Southern Decadence had been around for sixteen years when the article was published. For example, no mention is made of Southern Decadence. The article is insightful as much for what it does not say as for what it does say. The article also lists several popular tourist attractions and historical sights. Other gay oriented businesses are listed, including a few B&Bs, the only one of which still around is Bon Maison. Several gay owned / friendly restaurants are referenced as well: the Clover Grill, Quarter Scene (now Eat), Petunia’s, Tortilla Flats, the Golden Star, and Café Sbisa. Other bars may not be familiar to younger or newer residents: Le Roundup, Gregory’s (now the Double Play), Paw Paw’s (now the 700 Club), the Hairy Dog, Lucille’s, Changes, Hooters, Wolfendale’s (now Grand Pre’s), the Mint, Jewel’s Tavern, and Mississippi River Bottom (which is still around but no longer a gay bar). Several gay bars are mentioned, some of which will be familiar to current Quarterites (Café Lafitte in Exile, Corner Pocket, Golden Lantern, Bourbon Pub). The article, written by Timothy Dougal, is accompanied by a photograph of The Great American Refuge, a short -lived gay bar located at the corner of Royal and Ursulines Streets in the French Quarter. I eagerly read the article and while it was mostly fluff, it did provide some insight into the gay social scene of the French Quarter in the late 1980s. A friend of mine recently dug out his April 1988 issue and showed me an article about New Orleans entitled “New Orleans: Last American Refuge.” From 1974 to 2007, this glossy magazine featured pictures and centerfolds of naked men. Mona’s female waiters wore tuxedosĪ vintage matchbook featuring drag sensation, the great Francis Renault.Ambush readers of a certain age may remember blueboy. Mona’s 440, San Francisco, the country’s first lesbian bar. Sir Lawrence’s sweet message to all his ‘reefer’ smoking fans. Billy Austin.Ī matchbook personalized by female impersonator and pianist Sir Lawrence Lawson.
One more fabulous matchbook cover from the Jewel Box.Ī matchbook from the Wonder Club in New Orleans advertising drag performer Mr. I’m especially fond of the matchbook personalized by drag performer/piano player “extraordinaire” Sir Lawrence Lawson who notes that every time you light your “reefer” with one of his gay matches you’ll read his poetic message reminding you that he’s “thinking of you.” AThe Torch Club, Sacramento, California.
Occasionally these kinds of matchbooks do pop up on auction sites such as eBay and depending on their condition can sell for as much as $50. When it comes to the drag club matchbook covers I can’t lie-they are fantastic and as colorful as the female impersonators who graced the stages at venues like the Jewel Box Lounge in Kansas City (one of which is pictured at the top of this post), or the artistic interpretation of the leather boys that hung out at the Ambush in San Francisco back in the day. Like some of you, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for matchbooks and have a large collection of them myself that I’ve collected over the years from places that no longer exist like the one of the greatest rock clubs in Boston, The Channel and other clubs and bars that closed their doors long ago. Vintage matchbook cover from the Jewel Box Lounge in Kansas City, Missouri.Ī few of my DM colleagues as well as myself have posted about vintage matchbooks previously-think of them as folk art-so I was pretty delighted when I came across a large array of vintage drag and gay club matchbooks-some dating back to the 1950s.