Burlesque Hall of Fame

The Exotic World Burlesque Hall of Fame and Nostalgia Museum is a non-profit organization in operation since 1980.  It was founded by the late exotic dancer Jennie "The Bazoom Girl" Lee Arroyo, whose credits included a regular column called "Who's Who in Burly Q" appearing in the centerfold of the popular 1940s tabloid Hollywood Confidential.  The feature showcased photos of the burlesque stars and Arroyo's own responses to questions from fans.  

She later left Hollywood and opened her own nightclub in San Pedro called The Sassy Lassy. This is about when Jennie started collecting burlesque memorabilia. The club operated into the mid 70s.  With her health declining, she sold her nightclub and bought land in the high desert.  It was then that friend Dixie Lee Evans, a burlesque star of the 50s came to nurse the ailing Arroyo and the idea for a museum was born.

Dixie Evans, famously known as the 'Marilyn Monroe of burlesque', transformed what were
once goat sheds into thirteen rooms of exhibits. Inside the walls are filled with photographs and playbills of busty strippers from days gone by, and a wealth of memorabilia, including, pasties, lip-prints, and even the jewel-encrusted g-strings of such Burlesque legends as Blaze Starr, Lili St. Cyr, Candy Barr and Chesty Morgan; as well as Sally Rand's ivory-handled fans, Gypsy Rose Lee's glove collection, Jayne Mansfield's heart-shaped couch, and even the ashes of Miss Sheri Champagne, one of Burley-Q's all-time greats. Also displayed is a nude velvet painting of Farrah Fawcett, and the ashes of The Bazoom Girl herself, Jennie Lee, the founder of Exotic World.

Lee intended to create a burlesque museum, found a burlesque school and run a bed and breakfast, and the goat farm site had enough room to contain her growing collection. Only the museum got started within her lifetime.

After Lee died in 1990, Dixie Evans took over the farm and turned it into the Exotic World Burlesque Museum, aided by Lee's widower, Charlie Arroyo. Lee's memorabilia formed the core of the collection, but people from around the world soon started to donate items to Exotic World. The collection grew large enough to fill the entire farm. A famously close-knit bunch, retired Burlesque stars often drop in unannounced from parts unknown. As Dixie Evans says, "The girls love coming by. They enjoy knowing that someone cares about preserving their work."

Dixie Evans initiated the Miss Exotic World pageant in 1990 as a way to draw people to the museum. She garnered attention by sending out a press release claiming that "Lili St. Cyr, Tempest Storm, Blaze Starr and 30 other alumni of burlesque will all be invited to attend this reunion." While technically true, none of those invitees attended that year. However, the release garnered press attention for the pageant, which was successful enough to become an annual event.

The Miss Exotic World Pageant is an annual burlesque pageant and convention, and is the annual showcase event (and fundraiser for) the Burlesque Hall of Fame. The pageant, sometimes referred to as the "Miss America of Burlesque," attracts former burlesque queens from past decades, as well as current participants of the neo-burlesque scene. The pageant consists of burlesque performances spanning a weekend, culminating with the competition to crown a single performer as Miss Exotic World. Because of the significance of the
Exotic World Burlesque Museum to the burlesque community, winning the pageant is considered a top honor for a burlesque p erformer.

 Th e Burlesque Hall of Fame is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization,
so your generous donations are 100% tax-deductible.  
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