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Photos from the 1920s reveals the burlesque troupe of midgets who scaled the heights of Vaudeville
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Back in 1920s America, the Hans Kasemann Midgets were the biggest little thing in Vaudeville. Travelling from theatre to music hall, the group of little performers put on dance routines and comedy skits to delighted audiences across the U.S.
While they stopped short of doing the full monty, like modern burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese, they were at least more likely to fit in an actual martini glass (rather than the over-sized receptacle that Von Teese uses).
The Hans Kasemann troupe featured the pint-sized Pick sisters, Olga and Auguste, as well as stunted celebrities Anna Rockel and Willie Rolle - all singing, all dancing, all vertically challenged.
Best foot forward: Burlesque acts of the 1920s regularly featured a troupe of midget performers, such as the Hans Kasemann Midgets
Little and large: Kasemann, seated at the piano, with Willie Rolle, Auguste Pick, Anna Rockel and Olga Pick
Hamming it up: From top to bottom, Auguste, Olga, Willie and Anna. Apart from songs and dance, the troupe put on vignettes and plays - such as the one being acted out by Auguste and Willie Blaseri above right
Kasemann, himself a normal-sized if not tall man, formed the troupe in his native Germany but moved the show to the U.S. in the early 1920s.
While he tickled the ivories of a full-sized piano, the tiny stars sang and danced around him. At other times they took over the stage entirely, performing vignettes and plays satirising the news of the day.
And, while the Kasemann Midgets might have been described as a novelty act, they were by no means unique. There were the Rose's Royal Midgets and the Rossow Midgets, as well as the Klinkhart Midgets... to name but a few.
Vaudeville was a form of variety entertainment popular in the US until the early 1930s. Each show was a collection of unrelated acts grouped together on one stage. Musicians, comedians, dancers, magicians,animals, acrobats, and actors all got their 15 minutes of fame on the Vaudevillian stage.
Pick of the bunch: Auguste and Olga proved an irresistible duo during Vaudeville's heyday
All together: Members of the Kasemann troupe pose with members of the Klinkhart Midgets
Dressed up but serious: There are few smiles to be had in this picture of the Kasemann troupe... the top hats are a nice touch, and add a few all-important inches
Starlets: The Pick sisters were clearly the stars of Hans Kasemann's troupe, seen above left with Kasemann and flanking Willie Blaseri, and languishing atop the big man's piano in exotic dress, above right
Back in the days of Hans Kasemann's Midgets, 'burlesque' had a different meaning to the striptease style or performance we know today.
Burlesque was a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to be a humorous caricature of serious literature, drama or music. The art form died out in England at the end of the 19th century, but was popular in the U.S. up until the death of Vaudeville.
It's longevity in the U.S. was due to the gradual inclusion of exotic dancers and strippers. The change was gradual but nonetheless inevitable, and the word came to by synonymous with nudity.
Famous burlesque dancers of the day included Gipsy Rose Lee and Margie Hart, and many famous comedians - including Mae West, Abbott and Costello and W.C. Fields made their names by being bawdy MCs for the dancers.
Getting in on the act: Kasemann rarely joined the troupe for acting duties, but here is a photo of him in costume for one of their many light-hearted plays
Doing a little washing: Members of the Kasemann troupe do some essential laundry in between their performances
Irving's Imperial Midgets: One of the main rival acts for Hans Kasemann Midgets, this troupe managed to get around in an early version of a stretch limo... the photographer could have stood a little closer