Finocchio's, a Short Retrospective - Revision history

Jeff: Text replacement - "category:Gay and Lesbian" to "category:LGBTQI"

2018-10-16T15:09:04Z

Text replacement - "category:Gay and Lesbian" to "category:LGBTQI"

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:09, 16 October 2018
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	[[Where Topless Dancing Began \|Prev. Document]] [[Parrots on Telegraph Hill \|Next Document]]		[[Where Topless Dancing Began \|Prev. Document]] [[Parrots on Telegraph Hill \|Next Document]]

	[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:~~Gay and Lesbian~~]] [[category:1980s]]		[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:LGBTQI]] [[category:1980s]]

Ccarlsson: added photos

2018-09-12T22:22:22Z

added photos

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:22, 12 September 2018
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	''[http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/finocchios.html by Susan Stryker]''		''[http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/finocchios.html by Susan Stryker]''

			[[Image:Finocchios-lineup-in-color-via-Vera-DelMar-FB.jpg]]

			'''Finocchios lineup, c. 1960s'''

			''Photo: courtesy Vera Del Mar via Facebook''

	[[Image:norbeach$finocchios-poster.jpg]]		[[Image:norbeach$finocchios-poster.jpg]]
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	The club's history actually began back in the Roaring '20s, when founder Joe Finocchio opened a speakeasy on Stockton Street on the edge of the seedy Tenderloin District. The place featured female impersonation even then. The club went above-ground with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and moved to the trendy North Beach nightclub district in 1936. Most gay men and lesbians today don't think of professional female impersonator clubs as being particularly queer, but in the days before gay liberation they provided valuable semi-public social spaces for sexual minorities to congregate.		The club's history actually began back in the Roaring '20s, when founder Joe Finocchio opened a speakeasy on Stockton Street on the edge of the seedy Tenderloin District. The place featured female impersonation even then. The club went above-ground with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and moved to the trendy North Beach nightclub district in 1936. Most gay men and lesbians today don't think of professional female impersonator clubs as being particularly queer, but in the days before gay liberation they provided valuable semi-public social spaces for sexual minorities to congregate.

			[[Image:Finocchios-via-Vera-DelMar-FB.jpg]]

			'''Finocchio's on Broadway, c. 1950s.'''

			''Photo: courtesy Vera Del Mar via Facebook''

	For decades, Finocchio's was a world-renowned venue. Hollywood stars frequented the club, flying up to San Francisco from Los Angeles to see themselves being impersonated -- as Tallulah Bankhead did in the accompanying photo. Ms. Bankhead is joined by members of the show, including Elton Paris (left) and Lucian Phelps (3rd from left). It's worth noting the mixed-race audience, a rarity in the era of segregation.		For decades, Finocchio's was a world-renowned venue. Hollywood stars frequented the club, flying up to San Francisco from Los Angeles to see themselves being impersonated -- as Tallulah Bankhead did in the accompanying photo. Ms. Bankhead is joined by members of the show, including Elton Paris (left) and Lucian Phelps (3rd from left). It's worth noting the mixed-race audience, a rarity in the era of segregation.

Ccarlsson at 06:18, 6 September 2016

2016-09-06T06:18:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:18, 5 September 2016
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	[[Where Topless Dancing Began \|Prev. Document]] [[Parrots on Telegraph Hill \|Next Document]]		[[Where Topless Dancing Began \|Prev. Document]] [[Parrots on Telegraph Hill \|Next Document]]

	[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Gay and Lesbian]]		[[category:North Beach]] [[category:1930s]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Gay and Lesbian]] [[category:1980s]]

Ccarlsson: added David de Alba material

2016-09-06T06:17:51Z

added David de Alba material

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:17, 5 September 2016
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	Check out the [http://www.glbthistory.org/ GLBT Historical Society] for much more information on local queer history.		Check out the [http://www.glbthistory.org/ GLBT Historical Society] for much more information on local queer history.

			<hr>

			'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>I Was There . . .</font></font> </font>'''

			''by David de Alba''

			Finocchio’s emcee Carrol Wallace announces “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s bring to the stage the warm and charming personality of David de Alba!” and out walks David in a feathered and spangled gown, coiffed and made up as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, or Boy-Chic, singing, dancing and impersonating the ladies he admires. The club on Broadway is big, well-lit and classy, still concerned enough about it’s early days as a pick-up bar in the Tenderloin that the owner’s policy for performers is “Come in as a boy; leave as a boy.” In other words, being seen on the street in drag or mingling with the customers was prohibited. Somehow Eve Finocchio’s favorites, a chorus of Eve-ettes, was exempt. Employees were either Pets or Pests, although David was able to manage staying somewhere in between. Employees nicknamed it The House of Hate. Early each morning, performers reported last night’s infractions to Mrs Finocchio. When David approached her about that she answered “David, I listen to everything they tell me, but I only listen to what I want.” David worked there from the early 1970s until 1989, at first steadily, then sporadically as a ‘guest spot performer’ at the beck and call of Mrs Finocchio. Today, David remembers those years as the best in his life. He hadn’t grown up dreaming of becoming a female impersonator but when the opportunity came, it made sense. He’d been perfecting those skills for years.

			[[Image:Salomesmaller.jpg\|350px]]

			'''Boy-Chic as Salome at Finocchio's, early 1980s.'''

			''Photo: courtesy Paul Ryner''

			There were four shows a night for straight audience full of tourists. He became the club’s only Cuban bi-lingual singer, often singing songs made famous by Olga Chorens, such as ‘La Virgen de la Macarena’, but ‘I’m Gonna Live Until I Die’ became his theme song. David’s Chicago stage name, Heri del Valle, difficult for the emcee to announce, was changed to David de Alba and he dubbed his singing persona ‘Boy-Chic’, a take on the Yiddish endearment ‘boychick’. Moving between the salon and the club, life was good and years passed quickly. David was “..often flabbergasted that after the Cuban losses, I was performing in front of stars like Richard Chamberlain, Sergio Franchi, Colonel Sanders and Arthur Murray!” There were always plusses and minuses about Finocchio’s. The pay was dependable but you didn’t know how long you’d be working. “We don’t fire people, we just let them go” was their policy. Dealing with the jealousies and politics among employees took getting used to. One performer was let go for refusing to wear the orange costume Eve Finocchio picked out. But Finocchio’s was also known as The Elephant’s Burial Ground, a place where older performers could continue their careers.

	[[The Lesbian Bar \| Lesbian Bar 1976]]		[[The Lesbian Bar \| Lesbian Bar 1976]]

Ccarlsson: moved Finocchios poster and text to Finocchio's, a Short Retrospective

2013-06-03T23:15:41Z

moved Finocchios poster and text to Finocchio's, a Short Retrospective

← Older revision	Revision as of 16:15, 3 June 2013
(No difference)

Ccarlsson at 23:14, 3 June 2013

2013-06-03T23:14:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:14, 3 June 2013
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	'''A poster from Finocchio's, date unknown.'''		'''A poster from Finocchio's, date unknown.'''

			''Image courtesy [http://www.glbthistory.org/ Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California]''

	One of the most interesting things I've done recently was prowl around the premises of Finocchio's, San Francisco's fabled female impersonator club, which closed November 27, 1999 after 63 years in the same location.		One of the most interesting things I've done recently was prowl around the premises of Finocchio's, San Francisco's fabled female impersonator club, which closed November 27, 1999 after 63 years in the same location.

Ccarlsson: added matchbook image

2009-12-16T18:01:49Z

added matchbook image

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:01, 16 December 2009
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	Well aware of its former glory, I was a bit sad to see Finocchio's look so down at the heels last week as GLBT Historical Society staff members carted away a truckload of memorabilia. The drag club business just ain't what it used to be, and it hasn't been for a good long time. It felt like a piece of old San Francisco -- and old gay life -- had quietly passed away. Joe Finocchio's second wife Eve, a feisty grand dame well into her 80s, sat in a chair in the middle of the room and watched her grandson, the club's manager, box up the liquor stock as we historians circled like buzzards around ratty dressing room fixtures, odd scraps of cast-off costumes, a pair of false eyelashes stored in an empty Premarin prescription bottle, and other detritus that had accumulated over more than half a century.		Well aware of its former glory, I was a bit sad to see Finocchio's look so down at the heels last week as GLBT Historical Society staff members carted away a truckload of memorabilia. The drag club business just ain't what it used to be, and it hasn't been for a good long time. It felt like a piece of old San Francisco -- and old gay life -- had quietly passed away. Joe Finocchio's second wife Eve, a feisty grand dame well into her 80s, sat in a chair in the middle of the room and watched her grandson, the club's manager, box up the liquor stock as we historians circled like buzzards around ratty dressing room fixtures, odd scraps of cast-off costumes, a pair of false eyelashes stored in an empty Premarin prescription bottle, and other detritus that had accumulated over more than half a century.

			[[Image:FinocchiosMatchbook.jpg]]

	At one point, Eve Finocchio motioned for me to come to her. "Here, honey, why don't you take this, too," she said, handing me an exquisite ermine stole. "I once gave it to a queen who worked here, but he doesn't need it now. He's a Catholic priest. Anyway, I might as well donate it to history -- you just can't get away with wearing fur these days.		At one point, Eve Finocchio motioned for me to come to her. "Here, honey, why don't you take this, too," she said, handing me an exquisite ermine stole. "I once gave it to a queen who worked here, but he doesn't need it now. He's a Catholic priest. Anyway, I might as well donate it to history -- you just can't get away with wearing fur these days.

Ccarlsson: Protected "Finocchios poster and text": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

2009-01-14T08:59:39Z

Protected "Finocchios poster and text": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

← Older revision	Revision as of 01:59, 14 January 2009
(No difference)

Ccarlsson at 08:59, 14 January 2009

2009-01-14T08:59:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:59, 14 January 2009
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	'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''		'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''

	'''[http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/finocchios.html by Susan Stryker]''		''[http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/finocchios.html by Susan Stryker]''

	[[Image:norbeach$finocchios-poster.jpg]]		[[Image:norbeach$finocchios-poster.jpg]]

Ccarlsson: PC and protected

2009-01-14T08:58:51Z

PC and protected

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:58, 14 January 2009
Line 1:		Line 1:
			'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''

			'''[http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/finocchios.html by Susan Stryker]''

	[[Image:norbeach$finocchios-poster.jpg]]		[[Image:norbeach$finocchios-poster.jpg]]

	'''A poster from Finocchio's, date unknown.'''		'''A poster from Finocchio's, date unknown.'''

	'''Finocchio's club ~~snippet~~.'''		One of the most interesting things I've done recently was prowl around the premises of Finocchio's, San Francisco's fabled female impersonator club, which closed November 27, 1999 after 63 years in the same location.

			The club's history actually began back in the Roaring '20s, when founder Joe Finocchio opened a speakeasy on Stockton Street on the edge of the seedy Tenderloin District. The place featured female impersonation even then. The club went above-ground with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and moved to the trendy North Beach nightclub district in 1936. Most gay men and lesbians today don't think of professional female impersonator clubs as being particularly queer, but in the days before gay liberation they provided valuable semi-public social spaces for sexual minorities to congregate.

			For decades, Finocchio's was a world-renowned venue. Hollywood stars frequented the club, flying up to San Francisco from Los Angeles to see themselves being impersonated -- as Tallulah Bankhead did in the accompanying photo. Ms. Bankhead is joined by members of the show, including Elton Paris (left) and Lucian Phelps (3rd from left). It's worth noting the mixed-race audience, a rarity in the era of segregation.

			Well aware of its former glory, I was a bit sad to see Finocchio's look so down at the heels last week as GLBT Historical Society staff members carted away a truckload of memorabilia. The drag club business just ain't what it used to be, and it hasn't been for a good long time. It felt like a piece of old San Francisco -- and old gay life -- had quietly passed away. Joe Finocchio's second wife Eve, a feisty grand dame well into her 80s, sat in a chair in the middle of the room and watched her grandson, the club's manager, box up the liquor stock as we historians circled like buzzards around ratty dressing room fixtures, odd scraps of cast-off costumes, a pair of false eyelashes stored in an empty Premarin prescription bottle, and other detritus that had accumulated over more than half a century.

			At one point, Eve Finocchio motioned for me to come to her. "Here, honey, why don't you take this, too," she said, handing me an exquisite ermine stole. "I once gave it to a queen who worked here, but he doesn't need it now. He's a Catholic priest. Anyway, I might as well donate it to history -- you just can't get away with wearing fur these days.

			Check out the [http://www.glbthistory.org/ GLBT Historical Society] for much more information on local queer history.

	[[The Lesbian Bar \| Lesbian Bar 1976]]		[[The Lesbian Bar \| Lesbian Bar 1976]]