JOSEPHINE BAKER in BANANA SKIRT at FOLIES BERGÈRE [ca. 1927] Postcard

Paris, France: Walery, Paris, [ca. 1927]. Vintage original 3 3/4 x 5 1/2″ (10 x 13 cm) sepia-tinted postcard. Fabrication française par Walery, Paris. Minor crease at bottom right corner, about fine.

A provocative pose of the entertainer Josephine Baker who, banned in America, made her mark in entertainment history presenting her innovative dance and costuming to Paris of the 1920s.

During her early career, Baker was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in its 1927 revue Un vent de folie caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting only of a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.