Victorville is about as far as one could get from the bright lights and bump-and-grind of a big city, but the sprawling desert east of town is the unlikely home of the world’s only museum dedicated to the art and craft of striptease dancing—Exotic World. Exotic World fills many rooms in the ranch house of Dixie Lee Evans, a former burlesque dancer who, during the early 1960s, was semi-famous for her striptease impersonations of Marilyn Monroe. Dixie gives each visitor a personally guided tour of the extensive collection, which includes dozens of elaborate costumes as well as posters, photos, props (including one of fan-dancer Sally Rand’s famous fans), and rare movies. Most of the items on display were assembled by another burlesque dancer, Jennie Lee, who ran a strip club in San Pedro, California, and who started the collection in order to document the forbidden story of striptease. Jennie Lee’s effort to preserve the history of burlesque, and the dancers who made the “hubba-hubba” happen, is carried on by Exotic World’s Burlesque Hall of Fame, a wall of 8x10 glossies remembering the shimmying efforts of such striptease luminaries as Lily St. Cyr, Tempest Storm, Blaze Starr, Sally Rand, and Gypsy Rose Lee.
Despite the XXX-rated connotations of striptease, Exotic World (Tues.–Sun. 10 am–4 pm; donations; 760/243-5261) is a fun place, not at all seedy or licentious, and Dixie’s energetic and illuminating presentation makes it well worth the detour. Exotic World is located on a former goat ranch, behind a set of elaborate wrought-iron gates at 29053 Wild Road, just north of old Route 66 in Helendale, about 17 miles east of D Street from Victorville—call Dixie for directions and reservations.
Update: We've been informed that Exotic World is currently closed, but that Dixie Evans hopes to reopen this museum in Las Vegas.
