The Palm Springs
of 1954
Peacock Follies
1953, after performing their most popular number ""Peacocking in the morning"
The Palm Springs
Hidden away in The Poolside Room bathroom of The Twin Palms Art House is a small window into an extraordinary group, long since drifted from popular memory. In fact, this is the last known surviving picture of the full ensemble together.
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A picture of ten extravagant woman taken almost 70-years ago. Ten everyday members of their local community, Palm Springs, rocketed into searing global popular fame.
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These women were the phenomenon known as the Peacock Follies of 1954.
They existed for just one sold-out season but that’s all they needed to shake the very foundations of Palm Springs and Hollywood and to shift global cultural trends in fashion, liberation, glamour, gender and sex.
We ask the question - who exactly were the
Peacock
Follies
of 1954
Their timing was everything - in mid-1953 they’d voted 10 to zero to allow a nationwide first to take place as part of their 1954 debut - they’d agreed to let a television camera into the theatre for each of their 20 shows that year. The rest is history as they say.
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Continued below
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1954, with Marilyn their only real rival for fame in 1954 was also one of their biggest fans
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1954, truly the first "influencers" in every living room across America
Now let's meet the Follies!
1954, I dream come true for two of the follies, meeting a potential future husband in the form of John Wayne
Whilst US politics roiled with McCarthyism and Vietnam split into North and South, the real shapers of 1954 wore rhinestones and feathers and came heavy with a new sense of feminine sass.
Whilst US politics roiled with McCarthyism and Vietnam split into North and South, the real shapers of 1954 wore rhinestones and feathers and came heavy with a new sense of feminine sass.
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We're just so glad we found the image and have been able to piece back together this amazing story for you, our guest at The Twin Palms Art House here in Palm Springs. California.
1955, Even Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was keen to recruit the Follies in support of her noble causes
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Maybe they just sensed what this might mean, maybe they had no idea. The facts on that are lost to their deliberations, but they went on to ride the explosion of television.
(1954 was also the year TV would first be broadcast in oolor and the ‘TV dinner’ first reached US households!) into every living room across America to become the first real influencers of the television age.
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1954, fans and paparazzi swarm The Follies
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1953, Post-rehearsal promo shoot, includes two unknown under studies
Ladies & gentlemen...
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The Palm Springs
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Peacock
Follies
of 1954
'Snap'
Ginger Baker
The energetic comedienne and tap dancer of the group. She's always cracking jokes, pulling pranks, and trying to incorporate slapstick into the routines, much to Dolly's annoyance. She joined the Follies because she "just gotta dance!" and because her husband, Herb, said she needed a hobby.
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Newly unearthed archival image
'Vee'
Vera Petrova
The energetic comedienne and tap dancer of the group. She's always cracking jokes, pulling pranks, and trying to incorporate slapstick into the routines, much to Dolly's annoyance. She joined the Follies because she "just gotta dance!" and because her husband, Herb, said she needed a hobby.
Newly unearthed archival image
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'BJ'
Betty Jean Thomson
A thrice-divorced socialite on the hunt for husband number 4 (preferably a wealthy oil tycoon). She joined the Follies for the exposure & the chance to wear the biggest head dress. Her motto: "Diamonds are a girl's best friend, but feathers are a close second!"
Newly unearthed archival image
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Loretta Mancini
'Lola'
An aspiring dramatic actress waiting for her big break in Hollywood. She treats every high kick like Shakespeare, delivering lines with intense emotional depth, even if the line is just "Ooh, la la!" She claims to have once shared an elevator with Clark Gable.
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Newly unearthed archival image
