Fantasies and Realities of Children’s Stage Costume: Madame Behenna’s Juvenile Jollities, 1925–26

Abstract

Madame Behenna’s Juvenile Jollities was a song-and-dance troupe of girls, age four to fourteen, based in northeast London. This article examines the troupe’s costumes and practices through a case study of Eileen Brock, a member of the Jollities from 1925 to 1926. Eileen’s stage wardrobe illuminates both fantasies and realities of childhood in the 1920s. Jollities performances—up to fifty songs spread over several hours—were kaleidoscopic displays of spectacular costumes, designed by their manager and made by the performers’ families. Their concerts revealed and reflected the fantasies of interwar audiences: nostalgic singalongs, racist stereotypes, and innuendo, enacted by a “fascinating” and “artless” troupe of children. Although the children of the Jollities and other dance troupes leave very little account of themselves, by observing the Jollities’ costumes, and hearing other accounts of dancing and performance, we can “surmise and infer” the experiences of Eileen and the other Jollities, who performed childhood in the aftermath of the First World War.