Remembering the Pink Poodle Posse
December 4, 2009 by admin
Filed under Etcetera, Inspiration U
In 1959, the Pink Poodle Posse roamed the state of Colorado. Although the teenage beauties wore (toy) pistols in their holsters and were “deputized” by the state patrol, they never made any arrests.
Instead, the group of 20 poised and pretty graduates of the John Robert Powers modeling school, in Denver, were goodwill ambassadors for the “Rush to the Rockies” celebration.
“It was so much fun,” says Kate Crowder, of Boulder. “We were busy two or three times a week, all summer long.”
Crowder joined the posse out of high school after taking some classes at the modeling school. The women sang and danced and did what she calls “corny routines” at rodeos. She also posed with actor Clint Walker and other celebrities and acted as one of the official greeters for incoming convention groups at the Union Pacific railroad station in Denver.
The posse members’ glamorous costumes included two or three variations, but Crowder’s outfit was a white Western-style blouse with pink sequins on the yoke, a short-fringed-pink-leather skirt, white cowboy boots, and a white cowboy hat. Accessories included the gun and holster, a star-shaped badge, and a pink neck scarf with black and white poodles.
In addition, each of the women was required to bring her own pink-tinted poodle on a sequined leash.
“I didn’t have a dog, so I borrowed a miniature poodle from a neighbor,” says Crowder. “I dyed him with food coloring in the bathtub, then washed it out later.”
No one seems to remember why the posse featured pink poodles, except that they were a fad of the 1950s. Poodle designs were appliquéd on skirts, and red-headed actress Lucille Ball was known for her “poodle” haircut. According to an advertisement in a New York newspaper, pink poodles even were rented to women “who only have a short time but want to make a lasting impression.”
Looking back at clippings and photos of the Pink Poodle Posse brings back good memories for Crowder.
“Just think,” she adds, “we even put Vaseline on our legs to make them shiny.”
— By Silvia Pettem
pettem@earthlink.net
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