Wonder Bar (1933-1972)

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

In the early 20th century, this address was the location of Wonder Bar, a New Orleans female impersonation club. Although Wonder Bar soon moved across town and changed its name several times, it remained a popular drag club for several decades, attracting both locals and tourists to its extravagant shows.

Images

A publicity card advertising drag performers at Club My-O-My, c.1950s

A 1951 flyer for Club My-O-My, featuring performer Mr. Jimmy Callaway.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Wonder Bar was a female impersonation club opened by Emile Morlet in 1933, just after the end of Prohibition. In 1936, due to continuous police harassment and raids, Morlet moved the bar to the West End of New Orleans, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, where it was renamed Wonder Club. In the 1940s, Wonder Club was renamed once again and became Club My-O-My, hosting both regular performers and touring drag artists. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1948 and continued to be a popular tourist spot for several decades, but Club My-O-My closed permanently after another fire in 1972.

Sources

Campanella, Catherine. Lake Pontchartrain. Charlestown, South Carolina; Arcadia Publishing, 2014.

Doyle, J.D. “Club My-O-My...New Orleans.” Queer Music Heritage. J.D. Doyle Archives. Accessed 16 December 2019. https://queermusicheritage.com/fem-myomy.html.

Smith, Howard Phillips and Perez, Frank. Southern Decadence in New Orleans. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 2018.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

“Men in drag at Club My-O-My, New Orleans. Colour process print, 195-.” Digital Transgender Archive. Accessed 16 December 2019. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/bk128b124.