Georgia Cayvan

Georgia Cayvan
Georgia Cayvan, circa 1888
Born	Georgie Eva Cayvan (1857-08-22)August 22, 1857 Bath, Maine,
Died	November 19, 1906(1906-11-19) (aged 49) Flushing, New York
Occupation	Actress, Comedian

Georgie Eva Cayvan (August 22, 1857 – November 19, 1906) was a popular stage actress in the United States in the later part of the nineteenth century.

Georgia Cayvan was born at Bath, Maine. She attended and graduated from the Boston School of Oratory. She initially earned a living as a professional fortune teller. She had insight into how to play out stage drama and brought her characters to fruition with her humor and expressive eyes.

Cayvan in 1879 accepted her first job on stage as Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore with the Boston Ideal Opera Company. She was a member of the Union Square Company. She appeared in Hazel Kirke at the Madison Square Theatre in New York City in 1881. She played the part of Dolly Dutton. In 1881 she played the heroine part in a road company in such comedies and dramas as The Professor (1881); The White Slave (1882); Siberia (1883); May Blossom (1884); The Wife (1887); The Charity Ball (1889); and Squire Kate (1892). She then appeared in "Oedipus Tyrannus" at the Boston Theater.

Cayvan also acted at Booth's Theatre in New York City. She performed at the Fourteenth Street Theatre in "The White Slave" and Laura in "The Romany Rye." She also played Marcelle in "A Parisian Romance" in the Union Square Company. Cayvan was successful in the leading part of David Belasco’s "La Belle Russe." She was also a short time with Dion Boucicault.

In 1893 Cayvan became the first person to wear a glass dress. The dress was too brittle to be practical however. It was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in The Chicago's World's Fair of 1893. An article in the New York Times of July 28, 1893, predicted that glass dresses would become a fashion "fad." It points out that the first dress was made for Cayvan for her performance in "American Abroad." It was made by the Libbey Glass Company. Author Amelia Ransome Neville in her book gave an account of seeing Cayvan wear the fiberglass dress made by Edward Drummond Libbey. She points out that Cayvan wore it in The Charity Ball.