“On the south side they had this lagoon in there and on the lagoon they had a floating stage, quite large, big enough for an orchestra and entertainers. You could get on the stage by coming out the door from the Arch of Triumph onto this floating stage. On this particular morning Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer, was going to pose for publicity shots. She sat down on the opposite side, the east side—if you can picture it—on the parapet. She had all these various poses with her fans covering her up, demurely looking into the water, you know, publicity shots. He stood across the lagoon—he had photographic lenses—and I had a little brownie camera. I took this along with me so I could take pictures when he did because all I was doing was lugging stuff. He was setting up for his picture and she was posing, and I snapped her. Some woman had a cigarette and she was sliding the cigarette along the wall where Sally Rand was sitting. She was behind her. She was going to burn her bottom with that cigarette. A man reached over and grabbed her arm and stopped her. I didn’t know anything about it when I shot the picture; I simply took the picture of Sally Rand, but when I had it developed, and this fellow did it for me, he called me over and said, “Where did you get this picture?” I told him I took it when he was getting pictures. I only took one while he took a lot of publicity shots, different poses. He said, “Look at it!” You could see the woman with the hat she had on and the cigarette that she is pushing along and just about to hit Sally Rand on the bottom, and the man’s hand.” ..Raymond S. Hindman (b. 1903). Interviewed 1988.
SDHS Photo UT8246-6.
Order a print of this or any other photograph in this exhibit, in the size of your choice.
More photos An article in the Journal of San Diego History (Summer 2000) includes several more of the photographs from this exhibit.
