dmreeser32

[dmreeser32]

Mystery Bettie

Bettie Page

[dmreeser32]

Bettie just being sweet like the girl next door

[dmreeser32]

I think these pictures give me a good idea of how versatile Bettie was and how good a photographer Bunny was.

Bunny Yeager - Key Biscayne, Florida, 1954, from Bettie Page: Queen of Curves by Petra Mason (2014)

[dmreeser32]

Sweet and purty in a cute little skirty

[dmreeser32]

Bettie being cool with a basket and heels and lights and lots of wires and stuff and a silly hat and nice underwear

[dmreeser32]

Bettie in blue bikini

[dmreeser32]

Bettie the barbarian with a triceratops no less

Bettie Page

[dmreeser32]

Pretty Bettie by Olivia

[dmreeser32]

A big smile and a nice cleavage , who could ask for more, oh Bettie

[dmreeser32]

A more series picture of Bettie

[dmreeser32]

Sweet and pretty and naked as a jay bird,

[dmreeser32]

Sunshine, blue skies and pretty Bettie

[dmreeser32]

Not Bettie but she would have liked this. Big thanks to Ron Malone for sharing his wild 1964 Ford Falcon gasser.

[dmreeser32]

The colorful Bettie Mae

[dmreeser32]

Bettie playing a musical instrument, what a talent

[dmreeser32]

Pretty Bettie kicking up her heal on the beach

[dmreeser32]

This is a good story so take time to read it after you look at the pictures of course.

Evelyn West (Born Amy Mae Coomer, January 30, 1921 – November 14, 2004), was a very popular burlesque dancer during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Her parents were Henderson and Annie Coomer.

West first danced in a “Cooch tent” in a sideshow at the Illinois State Fair, having grown up on farms in Kentucky and downstate Illinois. 

She began working strip joints in Calumet City, about a half hour south of Chicago, and this was the pathway to the rest of her career, which brought her to burlesque theaters from coast to coast. 

West had a terrific knack for publicity, advertising that she had insured her capacious bosom with Lloyd’s of London for $50,000, hence her nickname “Treasure Chest”. She was also sometimes known as “The Hubba Hubba Girl”.

She also modeled as a pin-up, and often sought publicity by attempting to stir up controversy with other sex symbols like Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Tempest Storm, and Anita Ekberg. 

West was widely photographed and depicted in pin-up calendars and artwork. She was frequently featured in men’s magazines. Her only known film credit was for A Night at the Follies (1947). She appeared uncredited as "the cook" in Rhythm on the River (1940), and as "woman in theater" in Birth of the Blues (1941).

From the 1950s through the year 1977, West was based primarily in St. Louis. As she was approaching sixty years old burlesque died in the Gateway City. She retired with her husband, club owner and promoter Al Charles to Hollywood, Florida.

After her husband died, West lived quietly as Amy Charles. When Tempest Storm and Blaze Starr appeared to full houses at the Mitchell Brothers in San Francisco, Art and Jim Mitchell approached West to come to their theatre. At nearly sixty, Evelyn West declined the offer. She sold collectibles through eBay and made friends with fans online.

Evelyn West died as Amy Charles in 2004 in Florida. Due to her reclusive lifestyle and no immediate family, her death almost went unnoticed. A fan of West's, Terry Klasek, was responsible for contacting the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to publish her obituary since she had no known next of kin.