Who Was Lola Montez?
One of the more colorful characters of the 19th century was Lola Montez, who claimed to be a Spanish dancer, although she was actually Irish. She was best known for her “Spider Dance”, a sort of tarantella which involved shaking rubber tarantulas out of her clothing in such a way as to provide generous views of her person. Who Was Oofty-Goofy? This character started out as “The Wild Man of Borneo” in a Barbary Coast sideshow. When people came up to his bars, he would growl and mutter “Oofty goofty!” hence his name. He became a curious one-man industry when he discovered that he felt no pain. People could sock him, kick him, etc. and it would not bother him. He let saloon denizens abuse him for four bits a whack. Who Was Gertrude Atherton? Gertrude Atherton was a woman with several fatal flaws: She was a great beauty who wanted to display as much of that beauty as possible in uptight Victorian times. She was a social climber who loved to spend and party. She incurred the wrath of her pu
