Tin Angel (San Francisco)

Last updated
Tin Angel
On-The-Levee
Tin Angel (San Francisco)
Restaurant information
Previous owner(s)Peggy Tolk–Watkins (1953 to 1958),
Kid Ory (1958 to 1961)
Street address981 Embarcadero,
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Coordinates 37°48′11″N122°24′06″W / 37.803175°N 122.401589°W / 37.803175; -122.401589
Active dates1953–July 1961

The Tin Angel was a lesbian nightclub, live music venue, and restaurant in operation from 1953 to 1961, on the Embarcadero at 981 Embarcadero (near Pier 23) in San Francisco, California, U.S. [1] The venue and its founder were credited as "spearheading the 'Jazz on the Waterfront' movement" in the 1950s. [2] In 1958, the club ownership changed and it was renamed On-The-Levee, before its closure in July 1961.

Contents

History

It was owned and managed by self-taught painter Peggy Tolk–Watkins, who worked in partnership with bordello owner and former Sausalito mayor, Sally Stanford. [3] Tolk–Watkins had previously opened a similar venue also named Tin Angel at 588 Bridgeway Boulevard in Sausalito, California from 1948 to July 1951. [1] [4] [5] [6] [7] Tolk–Watkins was referred to as "queen of the dykes", [8] and Tin Angel was considered a lesbian nightclub. [9]

Folk singer Odetta got her start performing at the Tin Angel in San Francisco. [1] [10] A short while later Odetta joined the duo of Odetta and Larry and they performed at the Tin Angel for about 8 months. The Odetta and Larry duo released a self-titled album on Fantasy Records, recorded in 1953 and 1954 at the Tin Angel. [11] Other performers at Tin Angel included Bob Scobey, Turk Murphy, Kid Ory, Muggsy Spanier, George Lewis, Bob Mielke, Claire Austin, and Lizzie Miles with Wally Rose. [12]

The album cover for Turk Murphy's When The Saints Go Marching In (1954) features an image of the interior of the club. [12]

In total, a collection of San Francisco LGBT venues opened and flourished in the early 1950s, including the Tin Angel, Paper Doll Club, The Beige Room, Tommy's Place/12 Adler Place, Miss Smith’s Tea Room, Dolan's, and Gordon's. [3] In 1954, Tolk–Watkins opened another venue in San Francisco named, The Fallen Angel at 1144 Pine Street, the building was formerly the Sally Stanford bordello. [4] [13] In June 1958, Tolk–Watkins sold the Tin Angel club to Kid Ory, and it was renamed On-The-Levee. [12] [14] The bar closed in July 1961, and was demolished in 1962 because of the creation of the Embarcadero Freeway. [12]

It was featured in the Kim Anno art exhibition "Lost and Found: A Museum of Lesbian Memory, Part 1" (2000) shown at "The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Historical Society of Northern California," and at the San Francisco Public Library. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kid Ory</span> American jazz trombonist

Edward "Kid" Ory was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sausalito, California</span> City in California, United States

Sausalito is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located 1.5 miles southeast of Marin City, 8 miles (13 km) south-southeast of San Rafael, and about 4 miles (6 km) north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folsom Street Fair</span> BDSM and leather fair in San Francisco

Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair, held in September that concludes San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes referred to simply as "Folsom", takes place on the last Sunday in September, on Folsom Street between 8th and 13th Streets, in San Francisco's South of Market district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odetta</span> American singer (1930–2008)

Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she influenced many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin. In 2011 Time magazine included her recording of "Take This Hammer" on its list of the 100 Greatest Popular Songs, stating that "Rosa Parks was her No. 1 fan, and Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of American folk music."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of San Francisco</span>

The culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums, and architecture but also is influenced heavily by Mexican culture due to its large Hispanic population, and its history as part of Spanish America and Mexico. San Francisco's diversity of cultures along with its eccentricities are so great that they have greatly influenced the country and the world at large over the years. In 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek voted San Francisco as America's Best City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tequila sunrise</span> Alcoholic cocktail

The tequila sunrise is a cocktail made of tequila, orange juice, and grenadine syrup. The drink is served unmixed in a tall glass. The modern drink originates from Sausalito, California, in the early 1970s after an earlier iteration created in the 1930s in Phoenix, Arizona. The cocktail is named for its appearance when served—with gradations of color resembling a sunrise.

Sally Stanford was an American madam, restaurateur, city council member, and a former mayor of Sausalito, California. From 1940 to 1949, she was madam of a bordello at 1144 Pine Street in the Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, in a house designed by architect Stanford White.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odetta & Larry</span> Blues-folk duo active in the 1950s

Odetta & Larry was a short-lived blues-folk duo in the mid-1950s. It consisted of Odetta and Lawrence B. Mohr, the former of whom became the more well known in ensuing decades.

<i>The Tin Angel</i> 1954 studio album by Odetta & Larry

The Tin Angel is Odetta & Larry's only album, and the first recording by Odetta, originally released in September 1954 on Fantasy Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pier 41</span> Ferry terminal in San Francisco, California

Pier 41 is a ferry terminal on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The former headquarters of Blue & Gold Fleet, their box offices are now located at Pier 39.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Tunnel (San Francisco)</span> Road underpass in San Francisco, California, U.S.

The Broadway Tunnel is a roadway tunnel in San Francisco, California. The tunnel opened in 1952, and serves as a high-capacity conduit for traffic between Chinatown and North Beach to the east and Russian Hill and Van Ness Avenue to the west. In a proposal of the city's 1948 Trafficways Plan, the tunnel was to serve as a link between the Embarcadero Freeway and the Central Freeway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Trident (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in California, United States

The Trident is a restaurant in Sausalito, California, originally opened in 1966 as a bar-restaurant-music venue by the Kingston Trio, and noted for its psychedelic murals dating to the 1960s, and its ties to the music counterculture of that era. The modern version of the Tequila Sunrise cocktail was invented by Trident bartenders Bobby Lozoff and Billy Rice in the early 1970s. In 1972, at a private party at the Trident organized by Bill Graham to kick off the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour in America, Mick Jagger had one of the cocktails, liked it, and he and his entourage started drinking them. They later ordered them all across America, even dubbing the tour itself their "cocaine and tequila sunrise tour".

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Mountain View, California, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian bar</span> Drinking establishment catering to lesbians

A lesbian bar is a drinking establishment that caters exclusively or predominantly to lesbian women. While often conflated, the lesbian bar has a history distinct from that of the gay bar.

Tin Angel may refer to:

The Luggage Store Gallery, also known as 509 Cultural Center, is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary arts organization founded in 1987, and has two venues located in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The organization has sponsored many local artists, including those that are considered to be part of the Mission School, and of skateboard or street art culture.

Root Division is an American arts nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002, and located in the Mid-Market/South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California.

The Paper Doll Club, also known as Paper Doll, was an LGBT bar and supper club in operation from 1949 to 1961, and located at the corner of Cadell Place and Union Street in the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is believed to be one of the earliest lesbian bars in the city.

Miss Smith's Tea Room was a gay and lesbian bar in operation from 1954 to 1960 in the North Beach neighborhood at 1353 Grant Avenue in San Francisco, California, U.S.. It was a lesbian pickup spot, known for its Wednesday poetry nights and was a hangout for Beat poets. It is considered a pioneering gay bar, and had historically faced legal issues in order to maintain operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Anxious Asp</span> American lesbian and bohemian bar in San Francisco, California (1958–1967)

TheAnxious Asp was a lesbian and bohemian bar in operation from 1958 to 1967 at 528 Green Street in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, U.S..

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Purple Reign". Bay Area Reporter . May 7, 2017. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. "Around Town with Ivan Paul". The San Francisco Examiner . September 18, 1954. ISSN   2574-593X. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16 via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2003-05-23). Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965. University of California Press. pp. 82–83, 132–133. ISBN   978-0-520-20415-7. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  4. 1 2 "Self-Taught Painter Shows at De Young". Daily Independent Journal . December 31, 1960. ISSN   0891-5164. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Tin Angel Sold; Glad Hand To Take Its Place". Daily Independent Journal . July 6, 1951. ISSN   0891-5164. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16 via Newspapers.com.
  6. Duncan, Stephen R. (2018-11-01). The Rebel Café: Sex, Race, and Politics in Cold War America's Nightclub Underground. JHU Press. p. 53. ISBN   978-1-4214-2633-4. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  7. Flanagan, Michael (July 23, 2017). "Saucy Sausalito". Bay Area Reporter . Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  8. "A Brief Literary History of Gay and Lesbian Bars". Literary Hub. 2021-02-19. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  9. Isenberg, Alison (2010). ""Culture-A-Go-Go": The Ghirardelli Square Sculpture Controversy and the Liberation of Civic Design in the 1960s". Journal of Social History. 44 (2): 379–412. ISSN   0022-4529. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  10. "Should Folk Singers Be Entertainers First?". The San Francisco Examiner . October 14, 1956. ISSN   2574-593X. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16 via Newspapers.com.
  11. Cohen, Ronald D.; Donaldson, Rachel Clare (2014-09-15). Roots of the Revival: American and British Folk Music in the 1950s. University of Illinois Press. p. 56. ISBN   978-0-252-09642-6. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Tin Angel - On the Levee". The San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation Collection - Spotlight at Stanford. Stanford University. 2018-08-09. Archived from the original on 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  13. Boyd, Dick (2010). "Before the Castro: North Beach, a Gay Mecca". FoundSF. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  14. "Days of Peggy and Helen". The San Francisco Examiner . July 8, 1973. Archived from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-16 via Newspapers.com.
  15. Ford, Dave (2000-11-10). "Berkeley Artist Helps Create 'Museum of Lesbian Memory' / 2-site exhibition uses art, artifacts to illuminate past". San Francisco Chronicle . ISSN   1932-8672 . Retrieved 2023-04-17.