Texas Guinan * Texas Guinan: Texas Guinan: 300 Club

Oh those days when TEXAS GUINAN offered world-class whoopee at her 300 Club on West 54th Street. [Alas, the building was razed and the address belongs to a modern midtown hotel.]
• • 300 Club — 151 West 54th Street • •

• • Actress and hostess Texas Guinan would greet her customers with “Hello suckers,” as they crowded into whatever speakeasy it was where she was holding the microphone.
• • On July 4th, 1926, the 300 Club had a few dozen Whoopee-makers in skimpy costumes doing some gyrations onstage. When busted by the cops, Texas Guinan used the alibi that patrons brought their own liquor with them. She swore she only sold ginger ale, tonic, and other mixers. As to why these young dancers wiggled much too close to the clientele, the speakeasy queen explained that, oh, dear, the club was just “too small.”
• • The 300 Club at 151 W. 54th Street [a Guinanized front for bootlegger Owney Madden] was one of the most successful, despite being raided many, many times.
• • On July 4, 1926, the 300 Club was raided.
• • She reopened within days, packing the room — until February 27, 1927.
• • Jurors acquitted her.

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• • The legal battles fought by Mae West and Jim Timony are dramatized in the play "Courting Mae West: Sex, Censorship, and Secrets," set during the Prohibition Era. Texas Guinan is in some scenes, too. Watch a scene on YouTube.
• • Website for all things Mae West — http://MaeWest.blogspot.com

• • Exciting Texas Guinan news is on the horizon. More anon.
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