The idea for Strauss to write a ballet came from Rudolf Lothar, editor of the influential magazine Die Waage (The Weighing Scales).
The panel of judges consists of Hanslick; Gustav Mahler, the controversial conductor and composer who at the time also directed the Vienna Court Opera (including its ballet company); patron Nikolaus Dumba; Strauss himself, and Rudolf Lothar.
The prize money was even effected through a lawyer representative and there were even rumors circulated that Kollmann was a pseudonym and that he may even be a member of the royalty in Emperor Franz Josef's court.
He worked at his pace and refused to be rushed, and by the winter of 1898, he had completed act 1 and was able to perform small parts of the orchestral version on the piano.
Josef Bayer completed the work in 1900 and presented the score to Gustav Mahler for future production at the Vienna Court Opera.
Their choreographer, Emil Graeb, suggested a change to the scenario and the task fell to Austrian writer Henrich Regel.
The work's premiere on 2 May 1901 was a success, although reservations were made by Strauss' biographer, Ignaz Schnitzer, who commented that Bayer's orchestration fell short of Vienna's light-heartedness and the now-revised scenario was too "puritanical".
The leading characters are Gustav, owner of the store, and Franz, his younger brother and rival for the love of Grete (Cinderella), who works in the women's fashions department.
The first, called "Franz's Self-portrait", introduces the ballet's junior male lead (probably demicaractère) to the female cast of characters and to the audience.