Life at the Bistro (420 N. Dearborn) Part 2 …
On Sept. 27, 1975, the VD bus stopped outside the Bistro. Before AIDS, back in the '70s, a bus traveled from bar to bar testing customers for VD. They would sometimes test 1,000 people a night.
Around January 1976 rumors were rife that the Bistro and the Gold Coast (501 N. Clark Street) were closing down. Apparently, the area was scheduled for urban renewal, and people were leaving like crazy. Then the empty office and store buildings were re-rented and people started moving back. An article in the Chicago Gay Crusader (Jan. 21, 1976) read: "The Bistro is still in business, despite all the rumors to the contrary, and they're doing remodeling. The Tube, it's to be called. The back room of this popular disco is being remodeled into a real wild 'cruise' room, with silver and glitter and whatnot."
March 1976 saw the Dugan U.S.O Party with production numbers from Bobby and the "Duganettes," who repeated their performances at Man's Country.
1976 was also the bicentennial year, and so it was red, white and blue for the June 3 Gay Pride Week Benefit starring Bertha Butt and lots of go-go boys.
On Dec. 20, 1977, the Bistro hosted a fur fashion show by Bonwit Teller. The Baton's own Chili Pepper and Audrey Bryant modeled the clothes.
In 1978, Lou Di Vito was the Bistro's DJ. At the time, the Bistro was giving out discount cards on the records they played. If you heard a song you liked, you asked Di Vito what it was. He wrote it down on a card, which the customer could take to Sounds Good Record World or Gramophone Records and buy the disc at a discount.
Recording artist Evelyn Thomas ("I Want To Make It On My Own") signed autographs and hands out 25 free albums on Oct. 7, 1978.
On Oct. 16, 1978, Leonard Matlovich, Rev. Troy Perry and Dave Kopay were the special guests at the Harvest Table for Human Rights, a benefit sponsored by Illinoisans to Stop the Briggs Initiative. The evening began with a cocktail reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at Dugan's Bistro.
Midnight shows in October 1978 starred Alan Lozito as Sister Too Much, Consuella Lopez and Spermola.
Prizes for the 1978 6th Annual Halloween Costume Party were 1st prize $500 cash, 2nd prize, $200, 3rd prize $100 cash. Cover was $5.
In January 1979, Heather Fontane and Roski Fernandez appeared in the Show of Shows, Sheila Ceasar and Dick Gallagher entertained during the cocktail hour, and two Bistro employees were Mark Beckwith and Tom Economus.
Things get sleazy at the Bistro in October 1979 with Medusa Ann Wallflower's big party "Medusa Pigs Out At The Bistro." One paper reported that "This anti-chic gala is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. with a dress theme that's being billed as sleazy, lowdown, fuckpig. The flyers have only been out for a few days and already the whole town is humming ('hummm"). The door charge will include a complimentary bottle of poppers, a free buffet, plus many unmentionable surprises."
Oct. 27, recording artist Melba Moore appeared to preview her new album Burn, and Oct. 29, 1979 brought Lilly White and puppeteer Steve Margrave to entertain at the Show of Shows. 1 a.m.
Ad in Aug. 14, 1980 Gay Chicago reads: "A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way To The Bistro. Friends, Romans & Duganites: Bring Me Your Togas! Wednesday, Aug. 20, 1980. A Special Birthday Party for Eddie Dugan." Bistro bartender Leo Beausoleil appears on the cover of this issue of Gay Chicago.
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Memory check: Do you recognize any of the people who worked at the Bistro, or did you go to any of the events mentioned? Let me know.
Also, a reader has asked me if you know the whereabouts of these gay activists: Larry Baker, Robert Arscott, and Robert Green. Are they still alive?
Send your stories to Sukie de la Croix at Windy City Times. You can leave a message on his voicemail at 773-871-7610. He interviews over the phone, in person, or via sukiedelacroix@ozhasspoken.com
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Future historians take note: The memory section in this column contains just that--memories--and are only to be used as a starting point for your research.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A GAY MAKES
Dec. 29-Jan. 4
1997
U.S.: About 75 people, some carrying signs that read "Choose Jesus over Mickey," protest the Walt Disney Co.'s gay-friendly policies in Orlando. * Philip Bernham, leader of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, based in Texas, and two other men, Matthew Bowman of Wheeling, West Va., and Seth Marschke of Orland Park, Ill, are arrested during the Disney protest. * Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle, by Anthony Tommasini, is in bookstores. * Angelina Jolie's starring role as lesbian supermodel Gia, who died of AIDS in the mid-'80s, airs on HBO.
1992
U.S.: As a protest against Amendment 2, New York's Columbia University Press send complimentary copies of gay studies books to libraries in Colorado * The Advocate names David Geffen as Man of the Year, and Donna Red Wing as Woman of the Year * The Night Audrey's Vibrator Spoke, a book of cartoons by Andrea Natalie, is in bookstores. * In the January issue of The Marine Corps Gazette, Sgt. Major S.H. Mellinger writes: "The Bible has a very clear and specific message towards homosexuals. 'Those who practice such things are worthy of death.'" * Yemen: A journalist who outed a college student as a lesbian, is sentenced to one year in prison. The Yemeni Court also banned Abdulah Nasser al-Qasham, the editor of the weekly Sada al-Sha'ab, from ever working in the media again * Peru: President Alberto Fujimori fires a number of diplomats for flaunting their homosexuality. "I have nothing against the personal, private conduct of people, but if it is a case of a person displaying his homosexuality in a scandalous manner, it is not honorable for this gentleman to represent his country" * Britain: The London Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence distribute the world's first safe-sex pamphlet that includes a quiche recipe.
1987
U.S.: In the Weekly World News, Countess Sophia Sabak, a "top psychic," talks about Liberace's afterlife: "He's now totally anti-gay, and even snubs other deceased gays like Rock Hudson and playwright Noel Coward. Instead, he's gone on a macho kick. He even challenged John Wayne to a fight over Natalie Wood." * The Department of Defense says that in 1987 they purchased 13 million condoms for U.S military personnel. * Thirty-five members of Dignity line up to receive the sacrament at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. Wearing T-shirts reading 'Another Gay Catholic and Gays In Christ,' they are protesting John Cardinal O'Connor ordering an end to the special mass they celebrated regularly in a lower Manhattan Catholic Church.
1987
Germany: A group of neo-Nazis in West Berlin mount a campaign to stop the city from being a "paradise for queers." In a letter to Berlin's Task Force Against Anti-Gay Discrimination, the group writes that gays are similar to pigs and that the "pack that isn't worthy of life," should be "gassed" and "rooted out." The letter, handwritten and decorated with swastikas, cites "Our Führer" a number of times, and closes with "Heil Hitler!" * Thailand: After a Thai government spokesman answers a question about gays in Thailand, by saying that "homosexuality is not a problem of great importance," reporters ask why Thailand's Prime Minister, Gen. Prem Tinuslanonda, still hasn't taken a wife. "Perhaps he doesn't want one," said the spokesman, "Or possibly he gets annoyed being with women." Reporters then ask why the Prime Minister dresses "primly" and has a bedroom painted pink. Trying to end the questioning, the spokesman insists that sources close to Gen. Prem, "know that he is a masculine man." To stress the point, the spokesman adds, "Sometimes, when someone says something improper, General Prem will shout at them."
