Submitted by Lori Smith
The official black and white Ashton Drake (AD) Invitation read:
September 6, 1997 9pm – 10pm "Gene’s Premiere Showing"
Only at FAO Schwarz
Directly next to that:
Sunday, August 31, 1997 1:00 – 3:00pm
Grand Opening of the world’s most exciting store with Mel Odom!
If you are a true and dedicated Gene collector, chances are good you were already standing in line with a few hundred people on the 31st AND, if you were really lucky, in your hand was what could be called a “Golden Ticket” and you were moments away from the door opening. Inside were the FAO 50 Gene Showgirls, unveiled to the public for purchase 3 collectors at a time.
Some of those do or die collectors stood in line and sat in lawn chairs for hours that day and even the night before! Then, the appointed time arrived, they saw the light! There, was the sparkle of their hunted grails, designed in tulle, sequin and feather. Somewhere most certainly the skies opened and music could be heard.
To step back from this moment for those who are unaware the Showgirl story began with a new doll and a new store. The opening of the a FAO Store in Caesar’s Palace, and Ashton Drake introducing “Bird of Paradise”, the first Gene Exotic inspired Showgirl in the line, designed by William Ivey Long. Gene was stunning, with a turban styled headdress, beads and sparkled hose. She stood out from her normal evening gown and casual dresses previously designed by AD. Yes, who better to bring in a crowd, but Gene Marshall! The forever beloved star from a lost era of romance and style!
Because Vegas is known as a city of High Rollers, AD acknowledged that with 3 dolls decked out in real gems! These 3 dolls, 2 Bird of Paradise and 1 in a unique tier black gown with brunette styled hair were amazing! The offering prices of $25k, $15k and $5k, got the attention of even the roulette players! More for show than buy, the two higher sparkled and priced Bird of Paradise gals disappeared into a dressing room never to be seen again. It was assumed the gems were removed and the dolls went back to AD. However, the black gown Gene was sold, and later resold, where she currently resides in a private collection. The owner has displayed her on occasion and allowed photographs as well. We thank her for that generosity.
Joan Greene, the Director of the now dissolved “Dream Team”, was responsible for taking 48 individual Blue Goddess and red Venus Gene dolls and creating from scraps of fabric, odds and ends and inspiration the individual Showgirls, who would forever be legend in Gene’s history. Dolly Cipploa, an AD designer also created one, rounding out the 50 dolls. Dolly’s gal was a stunning Ringmaster, who brought to attention Joan’s Rockette style line of Showgirls.
The Showgirls quickly sold out that August afternoon, and disappeared into thin air. A total of 6 have been seen on Ebay since that day. Some sold off auction immediately, and others saw the highest prices paid for a Gene at that time. Not to miss a marketing opportunity, AD did release a “Jeweled” Bird of Paradise through FAO which had a garnet dangled down from Gene’s beaded neck piece. These FAO exclusives were limited to 500 and never really became what AD had hoped they would. Later the same marketing concept was tried with USO Gene, with better results.
Each doll was presented in a signed box and stand. In the case of very ornate headpiece design, an oversized box (like King’s Daughter) was even necessary. The golden ticket of course was a must to validate the doll. Numbered 1-50 was how collectors were allowed inside three at a time to select their doll. The certificate and ticket were signed by both Mel Odom, Gene’s creator, and Joan Greene, the lady of the magic needle who had brought them to life.
1997 quickly became 1998 and then 2000 and now in 2009, from the sadness of a deceased collector’s estate sale, the #22 FAO Showgirl appeared in February on Ebay. Collectors shocked and thrilled, watched as the auction progressed. However, the question everyone is again asking is “Where are the dolls now?”
Photographs located through owner email and the February 1998 Dolls magazine article, written by actress and showgirl owner herself, Rhonda Shear, have accounted for a mere 22 of the 50 showgirls. Those can be seen on:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~ribbit5/fab50.html
Not requesting personal information on ownership, we are hoping for photographs of the remaining 28 dolls and the event itself. How can it be that no one took pictures? Sadly, in the demise of the “Dream Team,” slides and photographs, which would have provided so much history for Gene collectors were sent to the trash. In her wonderful 3 editions of the Gene Book, the late Carolyn Cook only touched on the showgirls, with the same Dolls Magazine photos and no new information.
If you own one of the showgirls or have photos of the event no matter how candid or crazy please send them to TheDollPage where they will be used in total anonymity (if you desire). This way, other collectors can have this part of Gene’s history completed.
The biggest fear has been destruction, since these Blue Goddess and Red Venus dolls were simple line dolls. To a non-collector, they were indeed dressed in what appeared as “hand made” outfits. If they were left in estates or given away, odds are good they were redressed in “fancy” clothes or “real” Gene line dresses.
Please help make the “reunion” of these gals happen! Joan did the work, Mel got the writers cramp, and Gene sparkled at her best. These efforts need to be rewarded in a photographic history which we call: “Showtime! One sparkling afternoon in Las Vegas.”
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Recently one of our more popular sites gave up the ghost. The Show & Sell site, which had seemed haunted since we moved it to a new server a while back, finally seized up for good last week. All resuscitation efforts on my part failed this time. He’s dead Jim.
