Carriage Room

The Carriage Room was a strip club in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The bar and restaurant closed in 1988.

Description and history

The bar and restaurant operated for eighteen years at 1000 Southwest Broadway, underneath the Broadway Theatre, in downtown Portland. The club was one of seven owned by Roy Keller (three were in Portland and four were in Sacramento, California; only Carriage Room and Mary's Club were strip clubs). Carriage Room also hosted comedy acts as performances. Sammy Davis Jr. and Mort Sahl performed at the venue.

In 1969, commenting on the public debate of topless dancing, Carriage Room owner Dave Russell told ''The Oregonian'': "What we're aiming at here is sort of the Las Vegas lounge show... We don't believe a show has to be topless to make money, but we have to compete with other clubs, and they have to serve what the customer wants." The newspaper said Carriage Room performers were not allowed to mingle with or accept drinks from patrons, or date male colleagues. In 1971, Lottie D. Freeman, who performed at the club as "Casey Champagne", challenged Portland's ban on bottomless dancing, claiming the restriction violated First Amendment protections of freedom of expressions. However, circuit judge William M. Dale upheld the ordinance, ending a temporary injunction preventing officers from enforcing the ban for eight days. In 1976, a fire caused $7,500 damage, impacted nearby traffic, and threw smoke into the Broadway Theatre. Mostly the kitchen was damaged, but the restaurant was forced to close for several days.

Comedian Wallace "Wally" Blair Woolstencroft served as master of ceremonies at the Carriage Room from the late 1960s to mid 1970s. In 1980, ''The Oregonian'' described the bar as a space where "X-rated entertainment rules the roost". Royce Looby Tomkin, once manager of Carriage Room and Mary's Club, died in 1984. Irene E. Pattison served as a waitress at Carriage Room for 32 years, starting in 1954. She managed the restaurant for eighteen years, before retiring in 1984. Vickie Anderson was a manager of Carriage Room and Mary's Club, as of 1984. During mid 1984, Carriage Room dancers reportedly "cruised the harbor on a motor launch, revealing their charms to the sailors" arriving for Fleet Week, as part of the Portland Rose Festival.

In 1985, Jonathan Nicholas of ''The Oregonian'' described the club as "Portland's most venerable pleasure palace". Furthermore, he wrote:

Carriage Room closed in 1988 when the theatre was demolished, and Keller changed his focus to Carmen's Restaurant and Carriage Room Lounge in northeast Portland.

In 2008, ''The Portland Mercury'' published a retrospective article called "Best of Portland 1988", which briefly profiled a dancer who performed at Carriage Room and Mary's Club. According to the newspaper, the women at Carriage Room were "more cabaret performers than strippers, taking the stage to perform (to a soundtrack on cassette tapes) in dramatic evening gowns, with less emphasis on getting undressed".

See also

* List of defunct restaurants of the United States
* List of strip clubs

References

{{Portal bar, Human sexuality, Nudity, Oregon, Sex work

1988 disestablishments in Oregon
Defunct drinking establishments in Oregon
Defunct nightclubs in Portland, Oregon
Defunct restaurants in Portland, Oregon
Restaurants disestablished in 1988
Southwest Portland, Oregon
Strip clubs in Oregon