crowds were there.
Who Can Tell? U.S. Army, 1919. Men of the 88th Division rehearse as chorus "ladies." The song is "There Is Room In My Heart For You," and the soldiers will sing it to President Woodrow Wilson in Paris.
The biggest of all the shows, with a cast of 160 including 32 female impersonators, was Who Can Tell?, the song-and-dance revue of the EightyEighth Division. President Woodrow Wilson, General Pershing, and representatives of fifteen nations at the Peace conference caught the revue at the Champs-Elysees Theater in Paris. Troops of the 88th came from Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and were organized and trained at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa.
A Festival in Venice German POWs at Camp Polk, LA, in 1943 put on a variety show. Both costumes and scenery were made from salvage.
Another show that played Paris was A Buck On Leave, staged by the Motor Transport Corps.
In the field hospitals, the wounded amused one another with local variety programs.
By the time the troops departed Europe 700 soldier shows with a total cast of 15,000 soldiers had been well-received in spite of the cynical remark of a middle-aged colonel: "The entire A.E.F. seems to be made up of masquerading soubrettes."
U.S. Army, 1942. Ballet Dancers
Female impersonation continued after World War I in servicemen shows. At isolated locations where itinerant actors rarely ventured, the troops learned to entertain themselves. Falsies and makeshift wigs became a staple of many presentations.
With the coming of the Second World War, the draft not only produced a large audience clamoring to be entertained, but also filled the ranks with a new generation of show-biz talent.
Irving Berlin, now a 53-year-old civilian and a legendary songwriter, volunteered to create a new soldier show with the proceeds to go to Army Relief. Washington, D.C. was quick to accept his offer. Berlin again set up shop at Fort Yaphank and a nationwide call went out for Army talent. Strongly desired were skillful singers and dancers, specialty acts, and a bevy of female impersonators. As in Yip Yip Yaphank only male service personnel would perform.
This Is the Army U.S. Army, 1942. The official photo caption reads: "Don't let them fool you, boys. They're chorus 'gals' but tough as mule meat."
Berlin called the show This is the Army. It premiered at the Broadway Theater on July 4, 1942. The production opened with a minstrel show, shifted to a vaudeville program, and ended with a revue. Female impersonators were found in the following numbers: "Mandy," "Ladies of the Chorus," "That Russian Winter," "That's What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear," "I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen," and "Aryans Under the Skin" (with an unknown Private Burl Ives playing one of four frauleins). Critics loved it. Wilella Waldorf wrote in the New York Post:
Much of the comedy involving hairy-chested soldiers dressed up as chorus girls is one the familiar Varsity-show type, but This is the Army has a snappy professional quality that the college boys seldom manage to achieve.
The New York Times:
The great Private Oshins out-gypsys Gypsy Rose Lee.
Richard Watts, Jr. in the New York Herald Tribune:
To the United States Army which was intelligent enough to realize the value
of such a production to the wartime spirit of all of us, there must go more
credit than it is possible to set down here. . . it has everything except
girls, and the terrible truth is that you don't miss them. Burns Mantle in
the Daily News:
This is the Army played 112 performances in New York and then went on the road. It played the major cities of the United States including Washington, D.C., where President Franklin Roosevelt saw it.
The last stop in America for This is the Army was Hollywood, where Warner Brothers made it into a movie. Future Senator George Murphy starred as the father of future President Ronald Reagan. Screenwriters fabricated a story connecting Yip Yip Yaphank with This is the Army. Some actresses appeared in the film but none performed in the production numbers of its soldier show. Songs added to the film were all composed by Berlin.
After Hollywood This is the Army went overseas. During a run at the London Palladium the King and Queen of England, accompanied by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, came to see the show. The final London performance was attended by General Dwight D. Eisenhower on February 6, 1944. He called it "Wonderful!" Then the show headed around the world: Italy, Cairo, Persia, Australia, New Guinea, Philippines, and all the Pacific Islands. The cast disbanded in Honolulu with the end of the war in 1945.
While recovering from wounds in France in 1918, soldiers masquerade on the grounds of a hospital in France.
Local servicemen shows also flourished during World War II. "WAC Happy" in Los Angeles was such a winner.
The "good guys" did not do all the crossdressing. German prisoners of war entertained one another with drag numbers.
Soldier shows with crossdressing are no longer permitted in the military. The Armed Forces have always been uptight about their masculine image. Consider the use of umbrellas while in uniform. Depending on which psychiatrist you listen to, you will hear that umbrellas suggest either phallic symbols or fairies' wands. The women of all services may carry umbrellas while in uniform. But permission for men has been slow in coming.
With its customary daring the U.S. Air Force approved umbrellas for airmen in uniform in 1979. In November 1987 the U.S. Navy decided that a man in uniform with an umbrella did not look effete; the Navy did an about face with its regulation.
The Marine Corps still prohibits umbrellas even though during World War II some male American Marines wore skirts; they were a battalion of recruits from Samoa. And the Army says there is no consideration to let soldiers carry umbrellas even though the cavalry lads at Saults-Saint-Marie, Michigan, in 1890 were issued cream-colored parasols to beat the heat.
American soldier shows featuring female impersonation which came in with a bang in World War I suddenly went out with a bang right after World War II. Today's soldier has no recollection of the Army's glorious fling at crossdressing. And historians will point out that the US has not won a war since the drag shows stopped.
Perhaps it's time to put this little bit of fun back into Army life.
REFERENCES
Evans, James W. and Harding, Captain Gardner L., Entertaining the American
Army. New York: Association Press, 1921.
Ewen, David. The Story of Irving Berlin. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1950.
Freedland, Michael. Irving Berlin. New York: Stein and Day, 1974. The International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations. Summary of the World War Work of the American YMCA. The International Committee of Young Men's Christian Associations, 1920.
