Talking to Viki St. John about the 1960s, Part 3
The end of my drag days ...
"Before I was going into drag I was hanging around with people who were lawyers, writers, and when I worked in drag I had no time for a social life, the only people I hung around with were cheap and crappy; the drag queens.
"I was working too many hours, I was working 16 hours a day, and I thought, 'Forget it, this is not the kind of life I want to lead.' I did a few guest spots but I never worked steadily in the bars again."
Raids ...
"I was in the Nite Life with my friend Beverly one night. That was a straight bar with a drag show. We wanted to talk to the guys in the show when it was over. They had a cocktail waitress there who was a crossover. She was working there as a female waitress serving drinks. She worked downtown in an office during the day as a woman. She was saving her money to get the sex change. I don't know why, but the cops didn't know that was going on there. The show was just about over and we were waiting to talk to the guys and Beverly said, 'I think we ought to get out of here right now.' So we got up and left. Five minutes later they raided the place. So we missed that one. They raided the place and they closed it down.
"They raided the bars every time there was an election. You see, with the gay bars at the time, you had to know where they were. There was a law that you had to be able to see into a place, so they all had a small window maybe 3 inches by 5 inches, so the cops could look in. Other than that there were no signs telling you what they were. If people think that gay bashing is big now, it's nothing. It was worse then. So the big thing was when you got close to the bar you got in there fast, and when you came out you were fast; don't let these punks see you leave a gay bar or you were in trouble. The cops would do nothing for you."
Cho-Cho San ...
"It was fantastic! It was on the corner of Surf and Broadway, on the northwest corner. They had a circular bar with stools and there was an opening into the store next door and they had wrought iron furniture with glass tops, a baby grand, and a little stage set up in the back. On Sunday afternoons they had operettas. The guy that played the piano had been a concert pianist in Cuba before Castro. You have to remember this was in the '60s and Castro was new then. This guy had fled the country. He could accompany anybody.
"There was a place downtown on Rush Street called Punchinello's and it was in a basement. It was a bar where a lot of the theatrical people went after the shows were over. They would drift from there to Cho-Cho San and they would come in. The owner's husband tended bar, but she would bring the show people back into the lounge area where the piano was. She would say, 'You have to sing, you have to sing,' and everybody would clap and they'd sing two or three songs. That was from about 11 until 2 in the morning. People would constantly be singing.
"This other guy who was gay, he wasn't in show business, but he had a fantastic deep voice, well he came in and she would do the same with him and he'd do two or three songs. Then he'd say 'Come on, we're going to sing.' They would do the old Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy duets. They were superb. The drinks weren't expensive, you could go there all evening just for a couple of drinks.
"The crowd was a mix of straight and gay, but the straight people that were there were couples in their 40s, and they didn't mind having gay people around. I couldn't believe it, I was really young and I stumbled in there with somebody one night and I kept going back after that. I couldn't believe that the straights were mixing with the gays and there were no problems. The entertainment was outstanding with Broadway people coming in there. But the owner's husband ran away and she didn't know how to run the place and so they closed it."
Memory Check:
Punchinello's ( 936 N. Rush St. ) was listed in the gay papers as "semi-gay." It closed around December 1978, though it may have opened up briefly again on Chestnut. On Feb. 9, 1978, comedienne Pudgy started a four-week run there, and also on that date Punchinello's hosted a cast party for A Chorus Line. The bar must have been around in the '60s.
The pianist at Cho-Cho San was called Franco, and the woman who owned it was Terry ( Theresa ) .
Does anyone know the story of the Nite Life? As far as I can make out, it was at 933 N. State St. It was there in December 1966, but could have been there much earlier than that. It was still around in 1980, though one news report said that it burned down in 1973. What is known is that, in 1973, Ira Gruenberg who ran the bar was indicted for perjury in denying that he had made payoffs. Was Gruenberg the guy they called Whitey? Pearly Mae and Lynzi Kay, who have both been interviewed in this column, both performed at the Nite Life.
Sukie will be at the Gerber/Hart Library at 1127 W. Granville every Saturday Noon- 4:00 p.m. to answer your questions about the history of lesbian and gay Chicago.
Future historians take note: The memory section in this column contains just thatMemories!and are only to be used as a starting point for your research. Send your stories to Sukie de la Croix at Outlines. He also interviews over the phone or by e-mail sukiedelacroix@iname.com .
What a Difference a Gay Makes
The Gay/Lesbian Movement, 5, 10, 15 & 20 Years Ago
Sept. 10-16,1995: 5 Years Ago
U.S.: A United Nations conference on women reaches agreement on a declaration calling on world governments to raise economic circumstances of women, but drops "sexual orientation" from their anti-discrimination clause after objections from more than 30 countries. t Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story wins several Emmy Awards, even though it does not win for best made-for-TV film. The NBC drama stars Glenn Close as the lesbian national guard colonel who fought to remain in the military. Close wins an Emmy for Best Actress in a movie or mini-series. t An organization forms to increase the visibility of heterosexuals in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights movement and to provide them with information they can use to support the movement. The group is based in Washington and is called And Justice for All.
1990: 10 Years Ago
U.S.: Comedian Sandra Bernhard tells People magazine: "If Madonna and I were really having an affair, I don't think we would be talking about it in public. I'm not a lesbian and I'm sick of being called one ... I want to set the record straight." t Illinois Gov. James Thompson signs into law a bill that increases criminal penalties for perpetrators of hate crimes against lesbians and gays. The Freedom From Violence Act takes effect from Jan. 1, 1991. t Reversing a nearly identical vote from six months prior, the U.S. Senate narrowly approves an amendment which would allow volunteer programs in the District of Columbia to bar gays and bisexuals from serving as youth counselors. t In San Francisco, a sex club operating as a church is closed down for the second time in two weeks. The Secret Gospel Church is operated as an IRS-sanctioned religious institution by Father Frank Finch. Police say the church charges admission and serves beer but lacks the cabaret license required for serving alcohol.
1985: 15 Years Ago
U.S.: Buddies, a feature film directed by Arthur Bressan, Jr., premieres at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. It tells the story of Robert Willow, a 32-year-old Californian dying of AIDS in a New York hospital, and David Bennett, a 25-year-old man who volunteers to become his "buddy." t National gay and lesbian leaders, along with governmental officials from across the country, meet in Washington, D.C. for the Third National Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum. t A University researcher in upstate New York says erotophobia is growing in America. Erotophobia is a fear of sex. Psychologist Donn Byrne says the problem exists among women more than men and occurs more frequently in people who are affluent or come from strict religious backgrounds. t South Africa: A gay Black man is arrested in Johannesburg, and charged with treason for organizing student protests against the government. Tseko Simon Nokoli is a member of the mainly white Gay Association of South Africa.
1980: 20 Years Ago
U.S.: Hot porno films include: Inches starring Al Parker and The Dirty Picture Show starring Jim Bataglia. t In Madison, the Board of Supervisors of Dane County passes an ordinance that bans discrimination on the basis of "Sexual preference, marital status, and physical appearance" in county employment. t Speaking at a meeting of the San Diego County central committee, Ku Klux Klan leader Tom Metzger, a Democratic candidate for Congress, calls for the death of all gay people. t Canada: In Lennoxville, some 75 Bishop's University students hold a public burning of their student handbooks, because it has positive lesbian and gay content.