Even a heat wave could not loosen Birmingham’s rules about bare knees on the stage.
In the summer of 1926, chorus girls appearing in the English city asked officials to suspend the local regulation requiring them to wear tights during performances. The weather was hot, the rule was uncomfortable, and Birmingham was reportedly the only town in England still insisting on such a restriction.
The city fathers were unmoved.
“Tights must be worn at all times,” the council decided, leaving the chorus girls to consider a boycott of Birmingham theaters rather than endure the summer heat under the town’s stubborn stage modesty laws.
Heat Fails to Suspend Briton’s Bare-Knee Ban
BIRMINGHAM, England. — Birmingham’s anti-bare-knee regulations relating to the stage must be observed regardless of heat waves.
This was the answer of the city fathers to the appeal of chorus girls appearing here, who endeavored to have the law suspended so long as the hot weather continued.
“Tights must be worn at all times,” the council decided.
Birmingham is the only town in England which insists upon the wearing of tights on the stage, and the chorus girls have been talking of boycotting the theaters here, especially in Summer.
Source: Evening Star. Washington, D.C. August 15, 1926.
