hepkitten
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 153
- Location
- Portland, Oregon
Hello, Mary!
My name is Chris, and I began this topic. Your dissertation is one of the best references I've found in researching my novel--I'm so thrilled you stopped by!
As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I originally became interested in taxi-dancers after finding out about a great-aunt who had been a taxi-dancer in the 20s and 30s. I became intrigued with the idea of a girl who ends up leading a double life because of her job at a taxi-dance hall. What would it be like, I wondered, to have to rely on illusion both at home (the character's family believes she has a "legitimate" job) and at her work (where, as you point out, maintaining illusion is necessary for success)?
As far as I can find out, very few novels have been set in the taxi-dance world. The ones I have found are "pulp" fiction. This quote from the cover of Taxi Dancer by Eve Linkletter, 1958, is typical of the tone: "For the need of money and desire for sex, the taxi dancers wandered to all corners of life's gutters!" Yowza! (The novel itself is hilarious--unintentionally so, as you can imagine).
One of the more frustrating aspects of writing this novel is trying to get the physical details correct. I've thumbed through Cressey until I've practically memorized him, but his investigators weren't exactly privy to the women's dressing room! I actually found The Fedora Lounge when googling "garter purse." I had no idea if such a thing really existed, but I figured the women had to put their tips somewhere, and obviously they couldn't run to their lockers after every dance! Lo and behold, here on the Lounge, I found that yes, garter purses not only existed, they were widely used. But that brings up another question: Did taxi dancers use them? Or did they have another way to hold their tips? If you don't mind my asking...when you were working in the dance hall, how did you handle this?
Another thing I'm wondering is, how many gowns might a taxi dancer need? My novel is set in Chicago in the early 40's, and evening gowns would have been required. For a girl working 6 nights a week, that's an awful lot of dry cleaning if she only has a couple of gowns. But she wouldn't have money, right away, to buy half a dozen... (not to mention cleaning the one she does have...) These are little details, but if I don't understand how it worked, the reader surely won't! In your dissertation, you talked about how girls might arrive at the dance hall with little more than the clothes on their backs (I remember being surprised at the manager who offered a girl an advance on her wage). Did some women, starting out, have to wear the same dress or two over and over?
I'll stop here, and hope I haven't frightened you off! Any insights are very welcome. I would love to talk with you more, if you have the time, and you don't mind. Thanks so much for jumping in on this thread!
Cheers!
Chris
My name is Chris, and I began this topic. Your dissertation is one of the best references I've found in researching my novel--I'm so thrilled you stopped by!
As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I originally became interested in taxi-dancers after finding out about a great-aunt who had been a taxi-dancer in the 20s and 30s. I became intrigued with the idea of a girl who ends up leading a double life because of her job at a taxi-dance hall. What would it be like, I wondered, to have to rely on illusion both at home (the character's family believes she has a "legitimate" job) and at her work (where, as you point out, maintaining illusion is necessary for success)?
As far as I can find out, very few novels have been set in the taxi-dance world. The ones I have found are "pulp" fiction. This quote from the cover of Taxi Dancer by Eve Linkletter, 1958, is typical of the tone: "For the need of money and desire for sex, the taxi dancers wandered to all corners of life's gutters!" Yowza! (The novel itself is hilarious--unintentionally so, as you can imagine).
One of the more frustrating aspects of writing this novel is trying to get the physical details correct. I've thumbed through Cressey until I've practically memorized him, but his investigators weren't exactly privy to the women's dressing room! I actually found The Fedora Lounge when googling "garter purse." I had no idea if such a thing really existed, but I figured the women had to put their tips somewhere, and obviously they couldn't run to their lockers after every dance! Lo and behold, here on the Lounge, I found that yes, garter purses not only existed, they were widely used. But that brings up another question: Did taxi dancers use them? Or did they have another way to hold their tips? If you don't mind my asking...when you were working in the dance hall, how did you handle this?
Another thing I'm wondering is, how many gowns might a taxi dancer need? My novel is set in Chicago in the early 40's, and evening gowns would have been required. For a girl working 6 nights a week, that's an awful lot of dry cleaning if she only has a couple of gowns. But she wouldn't have money, right away, to buy half a dozen... (not to mention cleaning the one she does have...) These are little details, but if I don't understand how it worked, the reader surely won't! In your dissertation, you talked about how girls might arrive at the dance hall with little more than the clothes on their backs (I remember being surprised at the manager who offered a girl an advance on her wage). Did some women, starting out, have to wear the same dress or two over and over?
I'll stop here, and hope I haven't frightened you off! Any insights are very welcome. I would love to talk with you more, if you have the time, and you don't mind. Thanks so much for jumping in on this thread!
Cheers!
Chris
mmeckel said:I extend my thanks to you both and to everyone who has posted about this topic. As you can easily see, I still become very enthusiastic when discussing this subject.
Mr. H, your gracious note of thanks is deeply appreciated.You've truly touched my heart.
Herringbonekid is right on target about Henry Miller falling in love with and marrying a taxi-dancer who appeared in his novel /sexus The mystic surrounding is, indeed, intriguing and multifacted. There's no doubt that some men wonder *how many arms have held you.*
Another consideration that cannot be ignored is this: illusion. Both the dance hall and the taxi-dancer thrive upon illusion.
I'll never forget the night the dance hall manager took me aside and reprimanded me for talking about my accurate, cronological age. One customer had asked me if I were about 23. I corrected him and said, "no, I'm actually almost 29." The manager told me in no uncertain terms that, "we deal with illusion, not reality."
Love and Laughter,
Mary M.
