Autres temps, autres mœurs,.....other times, other customs 

Fanny Mendelssohn                               Fanny Brice

1805-1847, Berlin                              1891 –1951, New York

Classically controlled compositions …..  Hilariously handled humor

Fanny Mendelssohn and Fanny Brice were two exceptionally gifted Jewish women who used their remarkable talents to entertain in vastly different manners, each being a reflection of the times and society in which she lived. Both women came from well-to-do families of four children - two girls and two boys. However, whereas the Mendelssohns were a well-established, closely knit affectionate unit, the Borachs (Fanny B’s family) were immigrants whose father, a saloon owner and gambler, disappeared leaving the mother to work and provide by herself for the growing family.

Fanny M’s carefully composed classical compositions were performed for the benefit of family and close friends in the privacy of the Mendelssohn’s auditorium.  Their exposure to the general public was under the name of her famous younger brother Felix. Even when Felix played his sister’s compositions for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle he did not reveal that Fanny was the composer. By contrast, Fanny B’s unbridled, outrageous, daring humor was presented for the amusement of the whole American public and overseas audiences. Nevertheless, her most enduring fame lay with the five year-old character, “Snooks", which she created for her radio show. Through the voice of this little girl she was able to criticize the world around her. A greater contrast is hard to imagine.

Fanny M’s son, Sebastian, described his mother thus; “She was a petite woman and had inherited a crooked shoulder from Moses Mendelssohn, her grandfather, although it hardly showed. Her finest features were her eyes, which were large, somber and very expressive, with a short-sightedness people did not notice. Her nose and mouth were quite pronounced and she had beautiful white teeth. That she often practiced the piano showed in her hands. She was lively and decisive in her movements, her face was very animated and truthfully reflected all her mental expressions, dissembling was impossible for her”.

The Mendelssohns, who had converted to Christianity, were extremely conscious of their changed status as New Christians and needed to be fully accepted by German society.

On Fanny M’s 23rd birthday, her father wrote to her: ‘You must take yourself in hand and concentrate harder; you must school yourself more seriously and eagerly for your true profession, a young woman’s only profession - being a mistress of the house. True economy is pure generosity; he who throws money away must become either a miser or an imposter. A woman’s profession is the hardest of all: she must constantly attend to the smallest detail; collect each drop of rain water so that instead of drying up in the sand it is conveyed to the river to spread blessings and well-being. She must notice every incident, without fail, do good every instant and use every instant to do good; this, and everything else you can think of on the subject, constitutes a woman’s duty; a woman’s difficult duty.’

Fanny M. fulfilled this role to perfection. She was a dutiful, educated, loving daughter, wife, mother and sister.

Fanny B. was comfortable in the Jewish world in which she grew up. Her "Semitic looks" slotted her easily into amusing Yiddish roles in the theater, being 1m.68cms. tall, gawky and an extremely gifted comedienne. She was determined to perform in public and worked her way through burlesque, vaudeville, theater, films and radio, achieving much applause and fame on the way. "Tired of being a sight gag"- as she said - she had her prominent nose surgically straightened; Dorothy Parker, that American wit, observed: ‘She cut off her nose to spite her race!’ Fanny B. was a well known star in the Ziegfeld Follies during the 1920s & 1930s, singing with her beautiful voice, prancing around with her long legs and batting her large eyes which she frequently crossed, to great comic effect. ‘Snooks’ entertained radio listeners for the last 20 years of her life.

Both Fannys loved to sing and their choice of songs illustrates clearly the difference in their characters and their worlds:

Von dir, mein Lieb, ich scheiden muß.

Farewell to Eliza by Robert Burns, 1786

From thee, Eliza, I must go, and from my native shore;
The cruel fates between us throw a boundless ocean's roar:
But boundless oceans, roaring wide, between my love and me,
They never, never can divide my heart and soul from thee.
Farewell, farewell, Eliza dear, the maid that I adore!
A boding voice is in mine ear, we part to meet no more!
But the latest throb that leaves my heart, while Death stands victor by, 
That throb, Eliza, is thy part, and thine that latest sigh!

Sadie Salome by Irving Berlin, 1909

Sadie Cohen left her happy home to become an actress lady
On the stage she soon became the rage as the only real Salomy baby
When she came to town, 
her sweetheart Mose brought for her around a pretty rose
But he got an awful fright when his Sadie came to sight
He stood up and yelled with all his might.
Refrain: Don't do that dance, 
I tell you Sadie that's not a bus'ness for a lady!
'Most ev'rybody knows that I'm your loving Mose
Oy, Oy, Oy, Oy. Where is your clothes?
You better go and get your dresses ev'ryone's got the op'ra glasses
Oy! Such a sad disgrace no one looks in your face
Sadie Salome, go home.
From the crowd Moses yelled out loud, "Who put in your head such notions?
You look sweet but jiggle with your feet. 
Who put in your back such funny motions?
As a singer you was always fine! Sing to me, "Because the world is mine!"
Then the crowd began to roar Sadie did a new encore
Moses got mad and yelled at her once more:  refrain

Fanny Divine...femininity, fun, freedom and frivolity!

The Fannys mirrored their day, Fanny M. was carefully shielded from the public eye by her kid brother’s fame, and Fanny B., during the final 20 years of her life, dressed herself in little girls’ clothes and sat hidden behind a radio microphone. 

Western women today owe much to those early fighters for women’s rights and equality. One cannot help but wonder how the two Fannys would have been seen in the present day world. Perhaps Fanny M. would have published her 500 works, toured the world’s concert halls performing them, appeared on television and outshone Felix who was so dependent on her criticism and approval of his compositions.

As for Fanny B., one could easily visualize her on television, forcefully airing her opinions during a round table debate on world events.

Well, maybe she would have preferred a life like this Fanny Divine - featuring femininity, fun, freedom and frivolity for all to enjoy! Fanny D. first tip-toed her way on to the burlesque scene in 2007 causing a stir with her quirky sense of humor and slapstick style.

O tempora! O mores!  (oh the times! oh the customs!)