From
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is a sumptuary law which prohibits alcohol. Typically, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries...
until 1967, a permit called the
New York City Cabaret Identification Card was required of all workers, including performers, in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
nightclubs. Their administration was fraught with politics, and some artists' cards were revoked on specious grounds. For many performers, the revocation of their cabaret card resulted in the loss of their livelihood. Those of
Charlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Parker, with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, is often considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians...
,
Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer who, according to The Penguin Guide to Jazz, was "one of the giants of American music"...
,
Jackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City. -Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
,
Elmo HopeSt. Elmo Sylvester Hope was an American jazz pianist, performing chiefly in the bop and hard bop genres. His highly individual piano-playing and, especially, his compositions have led a few enthusiasts and critics such as David Rosenthal to place him alongside his contemporaries Bud Powell and...
,
Billy HigginsBilly Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.
and
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing...
were suspended due to
drugA drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
charges, and that of
Lenny BruceLenny Bruce , born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was an American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial led to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.-Early life:Bruce was born in Mineola, New York, grew up in...
for his reputed
obscenityObscenity , is a term that is most often used in a legal context to describe expressions that offend the prevalent sexual morality of the time...
.
Burlesque dancer Erotic dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is the stimulation or arousal of erotic or sexual thoughts or actions....
Sally RandSally Rand was born as Helen Harriet Beck in Hickory County, Missouri. She also performed under the name Billie Beck. She was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance.-Career:During the 1920s, Sally Rand acted on stage and appeared in...
challenged the refusal to issue her a cabaret card, which was refused based on her alleged scanty attire.
From
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is a sumptuary law which prohibits alcohol. Typically, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries...
until 1967, a permit called the
New York City Cabaret Identification Card was required of all workers, including performers, in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
nightclubs. Their administration was fraught with politics, and some artists' cards were revoked on specious grounds. For many performers, the revocation of their cabaret card resulted in the loss of their livelihood. Those of
Charlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. was an American jazz saxophonist and composer.Parker, with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, is often considered one of the most influential of jazz musicians...
,
Thelonious MonkThelonious Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer who, according to The Penguin Guide to Jazz, was "one of the giants of American music"...
,
Jackie McLeanJohn Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City. -Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
,
Elmo HopeSt. Elmo Sylvester Hope was an American jazz pianist, performing chiefly in the bop and hard bop genres. His highly individual piano-playing and, especially, his compositions have led a few enthusiasts and critics such as David Rosenthal to place him alongside his contemporaries Bud Powell and...
,
Billy HigginsBilly Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.
and
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing...
were suspended due to
drugA drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
charges, and that of
Lenny BruceLenny Bruce , born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was an American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial led to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.-Early life:Bruce was born in Mineola, New York, grew up in...
for his reputed
obscenityObscenity , is a term that is most often used in a legal context to describe expressions that offend the prevalent sexual morality of the time...
.
Burlesque dancer Erotic dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is the stimulation or arousal of erotic or sexual thoughts or actions....
Sally RandSally Rand was born as Helen Harriet Beck in Hickory County, Missouri. She also performed under the name Billie Beck. She was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance.-Career:During the 1920s, Sally Rand acted on stage and appeared in...
challenged the refusal to issue her a cabaret card, which was refused based on her alleged scanty attire. A judge overturned the decision as an "arbitrary and an unjustified act". The judge noted that the cabaret regulations take effect only after a card had been issued to a performer and warned Rand that her privileges could be revoked if she did not follow regulations. J. J. Johnson challenged the withholding of his card at the New York State Supreme Court in May of 1959, and won the issue of a valid card.
In 1960,
Lord BuckleyH.R.H. Richard Lord Buckley was an American recording artist, a monologist, and Hip poet.-Life:Recording artist H.R.H...
died soon after his card was seized under mysterious circumstances. The ensuing scandal led to the abolition of the cabaret card system. Following the seizure of Buckley's card,
Harold L. HumesHarold Louis Humes, Jr. was known as HL Humes in his books, and usually as "Doc" Humes in life. He was the originator of The Paris Review literary magazine, author of two novels in the late fifties, and a gregarious fixture of the cultural scene in Paris, London, and New York in the 1950s and...
convened in
George PlimptonGeorge Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is best-remembered for his sports writing and for founding The Paris Review.- Biography :...
's apartment a "Citizens' Emergency Committee" which included
Norman MailerNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
,
David AmramDavid Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and virtuoso performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Willie Nelson, Charles Mingus, Leonard Bernstein,...
, and
Norman PodhoretzNorman B. Podhoretz is an American neoconservative theorist and writer for Commentary magazine. Post retirement in 1995, he is now an Adjunct Fellow with the Hudson Institute where he studies, writes and speaks on social, cultural and international issues...
. Humes and Maxwell T. Cohen, Buckley's lawyer, confronted Police Commissioner Stephen Kennedy at a raucous hearing. In January 1961, Mayor
Robert F. Wagner, Jr.Robert Ferdinand Wagner, Jr., usually known as Robert F. Wagner, Jr. served three terms as the mayor of New York City, from 1954 through 1965....
announced that control of the cabaret card system would be removed from the
New York City Police DepartmentThe New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
. The system was abolished in its entirety in 1967, with the
New York City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as balance of power against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies...
voting 35-1 to eliminate the required cards. The Council's discussion of the issue included the reading of a message from
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...
, who would not perform in New York City and had refused to apply for a cabaret card, citing the application and investigation process as "demeaning".
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