Photograph: Shani Bar-on

Long before Wigstock sashayed its glittery, foulmouthed way through Tompkins Square Park (taking with it many a virgin’s eyes), New York actor Charles Fostelle was making waves for his portrayals of hypersexual, eccentric female characters. Cabinet cards were used for promotion and trading amongst friends, and were the successor to French photographer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri’s sepia-toned carte de visite, patented in 1854 and credited with igniting “cardomania” in the 1860s. Though Fostelle was a hit onstage, this was the sort of card you might’ve tucked safely beneath your horsehair mattress. The card is on view in the “ ‘Performing’ Transgender” exhibit at the Museum of Sex (233 Fifth Ave at 27th St; 212-689-6337, mosex.org).

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