Barbara Stanwyck. Alfred Cheney Johnston.

Barbara Stanwyck by Alfred Cheney Johnston.

Barbara Stanwyck (as Rubie Stevens) by Achille Volpe.
Artists and Models Magazine, February 1926.

Tallulah Bankhead. Alfred Cheney Johnston.

…as unknown by Alfred Cheney Johnston.

Esther Ralston. Charles Gates Sheldon.

Esther Ralston by Russell Ball

… as unknown by Charles Gates Sheldon

Clara Bow.

Clara Bow. Film Fun Magazine, October 1923.

Joan Crawford. Ruth Harrieth Louise.

Joan Crawford by Ruth Harrieth Louise:

French Models Magazine, February 1920s:

Bee Palmer. Alfred Cheney Johnston.

“Bee Palmer (11 September 1894 – 22 December 1967), was a United States
singer and dancer.”

(c) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Palmer

The Shimmy Queen
Bee Palmer (sometimes spelled as Bea Palmer) remained in Chicago until the late 1910’s first appearing on the New York stage in Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic of 1918 where she sings ballads to her own accompaniment on the piano (Bee was an accomplished pianist in her own right). It is during this time that Bee “invents” one of the 1920’s most popular dances “The Shimmy”. It is described as a vulgar dance, wiggling from the shoulders, swaying the rest of the body to the syncopated jazz music of the day. Bee is quoted in a New York Telegram (October 4, 1919) newspaper article about the origins of the Shimmy. “It is true my shoulders are responsible for my success. I dance with them. I remember when I was a tot mother used to sing for me and I’d wiggle my shoulders and sway my body with the music. The folks at home thought it was a great joke, and mother used to give me a nickel or a dime to do my little stunt for company.

(c) http://www.jazzage1920s.com/beepalmer/beepalmer.php

 

 

…as unknown model:

Marcella Donovan Perry. Alfred Cheney Johnston.

Marcella Donovan Perry. Alfred Cheney Johnston.

“James G. Donovan was the city attorney for an area of Houston known as Houston Heights before it was annexed by Houston. Donovan founded, together with his daughter, Marcella, a financial institution that became known as Heights Savings. In 24 years, its assets went from nothing to $100,000,000.00. Marcella Donovan, now Marcella Perry, emerged as one of Houston’s civic leaders.”
© celticowboy.com/20THTX.htm

“The Donovan’s only child, Marcella graduated from Heights High in 1922, went to
New York, auditioned, and was accepted as a specialty dancer starring with the
Greenwich Village Follies, as shown above. Her mother had to sign the contract
because… “
© Houston Heights

“Initially she (Patsy Swayze) studied with Marcella Donovan Perry, the formidable ballerina and Broadway dancer who infused both style and discipline into her dancing. By the time Patrick was born, Patsy was already well established as Houston’s premiere dance teacher and choreographer. A liberated woman far ahead of her time, she founded and directed the acclaimed Houston Jazz Ballet Company, helped to develop Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, choreographed countless musicals, and ran her own dance company and dance studio, where she taught ballet, tap, and jazz to generations of students, including Patrick.”
© Patrick Swayze: “One Last Dance”

Marcella Donovan Perry as Unknown model: