Fanny Elssler and the Baltimoreans

More Than Meets the Eye: History of Maryland Through Prints, 1750-1900
Room 3: Rowdies and Riots

Maryland Historical Society
Library of Maryland History
201 W. Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-685-3750
Fax: 410-385-2105
E-mail: library @mdhs.org

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Maryland History In Prints: 1752-1900
by Laura Rice

Fanny Elssler and the Baltimoreans

J[ohn] Childs
New York, 1840

Lithograph

One of Europe's leading dramatic ballerinas, Fanny Elssler combined remarkable grace and agility with a pretty face and considerable sex appeal. Her 1840 tour of the United States, with stops in Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Boston, and New Orleans, generated an unprecedented enthusiasm that the papers dubbed "Elsslermania."

City residents lived up to their reputation as rowdy and rambunctious, welcoming the famous ballerina in true Baltimore style. After her third and final scheduled appearance at the Holliday Street Theatre, Elssler discovered a large crowd, mostly young men, waiting for her at the stage door. Cheering enthusiastically, they unhooked the horses and pulled her carriage slowly through the streets to Barnum's Hotel. Elssler disembarked, and blowing kisses, disappeared inside. Her fans, however, were not yet ready to say goodnight. Local German musicians serenaded her in the square until dawn. When the ballerina appeared at her window, the assembled crowd cheered wildly and tossed their hats. The commotion kept hotel guests and the neighbors up all night. A New York artist lampooned Baltimoreans' enthusiasm by portraying her male fans as braying donkeys.

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Room 1: Immigrants in Maryland
Room 2: Evangelical Religion and Reform
Room 3: Rowdies and Riots
Room 4: Changes in the Land
Exhibit HomePage
CONTENTS: Room 3
15. The Conspiracy Against Baltimore, or The War Dance at Montgomery Court House
16. Canvass Back Duck 1 Male, 2 Female. View of Baltimore, Maryland
17. Bank of Maryland
18. St. Patrick's Church
19. Weccacoe Engine Cos. House, and Reception of United Fire Co. of Baltimore
20. National Convention of Whig Young Men Assembled at the Canton Course Baltimore May 4th 1840
21. Fanny Elssler and the Baltimoreans
22. The Lexington of 1861