W E L C O M E T O Fairyland W E L C O M E T O Fairy land Queer Miami before 1940 JULIO CAPÓ JR. The UniversiTy of norTh Carolina Press ChaPel hill © 2017 Julio Capó Jr. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Set in Miller by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Cover illustration: John Singer Sargent, The Bathers. Courtesy Worcester Art Museum (MA), Sustaining Membership Fund, 1917.91. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Capó, Julio, Jr., author. Title: Welcome to fairyland : queer Miami before 1940 / Julio Capó Jr. Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lCCn 2017020580 | isBn 9781469635194 (cloth : alk. paper) | isBn 9781469635200 (pbk : alk. paper) | isBn 9781469635217 (ebook) Subjects: lCsh: Sexual minorities—Florida—Miami—History—19th century. | Sexual minorities—Florida—Miami—History—20th century. | Miami (Fla.)—History—19th century. | Miami (Fla.)—History—20th century. | Miami (Fla.)—Race relations. | Caribbean Area—Emigration and immigration. Classification: lCC hQ76.3.U62 M5315 2017 | DDC 305.8009759/381—dc23 lC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017020580 To anneTTe, whose exaMPle i always seek To follow. i will always DanCe PiMPinela’s “herManos” wiTh yoU. This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments, xi Introduction, 1 1 Queer Frontier, 24 2 Bahamians and Miami’s Queer Erotic, 60 3 Making Fairyland Real, 96 4 Miami as Stage, 125 5 Passing through Miami’s Queer World, 159 6 Women and the Making of Miami’s Heterosexual Culture, 197 7 Queers during and after Prohibition, 232 Epilogue, 277 Notes, 291 Bibliography, 335 Index, 373 This page intentionally left blank Figures, Maps, and Table figUres i.1. Wealthy travelers waiting to enter Fairy- Land in Miami Beach, c. 1909, 11 1.1. Early 1900s photograph of Miami’s Avenue D, 51 1.2. Miami Metropolis cartoon on law enforcement’s role in boosterism, 1908, 56 2.1. John Singer Sargent, The Bathers, 1917, 75 2.2. John Singer Sargent, Man and Trees, Florida, 1917, 76 2.3. John Singer Sargent, Bather, Florida, 1917, 77 3.1. Paul Chalfin in Miami in the early 1910s, 103 3.2. Portrait of a young Alden Freeman, 107 3.3. Henry Salem Hubbell, Building of the House, 1930, 111 3.4. Dewing Woodward, c. 1925, 115 4.1. Sign in Miami advertising Miami Beach as “America’s Winter Playground,” 1921, 131 4.2. Man posing at a tourist photo booth of a drink stand in Miami Beach during Prohibition, 1925, 138 4.3. Tourists posing in front of a Miami Beach photo booth set in Havana during Prohibition, 1925, 139 4.4. Man in blackface serves as a prop in Miami’s staged fairyland, 1934, 143 4.5. Karl Denton as “prima donna” female impersonator with suitor, c. 1920s, 146 5.1. John Singer Sargent, Basin with Sailor, Villa Vizcaya, Miami, Florida, 1917, 164 6.1. El Paso Herald cartoon featuring women in Miami Beach wearing revealing bathing suits, 1923, 214