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Post by marshamae on Sept 11, 2021 13:52:07 GMT
I think that is the typical moderately respectable taxi dance hall. No liquor, hostesses we’re not supposed to make dates with clients . In a town with a big military base, such as Honolulu in the late 30’s, the army would exercise a lot of influence over such businesses. A full out brothel could be declared out of bounds for service men. To operate in an entertainment zone with respectable bars, restaurants and clubs, a taxi ball room would have to stick to these rules. Brothels were generally allowed to operate behind a “ line”, a zone where prostitution, gambling etc were allowed to operate .
Jeff, I am not going by films , but by social histories. I am sure people were more sexually active than you see in classic films. But dancing was a Very popular pastime. People lived for the chance to go out on the weekend and cut loose. They invested in dance lessons, and practiced . In the Nero Wolfe books, Archie values being a good dancer above looks ,charm and other attributes. Not being a good dance partner was a deal breaker.
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Post by lune7000 on Sept 12, 2021 13:58:30 GMT
I think that is the typical moderately respectable taxi dance hall. No liquor, hostesses we’re not supposed to make dates with clients . In a town with a big military base, such as Honolulu in the late 30’s, the army would exercise a lot of influence over such businesses. A full out brothel could be declared out of bounds for service men. To operate in an entertainment zone with respectable bars, restaurants and clubs, a taxi ball room would have to stick to these rules. Brothels were generally allowed to operate behind a “ line”, a zone where prostitution, gambling etc were allowed to operate . Jeff, I am not going by films , but by social histories. I am sure people were more sexually active than you see in classic films. But dancing was a Very popular pastime. People lived for the chance to go out on the weekend and cut loose. They invested in dance lessons, and practiced . In the Nero Wolfe books, Archie values being a good dancer above looks ,charm and other attributes. Not being a good dance partner was a deal breaker. My guess is that dance clubs had to present many faces to many people in order to survive. I am guessing that an appearance of propriety was very important or there was fear of being shut down by police or reformers. Some girls may have been very firm about boundaries and respectability while looking for husbands among the dancers. Others were looking for extra cash and dances allowed parties to set up a rendezvous for further action. Some owners were high pressure and "customer first" while others defended their ladies more. Multiple clubs created competition which pressured all parties. And then there are those weird historical differences, some of which marshamae alluded to: some men simply valued dance as it's own reward, others saw it as a break from wives, others were undoubtedly lonely, for a gang it was a way to spend the evening and compare notes at a bar later, some were looking for wives, some may have had a crush on a particular girl. Dating was a vary controlled experience for many and dance clubs allowed some freedom. But, if the movie Sweet Charity is to be seen as a reflection of the times then by the 50's or 60's many did associate taxi dancers with prostitution as it seems to be what causes her lover to leave her when he finds out her job.
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