The Dollar Princess - Programme, 1945
Title
The Dollar Princess - Programme, 1945
Date
9 April 1945
Description
Programme for the musical comedy The Dollar Princess by A. M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum.
What's the story?
The Dollar Princess is based on the operetta Die Dollarprinzessin, first performed in Vienna in November 1907. The English adaptation opened in London in September 1909, where it ran for 428 performances.
Its title refers to the demeaning nickname in Victorian and Edwardian Britain to American heiresses arriving in Britain at that time. A review of the first performances in Playgoer and Society Illustrated stated "to the average playgoer there is something very attractive in watching the antics of the vulgar when surrounded by the refinement of art which he can neither understand nor appreciate”
Jennie Jerome, the American born mother of Winston Churchill was considered one of the first ‘dollar princesses’, women whose wealth and influence certainly had an impact of the British economy. This is estimated to be around £40 million by 1904.
In her 1908 diary Jerome wrote "In England, the American woman was looked upon as a strange and abnormal creature with habits and manner something between a red Indian and a Gaiety Girl. Anything of an outlandish nature might be expected of her. If she talked, dressed and conducted herself as any well-bred woman would... she was usually saluted with the tactful remark; 'I should never have thought you were an American' - which was intended as a compliment... Her dollars were her only recommendation."
This programme was loaned to the Theatre Royal by Lesley Brown from a collection of theatre memorabilia owned by her late father-in-law William Gordon Brown, a keen performer and member of Nottingham Operatic Society.
Its title refers to the demeaning nickname in Victorian and Edwardian Britain to American heiresses arriving in Britain at that time. A review of the first performances in Playgoer and Society Illustrated stated "to the average playgoer there is something very attractive in watching the antics of the vulgar when surrounded by the refinement of art which he can neither understand nor appreciate”
Jennie Jerome, the American born mother of Winston Churchill was considered one of the first ‘dollar princesses’, women whose wealth and influence certainly had an impact of the British economy. This is estimated to be around £40 million by 1904.
In her 1908 diary Jerome wrote "In England, the American woman was looked upon as a strange and abnormal creature with habits and manner something between a red Indian and a Gaiety Girl. Anything of an outlandish nature might be expected of her. If she talked, dressed and conducted herself as any well-bred woman would... she was usually saluted with the tactful remark; 'I should never have thought you were an American' - which was intended as a compliment... Her dollars were her only recommendation."
This programme was loaned to the Theatre Royal by Lesley Brown from a collection of theatre memorabilia owned by her late father-in-law William Gordon Brown, a keen performer and member of Nottingham Operatic Society.
Type
Programme
Location of item
Private Collection - Lesley Brown
Rights
Private Collection - Lesley Brown
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
