The Combat Zone Of Old

[Phat Bastard]

I now recall but had forgot that the address was "666"

Someone here mentioned it a few months ago;

I wonder who that was?


http://www.usasexguide.info/forum/sh...9&postcount=62

[Phat Bastard]

Clip joint extraordinaire...but there was "mileage" available. If you sat in the back bar with the right dancer, on the day shift, and spent enough money you could walk out fully relieved. Expensive - oh yes! But there was a full range of activity available, and if you wanted to experience something that was just not possible in a little booth because of the requirement for at least some discretion, OTC was easily arranged with a large number of dancers. And if you wanted to experience the maximum available festivities, you just walked diagonally across the street to the Intermission Lounge. Click here for a description of the Intermission if you never experienced its pleasures...

When you walked into the I, you went to the right or the left of a barrier that hid what was going on to anyone peering into the open doorway. The main stage was a long runway, surrounded by the bar that ran the length of the main room. If you went left upon entry, you sat at the bar, back to the wall, in an area that required you to walk all the way around the bar to get to the mens room at the back. If you went right, you could sit at the bar or in a small booth along the wall - but if you sat there, a waitress would soon broom you out of the booth because that was where she served whales buying champagne etc for dancers...that is, unless you were a regular. If you kept going, past the front bar, past the men's room on the left, you came to 2 steps that took you down into the back bar-"The Pussy Galore Room."

As you stepped down into the back bar, there was a small stage to your left, a low and a high booth to your immediate right, and 4 wooden booths on the wall opposite. The small bar, with about 6 stools was to the left of the 4 booths, and further to the left, at the end of the bar was the booth where the most action happened.

For many years the daytime bartender was a guy named Lucifer - he played a role similar to that of an air traffic controller. Instead of collision avoidance, his mission was directing customers and dancers into close proximity, promoting an encounter that would result in the greatest possible cash flow. His favorite waitress was Nancy-a tiny, pretty woman who had great technique in generating revenue.

Mileage? You bet...more than enough to empty your tank. It was a good place to hang out if you kept your head straight and your wallet in your pocket. A sage regular could make out very well there...

Your description of the place is dead-on.

Do you remember who the announcer was on the P.A.?

That voice is still in my head to this day: "Next in our Pussy Galore Stag Bar, the love-ly Jas-mine".
Sometimes, depending on whose name was called for which stage, there would be a mass-migration of customers going from stage to stage.


There was a short while many moons ago when I was unemployed and spending money in strip joints was off my list so I used to go the the liquor store on Essex right around the corner from Washington, buy a single bottle of beer, walk toward the Naked I and duck into a doorway on the way, put the beer in my sock under my pant leg, then walk in the "I", past the front bar and into the bathroom. Then pop into a stall, take out the beer and open it, flush the cap, then walk out of the bathroom and into the Pussy Galore with it like I'd bought it out front.

Then I'd turn and climb into those seats on the right where I could see the girls on stage but didn't have to tip. The waitresses would be on me right away but see that I'd have a full one and leave me alone....for at least a few minutes.

Since there was no cover then, I'd stretch two dollars and change into an hour or so at a strip joint.

[Phat Bastard]

In 1960, the Trans-Lux became the first Washington Street theatre to show sex films.

Two girls who worked the clubs, late 60's early 70's.

Last night your posts weren't between Viejo's and Daty Man's even though they have a time stamp from yesterday afternoon but now they are. You're a senior member, your posts shouldn't get delayed before showing up on the forum.


You should probably talk to Jackson about that and get it fixed.

[Daty Man]

Thanks for the description. I was anything but "sage" or a regular and wouldn't have known how to get mileage in those days or had the money. Massachusetts wasn't a great mongering place except for a couple of years when there were spas up and down Route 1 on the North Shore.

[Viejo]

I was *in* the Naked I a couple of times -- it was a real clip joint with no mileage at all...

Clip joint extraordinaire...but there was "mileage" available. If you sat in the back bar with the right dancer, on the day shift, and spent enough money you could walk out fully relieved. Expensive - oh yes! But there was a full range of activity available, and if you wanted to experience something that was just not possible in a little booth because of the requirement for at least some discretion, OTC was easily arranged with a large number of dancers. And if you wanted to experience the maximum available festivities, you just walked diagonally across the street to the Intermission Lounge. Click here for a description of the Intermission if you never experienced its pleasures...

When you walked into the I, you went to the right or the left of a barrier that hid what was going on to anyone peering into the open doorway. The main stage was a long runway, surrounded by the bar that ran the length of the main room. If you went left upon entry, you sat at the bar, back to the wall, in an area that required you to walk all the way around the bar to get to the mens room at the back. If you went right, you could sit at the bar or in a small booth along the wall - but if you sat there, a waitress would soon broom you out of the booth because that was where she served whales buying champagne etc for dancers...that is, unless you were a regular. If you kept going, past the front bar, past the men's room on the left, you came to 2 steps that took you down into the back bar-"The Pussy Galore Room."

As you stepped down into the back bar, there was a small stage to your left, a low and a high booth to your immediate right, and 4 wooden booths on the wall opposite. The small bar, with about 6 stools was to the left of the 4 booths, and further to the left, at the end of the bar was the booth where the most action happened.

For many years the daytime bartender was a guy named Lucifer - he played a role similar to that of an air traffic controller. Instead of collision avoidance, his mission was directing customers and dancers into close proximity, promoting an encounter that would result in the greatest possible cash flow. His favorite waitress was Nancy-a tiny, pretty woman who had great technique in generating revenue.

Mileage? You bet...more than enough to empty your tank. It was a good place to hang out if you kept your head straight and your wallet in your pocket. A sage regular could make out very well there...

[Daty Man]

I was *in* the Naked I a couple of times -- it was a real clip joint with no mileage at all, but because i was so young I have these memories of the place. It had to be in the early '70s; the girls would get you to buy these $20 - $30 grape juice drinks for them to sit there with you. Thanks for showing these photos from the old Combat Zone days.

[WebDog]

I am always looking on eBay for nostalgia from the old CZ -- which is how I found that book. Here is a random item I would have loved to buy but missed out. I now recall but had forgot that the address was "666"

Also, that phone number hasn't been re-assigned -- would have thought it would rollover to Centerfolds.

[Viejo]

...I just wish I could tell what it says on what he's holding.

I did some more photo processing to get a better look...I'm not sure, but it looks to me like he might have been holding his wallet, showing some of his identification - on the left it looks like a driver's license and auto registration. Why he would have been doing that is, of course, a whole separate line of conjecture.

[WebDog]

That "Sonny King Of Pizza" picture is just so gritty and real.
Fom his brylcream hair to his sleazy magicians beard, to the bad suit, filthy hands, dirty fingernails, filthy band-aid, ashtray and comb on the table next to his coffee, the man is a sleazy sign of the times. I just wish I could tell what it says on what he's holding.

There is no reference to what it is in the book -- the picture is a bit out context. But the story talks about him collecting canceled checks and other info in the financial district.

That pic of the Naked i (yours not mine) is how I remember it. I was trying to picture it from the B&W but couldn't -- the color brought back the memories, with the red plexiglass. I know the CZ from '89 on so I missed the heyday.

The book refers to what we now know as the "Naked i" as "Jerome's Lounge" -- perhaps someone with more history knows the story there, but it appears it was previously known by that name.

BTW - the alleyway pic is taken of Boylston St

[Phat Bastard]

...I was not certain that I could identify the alley that's in one of the pics Webdog posted, so I did a little photo processing to bring up the wall at the end of the alley - now, how many of you can identify its location?

My guess is that it's taken from Boylston st facing south into the alley towards the building that was across Washington from the Two O'clock Lounge.

[Fluff]

Oh, what memories,

How many remember the all night breakfast joint in Haymarket sq.

The hole in the wall?

Another joint was after hours joint, walk up in Haymarket sq.

Forget the name

I was under age but never had a problem getting into any of the joints.

Yes, great breakfast 24/7, and what a crowd it would attract at 3:00 a.m.

[Viejo]

...I was not certain that I could identify the alley that's in one of the pics Webdog posted, so I did a little photo processing to bring up the wall at the end of the alley - now, how many of you can identify its location?

[Phat Bastard]

I have been promising for months to upload scans from the book I have on the old CZ -- "... a kind of life. Conversations in the Combat Zone." by a photographer named Roswell Angier.

Well I hit the motherload on a gallery site sell his original photos for $1,000s -- here are a the ones from the CZ.

If you liked you could buy these at:

http://www.gittermangallery.com/html...sp?artist=1596

This guy is a Harvard/Berkeley grad from the 1960s -- albeit the dialogs in the book are good but not great. Frankly, you're better off just enjoying the pix here.

BTW - that creepy picture of the 'couple' is entitled "Mr. and Mrs. Steve Mills, Pilgrim Theater, 1973"

Some old-timers must know who Steve Mills was -- seems like he was an institution. And his wife was a stripper named Suzannah Lee. There is also pix (not in this group -- in the book) of some dark looking clown named "Silky Sivers." I am too young to know of strip clubs where you had clowns and comedians out between girls. Freaking weird to me, man.

Outstanding pics WebDog, outstanding

That "Sonny King Of Pizza" picture is just so gritty and real.
Fom his brylcream hair to his sleazy magicians beard, to the bad suit, filthy hands, dirty fingernails, filthy band-aid, ashtray and comb on the table next to his coffee, the man is a sleazy sign of the times. I just wish I could tell what it says on what he's holding.



Those outdoor shots in particular are like looking into a wayback machine.


Those Goombahs at the doorway to the Two O'Clock look like any one of my uncles did back then. Especially the guy on the left with his sleeves pushed up. I can almost hear him holding up his hand and (half-jokingly) threatening to give me a smack in the head for being a wise ass.

"Ya wanna smack in tha head?" "huh?" "huh wiseguy?"


I don't even remember the Naked I being "Jeromes" Naked I like it is in the black and white pic. I remember it as having the neon legs that open and closed like here.

[Viejo]

...Great live Jazz music played in all the strip joints....

In the 60's you could still find live Jazz - the Caribe, the New Showbar, the Downtown Lounge, etc. One of the musicians who played at the Caribe, a horn player named Willie Moses, became Charlie's manager at Good Time Charlie's. It was a shame to see the jukebox take over...

The strip-clubs were all seedy, sleazy and tacky clip-joints, but they were fun as long as you were smart and/or sober enough not to get too badly ripped off.

...A port town loaded with sailors....U.S. NAVY/ COAST GUARD...

There were a lot of Army guys too - the Boston Army Base dumped 24 hour pass-holders onto the streets to share the forbidden delights of the CZ with the sailors on liberty. Every Friday and Saturday night, MP and Shore Patrol vehicles were lined up along Washington and Essex Streets. Some of the more enthusiastic altercations that occurred there generated the name "Combat Zone."

You could walk the streets at night and never worry about some animal jumping you.

This is absolutely true - the primary area of the Zone was the safest area in Boston where street crime was concerned. You might get hit in the head by a flying beer bottle if things got exciting, but you weren't gonna get mugged there.

One of the most visually amusing scenes was the view of all the pimp-mobiles on Washington Street from the front window of the 663 Lounge. Classic early 1960's Lincolns and Cadillacs with outrageous Continental Kits, mirrors and color combinations made the Washington, Essex, Harrison and Beach Streets loop all night long.

All that, and the fact that the rest of the city was a giant open-air whorehouse, made almost unlimited enjoyment and pleasure the norm. Thinking about what it's like now makes you wanna cry...

[WebDog]

Here are the rest.

The blond is Lorraine Gail who is on the cover of the book. She looks like she was quite something -- she was reportedly murdered a few weeks after these pictures where taken.

The book has about 4x as many photos as I have posted here (I just pulled these down from the gallery site -- still promising to scan the rest some day.)

The chick with the boa is named "Devil's Delight"

Another one featured prominently in the book is Coty Lee -- anyone know her??

Also, one of these pix is a dude who used to strip and wore a pubic hair wig. Anyone remember that?? I just can't imagine.