"Turns Female": Reader Letters, Mail-Order Drag, Trans News in Femme Mirror, TV Clip-Sheet, and Queens Publications, 1962-1975

Femme Mirror no. 7, TV Clip-Sheet nos. 1 and 16, and a 1974 to 1975 Queens Publications catalog or advertising booklet carry Chevalier and Queens Publications' trans and cross-dressing print culture from early-1960s reader correspondence and press clippings into a later mail-order market for magazines, fiction, books, clothing, and body-form products. Femme Mirror no. 7 prints letters from readers seeking contact and recognition. TV Clip-Sheet nos. 1 and 16 gather press stories under headlines such as "A Tale of Two Sexes," "He Was a Man All the Time," "Arrest Ends Nine-Year Masquerade as Woman," "Turns Female," "Widowed Mother of Two Was Really Boy Aged 15," and "Personality Parade: Here are some of America's Foremost Female Impersonators." The Queens Publications catalog advertises Drag, Astounding Transvestite Tales, Female Mimics, latex breast forms, skirts, gloves, and books on drag, gender identity, and female impersonation. Archive of four trans and cross-dressing publications. Los Angeles: Chevalier Publications and Queens Publications, 1962 to 1975. Four items comprising Femme Mirror: Reflections of Femme-Personators no. 7, TV Clip-Sheet no. 1, TV Clip-Sheet no. 16, and one Queens Publications catalog or advertising booklet dated 1974 to 1975. [1] TV Clip-Sheet. No. 1. Los Angeles: Chevalier Publications, 1962. Two full pages. The issue opens with "Princeton Lads Put Show On The Road" and includes a "Personality Parade" spread naming "some of America's foremost female impersonators," including Jackie Maye, Dale Roberts, Robbi Ross, Ricki Raymond, Fin Olsen, Chunga Ochoa, Tom Harbin, Lynn Carter, Jan Britton, Storme De Larvarie, Ken Renard, Sandy Rogers, Bobbie Johnson, Dodi Daniels, Gene Avery, Dori Dor, Bob Lake, Viki Vogue, Sonny Teal, and Lynn Roberts. Other clippings include "I Tried Both Sexes," "Dennis Day as Sophie Tucker," "Dual Role for Alastair Sim," and "Nellee's No Lady But He Wears Long Skirts." [2] Femme Mirror: Reflections of Femme-Personators. No. 7. Los Angeles: Chevalier Publications, July 1962. Seven pages folded into a small booklet, with pen numeral "7" at the upper right corner. The issue includes reader letters and "Just Chatter" by Barbara Elin Stevens, with references to Phi Pi Epsilon, Contact correspondence, femvisits, corset shops, readers in Idaho, Poughkeepsie, New York, Texas, London, and South America, and a reader who writes, "I have acquired skirts and blouses, dresses, etc. which I wear at home when everyone is out, or on weekends when I am away with my girl friend who is understanding." [3] TV Clip-Sheet. No. 16. Los Angeles: Chevalier Publications, 1963. Four full pages. The issue includes Scott Young's "A Tale of Two Sexes," stamped or annotated "Toronto Globe & Mail 11 04, 1963," and a publisher's notice explaining that material was submitted by readers from many sources and reprinted as a clearinghouse. Other clippings carry headlines including "He Was a Man All the Time," "Arrest Ends Nine-Year Masquerade as Woman," "Turns Female," "Transvestite," and "Widowed Mother of Two Was Really Boy Aged 15," with another item quoting Jack Lemmon in relation to Some Like It Hot. [4] Queens Publications catalog or advertising booklet. [New York or Los Angeles]: Queens Publications, 1974 to 1975. Advertising booklet for drag, transvestite, female impersonator, and related mail-order publications and goods. The booklet advertises Drag, Rag, Astounding Transvestite Tales, Drag Life, TV Swingers, Drag Scene, Female Mimics, Female Impersonator's Handbook, Peter Underwood's Life's a Drag! Danny La Rue and the Drag Scene, Richard Green's Sexual Identity Conflict in Children & Adults, "Treasure Chest" latex breast forms, polyester skirts, gloves, and other clothing items. Chevalier Publications, associated with Virginia Prince and Transvestia, created a print network for cross-dressing and trans readers who often relied on mail, pseudonyms, reader letters, and small-circulation publications for co. …