Photograph of female impersonator Karyl Norman, known as The Creole Fashion Plate. Silver print, the image measuring 336x260 mm; 13¼x10¼ inches, the sheet slightly larger, with a photographer's credit in the negative, and Norman's credit, his Creole Fashion Plate stamp and a press stamp, and a newspaper clipping with a date stamp, on verso. 1923.
Karyl Norman (né George Francis Peduzzi), was a female impersonator who was popular on the vaudeville, nightclub, and Broadway stage. He wrote many of his own songs, and was known for his sumptuous gowns (made by his mother). Norman was a key figure in what was then called "the Pansy Craze," a period of increased underground popularity of drag performers (then called "pansy performers") in popular culture. Norman performed at The Pansy Club, part of the burgeoning underground gay subculture.
