The Gaiety Burlesque (Cincinnati, Green, Reading: crime, credit card, hotel)

[mike1003]

There was a short mention of the Gaiety in the Reading Road thread.

I found this link when looking up something on Empress Chili for a friend. The first Empress Chili was next to the Empress Burlesque which was later renamed the Gaiety

As a teen, I spent many a night at the Gaiety with my roudy friends. We usually started out sitting in the back and by the end of the night, we were in the front row.

That was at a time when stripping was an art. It took 2-3 or 4 musical pieces before the ladies were near nude. Not the get naked and dance like the "Gentleman Clubs" of today. (I recently worked for a guy that had to hit every Club in every city we worked. It was so boring, that I went once or twice and never again)

Back to the Gaiety, there were live bands, comic routines and, of course the dancers. Belle Starr, Virginia Belle (who I believe lived in Amberly and owned a doll hospital - toy dolls, My Mom never figured out why I always wanted to go there when she took my sister's dolls in for repair) and others.

There has to be stories of the Gaiety running around in someone on this board's head

Here are two:

1) One night a group of high school friends, and I , went down to the Gaiety. As usual, we started in back and worked our way up front (what's a normal 18 year old supposed to do?) The show ended and the lights came up. There was one of my friend's dad sitting at the other end of the aisle. They looked at each other and neither ever said a word about sneaking down to the Gaiety..evere!!!!

2) When the Gaiety closed down and the building was going to be demolished, there was a black tie charity event supporting (I think) Children's Hospital. My 8 1/2 month pregnant wife and I went. It started with an old time burlesque show at the Shubert. Then, everyone crossed the street to "tour" the Gaiety.

No matter what anyone says, I have no idea as to whether, or not, prostitution was rampant (I don't think so, because surely the Time Star would have run a six inch headline if it did), burlesque was a true art form.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by mike1003

As a teen, I spent many a night at the Gaiety with my roudy friends. We usually started out sitting in the back and by the end of the night, we were in the front row.

That was at a time when stripping was an art. It took 2-3 or 4 musical pieces before the ladies were near nude. Not the get naked and dance like the "Gentleman Clubs" of today. (I recently worked for a guy that had to hit every Club in every city we worked. It was so boring, that I went once or twice and never again)

You are about five year older than I am. I remember seeing the Gaiety and several of the Newport, KY clubs but they were all closed by the time I turned 18.

Burlesque as an art form combined stripping with a few vaudeville acts. Its audiences were ALL adult (unlike vaudeville) but generally mixed.

By the time burlesque closed, the Playboy Club was in its heyday.

[ismtex]

Isn't the original site of Gaiety now the public library? I remember reading an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer about 25 years ago about a famous unsolved murder that involved the club . The location on the map looks like where the library is now.

[mike1003]

Originally Posted by ismtex

Isn't the original site of Gaiety now the public library? I remember reading an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer about 25 years ago about a famous unsolved murder that involved the club . The location on the map looks like where the library is now.

Yes, it was demolished to build or expand the library.

I do not remember anything about the murder--I didn't do it

[jttownsend]

The murder occurred in 1943 at the Biltmore Hotel next to the Gaiety. The victim was a beautiful blonde named Sophia Baird. This and other Cincinnati cold cases are exhumed in my new book, Queen City Gothic, available at jttownsend.net

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by jttownsend

The murder occurred in 1943 at the Biltmore Hotel next to the Gaiety. The victim was a beautiful blonde named Sophia Baird. This and other Cincinnati cold cases are exhumed in my new book, Queen City Gothic, available at jttownsend.net

Does your book cover some of the unsolved murder cases from the 80s and 90s?

[jttownsend]

Queen City Gothic covers 13 lurid and sensational murder cases from 1904 -1971, including the Cincinnati Strangler (officially unsolved), the Bricca family, socialite Audrey Pugh, and Greenhills cheerleader Patty Rebholz. The Cincinnati police gave me full access to the case files - my book has information never before made public.

As Cincinnati's unofficial true crime historian, are there specific cases from the 80's and 90's I could help you with?

JT

[goyguy]

Why not start a separate thread to draw a wider audience?
I only remember the Gaiety from seeing its ads in the Enquirer's movie section! Maybe it's just me, but I think "adult" entertainment was more fun when the catcalls of "Take it ALL off" went for naught. After all, sometimes nothing's more erotic than one's own imagination. Now the Internet manufactures fantasies and puts them on display - they only "tease" until a credit card number is keyed in. (So I've been told )
One of those things which defines a generation gap is how a person perceives Newport. Early Baby Boomers and those born before them probably still associate it with "vice" - gambling dens and actual casino, strip joints, etc, all winked at by the authorities. Like the House of the Rising Sun, Newport was once the ruin of many a poor boy, not to mention married men! (The penny-wise goyguy family also knew it as the place for clothing outlet stores in the era when those weren't easy to find that far north.) Nowadays that city is all about "good clean fun" at its aquarium and the adjoining mall. A naughty night there only extends to "getting bought for" at one of the theme bars. BO-O-O-ORING.

[skubaduk]

As a freshman football player, I remember the Varsity players taking some of us to the Gaiety. It was a " BIG DEAL " at that time to travel to the " big city " from the far east, Williamsburg ( Clermont County ). Yes, wide eyed young boys experiencing their first burlesque. Blaze Starr is a stripper's name I remember. Front row was where we immediately headed. We weren't gonna be shy, we had to prove we were men. What a " HOOT ! ". Catcalls, whistles and laughter. Ahh, the innocence of the 60's. After the demise of the Gaiety and we got older we headed to Newport, especially, after a Reds game. Took a Marine buddy, home on tour from Vietnam to an house of ill-repute in Newport. Innocent memories. The energy of youth.