The Entertainment Features of the St. Louis Fashion Pageant (1924)

The Entertainment Features of the St. Louis Fashion Pageant (1924)
This entry is part 3 of 26 in the series 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant

These 2 pages go into further descriptive detail of the 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant than the program did. You can almost see the big celebration and fashion show, and feel all the excitement as the latest ready to wear fashions were unveiled. St. Louis was historically a fashion center for furs, shoes, and ready to wear clothing… we have so much American fashion history to be proud of in this town!

I was able to use online text recognition software to extract the text from the scan I made… it all sounds so poetic! Forgive any typos, in advance:

Extracted from page 96:

The Entertainment Features of the St.
Part 1 Woman Unadorned UPON two stone pylons that rise at either end of a shimmering lagoon stand groups of living figures, draped in cloth of pearl that falls in graceful folds upon the pedestal. These living figures burst into song as two great mossy screens move silently apart, revealing a revolving sphere upon which is poised a feminine figure un-adorned, alone in all her loveliness, hold-ing aloft an oval mirror into which she peers. The starry planets, symbolized by maidens, move in their orbits around the sphere, their diaphanous robes floating like a mist as they quicken their move-ment to the rhythmic pulse of the song. Out of the void march the nations of the world, fetching their riches to this unadorned goddess. They deck her with their rarest jewels and drape her in the richest raiment, and on her brow they place a crown of lustrous pearls. To this enchanting spectacle, deep throated voices peal forth the following song:
The starry spheres around her roll While Beauty flows from pole to pole. But, in her magic loveliness She stands supreme in blessedness.
A scene at last
Of Woman sing, and Woman praise—Her charm and radiant elegance, Her worshipped beauty and romance.
From every land, and every race, Are sent rich embassies to place Rare gifts before the fairest flow’r That dwells beneath this starry bow’r.
Of Woman sing, and Woman praise—Her charm and radiant elegance, Her worshipped beauty and romance.
Louis Fashion Pageant
Songs Copyrighted 1924, by Joseph Solari
Adorn her with your jewels rare ; Bestow the fairest on the fair. From dawn of time, in every clime, She has been ever most sublime.
Adorn her with your cloth of gold, A lovely form it will enfold. Enrich her grace with tropic plumes, And Arctic furs and Eastern blooms.
Come crown her with your priceless pearls ; Around her form Creation whirls! In reverence have all aspired To kiss her hem, and rise inspired.
Of Woman sing, and Woman praise—Her charm and radiant elegance. Her worshipped beauty and romance.
As the last echo of this song dies away, two huge decorative peacocks, rising to a height of twenty feet, move slowly toward the center from either side, en-closing the magic picture. The downward circular sweep of the peacock feathers forms an oval aperture where they meet above, framing for a lingering moment the feminine goddess in all her glory. She is gradually en-veloped by an iridescent screen that rep-resents the huge eye of a peacock feather in green and blue. This forms the back-ground of the aperture, through which eight pages emerge. Their brilliant trains they attach to the further end of each peacock’s tail as they pass on to the promenades, creating a semi-circular
year’s Pageant. decoration to the ends of the lagoon. The models enter and walk in review before the multitude. As the last model passes over the promenade that divides the lagoon, the four pages stationed there replace their trains and retire through the opening from which they entered.
Festival of Cherry Blossoms The peacock screen moves apart, dis-closing a mass of cherry trees in blos-som, resplendent in their delicate tints. Before an arbor of these blossoms stand two highly decorated incense burners that send their perfumed smoke curling into the air. A Japanese mandarin with two attend-ants is seated at the center near the edge of the lagoon facing the arbor. A group of Japanese maidens are on their knees bowing very low to the dignitary. They rise in unison, and in a quiet dance that is characteristic of their race, entertain his sublime personage. After their dance they retire to either side, seat themselves in graceful groups, and sip tea under the cool shade of colorful parasols. Through the arbor of cherry blossoms comes a troop of acrobats, who amuse the gathering with clever feats of strength. When they conclude, they bow grace-fully to the dignitary, while the fwo great screens, decorated in festoons of illuminated lanterns, slowly come to-gether. Near the base of the screen is a line of lanterns of unusual design, that become animated. The upper and lower ends draw together, disclosing eight charming pages, who step from the screen, each bearing a staff mounted with a lantern, which they carry to their stations and place at their sides. The models follow and promenade through the auditorium.
Part 11
Woman Adorned A large disc that vibrates with a golden sheen appears in the center, a little above the edge of the lagoon. On each side of the disc are four large spools of thread upon which are seated the Maker of Lingerie, a Tailor, the Shoe-maker and the Milliner. Each one is garbed in a caricatured costume of his craft. They play upon musical instruments fashioned after some implement of their trade. The Lingerie Maker plays upon a spool; the Tailor upon a large shear, that takes the place of a bass viol; the Shoemaker upon a last, and the Milliner a large brimmed hat, after the manneri of a banjo. They strum their instru-ments to the following song and action:
Chorus
I adore to adorn The fair ladies. With my craft, I am daft To please the dear ladies!

Extracted from page 97:
to ul de is se of wo of to-een .gn, and ing rom nted their nade
a ?r. a On pools [ the -Shoe-ne is if his Dents their upon shear I; the illiner Lanner nstru-iction :
LINGERIE MAKER : ‘Tis I that adorn her with my art. – THE TAILOR: But she’d be complete without your part! THE SHOEMAKER: Nay, ’tis I that make her fascinating. THE MILLINER: Why, she’d be complete with my creating!
Chorus
I adore to adorn The fair ladies. With my craft, I am daft To please the dear ladies!
Lingerie Maker Now, observe what I have done To prove my own contention : The ladies fair—every one—Are complete with my invention !
Immediately after this verse, four ex-quisite figures, habited in lingerie, ap-pear before the disc and pose to the next stanza:
For in my lingerie She is in fine array ; So, without your part, She’s a thrill thru my art. And, ah ! So fascinating ! To all, most captivating ! he next verse is sung in chorus to a quick movement to which the maidens dance away to the right and left.
Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ! Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! How absurd ! Who ever heard That you aspired, or e’er desired Without our art, to make her smart And fascinating—so captivating !
The Tailor Now, observe what I have done To prove my own contention : The ladies fair—every one—Are complete with my invention !
At this moment two pages come through the disc, each crowned with a bolt of fabric, from which flows the ma-terial that drapes their bodies, and pose to the following stanza:
For in my frock attired. She’s always most admired : So, without your part, She’s divine thru my art. And, ah ! So fascinating ! To all, most captivating !
As the next verse is sung they trip lightly into positions on the extreme right and left of the disc.
Chorus Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! How absurd ! Who ever heard That you aspired, or e’er desired Without our art, to make her smart And fascinating—so captivating !
The Shoemaker Now, observe what I have done To prove my own contention : The ladies fair—every one—Are complete with my invention!
He ushers in two pages, laced in boots from their toes to their curving shoul-ders, and as they pose he sings this verse:
For, in my boots secure, Her step is an allure: So, without your part, She’s a charm thru my art. And, ah ! So fascinating! To all, most captivating !
The pages dance to their while the chorus sing:
Chorus Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ! Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! How absurd! Who ever heard That you aspired, or e’er desired
positions,
Without our art, to make her smart And fascinating—so captivating ! The Milliner Now, observe what I have done To prove my own contention: The ladies fair—every one—Are complete with my invention !
The last four pages emerge from the disc in large brimmed hats, from which stream a colored maze of ribbons that encircle their fair bodies. They fall into
Pages in a Spanish pleasing postures to the verse:
For in hats divine She’s chic and superfine: So, without your part. She’s a dream thru my art. And, ah ! So fascinating! To all, most captivating!
scene
On the following verses, all the pages dance to their stations:
Chorus Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! How absurd! Who ever heard That you aspired, or e’er desired Without our art, to make her smart And fascinating—so captivating !
But, brothers, let us quite agree. Without our part to make them smart—Before our time, in every clime, They were complete without our art !
But nevertheless We must confess:
We adore to adorn The fair ladies. With our craft, we are daft To please the dear ladies!
While they sing the last stanza they dance off to the right and left. They are immediately followed by the models, who come through the glittering disc and promenade into the auditorium. A Spanish Mantilla The screens open upon a Spanish plaza, bathed in the bright sunlight of that country. In the background, toward the center, is a stone arch with an iron gate. Above it is a large casement window
97
with a typical Spanish balcony. In the center of the plaza you observe a foun-tain, around which is gathered a group of Spanish maidens filling their jugs with water. Some are approaching the fountain while others are leaving it with their jugs. They all sing a familiar lyric of their sunny clime. Four of the maidens that are standing before the fountain enter into an ani-
in this year’s Pageant. mated gossip song as two Spanish gal-, lants appear at the further end of the plaza. One of the gallants starts a flirtation with a maiden, whom he approaches. A band of strolling Spanish Gypsies come into the plaza, bedecked in the rich barbaric colors that are charac-teristic of their tribe. A few of the maidens gather at the fountain to have their fortunes told, While several of the Gypsy men strum upon their guitars. The others begin a series of Spanish dances, starting with the tango and the bolero and ending with the sevillana, which has a strange fascination and arouses them to a state of wild ecstasy. The scene is slowly enveloped in the splendor of moonlight. A lover sings beneath the balcony. Through a lighted window above appears a maiden, who, in the warmth of her tender tones, an-swers her lover. She unfurls and lowers her mantilla, upon which he pins a rose wrapped in a message. She draws it to her lips and bids him farewell. She withdraws from the balcony. The light is extinguished. A cloud obscures the moon and the scene vanishes. Eight bewitching pages appear from behind the fringe in bizarre costumes of Spanish design. They prance to their stations followed by the models, who again promenade into the auditorium.

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