 The key element was Van Damm's exploitation of a legal loophole (or zone of tolerance) that nude statues could not be banned on moral grounds, and this led to the legendary "Windmill Girls" who appeared completely nude but stood completely still, so as to emulate nude statuary.The theatre stayed open during World War II despite demands from the government for her to shut it down.On her death in 1944, Laura Henderson bequeathed the Windmill to "My Dear Bop", Vivian Van Damm.