City - Chicago IL - Dancing girls 1941 Light Switch Cover
Colorized photo from 1941 Original title: Negro Cabaret, Southside Photographer: Russell Lee Location: 343 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL There were many cafe's back in the day in Bronzeville, they varied in size and scope, some were quite small, and others large. This one was Dave's Cafe, it was a major black and tan establishment, which opened May of 1934 (it originally stood at Michigan Ave and 51st, but was burned down by the mob. This building went by many names, it had a lot of history to it, it used to be called the Swingland Cafeacute, then it became Dave's, and after that it became the Rhumboogie, which was more famous because it had record labels, but it had a fire at some point and then reopened but it lost in popularity. Anyway, the band playing is Boyd Atkins, he was an American jazz and blues reed player. He played the saxophone and violin professionally. The ladies dancing, did many numbers, each one with an elaborate costume. Though judging by their lack luster expressions, they are either exhausted or they are also the wait staff. If you look at the tables, you'll see these little things that look like long lollipops, those are called knockers. They had the name of the club, it allowed them to make noise with it, and then they could take them home as a gift. And that circle on the wall, seems to move, it may have been a clock showing how much of the night passed?
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