This is perhaps my very last post on Vernon Hoff, female impersonator. It's sad that my blog is one of the internet's premier websites for information on Vernon Hoff, the other being Google Books' archives of Billboard magazines, where I got my information.
It would be a lot better, in my opinion, if there was a whole vast library of items about him. Because I'm fascinated about the whole scene, what it must have been like for him to be a female impersonator. I'm looking at his little picture, the only one I know of, even though he advertised four 8" x 10" photographs, and you'd have to assume that meant four different ones, and he reminds me of Lucille Ball with darker hair. I don't know if that's a veil, a shroud, or exactly what it is going up behind him. But it looks very sheer, and no doubt was beautiful.
Anyway, how interesting that is, and how interesting Vernon Hoff probably was. Although, who knows, the touring, the staying in Dayton for eight weeks, then going somewhere else with his suitcases and outfits, might have been tough. I was just reading today about Elvis on his endless tours before he was super famous. The guys driving, the whole crew, including Elvis were dead tired, and even checking into the hospital. That's life on the road. It's not all glamor.
Just imagining Vernon Hoff's experiences, though, there'd be a whole other side to it, the sexual side of it, and perhaps that was a little seamy.
I notice he mentions in this one ad that he is "straight." I assume, given the whole context, of course, that that would be a constant question, at least something people would be wondering about. As far as possibly getting beat up, etc., by twisted patrons, I'm guessing he probably escaped most of that, because I'm guessing he wasn't dressed like a woman all the time, just the times when he went out on stage and did his act. Away from the stage, he could probably pass basically unnoticed.
Speaking of Elvis, it's hard to believe, but he got in his share of fights on these little two-bit tours. The thing there was the jealousy of teenage boys because girls were so crazy for him. I used to read some of the magazines my mom had about Elvis in the '50s, and they'd mention a few times about some fight he was in. But you get the impression -- I do -- that later his entourage was vigilant enough that it'd be rare for someone to throw a punch at him. I'm not picturing much of an entourage for Vernon Hoff. Just a guy carrying a couple of suitcases. Or at the best, a wife or girlfriend or some other friend, like a small time manager helping him out.
I'm intrigued by this ad, that Vernon is "The Answer to Gorgeous George!" I've heard of Gorgeous George but don't know much about him. Just looking over at Wikipedia, I knew he was a wrestler, but it says there he was "flamboyant and charismatic," and known as a "glamour boy," being "gorgeous."
Vernon as the "answer" to George, no doubt meant as a guy also glamorous and gorgeous who just happened to make a very beautiful woman. So you'd have George as a man who was the ideal man, in this little theory, and Vernon as a man who was the ideal woman. In appearance.
Also look at the place where Vernon was playing, where he was getting his mail that week, at the "Blue Turban" in Long Beach, California. That definitely sounds like an exotic place!
Well, friends, in the absence of more concrete information on Vernon Hoff, female impersonator, I guess I might have to pack it up. I'd love to go on and on about him, but what more can I surmise or say?
I'm going to put a few key words here, just for the sake of the search function. Not that I'm trying to lure traffic here, really, but because the more people who would happen to be interested and see this post, the more likely it is that someone with actual information about Vernon Hoff (or items like photographs, etc.) would come forward. Please let me know if you see anything. Words: cross-dressing, crossdressing, transvestite, transvestism, any others come to mind? We already have female impersonators, female impersonation, so I guess that about covers it.
Vernon Hoff -- Natural Beauty and Daring. Our best tribute.
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