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| Juno Salmo as "The Golden Mephisto" George Cooke, 1905-1906 The Victoria & Albert Museum |
Here’s another caricature by George Cooke whose drawings of the stars of the Edwardian music halls have served as a lasting record of their talents and personalities. This one shows us Juno Salmo, who was known as “The Golden Mephisto,” as he looked when he was performing at the Grand Theatre of Varieties in Hanley. Salmo performed in Hanley twice—the weeks of January 2, 1905 and April 16, 1906.
Juno Salmo was a contortionist who was also known as the “homme grenouille” or “frog-man” when he was performing in Paris with the famed “Nouveau Cirque.” This might have something to do with the fact that he wore a frog costume. Salmo could dislocate his shoulders and would do so before hopping about in a ring of water. He would then continue contorting his body on a trapeze made of bamboo. By the time he’d come to England, Salmo had given up his frogman persona and donned the costume of a yellow devil. That’s how we see him here, atop a pole, in his spangled yellow leotard and little skullcap with horns.
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