In 1878 the first troupes of "Female Mastodons" appeared in the New York papers and a mere one year later, those troupes were traveling as far as Bloomington, Illinois to provide entertainment and enlightenment! The first to appear in Bloomington were the May Fisk Mastodon Minstrels in October of 1879 at the Opera House at 213 N. Main. The Pantagraph was, on the whole, pleased with the performance:
"Mankind was abundantly present in all styles and ages, and delighted in the nimble capering and warbling of damsels of tangled golden locks and antimonial eyebrows. There are several buxom and dainty forms, a number of plump and sparkling faces, an assorted stock of twinkling feet, a good deal of genuine artistic merit, an abundance of naughtiness, and a small consignment of indecency and vulgarity that might well be spared. . . . One modest gentleman in the front seat last evening viewed the situation with a pair of field glasses, and will be present this evening with a telescope if he can sneak it out of the house without his wife's (sic) seeing it."
Why "Mastodons??" Just before companies started titling themselves as "mastodons" there were some exciting discoveries of mastodon remains in the United States. This seems to be the only reason for naming these troupes "mastodons." The women are not unusually large, and feats of strength, while they were sometimes included, were not the main attraction of the companies.
The Ida Siddon's Female Mastodons appeared in Bloomington on September 28 and 29, 1883, also appearing at the Opera House on Main. The female mastodons were a variation on the burlesque stage, featuring women in feats of strength or merely singing and swinging, all scantily clad, as pictured in the poster above. The Pantagraph stated that when they appeared in the Opera House only one or two women were present in the audience, "owing to the sensational character of the advance advertising" i.e. the scandalous poster!! However, the Pantagraph praised the performance as one of the best variety shows to come to Bloomington.
In New York papers a more detailed description of Ida Siddon's troupe's performances in 1883 was available. "The curtain rose displaying a portion of the troupe swinging above the stage while the others were arranged on the stage in regular minstrel style. This part of the program, consisting of songs and jokes, was well received. Constantine and Lansing in "The Stage Struck Domestics" were amusing. The latter's female "make-up" was almost perfect, which seems to be a reference to a female impersonation. "Ned West in his songs and sayings was good and Griffin and Marks, the song and dance men, proved to be
remarkably agile. The "Three Solitaires, (solo acts) -- Billy Arnold, banjoist, Ida Siddons, the skipping rope dancer (!) and Burt Queen, ventriloquist -- were repeatedly applauded. Emma and James Alfredo, gymnasts, Helene Smith, Songstress and Dutch Daly were good in their respective parts. A new version of 'Cinderella' closed the entertainment."
Another company of female mastodons to visit Bloomington were Hart and Sullivan's Female Mastodons. They also appeared in New York and reviews there gave interesting details of the performance. Millie Laverly was the "strong woman" of this troupe and demonstrated her strength by lifting 42 gallons of water in a barrel with her teeth. Bessie Beach's beauty and "handsome form" was recognized, but had "not been on the stage long enough to learn how to either sing or dance." The performance of Billy and Lizzie Hanley "was positively vulgar." However, the paper pointed out that those who came "with the anticipation of witnessing something naughty" went away disappointed.