Princess Wee Wee

Last updated
Princess Wee Wee
Princess Wee Wee LCCN91783931.jpg
Pictured circa 1915
Born
Harriet Elizabeth Thompson

c 1890s
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Diedunknown
Other namesPrincess Weenie Wee, Princess Pee Wee, The Animated Chocoloate Éclair
Occupation(s)circus performer and dancer
Years active1908–1940s
Employer(s) Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Whitman Sisters
HeightDisputed
Spouse(s)William Matthews
Ralph Franco (married 1929, annulled 1930)

Princess Wee Wee was the stage name of Harriet Elizabeth Thompson Williams Franco (born c 1890) an African-American dancer and performer with dwarfism. Thompson was well known in her time as a singing and dancing star of sideshows, circuses and later, black vaudeville in a career that lasted nearly four decades. Noted for her diminutive height, Williams transitioned from being a sideshow act to a reputable tap dancer and singer, later performing for two US Presidents and European royalty.

Contents

Biography

Harriet Thompson was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in the early 1890s. Not long after her birth, her parents moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where they lived in the city's Westside neighborhood. [1] [2] She had at least one sister who was of normal height.

Sideshow act

Dreamland, pictured 1907 Dreamland Coney Island Eugene Wemlinger 1907 Brooklyn Museum.jpg
Dreamland, pictured 1907

Thompson became involved in show business at a young age. Her earliest appearances are recorded in 1907 when she was purportedly 18 years old. [3] [4] In January 1908, Thompson's father, James Thompson brokered a $15,000 deal with showman Robert M. Chambers for a nationwide tour. In March, Otto, John, and Charles Ringling persuaded James Thompson to break his contract with Chambers, and "Princess Wee" joined the employ of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. [5] Later, Chambers would sue Ringling for the broken contract. [5]

Harriet Thompson quickly headed to New York and began appearing at Madison Square Garden [6] and at the Dreamland Circus Sideshow on Coney Island. [7] There, she was advertised as an African-American "curiosity" and "doll lady" and as the "smallest living woman". [8] [9] After interviewing her for Cosmopolitan, Arthur Brisbane wrote that Thompson was so small, "a good-sized rat could carry her off". [10] [11] She was said to be afraid of children, but perfectly comfortable with the menagerie of the circus, pictured atop the exhibition's resident elephant. [9]

From 1908 to 1909, Thompson was showcased in an exhibition of the Congress of the World's Greatest Curiosities alongside "Jolly Trixie the Queen of Fatland" for an admission price of 10 cents. [12] While at Coney Island, she sold carte-de-viste featuring a picture of herself dressed in an elegant evening gown and accompanied by her manager, showcasing her small stature. [13] Princess Wee Wee was described as the "world's most diminutive colored woman in all of show business." [14] By the time the Dreamland Amusement park burned down, Thompson had begun taking her sideshow act on the road. In 1910 she was a featured performer for Patterson Amusements as the bride of "Hop the Frog Boy" touring fair grounds around the United States. [15] As a travelling attraction, she was alternatively billed as Princess Weenie Wee, Princess Pee Wee and “The Animated Chocoloate Éclair”. [16]

Circus performer

James Wolfscale, Band Leader Portrait, James Wolfscale.jpg
James Wolfscale, Band Leader

In 1911, she begun travelling the country with Ringling Brothers, where she was advertised as "the world's smallest lady". [17] [18] [14] [19] Outside of the circus season, Thompson toured with a group of sideshow performers. [20] While a performer with the circus it was reported she married William Matthews, a singer from Newark, New Jersey, who stood four foot ten. [21]

It was during her time at the circus she came under the tutelage of James Wolfscale, the circus's bandmaster who taught her to sing and dance. By 1916, the "hit of the Freak Department at Madison Square Garden" had become a noted tap dancer and singer. [22] That year, James Wolfscale organized a travelling show for the vaudeville circuit to run during the circus's off season. Princess Wee Wee was a featured performer in the show, Moonlight on the Levee. There, she performed the finale and by 1917, was receiving top billing. The show, which toured after the circus season was billed as "Princess Wee Wee and her Jass Band Company". [23]

In late 1917, she was said to have left the employ of the Barnum & Bailey circus. [24] In 1918, she became the secretary of the "Freaks War Saving Society to Kill, Can, or Cage the Kaiser" organization an effort by Ringling's performers to support the war effort. [25]

Size

There are many different reports for Thompsons's height and weight, often exaggerated for effect. In an early description, Wee Wee was said to stand 17 inches high and weigh only 12 pounds. [7] In comparison, on Coney Island, she was advertised as weighing 49 pounds and standing 34 inches tall. [12] At the time of her marriage to Williams, she was reportedly "three foot two." [21] Other reports when she was dancing in vaudeville estimate her height at "scarcely a yard high". [26]

Whitman Sisters

By 1925, she joined the Whitman Sisters travelling show as a singer and featured dancer. [14] [27] She toured with the Whitman Sisters at least until the close of the ensemble. On stage she was accompanied by what some accounts refer to as her "husband", dance partner "Prince Arthur". [28] In other performances she partnered with "Prince Albert", the child tap star son of Alice Whitman. [29]

In 1926, she visited the White House to entertain Calvin Coolidge, who reportedly expressed great pleasure to meet Wee Wee. [27] [30] [31] That year, she performed a song and dance routine with a young Willie Bryant in the Whitman Sisters' show, where she danced between his legs. [32]

On October 9, 1929, Wee Wee married Ralph Franco, a theater promoter in Baltimore. The marriage was successfully annulled the following year, after she claimed her spouse had made her "tipsy" and fraudulently coerced her into marriage with the intention of taking her away from the Whitman Sisters show. [33]

Solo act and later years

Apollo Theatre, pictured in 1922. Apollo Theatre and Times Square Theatre (42nd Street) - cropped.jpg
Apollo Theatre, pictured in 1922.

In the 1930s, she toured as a featured performer with Essie and Alice Whitman in shows across the United States, including at New York's Apollo Theater. [34] [35] Reports of her performances at the time remark on her proficiency in singing and dancing. [36] By this time she had spent the last three decades in show business and reportedly moved to California. Following the release of films featuring actors with dwarfism, including The Wizard of Oz and The Terror of Tiny Town , Thompson was vocal about becoming involved in the film industry. Reports at the time suggested that a film part was being written for her, but it is unclear if she ever appeared on film. [26]

The Whitman Sisters show ended in 1942 with the death of the troupe's leader and manager. In 1943 she was featuring at the Potter Hotel Club in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. [37] Details about Thompson's later years are unrecorded.

References

  1. ↑ Merrill, Philip Jackson (2020). Old West Baltimore. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 35, 38, 40. ISBN   978-1-4671-0578-1.
  2. ↑ ""Princess Wee Wee Here" Baltimore Afro American, Baltimore, Maryland, USA". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. November 5, 1920. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  3. ↑ Advertisement for Princess Wee the Smallest Woman Who Ever Lived at the Wizard Theatre Baltimore Sun Newspaper Archives December 4, 1907 Page 1
  4. ↑ "Fair Notes" Hagerstown Morning Herald Newspaper Archives October 18, 1907 Page 1
  5. 1 2 "Sues Showmen for a Midget Washington Herald Newspaper Archives Page 12". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. May 6, 1908. Retrieved 2025-02-11.
  6. ↑ Medeiros, Aimee (2016-03-15). Heightened Expectations: The Rise of the Human Growth Hormone Industry in America. University of Alabama Press. ISBN   978-0-8173-1910-6.
  7. 1 2 "Princess Wee Wee | Show History". showhistory.com. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  8. ↑ Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (2009-09-17). Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   978-1-60473-148-4.
  9. 1 2 "The Littlest Woman In the World. The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 - 1922) - 29 Aug 1908 - p5". Trove. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  10. ↑ Durant, John; Durant, Alice K. Rand (1957). Pictorial History of the American Circus. A. S. Barnes. p. 118.
  11. ↑ Ashley, Perry J. (1984). American Newspaper Journalists, 1901-1925. Gale Research Company. p. 27. ISBN   978-0-8103-1704-8.
  12. 1 2 Simmons, Peter (1999). Gotham Comes of Age: New York Through the Lens of the Byron Company, 1892-1942. Pomegranate. p. 164. ISBN   978-0-7649-0906-1.
  13. ↑ Bogdan, Robert (2012-11-19). Picturing Disability: Beggar, Freak, Citizen and Other Photographic Rhetoric. Syracuse University Press. p. 15. ISBN   978-0-8156-5192-5.
  14. 1 2 3 "Whitman Sisters Coming to Howard Theatre". The Washington tribune. 1926-08-13. p. 7. ISSN   2997-5654. OCLC   16046622 . Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  15. ↑ ""Shows Prove Big Drawing Card" Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, Fargo, North Dakota". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. July 27, 1910. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  16. ↑ "Article clipped from The Butte Daily Post". The Butte Daily Post. 1910-08-11. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  17. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (2013-10-30). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. p. 1183. ISBN   978-0-8108-8351-2.
  18. ↑ "L I L L I E B . W I L L I A M S". Uncle Junior Project. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  19. ↑ ""Doings of the Race" Cleveland Gazette, Cleveland, Ohio". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. June 17, 1911. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  20. ↑ "Daily News-Record 14 Feb 1914, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  21. 1 2 Sampson, Henry T. (2013-10-30). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. p. 1331. ISBN   978-0-8108-8351-2.
  22. ↑ Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (2009-09-17). Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 167. ISBN   978-1-60473-148-4.
  23. ↑ Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (2009-09-17). Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 173. ISBN   978-1-60473-148-4.
  24. ↑ Wells, C.E. (May 5, 1917). ""Plays and Players" Philadelphia Tribune, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  25. ↑ "Freaks find a field for her. Corona Daily Independent, Corona, California". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. May 8, 1918. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  26. 1 2 "Princess Wee Wee Wants Film Job". The Northwest enterprise. 1934-07-19. p. 1. ISSN   2831-6029. OCLC   17273999 . Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  27. 1 2 Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (2009-09-17). Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 167. ISBN   978-1-60473-148-4.
  28. ↑ "Princess Wee Wee". The daily independent. 1937-06-16. p. 3. ISSN   2577-3488. OCLC   24205861 . Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  29. ↑ Sampson, Henry T. (2013-10-30). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. p. 499. ISBN   978-0-8108-8351-2.
  30. ↑ Reed, Bill (2010-03-08). Hot from Harlem: Twelve African American Entertainers, 1890-1960. McFarland. p. 37. ISBN   978-0-7864-5726-7.
  31. ↑ Bogdan, Robert (2012-11-19). Picturing Disability: Beggar, Freak, Citizen and Other Photographic Rhetoric. Syracuse University Press. ISBN   978-0-8156-5192-5.
  32. ↑ Stearns, Marshall; Stearns, Jean (1966). "American Vernacular Dance: The Whitman Sisters". Southwest Review. 51 (4): 350–358. ISSN   0038-4712.
  33. ↑ ""Wee Wee Free of Man She Wed While Tipsy" Baltimore Afro American, Baltimore, Maryland, USA". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. 3 May 1930. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  34. ↑ Anderson, William P. (March 28, 1936). "Sundown on Paradise Valley Image 6 of The Detroit tribune (Detroit, Mich.), | Library of Congress". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  35. ↑ "New Show Opens At Plantation Club". The Detroit tribune. 1936-02-29. p. 6. ISSN   2577-350X. OCLC   26654010 . Retrieved 2025-02-09.
  36. ↑ ""Undying Popularity of Whitman Troupe Shown at Sunset Terrace" Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. 13 Aug 1938. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  37. ↑ ""Princess Wee Wee Visits Baltimore" Baltimore Afro American, Baltimore, Maryland". wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org. October 9, 1943. Retrieved 2025-02-10.

Images of Harriet Thompson from the Ronald G. Becker collection of Charles Eisenmann photographs, 1836-1960. Collection of Syracuse University

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