Vesta Tilley

Matilda Alice Powles (May 13 1864 – September 16, 1952), English music hall performer who adopted, at age 11, the stage name Vesta Tilley and who became one of the most famous male impersonators of her era, vintage silver print 'real photo' postcard printed in England.

She was a star in both Britain and the United States for over thirty years.

The first decade of her career saw her billed most often as 'the Great Little Tilley'. As it happens, however, the gender ambiguity of her name was causing problems for audiences, and she and her manager father were asked to come up with another. She was billed as Vesta Tilley for the first time in April 1878, when performing at the Royal Music Hall in Holborn, London. "Vesta" referred to both the Roman goddess of hearth and home, and a brand of safety matches; "Tilley" was her childhood nickname for Matilda.

Verso bears original postcard graphics and original handwritten notations. In very good condition with embossed/raised image.