Sybil Bruncheon's "KNOW YOUR GAY HISTORY!"... Robert Eselberger.

Shishka-Barbara.jpg

Darlings, so many young LGBTQ persons don't seem to know or care about their gay-heritage!... where they came from, what the struggles were, how difficult, and even dangerous it was to be an LGBTQ youngster in the not-so-distant past. It can be very, very discouraging and disheartening to older people who know all too well what the journey was to this point... and how much farther so many folks still have to go in certain parts of the world and even this country. That's why, as a public service, we will be helping to educate everyone about our GAY HISTORY!

Here's a photo of a notorious drag performer from Cherry Grove, Fire Island circa 1950. His name originally was Robert Eselberger, from Ronkonkoma, the son of the famous delicatessen owners, Eselberger's Kosher Catering! But he gave up his place behind the counter and at the Board of Directors table, and became "Shishka-Bobbie", an interpretive dancer and fire juggler who performed mostly to Alice Faye and Patty page records; Bobbie's biggest numbers were "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming" and "Hello, Frisco! Hello"... sadly, it was discovered in 1956, that the shish kabobs she served to the audience during her musical numbers were local roadkill, and possibly even lost house pets... Shishka-Bobbie was arrested at the Matawan Melody Tent after the first act, tried, and sentenced to seven years at the Manonkahottan Institute for Inveterate Discourtesy to Our Four-Legged Friends... She changed her name to Shishka-BARBIE and hosted the Saturday afternoon “Grill ‘n’ Greets” for the new inmates’ arrival. Her parents moved from Ronkonkoma to Akron, and changed their name to Hefflehoffer… they made a small fortune in the library paste industry.

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