This is an excerpt, lifted from the Internet, of an article entitled:

The Exotic World of Route 66

by Geoffrey Willis

Roadsigns, Volume 4 Number 2

Not far off National Old Trails Hwy., Route 66, in Helendale stands a unique and unexpected attraction.  The Exotic World Burlesque Hall of Fame and Nostalgia Museum is a non-profit organization in operation since 1980.  It was founded by the late exotic dancer Jennie Lee Arroyo, whose credits included a regular column called "Who's Who in Burly Q" appearing in the centerfold of the popular 1940s tabloid Hollywood Confidential.  The feature showcased photos of the burlesque stars and Arroyo's own responses to questions from fans.  She later left Hollywood and opened her own nightclub in San Pedro.  The Sassy Lassy operated into the mid 70s.  With her health declining, she sold her nightclub and bought land in the high desert.  It was then that friend Dixie Lee Evans, a burlesque star of the 50s came to nurse the ailing Arroyo and the idea for a museum was born.

Evans, famous as the Marilyn Monroe of burlesque, transformed what were once goat sheds into thirteen rooms of exhibits which range from breakaway sequined gowns to elbow length gloves and from Gypsy Rose Lee's black velvet cap to Jayne Mansfield's couch.  Her newest acquisition is the famous fan dancer Sally Rand's original set of fans.  The ivory alone is valued at five thousand dollars.

Go back to the Sally Rand page.