| General | The story Minsky brothers is a classic, all-American one of immigrant success in the new world. Abe the oldest of four brothers made the first foray into the business when he opened the Houston St Hippodrome in 1908. In the lower east side. A nickelodeon that showed "dirty" films. Three years later his own father shut him down when he heard of the kind of films he was showing. Soon Abe and younger brother Billy started showing "unobjectionable" films, from the roof top garden of National Winter Garden Theater, a theater their father help build. And actually, was successful.
In 1914, Herbert the third brother joined the family business. With WWI and more theater competition business was slow. To bring the people back they booked vaudeville acts, but couldn't afford the better acts. Burlesque acts with their innuendo-ladden comedy and emphasis on girls was cheaper. And even cheaper was starting their own burlesque company, using used out of date scripts. That drove their audiences away in droves.
Abe finally figured out what was missing. In his war time experience he visited Folies-Bergere and The Moulin Rouge, and decided, like the Paris shows to de-emphsize the comedy and use more girls, and to give it to the public at a lower price. It was around this time, 1917, that brother Morton Minsky claims his brothers sponsored the invention and popularizing of the "striptease".
The 1920s was a period of rapid expansion for the Minskys. With the passage of prohibition
business was booming and their fame was growing. The Minskys tried to make the move to a Broadway theater, but failed many times. Instead in the late1920s they started a national touring circuit. Finally, on February 12, 1931 Billy Minsky opened their first Broadway theater! And the rest is history...
Today, as Little Minskys, we try to capture this little bit of history. Bringing to the public quality burlesque and variety entertainment at an affordable price, just as the Minsky Brothers once did.
Minsky's first Broadway theater. c. 1931
One of the first and one of the greatest striptease stars-Gypsy Rose Lee.
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