The Chicago Historical Society has a kettle of metaphorical Mulligan stew simmering in its Cudahy Gallery; a smorgasbord of bric-a-brac culled from various nooks and crannies throughout the museum.
It's early morning and the revolving doors of the CHS have just been unlatched. A litter of schoolchildren pile off of a bus and storm the museum like a division of Civil War soldiers - battle cries of "I'm hungry" and "Where's the bathroom?" reverberate off the marbled walls. A trek up the staircase to the second floor finds the place not yet awake - two security guards stretch and yawn, cursing the early call to duty. Round the corner awaits the exposition d'art, "What George Wore & Sally Didn't: Surprising Stories from America's Past."
The show gathers and dusts off the cobwebs from a handful of the society's more curious items among its 20 million artifacts. The hall yields a bizarre hodgepodge of curios. The bed Abraham Lincoln died in, along with the blood-stained sheets. Wife Mary's overcoat, also smattered in blood. A red velvet Playboy Bunny uniform. Original Lincoln Logs designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, John. One of Air Jordan's 1989 uniforms. Forks and flatware melted during the Great Fire. Even the purported skin of the snake killed by Adam in the Garden of Eden. What this stuff all has to do with anything, who knows? It sure is cool, though. The title derives from a waistcoat worn by George Washington (a velvet floral affair suitable for today's young hipsters) to the ostrich feather fans employed by dancer Sally Rand to showcase her bare bod. A television mounted in one of the gallery walls even shows Rand performing one of her sensuous dances; a placard warns parents that the stripper shows some skin at the end of the routine.
Just outside the exhibit, the pitter-patter of little feet can be heard. The charge of the light-weight brigade nears. "Here we go," says a one of the sleepy guards. First stop for the children: Sally Rand's nudie show.
by Sam Weller
copyright 1998 New City Communications, Inc.