travsd

Edmond Ansley: Wore Buster Brown Shoes

Edmond Ansley (William Edmond Ansley, 1891-1972), 42 inches tall was billed as “The Smallest Man in the World”, though many made that claim. His professional career had scarely begun when at age 19 the Arkansas native was hired to be the mascot for the Brown Shoe Company, hawking Buster Brown Shoes. Dressed to resemble the comic strip character in a long wig, short pants and patent leather shoes he criss-crossed the country making personal appearances over a period of 28 years, logging in 50,000 miles a year. This 1946 photo speaks for itself, I believe:

Ansley’s grave marker in Cooke County, Texas, is testament to the size of his footprint:

For more on performing little people please check out Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People in Vaudeville. 

Published by travsd

Writer and performer Trav S.D. (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013). He has written for the NY Times, the Village Voice, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Reason, the Villager and numerous other publications. Trav has been in the vanguard of New York’s vaudeville and burlesque scenes since 1995 when he launched his company Mountebanks, presenting hundreds of acts ranging from Todd Robbins to Dirty Martini to Tammy Faye Starlite to the Flying Karamazov Brothers. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joe’s Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. In 2014 he produced and directed the smash-hit "I’ll Say She Is", the first ever revival of the Marx Brothers hit 1924 Broadway show in the NY International Fringe Festival.