Servicemen in Malta performing a play, some in drag. Photographic postcard by R. Ellis, ca. 1918.

"R.Ellis II"

Many characters, some in drag, are in a crowded scene within a detailed domestic stage set. This jolly scene shows three men dressed as young girls ( long plaits and short skirts), as well as a housemaid, and two matrons. The beautifully painted backdrop is more likely to be in Ellis's Valetta studio than any army base, and four of the men appear be wearing modified red, white and blue uniforms adopted by the war-wounded in military hospitals in UK and the colonies

Part of James Gardiner Collection: photographs of military, naval, and prisoner-of-war camp drag.

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View At: https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b20430504
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Item Information:

Identifier: 1n79h4605
Collection: James Gardiner 20th Century Drag Postcards
Institution: Wellcome Library
Date Issued: Jan. 1, 1918
Genre: Photographs
Prints
Topic(s): Female impersonators
World War, 1914-1918
Resource Type: Still Image
Analog Format: 1 photograph : photoprint ;
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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