Club My-O-My was a former
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
in the
area that employed
female impersonator
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
s as entertainers. Its predecessors were the Wonder Bar, and the Wonder Club.
History
Wonder Bar
In 1933, a predecessor to Club My-O-My, the Wonder Bar, opened up with underground
drag show
A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag artists impersonating men or women.
Typically, a drag show involves performers singing or lip-synching to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime or dancing. There might also be so ...
s.
The Wonder Bar was located in the
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...
at 125 Decatur Street.
In 1936, the Wonder Bar was
raided by police. Owner Emile Morlet requested an injunction in court, but was denied on grounds that the club was a menace to morality.
Wonder Club
In 1936, after the police raid of the Wonder Bar, it was moved to
Jefferson Parish Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foot ...
, outside police jurisdiction, and reopened as the Wonder Club.
Club My-O-My
In the late 1940's, the Wonder Club was renamed to Club My-O-My.
The name ''Club My-O-My'' was in use as early as October 1947, when it appeared in ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' magazine.
On May 4, 1948, Club My-O-My was badly damaged by a fire, but was rebuilt shortly thereafter.
Club My-O-My had a
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
assigned to keep watch at the front door for any issues. If there were issues, entertainers would deny any accusations.
On January 17, 1972, Club My-O-My was destroyed by a second fire.
Demographics
One source says that Club My-O-My catered to a white audience, both heterosexuals and homosexuals, and was popular with tourists.
Another source characterizes club-goers as mainly
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
white heterosexuals and tourists.
Culture
Kate Marlowe (born Kenneth Marlowe) worked as a female impersonator at Club My-O-My in the 1960's, and describes the close bond of the entertainers there:
Sex work
Marlowe describes Club My-O-My's culture of entertainers mixing with guests and hustling tables:
Customers purchased overpriced drinks, photos of female impersonators in drag, or other small items.
In some cases they paid to see or touch entertainers.
If customers paid enough, they could arrange for a "date" with an entertainer. These "dates" occurred primarily in the apartments of the female impersonators, who lived near one another in the French Quarter.
Away from work, entertainers from Club My-O-My also cruised the French Quarter for tourists, to turn tricks.
See also
*
Club 82
Club 82, also known as the 82 Club, was a nightclub in Manhattan, New York City that employed female impersonators as entertainers. The nightclub had a second life as a music venue, but was eventually closed.
History Predecessors
The 181 Club ...
(
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
)
*
Finocchio's Club
Finocchio's Club was a former nightclub and bar in operation from 1936 to 1999 in North Beach, San Francisco, California. The club started as a speakeasy called the 201 Club in 1929, located at 406 Stockton Street. In 1933, with the repeal of pro ...
(
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
)
*
The Beige Room
The Beige Room, also known simply as Beige Room, was an American nightclub known for gay female impersonators, in operation from 1949 to 1958 and located at 831 Broadway in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California.
History
Th ...
(San Francisco)
References
External links
New Orleans Historical: Club My-O-My: New Orleans Vintage Drag
{{Authority control
Culture of New Orleans
Defunct nightclubs
History of New Orleans