MIAMI - MIAMI BEACH
NIGHTLIFE 1956
[REF: Cabaret Quarterly, Special Resort Number, Volume Five, poss 1956, p57]
MIAMI
THE PALACES OF STRIP
ELAINE DEMING
SAN SAN
MIAMI LOVES THE TROPICAL PINA PARDISE
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
By JACK KOFOED
Author, "Moon Over Miami"
Page 57
On a mid-winter day when most of America shivers, Miami bustles under a
golden sun as warm as a woman's embrace. The sun shines on
jockies in multicolored silks booting thoroughbreds down the
homestretch at Hialeah; on golfers, water skiers and vacationers; on
high-busted slim-legged girls in postage stamp bathing suits lolling
along its beaches.
The moon over Miami brings a different tempo. When the neons
blossom along the avenue, the fun-seekers begin their nightly forays
for pleasure. And there are few cities in the world that can
supply as much entertainment in such a variety of forms as can this
tourist mecca.
A decade ago, shrewd, pot-bellied Danny Davis, who had been in the
business most of his adult life, said: "In a few years we won't have
any night clubs. The
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[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Lavish costumes, tall stately chorus line, is order of the day or entertainment in Big Miami night clubs.
THE GAMUT AT NIGHT... SATIRE, SONGS, SHOWGIRLS, STRIPPERS
hotels will finish us the way Joe Louis finished Billy Conn."
Since Miami and Miami Beach housed the most fabulous bistros in the
land–some with gambling casinos–the boys of the Dawn Patrol laughed off
this prediction. Millions of dollars were invested in flamboyant
houses of entertainment.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Amusement in Miami runs gamut from the wild hysterics
of humor by Joe E. Lewis, at top clubs, to strippers plying their wares
in small saloons.
It didn't seem possible that many of these places would ever go out of
business. Yet, some are now supermarkets, auction houses or
restaurants. In greater Miami only the Vagabonds and Palm Island
carry the fading banners with an occasional brief opening by the
Beachcomber. To the north in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale the
night club still has a place as exemplified by Papa Bouche's Villa
Venice, Jack Valentine's, and Jimmy Fazio's. Despite this
dwindling of the night club as separate entities, night life
entertainment is abundant in the hotels and strip clubs.
Nowhere–if you except Las Vegas, where roulette wheels and crap tables
pay the freight–can one see more star-studded performers than ever in
hotels hunched shoulder to shoulder along the ocean side of Collins
Avenue. Here is modernism gone mad in an atomic burst of steel,
glass, chromium and swimming pools. Such rooms as the Pompeii in
the Eden Roc, the Fontainbleau's La Ronde, the Pagoda in the Saxony and
the Lucerne's Club Chalet have a luxury of decor so gorgeous it
staggers the imagination.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Expert songstress Margaret Whiting puts across a number in plush La Ronde room of Fountainbleau.
Here all the greats of show business parade their talents: Cyrano-nosed
Jimmy Durante, gravel-voiced Joe E. Lewis, busty Sophie Tucker, Peter
Lind Hayes, Jane Froman, Roberta Sherwood, Lillian Roth, all who
command four and five figured salaries. Strangely enough,
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[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Fabulous Fountainbleau, 15 million dollar pile of
masonry has two night clubs, two cocktail rooms inside. It's
mecca in Miami for all the big names.
THE PALACES ARE PLUSH
amidst the flamboyant decor are the world's top entertainers
the high kicking chorus line, once considered an absolute necessity to any show, has disappeared.
Naturally, evenings in such glamour spots are expensive. At the
height of the season when the diamond-mink and Continental Mark IV set
are in attendance the tab runs high. Society people come down
from Palm Beach, horse owners from Hialeah, business tycoons,
cloak-and-suiters and racket boys from everywhere. To them a
dollar is something to throw away.
It is possible to travel from Lincoln Road to the far hinterlands of
North Beach, and find entertainment, ranging from an unknown trio to a
great star, in almost every hotel. Costs vary. At the Eden
Roc, for instance, dinner will cost a lonely man about ten dollars, if
his taste is not too extravagant, and there is a three dollar liquor
minimum. If he lingers at the bar before dining, strikes up
conversation with a lovely, and equally lonesome damsel, and invites
her to be his dinner guest the cost will considerably more than
double. She may have a taste for wine and a flaming dessert like
Cherries Jubilee. There are many legitimate dolls yearning for
male companionship in that glittering paradise of Miami Beach. If
a guy spends thirty or forty dollars entertaining the lass he can
hardly leave less than a ten dollar tip.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Glittering productions of Latin Quarter are work of Lou
Walters. At left [in this picture] he plans new show. [Lou
Walters is the father of TV news person Barbara Walters]
The pattern changes in summer, for the highest paid stars are more
likely to be in Las Vegas during the dog days. When once the town
shut up shop for that period, it is now crawling with visitors.
Many, though, are on package tours or slim budgets, and can't afford
winter prices. The talent offered is exceptionally good, though,
with a trend toward girl singers, like Lilo, the French star and Joni
James, backed up by a comedian, or dance team. Prices come down,
but it the ultra-smart hotels are still not exactly cheap.
With a few exceptions, winter and summer, bills are changed every week
or each fortnight. Charlie Farrell stays at Gray's Inn all season
long, as do the Vagabonds in their own club, but, as a whole, variety
seems a prime requisite towards success.
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[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Top entertainers like Billy Daniels, Yvonne
Menard and Perez Prado can be viewed offstage at Miami's big clubs.
PHOTO [caption] Luscious chorine below, is typical of type used for latin Quarter review.
Anyone visiting a town for the first time should sample the specialties
of the community, like stone crabs in season, or Pina Pineapple drink
(see page 73) served at the Luau on the 79th street causeway. It
developed through unknown sources in the Caribbean islands, long, long
ago and for a hot night on a town-painting expedition it's delicious
and cooling drink.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Rhumba king, Xavier Cugat and singing wife Abbe Lane are seasonal regulars.
[caption] "Last of Red Hot Mammas", Sophie Tucker, celebrated birthday Miami style with comedienne Martha Raye.
Page 62
THE PALACES OF STRIP
where a pretty girl is like a red-hot melody
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[caption] Smash hit at Five O'Clock Club in Miami
[caption] Sharon Knight is queen bee of all exotics
[caption] Lili St. Cyr. Both do bubble baths.
Page 63
STRICTLY on the surface, one may ponder a bit as to why strip joints do
so well in Greater Miami. Certainly at the cabanas and on the
beach the women wear as little as do the strippers at the conclusion of
their routines. So if it is purely a question of exposed
epidermis, why do people flock into the stripperies? For the
answer, one must visit a palace of strip.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Passionate peel of Cookie Cooper at Five O'Clock Club starts out in full wedding dress
[caption] ends up in as little as law permits. 
[caption] And, at home, the law is not around.
Appearing fully clothed and peeling down to the legal minimum is not a
complicated act. The "art" lies in how it is done. And in
Greater Miami where some of the top edysiasts entertain, the art has
many forms. Examples of the extremes sought in order to be
different are Zorita who disrobes with a python as a partner and Siska
who performs similarly with a macaw. However, Penny Art,
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[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Customer contact is credo of stripper Jeanne
Delta. Torrid dance begins on stage ... almost ends in a patron's
lap.
[caption] Paper Doll Club is noted for pulling stops. Standard policy is keep the customer in happy mood.
Page 65
who has been in continuous action for a decade retains her popularity
by playing it straight with a "Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" routine.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] "Ding Dong Girl," Bonnie Bell executes wild dance with tinkling bells which are strategically attached.
There was a time when an operator settled on a star attraction and kept
her indefinitely. Miss Art has been at the red Barn almost all
her career. During a three year span, Zorita must have occupied the
Gaiety stage for all but a couple of months. Leon Enken, of Leon
and Eddie's, had six-foot-four-inch Lois de Fee with him so long
habitues assumed she owned fifty percent of the joint. Lois was
followed by Flash O'Farrell and Toni Rave, but nobody is on a quick
shift at L & E's. They stay around a long, long time.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Daring dancer Devilon gets hefty applause for dance at Paper Doll without special gimmicks or routines.
Between them, the cities on both sides of Biscayne Bay have nearly
twenty strip palaces. They vary as much in decor as in the
pulchritude of the girls. The Red Barn is actually a termite
riddled old farm building, done over for show purposes. The Five
O'Clock was a smart night club, when Martha Raye played the double role
of star and partner. "Miss Widemouth" moved to the more lucrative
field of television, and the strip industry took over.
Between these extremes are places like the Rainbow Inn, Gaiety, Place
Pigalle, Paper Doll, the Jungle Club and others. While many of
the places feature "name" headliners like Brandy Martin and Dixie
Evans, several provide opportunities for the newcomers in the
trade. Among the latter is the Five O'Clock club situated right
in the heart of the oceanfront hotel district.
Variety is the spice of the Five O'Clock. Almost any night of the
year the entertainment bill will list at least fifteen well-formed
youngsters, each of whom is trying her darndest to out-wiggle and
out-bump the others. In this sort of competition, the customer
cannot help but be the eventual
winner. .
The Paper Doll which features acts like Bonnie Bell, "The Ding Dong
Girl" boasts of "24–Beautiful Girls–24" appearing on three shows
nightly. An added inducement is the "no cover, no admission"
policy. The acts will vary from Bonnie Belle's intriguing gimmick
with
Page 66
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] College for strippers is reputation of Helene Polka's Jungle Club in Miami.
[caption] ... she checks costumes.
[caption] Amateur night air draws the crowd.
bells which are fastened on interesting portions of the anatomy, to the
raucous dance performed by Devilon, to Jeannie Delta's routine which
begins on stage but ends among the customers.
Undoubtedly one of the hottest and rawest night clubs in the city is
the Jungle Club which flaunts the motto, "Where Nudes Make News."
Among strippers and their coterie the Jungle Club is often referred to
as a college for strippers. And, if it can be considered thus,
then gay, chatty Helene Polka, a one-time Earl Carroll's Vanities girl,
can be considered its dean.
Helene has been known to place ads in the paper which read:
"Can you shimmy? Can you shake? Can you walk? Girls
interested in show business see Helene Polka at the Jungle Club, 3690
NW 36th St., 2 p.m. tomorrow."
During the years Helene has taken waitresses, college girls, young
housewives and stranded actresses and taught them the gentle art of
stripping. In Helene's estimation, over 2,000 of her girls have
made the grade and appeared in her shows. The shows themselves
–produced, directed, costumed, lighted and often announced by Helene–
have an appeal stemming from the strange mixture of the seasoned
performer and the naive amateur. The charm stems directly from
the "amateur night" atmosphere. Since Helene or her husband Irwin
control the turntables which supply the music for performers, there
will be occasions when a dancer who is obviously not going across will
find herself in the midst of a grind only to discover that the music
has stopped.. The performer's only resort is to make her way
offstage with the least amount of embarrassment.
Of the girls who start with Helene, approximately ten percent continue
on in show business. Her graduates include one Mrs. America,
several other winners of beauty contests, and a large number of
successful strippers.
And if one tires of the girls, he can ask for a menu and order "jungle
style" food–dishes which can only be eaten with the fingers.
Page 67
ELAINE DEMING
hometown dancer vaults
into the big time
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Talented dancer, Elaine Deming apprenticed in glittering New York. Came home to Miami to get break.
[caption] Not a strip act, Deming dance is best described as acrobatic jazz number with overtones of ballet.
GREATER MIAMI has always been a wonderful exhibition window for new
talent. High bracket performers like Billy Vine, Henny Youngman,
Luba Malina, Julie Wilson, Roberta Sherwood and others made their real
start to fame and fortune in small clubs along the Gold Coast.
One of the newest and most promising is green-eyed, blonde Elaine
Deming, a hometown girl who graduated from Miami High School in 1953
and went into show business immediately. She is a dancer.
To say she specializes in acrobat jazz, with
Page 68
overtones of ballet does not tell the whole story. Elaine has
more than extraordinary reflexes and variety of steps. She has a
quality (call it personality or whatever you will) that reaches out
across the rooms in which she works to win the linking of the
audiences. It's a quality entertainers must be born with; not one
that can be developed.
As soon as she finished high school, Miss Deming though she hadn't
reached her eighteenth birthday, went to New York to work on routines,
had musical arrangements while her agent prodded around for bookings.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Likeable personality, immaculate grooming, top
physical condition, are Deming success formula. Miami critics
boosted her local papers after catching act at Club Chalet.
That's a rough time for a young performer. Competition is
clamorous, and club owners are hard to sell on unknown kids.
Elaine got her first chance in the Bal Tabarin, a cellar spot next door
to the Hotel Edison. The Tabarin isn't one of the glamour places,
but has been in operation for many years, the show wise people often
look there for promising newcomers. The girl was booked for two
weeks. The club kept her fourteen, quick recognition of
personality that is making her a success.
After that Miss Deming played Blinstrub's Village in Boston, where
Frankie Laine was the star, the 500 Club in Atlantic City, and small
spots in New Jersey, and, of course, Brooklyn. Everybody plays
Brooklyn sooner or later. She discovered one thing aside from the
fact that show business is a difficult one to buck, and a girl gets
lonesome, sometimes discouraged. That was that the stars were
always, nearly always kind and encouraging. It helped a lot.
Something more than a year and a half after starting her career, Elaine
returned to Miami. Local bookers didn't know much about
her. No one seemed interested. Finally she took a job in
the Selma Marlowe chorus line in the Clover Club.
Sherry Britton was headlining at the Clover, which is only a memory
now, but when Jack Goldman ran it, was one of the last to stick
stubbornly to a line of dancing girls. Sherry is a beautiful
impossible combination of dramatic actress and stripper, and very show
wise. She took a fancy to Elaine, and in intimate dressing room
talks gave her helpful tips on what to do and what not to do. The
youngster says Miss Britton helped her more than almost anyone else she
had ever known.
Selma Marlowe, also intrigued with Elaine's possibilities, gave her a
chance in production numbers. The kid clicked. A girl in
the line, even in her own hometown, doesn't get much publicity.
On her own, she has a chance to capitalize on her abilities. Miss
Deming took full advantage of her opportunity.
Her big break came when she was signed by the Club Chalet, of the
Lucerne Hotel, one of the swankiest rooms on the Beach. Ruth
Wallis had top billing, and in the Lucerne's first ads on the amusement
pages Miss Deming didn't get a mention. Publicity director Pete
Heller, amazed by the storm of approval from the audience, thereafter
gave her black type in newspaper space he bought. More important,
critics applauded in print. Miami reviewers, who have the world's
best talent paraded past their jaded eyes night after night, can be
sharp at times. They were unanimously and enthusiastically kind
to the youthful dancer. She is, everyone agrees, on her way to
the top.
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[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
PHOTO [caption] Strenuous dance routine demonstrated
extraordinary reflexes and variety of steps. Deming
effortlessness is smoothly deceptive. Long hours of practice and
rehearsal make dance so.
SAN SAN
fresh from finishing school,
she's more vamp than vampire
Page 70
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Vampire Dance of San San has appropriately
ominous background music. Batwing cape is soon discarded and rest
of costume follows ... as music gets jazzier beat. Vampire
triumph is tantalizing finale.
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Warm, natural personality of San San is not
without sense of humor. "Mon de strip" comes from French "sans"
meaning, without. In this case without clothes.
Page 71
THAT which keeps the established performer on her toes is the
ever-present fact that there's a starry-eyed youngster waiting in the
wings–ready to make her determined bid for the plush dressing
room. Hotel row may have its Elaine Deming, but along the less
sophisticated, raucous strip row, the newcomer with promise is a girl
labeled San San who performs a vampire strip at the Five O'Clock.
From her name one might imagine San San to be a slant-eyed
Oriental. She isn't. Her real one is Frankie Parham.
She's a twenty-two year old girl from Moultrie, Georgia, brand new to
the business of taking off her clothes in public, but if Sy Shapiro and
other experts of the Dawn Patrol are right, she's headed for the nudist
fame of Lili St. Cyr and other sisters of the skin. The gal
showed a sense of humor in selecting her "nom de strip." "Sans"
means "without"–in this case, of course, without clothes.
Frankie's mother was a Charleston dancer on the old Orsenic
minstrel circuit, and James Welton, the singer, is her second cousin,
though it's a cinch Jimmy never taught the youngster any tricks of her
trade. Miss Parham went to Kenlard finishing school in Daytona
Beach, majoring in commercial art, but blessed with a gorgeous
figure–it's 36-22-36–and a dancing itch in her toes, it was obvious she
wasn't going to drape herself over a drawing board for long. San
San modeled and spent her spare time doing rhythm tap dances at
military installations, where she got more whistles than the Super
Chief blows between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Then she met agent Sid Leonard, Sid suggested that with a shape like
hers she'd be a sucker not to make it pay dividends. Of course,
Moultrie, Georgia and the finishing school would look on such activity
with more than a dubious glance, and Frankie Parham was not the "come
in, and see me in the raw" kind of name. Another had to be found, so
San San emerged from a welter of suggestions, and a new star was born.
San San has been in the lingerie removing trade only three months, all of
Page 72
[To see a full size photo, right click and VIEW IMAGE]
[caption] Miami strip debut took place at Five O'Clock
Club. Customers loved routine, keep coming back for more.
that time at the Five O'Clock Club. She hasn't attained big type
in the advertisements yet, but the customers love her so much she's
bound to hit higher brackets before long. San San has learned
quickly–not only with teasing routines, but as any lass must do in that
job, how to please everybody and protect herself in the clinches.
At the moment she has black hair, with a blond streak, which, of
course, can change at any moment. Her eyes are blue with a
come-hither flicker, and mother's old time Charleston would seem
stodgily old-fashioned compared with the way the kid struts her
stuff. San San can make a career of Miami, because Miami likes
her and there are many places which need girls like her.
Page 73
MIAMI LOVES THE TROPICAL PINA PARDISE
Because of its geographical location and clime, Miami has taken on the
lure of a modern-day tropical isle. Befitting this concept, this
resort town has discovered that exotic potions are becoming
increasingly popular. Number one on the sip parade is a tasty
beverage originated by Sam Denning of Club Luau- Pina Paradise.
CABARET
POURS A PARADISE
½ ounce lime juice;
½ ounce grapefruit juice
(unsweetened);
½ ounce orange juice;
1/4 ounce sugar syrup;
3/4 ounce dark Puerto Rican rum;
3/4 ounce Martinique rum;
2 chunks (1") pineapple;
1 dash Angostura bitters;
1 dash almond extract.
Place above in Waring mixer until pineapple is blended. Add
cracked ice. Mix well. Pour into hollowed-out pineapple and
serve.
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