Collection of Five Pieces of Sheet Music Composed for Drag Performer Julian Eltinge, 1910–1917

New York City: Leo. Feist Inc. and others, 1917. Five pieces of sheet music (see full inventory below). Overall very good plus.. Julian Eltinge (1881–1941) was the most commercially successful and popular female impersonator of his time. Beginning with drag performances in his adolescence, he developed a convincing portrayal of female characters—shocking audiences at the end of shows by revealing that he was in costume—and had a successful career on the vaudeville circuit and on Broadway, followed by appearances in several silent films and, as mores around crossdressing changed, in nightclubs.

Offered here are five pieces of sheet music written for Eltinge, three of which are from the 1910 musical comedy The Fascinating Widow. A New York Times review of the Widow remarks that “once over the initial unpleasantness of the idea of female impersonation, which is not easy for people of delicate sensibilities, there is nothing especially displeasing about Mr. Eltinge’s efforts at femininity”, and notes Eltinge’s popularity and ability to draw crowds.[1]

Titles Included:
“In the Land of Wedding Bells.” Howard Johnson and Geo. W. Meyer. New York: Leo. Feist Inc., 1917. 4 pp. Very good plus.
“The Crinoline Girl”. Julian Eltinge and Percy Wenrich. New York: Leo. Feist, 1914. 6 pp. Very good.
“The Fascinating Widow”. E. Ray Goetz and Kerry Mills. New York: F.A. Mills Inc., 1911. 8 pp. Near Fine.
The Fascinating Widow [“Jack-O-Lantern Moon”]. Julian Eltinge, Jack Mahoney, and Percy Wenrich. New York: The Wenrich-Howard Co., 1913. 6 pp. Very good.
The Fascinating Widow [“With Down-Cast Eye”]. Otto Hauerbach and Karl Hoschna. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Paris: M. Witmark & Sons, 1910. 6 pp. Excellent.

[1] “Eltinge in Musical Play. Female Impersonator Seen at the Liberty in ‘The Fascinating Widow.’” The New York Times, September 12, 1911.