EVENT
Liquor Licensing
1950sEVENT TYPE Canadian History
VENUES Cave, the | Harlem Nocturne, the | Isy's Supper Club | Palomar Ballroom, the | Penthouse, the
In the 1950s, a shift occurred in societal attitudes regarding the consumption of alcohol in public places. Previously considered to be an amoral indulgence, "drinking moderate amounts of alcohol in public venues" began to "�assume a degree of respectability as a method of enhancing social interaction, intimacy, and relaxation" (Mariana Valverde, qtd. in Ross 4). New legislation reflecting this change in public opinion enabled liquor, beer, and wine to be sold with food in restaurants after 1952, and, in 1954, the Cave Supper Club became the first Vancouver nightclub to be granted a dining-lounge liquor license.
Prior to this date, Vancouver cabarets operated as bottle clubs, selling ice and soft drinks while allowing patrons to bring in their own concealed jugs of alcohol. Some clubs, like the Penthouse, bent the rules even further by selling illegal bootlegged liquor. Club owner Ross Filippone justifies these clandestine activities by saying, "You couldn't survive strictly as a bottle club when you're bringing in big-name acts. You had to have extra revenue" (qtd. in Ross 7).
The nightclub owners devised various systems to hide the presence of liquor from the police. At the Penthouse, a lookout was stationed on the roof to watch for the Dry Squad, and to sound an alarm warning bar staff of impending raids. Alerted servers would then instruct customers to stash their booze on built-in ledges underneath the tables. In Chinatown, some clubs disguised alcohol through the use of teapots. At the Harlem Nocturne, owner Ernie King trained his patrons. He recalls, "I had them put their booze in an empty coke bottle, or 7-up bottle, and they'd pour rum in there, or vodka, or gin. And the cops never bothered them! It took the cops a year to wise up!" (Ross 11).
Local police were serious about pursuing liquor law infractions, as is reflected by the Vancouver Sun's front-page headline from January 4, 1949: "Police Open War on Night Club Drinking." The article refers to a raid from the previous night, during which thirteen bottles of alcohol were confiscated from underneath tables at the Cave, the Palomar, and the Mandarin. The raid was accompanied by promises from Chief Constable Walter Mulligan to crack down further on alcohol consumption in nightclubs; the B.C. Cabaret Owners' Association responded with the warning that, "These attempted curbs on drinking will only drive drink into vice dens, autos, and hotel rooms" (Davis).
Raids were a rare occurrence for upscale West End clubs like the Cave and the Palomar, but they were a fact of life for the "raunchy" East End venues. This double standard also extended to the granting of liquor licenses. Although uptown clubs like the Cave and Isy's Supper Club were awarded licenses in the 1950s (1954 and 1958 respectively), cabaret owners in the East End were not allowed to sell liquor until 1969. The Penthouse, which occupied a sort of middle ground in terms of class and status, was not granted a license until 1968. Filippone suggests that the delay was due to the club's "alleged connections to organized crime" (Ross 7).
Prior to this date, Vancouver cabarets operated as bottle clubs, selling ice and soft drinks while allowing patrons to bring in their own concealed jugs of alcohol. Some clubs, like the Penthouse, bent the rules even further by selling illegal bootlegged liquor. Club owner Ross Filippone justifies these clandestine activities by saying, "You couldn't survive strictly as a bottle club when you're bringing in big-name acts. You had to have extra revenue" (qtd. in Ross 7).
The nightclub owners devised various systems to hide the presence of liquor from the police. At the Penthouse, a lookout was stationed on the roof to watch for the Dry Squad, and to sound an alarm warning bar staff of impending raids. Alerted servers would then instruct customers to stash their booze on built-in ledges underneath the tables. In Chinatown, some clubs disguised alcohol through the use of teapots. At the Harlem Nocturne, owner Ernie King trained his patrons. He recalls, "I had them put their booze in an empty coke bottle, or 7-up bottle, and they'd pour rum in there, or vodka, or gin. And the cops never bothered them! It took the cops a year to wise up!" (Ross 11).
Local police were serious about pursuing liquor law infractions, as is reflected by the Vancouver Sun's front-page headline from January 4, 1949: "Police Open War on Night Club Drinking." The article refers to a raid from the previous night, during which thirteen bottles of alcohol were confiscated from underneath tables at the Cave, the Palomar, and the Mandarin. The raid was accompanied by promises from Chief Constable Walter Mulligan to crack down further on alcohol consumption in nightclubs; the B.C. Cabaret Owners' Association responded with the warning that, "These attempted curbs on drinking will only drive drink into vice dens, autos, and hotel rooms" (Davis).
Raids were a rare occurrence for upscale West End clubs like the Cave and the Palomar, but they were a fact of life for the "raunchy" East End venues. This double standard also extended to the granting of liquor licenses. Although uptown clubs like the Cave and Isy's Supper Club were awarded licenses in the 1950s (1954 and 1958 respectively), cabaret owners in the East End were not allowed to sell liquor until 1969. The Penthouse, which occupied a sort of middle ground in terms of class and status, was not granted a license until 1968. Filippone suggests that the delay was due to the club's "alleged connections to organized crime" (Ross 7).
PHOTO GALLERY
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, Chuck. "January 3, 1949." The History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Home page. 3 Jan 2008. http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/sunspots_jan.htmMacdonald, Bruce. Vancouver: A Visual History. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1992.
Ross, Becki. "Men Behind the Marquee: Greasing the Wheels of Vansterdam's Professional Striptease Scene, 1950-1975." The Striptease Project. 2008.
