 After 20 years, they reunited at a time when vaudeville was dying.Dean's beauty inspired a number of songs, including "Dora Dean The Sweetest Gal You Ever Seen" (1896) by performer and composer Bert Williams and "Dora Dean's Sister" (1902) by Joseph F. Lamb.In 1898, "Dora Dean The Sweetest Gal You Ever Seen" was the subject of a lawsuit in which a San Francisco judge ruled that the song could not be protected by copyright with the original lyrics "... the hottest thing you ever seen ..." because "the word 'hottest' as used in this case has an indelicate and vulgar meaning ..."

In 1946, radio game show host John Reed King stumped his studio audience with the question "Who is Dora Dean?