Bootleg Betty
The Best on Bette – Bette Midler – First Fan Club Era
By Mister D
April 3, 2026
“The Best on Bette” — Bette’s First Major Fan Club Era
While Bette Midler had passionate admirers from her Continental Baths days onward, the first organized, structured, and publicly documented fan club that wasn’t online appears to be The Best on Bette.
Here’s what we can say with confidence, based on what’s historically documented and what’s survived in fan archives:
1. It emerged in the mid-1970s
- By 1973–1975, Bette’s fame had exploded — Grammy wins, national tours, TV specials — and her fan culture became formalized.
- This is the period when The Best on Bette begins showing up in clippings, newsletters, and the fan. produced “club books” that circulated.
2. The club produced physical fan books
These were the precursors to modern fan sites:
- Scrapbook style compilations of press clippings, photos, tour reviews, and fan letters.
- They were mailed to members or sold by mail order.
- Surviving copies confirm the club was active through the 1970s and into the 1980s.
? 3. It was sanctioned — or at least tolerated — by Bette’s team
- The tone and level of access in the materials suggest the club wasn’t rogue.
- Many 70s fan clubs operated with a “semi-official” blessing: not run by management, but allowed to use photos and distribute materials.
4. The vibe was pure early Bette: campy, chaotic, and deeply devoted
Members describe:
- Hand-typed newsletters
- Xeroxed photo sheets
- Updates on TV appearances, tour dates, and magazine features
- Occasional exclusive tidbits from people “close to the production.”
It was very zine culture meets diva worship, which fits Bette’s early fandom perfectly.
5. Why it matters
“The Best on Bette” is one of the earliest examples of:
- A queer-driven fan community organizing around a female performer
- A diva fan club that blended camp, activism, and archival instinct
- A fandom that treated Bette not just as a star, but as a movement
It’s the spiritual grandmother of Bootleg Betty, honestly.
