Anyone out there know about Why, When or Who invented the stripper pole?
Thanks!
Jo
Anyone out there know about Why, When or Who invented the stripper pole?
Thanks!
Jo





Didn't the pole somehow evolve from the circus big top tents?



LOL, I don't know, but it gets me thinking...who the hell first came up with the idea to have a naked woman swing around a brass pole? Now that you think of it, it is a pretty funny idea to come up with, and proves my theory that guys like to watch girls do ANYTHING naked.
>guys like to watch girls do ANYTHING naked!
I hear that, Nawty - My respect for males went down a notch when a guy offered to pay me to *pick my nose* (urgh) naked (big urgh). Not so weird? I wasn't even a stripper yet! [what]
Maria




I really have no historical knowledge but my guess is that it simply is another episode of phallic symbols usage in striptease.
How long have they been used in strip shows? I look at a lot of vintage men's magazines which tend to have silly pictorials of "actual clubs" and, now that I think of it, I never remember seeing a pole in the background. This would be 40s-60s.
Now you've got my wheels whirring...
Anyone think of contacting the museum of Burlesque in Californina?
I'm going to have to ask my grandma, lol!
Currently dancing at the Men's Club of Reno, NV
under the name of Veronica! I am a 2007 calendar girl for MCR, so message me if you want a calendar!





I seriously think it evolved from the big top. I KNOW I read that somewhere...hmmmmm........
I may be going out to the museum this weekend. I'll definitely ask Dixie about it.
As for the Circus Big Top suggestion, could be true. A dancer friend of mine told me that it stemmed from prostitutes who "danced" around street lamp posts to attract customers.
Thanks for the replies.![]()
I have ALWAYS wanted to know this!! I hope someone knows the answer.. I guess the street lamp hooker thing makes sense, but isn't very glamourous lol... I wanna know who was like, "yeah, naked girls, let's give em a pole to play with!" (well, I guess every man thinks that, but I want to know who first decided to give naked girls a large brass pole)
Hi,
Just wondering which book you found that depression-era history in, notthelastgirl? It's fascinating!



I’d have thought the pole as we know it today was rather more recent, when I’ve seen actually films of 1950s and 1960s US strip clubs {eg Jack Ruby’s place in Dallas} there were no poles at all just a normal stage. I always thought the modern pole thing came from Canada when all those bars started up in Vancover in the early 70s.
Tyke



This won't actually help but it might give some perspective--when I worked in Atlanta in the early 1980s some places had poles but we weren't allowed to swing or hang on them, just lean against them and stuff.
The first time I saw women really using the poles was during a dance contest in Nashville, I think at the Classic Cat, when I was featuring there in 1992 or 93. They had obviously been doing it for awhile. After that, I saw pole-dancing in almost every city where I was booked.
There's a movie with Leslie Caron, Glory Alley, in which she dances with a pole much the same way strippers do now, it was probably from the early 50s.
Last edited by Jo Weldon; 02-14-2006 at 01:37 AM. Reason: misspelling, what else?
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I've also been told that pole dancing began in Canada, probably in Vancouver? Does anyone know more on this?
I think that incorporating poles on the stages of strip clubs happened sometime in the 80's...
I have also heard the circus/big top theory being the origin of pole dancing...
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Orignally started with circus acts and maypole...Pole dance on stage in the US dates back to 1968 in Seattle to the first exotic Circe. The dancer brought her own pole!!!
In 1968 there were also poles in Canada...how I know...I am 3 generation dancer...my mother used one..and I have pics!
Later noted in the early 70's, more poles were installed in Canada, not actually used, but there as props, similar to the stage lounger...but was then later removed due to stage sizes and side bars (ballet style) were installed.
Poles were reintroduced and actually used in the mid-late 80's in Canada.
Also in Canada...In the late 90's, Pole Dance was introduced off exotic stage, only to be slammed to the ground due to it's "preconceived" origin!
Now in 2008, we have more pole studios than strip clubs! In my city there are 3 clubs and 4 studios.
www.polejunkies.com
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