Delano Dollies Dance Hall Revue

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade! 🍋

Sweetened lemon drinks in many iterations appeared throughout history. The first reference to lemonade dates to 11th century writings of Persian adventurer Nasir Khusraw. But a drink most closely resembling what we think of as lemonade today appeared in the 1667 French cookbook, Le Confiturier Français.

And it didn’t take long to eventually come to America. In 1879, 10 year old Edward Bok of Brooklyn, New York opened the very first lemonade stand. And it has remained a staple of summertime ever since. 🧊

📷 Man selling lemonade in London, 1870

Victorians loved a rosy cheek. 🌹 Although they favored a “natural” look, cosmetics could certainly be used to help achieve this.

Rouge may have been slightly taboo for a lady to purchase, but etiquette manuals of the time gave instructions on how to achieve a rosy cheek discreetly. 🤫 Red beet juice could be massaged into the cheeks. Other homemade recipes included a powdered concoction of starch, carmine dye and flower oils that “imparts a delicate rosy tinge to the skin preferable to rouge”. ♥️

“The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing”. 😉

Only paintings and drawings could truly capture the gaiety and excitement of the Can-Can in the 1860s! 🎉

Too fast for the camera shutter speeds of the time, the energetic dancing and whirlwind of colorful petticoats created an experience that has captured imagination for decades. 💃

America definitely made all the men stand up and salute! 🫡

Appropriately named, America was born on the 4th of July. ❤️🤍💙 She dazzled audiences with her amazing high kicks and firecracker fun. 🧨 Having bid a fond adieu to the Dollies after 10 years, we can’t help but remember her today! 🇺🇸

By 1870, Independence Day was the most important secular holiday on the calendar. 🇺🇸

There were large gatherings in towns involving speeches, music, firecrackers, picnics, ringing bells, and sometimes the firing a cannon. Even far-flung communities on the western frontier managed to congregate and celebrate on the Fourth of July. And on June 28, 1870 the U.S. Congress declared Independence Day a federal holiday. 🎇

📷 Dominque C. Fabronius, c1876

Hats were a short lived idea. 🥵

Although cowboy attire fit a distinctly Western theme, and was very different from the other saloon dancers in the area at the time, they were also 𝘩𝘰𝘵 and hard to keep on your head when doing cartwheels. So despite many a “Yeehaw!” and the music of Dale Evans and Roy Rogers, it was ultimately not to be. This early phase in the Delano Dollies timeline is likely best forgotten, as all awkward fashion choices are. 😅

📷 Poison Ivy, Shady Sadie, Red Hot Ruby, Brassy Brandy and Blaze

Farming for early settlers in Kansas was a year-round occupation. 🌾

During the 1860s much of Kansas Prairie was being converted to farmland. Sod turning was a tedious and arduous process, with native prairie plants having deep roots, some up to 9 feet. Oxen and plows were not adapted to such a monumental task, and frequently only an acre of land could be broken per day. Hand planting of crops began with the April thaw and lasted until Midsummer, when dry grasses and hay could be cut and laid away. ☀️

📷 Alicia Oberg

Although hot days by the water sounds nice, sometimes the glare is too much. ☀️

Venetian women in the 1700s found wearing tinted, mirror-like framed “gondola glasses” helped to shield their eyes from glare. Around 1752 James Ayscough (known for his microscopes) introduced tinted spectacles with double-hinged side pieces, but it wasn’t until the very late 1800s that spectacles intended for shielding UV light were introduced. Thus, the summer fashion statement of sunglasses was born. 🕶️

Wild Grace loves old whiskey and new adventures- so much that she creates her own!

An educated lady full of poise, Grace was raised within an upperclass family in New York. Although comfortable there, an arranged marriage found her fleeing West. After rambling the prairies, and discovering her wilder side, she happened upon the Dollies, who thought her to be an excellent fit. Just like her favorite number of shots, she’s still in high spirits with us six years later.

Happy “Birthday” to our Wild Grace. Her sly smile and free spirited nature never fail to add excitement to a Dollies Show. 💙📖💛🥃


📷 RedRock Photography

Don’t forget to schedule a visit to see your Dollies this afternoon! 🪭

Come out and celebrate summer with us as we perform 𝐭𝐰𝐨 different shows in Turnverine Hall at Cowtown this afternoon at 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm; feel free to watch them both! Hope to see y’all there! ♥️

Kicks are an integral part of a Can-Can, and none is larger than a fan kick! 💃

It’s performed with a high, straight leg kick in which the leg makes a swooping circular arc across the front of the body, resembling a fan. 🪭 It’s an impressive way to show off both a dancer’s athleticism and petticoat, as well as historically, uh, a little more. 🫣

The show that started it all! 😘

Waaaaay back in 1992 the founding members, who were both former and current Can-Can dancers, learned of a request which they were happy to help fulfill. In an effort to create a show for a Kansas state meeting of the Bed and Breakfast Association at Eberly Farms, these lovely ladies put together a few songs and dances and created an amazing dance troupe that is still kicking today.

📷 Pictured left to right: Red Hot Ruby, Shady Sadie, Karakul (top), Blaze (bottom), Ginger & Brassy Brandy

The most impressive, and recognizable, breed of cow from the Western Frontier is the Texas Longhorn. 🐂

Hailing from Spain, Spanish conquistadors brought them to the Americas in the 1490s. Left to roam Mexico, they were eventually driven north into what would become “Texas”. In the aftermath of the Civil War and decimation of the Bison, Longhorns were brought in to fill the Great Plains.

With horns that can easily span over 8 feet, and sometimes even as much as 10.5 feet, the look of these steers has forever become enmeshed with Cowboys and trail drives. Although inbreeding nearly caused the breed to disappear by 1900, they are still around today.

📷 RedRock Photography

One way to enjoy the outdoors without sacrificing your style of dress was to go ice skating. 🧊

Perfect as an outdoor fitness option for women, and as a social gathering, skating became a popular pastime during the Victorian era. As safety and demand surged, large skating rinks were developed. One in Canada named the Victoria regularly held large events, including fancy-dress balls.

A 1870s quote captured that scene: “When many hundred persons are upon the ice, and with every variety of costume, pass through all the graceful figures that skaters delight in, the scene presented to the spectator is dazzling in the extreme.”

Victorians popularised ice skating as a pastime and social event. ⛸️

Ice skate blades were originally fastened to a wooden footplate, and the whole of the skate was fastened to the foot with leather straps. In 1850 the all-steel skate replaced this cumbersome wooden footplate, allowing for easier movement.

It was not until after 1900 however that the “closed-toe” blade of one-piece steel was added, giving strength while permitting a lighter-weight blade.

Happy New Year! 🍾 Cheers to 2024 being the best yet! 🥂

☕️ 💖 ✨

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝓛𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝓗𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝓡𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬! The Delano Dollies are kicking up their heels in Haysville @ 11:00am & 2:00pm! 💃

Each show is completely different, so feel free to stick around for them both!

There’s historical legends to meet and mountain men to greet. It’s a perfect day to step back in time and enjoy the 1800s with us! 🍁

🎼 All day long on the prairies I ride,
Not even a dog to trot by my side,
My ceiling is the sky, my floor is the grass,
My music is the lowing of the herds as they pass…

-“The Cowboy”, one of many frontier ballads

The great trail drives of the 1860s to the 1890s drew young men from all over the country and abroad to work as cowboys. They refashioned songs to their own tastes, adding serious and comic lyrics about their lives and work, as well as specials calls and hollers to herd cattle and communicate with each other over the vast expanses of the trail. 🌾🐂

📷 Cowboy in Bonham, Texas, June 1910

Don’t forget to schedule a visit to see your Dollies in Haysville on Saturday! 📅

Come out and celebrate with us as we perform 𝐭𝐰𝐨 shows that day at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm; feel free to watch them both!

Hope to see y’all at the Living History Rendezvous ! 💋

Bison are likely the most recognizable part of the American West. 🦬

Although slightly resembling Buffalo, the American Bison has a heavier frame and stockier head, with shorter and sharper horns. Built for the cold, their shaggy thick coats and huge head allows them to find food in deep snow.

Once roaming the plains in herds of millions, these huge mammals saw their numbers drop to a paltry 500 within a mere twenty years. Their government-driven slaughter was one from which they technically never recovered. Although ranchers helped to save the dwindling bison population, they bred them with cattle in hopes of creating heartier livestock. Today, it’s unlikely that any Bison does not have some portion of cattle in its genetic code.

But we do celebrate the fact that we continue to have this magnificent mammal still here with us today. The herds at Yellowstone and Tallgrass National Prairie are worth a trip to see, and Ken Burns’ documentary “The American Buffalo” is worth a watch.

Knitted or woven, warm wraps have a hold on us. 🧣

Queen Victoria was a fan of both shawls and scarves, and during her reign they became a status symbol. 🎩 The most valuable shawls were Paisley shawls imported from India and made of goat’s wool. 🐐 Cashmere or cotton, they continue to be a popular accessory in warding cold while accenting an outfit.

The Delano Dollies will be heading out to perform in Haysville this Saturday!

We’ll be kicking up our heels during the Living History Rendezvous for two performances in Rigg’s park, once at 11:00 am and again at 2:00 pm on the Bandstand stage. Each 30 minute show is completely different, so why not watch them both?

Come celebrate the 1800's on the Great Plains. Talk to cowboys and hob nob with the mountain men. Featuring horses, everyday life and (of course!) the Delano Dollies, it’s a free event you won’t want to miss! 💋♥️

The Delano Dollies will be performing during Open Streets ICT this Sunday!

We’ll be dancing on the stage in Kennedy Plaza by Century II at 3:30 pm. Douglas Street is closed from College Hill to Delano, and packed with entertainment and fun. We can’t wait to see you there! ☀️💛

The first knitting machines were designed for making stockings. 🧦

Before the invention of nylon, stockings were made of woven linen, cotton, wool, or silk. Worn for warmth, it wasn’t until dress hemlines rose in the 1920s that women began to wear flesh-colored stockings in an effort to appear bare-legged while remaining warm.

Of course, if you’re dancing the Can-Can for half the night, wearing stockings likely became optional.

It can be hard to plan the perfect summer. ☀️

Faro was easy to learn, had fast action, and great odds for a game of chance. 💰 From 1825 until 1915, it was the most popular enticement in nearly every gambling hall in the American West.

Unfortunately those odds meant that the “house” had no significant edge, so dealers compensated by using sleight of hand and trick decks. 😏

Cheating became so prevalent that “Hoyle’s Rules of Games” began the Faro section with a disclaimer that no honest faro bank could be found in the United States.

One for blow, and one for show. 🤧

Handkerchiefs were as much a fashion statement as they were a necessity for those living in the 1800s. Useful for both spring allergies and summer sweats, they also could convey a whole language of flirting.

Although handkerchiefs for the average man were mostly white in color, a lady’s might be personally embroidered with flowers or other colorful images.

They’re right on his tail! 💨