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
Page 59
[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,
Page 60
[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.
Page 61
[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
[To see a full size photo, right click and
VIEW IMAGE]
[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,
Page 64
[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.
Page 69
[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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