A new form of entertainment was spreading across the country in the 1800s although it wasn’t popular and accepted by all. The new variety theatre began attracting middle and working class audiences while opera and drama remained elite fare. American burlesque shows blending satire with risque visuals were becoming popular, especially in the newly settled western towns. A nationally- known show called the May Fisk Blondes was booked to perform at Saenger Hall in Warsaw in June 1880, which set off some serious protests.
A large group of citizens went before the Warsaw City Council at the regular meeting a month before the show was scheduled to play, and asked for it to be banned. After some lengthy deliberation, the council stood firm on their decision, to not be involved in free enterprise and let the public decide whether to attend or not. Not a popular conclusion among the crowd in attendance, this caused the mayor to call a point of order several times. Decisions such as this may have prompted a famous quote by Mark Twain, in which he stated, “When serving the Public always do what you think is right, you will gratify a few and astonish the rest.”
On June 19, 1880, the controversial show played at Saenger Hall and the following is from the Warsaw Bulletin describing the performance: “But very little advertising was necessary to pave the way for the enthusiastic reception of the May Fisk Blondes, who make legs the attraction and smutty jokes a specialty. No brass band was necessary to remind the boys that the troupe was to perform at Saenger Hall last Saturday night. Anxiously awaiting the event, they crowded the hall to its utmost capacity and drank in the sights and applauded the jokes until the encore was heard several blocks away. No one seems to boast very loudly of having attended, and no one thinks Warsaw need be proud of the reputation that induced the blondes to come this way – a reputation hard to dispute, we are sorry to say, since it was justified by the patronage extended them.”
At the close of the show a large crowd had assembled on Lafayette Street in front of the Saenger Hall to express their displeasure of the Blondes’ performance. Some quick thinking by Warsaw City Marshal John Jotter led the group of girls, with the assistance of four deputies, out the back way of the hall, avoiding an ugly scene.
The May Fisk show was scheduled to play upriver at Keokuk, but they were not permitted to open by the mayor, who stationed police officers at the Opera House door to keep them out. The show was considered “immoral” by “Hiz Honor.”