The following history of the Nut House was written by historian Michail Takach for the Facebook group in July 2019:

FACT: Milwaukee's love of drag is older than City Hall itself.

Gender illusion was a hallmark of the vaudeville era, creating America's first wave of celebrity female impersonators, including The Only Leon (who brought "drag" to Milwaukee on June 7, 1884) and millionaire Julian Eltinge of the Orpheum Theater circuit.

The 1920s and 1930s were golden years for drag in Milwaukee, with above-ground venues starring female impersonators all over downtown, including Club La Tosca, The Bon Ton and The College Inn.

However, intolerance grew louder and stronger with each new venue. By February 1933, the Milwaukee Journal came out swinging against vaudeville gender play.

"The police do not look kindly on impersonators....science says that persons of that kind are not normal. Police admit that more impersonators are at large than generally comes to public notice, because it is only when arrest are made that exposure follows." (The same could be said of all LGBTQ people living in Milwaukee pre-Stonewall.)

But it was the "Pansies on Parade" show at The Nut House (623 N. 6th St.) that nearly outlawed drag in Milwaukee forever. Described as "depraved," "diabolical" and "subhuman," the Pansies must have really put on a show. Advertisements for the Nut House were not shy about their acts. One read:

A NITE IN HARLEM; All Colored Review. Featuring the only Nina Mae McKinney, sensational colored female impersonator.

And another:

"Boys Will Be Girls"; Startling Revue of Female Impersonators. DON'T MISS THIS unusual attraction. The whole town is talking about them. Their songs, dances and beautiful costumes will amaze you.

But their antics got the bar shut down and the bar owner (Sophie Uzelac) permanently banned from operating a business in the city of Milwaukee. "Female impersonators aren't what Milwaukee city fathers consider proper tavern entertainment," said Joseph Drewniak, deputy police inspector. "The pansy act is nothing but undesirable filth."

Between 1935-1937, many cities (including Chicago) began outlawing drag performances as part of a widespread backlash against homosexuals. Reformers began to speculate that female impersonators -- enjoyed and beloved by audiences for two generations -- were not mere illusionists onstage, but dangerous sexual deviants offstage.

By 1938, Milwaukee Sentinel columnist Ted Cook quipped, "What's become of all the female impersonators? There aren't any left, even among the women." By 1942, Erv Durling of the Milwaukee Journal stated, "San Francisco is now the only city in the country having a nightclub for female impersonators."

Drag went deep, deep underground, and it stayed there for nearly a decade.

More information about this business is welcomed from anyone who can contribute it.