Robin Rogers 1962, from "Letters From Female Impersonators Vol 11" AI upscaled and enhanced. Personally Colourised.

This is an image from 1962 of a Female Impersonator, from the USA who went by the name of Robin Rogers and who appeared in the Nutrix publication "Letters From Female Impersonators Vol 11". The original image on the left is a screen grab from a pdf of that publication which is available (along with other editions), freely, from The Digital Transgender Archive (www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/k3569438f). I used the open source AI upscaler and enhancer Upscayl (www.upscayl.org/) to enlarge and improve the image before I used white balance in the open source image editor GIMP (www.gimp.org/). The colourisation work is all my own.

The original image was 471x686 pixels which was upscaled by a factor of two to 942x1372 pixels.

The publication contains several other pictures of Robin of equally high standard. Robin states that she is 24 years of age, 5'6" and 152 pounds (10st 12ibs or approx 69kg). Astonishingly, she claims to have only started dressing for professional purposes, first attempting to gain work at Club 82 in New York, where she failed the audition, eventually getting work as an impersonator at The Jewel Box Revue. There is much online about both of those venues for those wishing to know more.

Personally, I think she is stunning and there is evidence of her still working as a Female Impersonator a good few years after this image was taken and she also appears in the 1969/70 publication "Female Impersonators #3" (again available at The Digital Transgender Archive www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/zg64tm02h ). As always, if anyone has any further information on Robin, I would love to hear from you.

I'll leave you with her letter that was published in "Letters From Female Impersonators Vol 11".

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Dear Sir:
I have been reading your various publications on female impersonation and this prompts me to write to you about myself also. I got started on the whole idea of impersonating females when I first began working as a dishwasher at the famous 82 Club in New York City, which features female impersonators in the shows.

I was a soprano and baritone and had the desire to work in the Club 82 show, but there were no openings at that time. I was discouraged and left this Club for a better paying job working in a factory in New Jersey. A year and a half ago I auditioned for the Jewel Box Revue, which had popularized the female impersonators, and to my surprise, I made it !
Before this, I was not dressing up in female garb, but I wanted to learn all about female impersonation and did just that. Besides, I also learned a lot by reading your books on female impersonation.
After a while, I was being used as a show "girl" only, as the producers, Danny Brown and Doc Benner, had too many singers in the show already. But I really was yearning to be given a chance to sing in the show.
I had my real start when the Jewel Box Revue went on a tour. I was being used as a show girl and in a small spot as a singer. I was lucky enough to be a sort of a hit, as it was very difficult for out-of-town audiences to believe such a nice feminine voice belonged to a man.
I started learning the art of making up and dressing up, which was easy for me, and I began enjoying my interesting job. I soon began getting many compliments on my make-up and nice legs. But my trained singing voice got me a great deal farther.
Before I reveal myself as a man (with my baritone voice), people are amazed at my girlish voice and attractive shapely female appearance. They really believe that I am a woman,
But after I reveal myself as a man and then go back to my soprano voice, then the audiences realize that I am actually a male in female clothes! From the stage it is interesting to see the audiences t facial expressions when they realize that I am not a girl.

To go back to the very beginning, I had never been in female attire before and was very bad in the art of make-up. But with determination, I learned the art of make-up very well with the help of other members of the large cast of female impersonators.
I do not dress up except on the stage, although I am pretty sure I would not be detected by anybody, as I am a perfectionist at heart and realistic. I believe that the profession of female impersonation is a true art form.

Female impersonation is an integral part of show business and is not "degrading" as some blue-nosed critics would have society believe. I enjoy my work of being a femme mimic and wish that there were many more cities in the United States who would open up their theatre doors to travelling female impersonator shows, thus giving the public a chance to judge for themselves whether we performers give valid entertainment or it is just an excuse for men to wear women's s skirts.
I took the female name of "Robin" for my first name as it had the same initial as my male name of Roger. In fact, those who have heard me sing state that my voice is a pleasant sounding one, just like a robin' s.It has been a pleasure for me, working for the famous JEWEL BOX REVUE. Those who see our show in theatres or night clubs find it very entertaining, exciting and well worth double the price of admission or minimum charged. Like many of the other performers in this show, I have served our country in the Armed Forces and did a four-year hitch in the Navy.
During my first year in the Navy, I had to serve in the galley as a messboy. I was always fond of boats as a youngster, which was why I enlisted in the U. S. Navy. I could never figure why I had to serve food to the hungry Navy personnel for over fourteen months before being transferred to a ship !
Finally, I got on a real ship after being on shore duty following the finishing of boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Training Center located in Waukegan,
I am twenty-four years old and weigh 152 pounds which, for my height of five feet, six inches, in low heels is fairly well distributed on my girlish figure.
Most of the other femme mimics in the show range from twenty-one years of age and up, to one who admits to being sixty-four years of age! We usually play from three to four weeks at an engagement, except when we reach a very large city, such as New York, where we usually play an average of six months or more.
The original revue, which started in Miami, Florida, ran for many years before going on tour, I was informed. The most amazing and unique feature of the JEWEL BOX REVUE is the fact that the only "man" in the show turns out to really be a woman ! This idea helps keep the audience guessing as to who is the woman and they usually guess wrong, selecting me or my co-worker Jene Chandler, or Bobbie Dale as the woman. Our svelte bodies seem more feminine to them than actual females.
I would not advise any aspiring young amateur female impersonators to apply for auditions for our show unless they are exceptionally talented and had theatrical experience as the waiting list is extremely long. They should be able to sing and dance well.
Thanks for letting me post for your readers and hope they like my photos.
Sincerely,
ROBN ROGERS.
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Disclaimer: The digital enhancements to the original are all my own work, plus (in this case) use of AI enhancement. Any such unauthorised use (without prior permission) for that aspect of the work will be considered a violation of my partial copyright. Where the original item is shown, it is done so purely for comparative purposes only.

Taken on: March 19, 2024

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1960s

Female Impersonator

Female Mimic

Jewel

Box

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Letters

From

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Nutrix

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Sets appears in: • AI Enhanced and Colourised • Colourised Pictures

Groups appears in: • Vintage Transgender Photos (pre-2000)

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