Jump to content

Krazy Kat Klub

Add links
Coordinates: 38°54′14″N 77°01′52″W / 38.904°N 77.031°W / 38.904; -77.031
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Krazy Kat Klub
"The Kat"
Krazy Kat LOC npcc.04658.jpg
Clientele arriving at The Krazy Kat speakeasy in July 1921: Cleon Throckmorton (right), Inez Hogan (middle), Kathryn Mullin (left)
Map
Address3 Green Court
Washington, D.C.
United States
Coordinates38°54′14″N 77°01′52″W / 38.904°N 77.031°W / 38.904; -77.031
OwnerJohn Ledru Stiffler, John Donn Allen & Cleon Throckmorton[3]
OpenedJanuary 1919 (1919-01)[1]
Closed1925 (1925)[2]

The Krazy Kat Klub—also known as The Kat and later as Throck's Studio—was a Bohemian coffeehouse and art colony near Thomas Circle in Washington, D.C. during the Jazz Age.[4][5] Founded in January 1919 by two U.S. army veterans John Ledru Stiffler and John Donn Allen,[1] the back-alley establishment functioned as a speakeasy due to the passage of the Sheppard Bone-Dry Act by the U.S. Congress that imposed a ban on alcoholic beverages in the District of Columbia.[4][6] Within a year of its founding by Stiffler and Donn Allen, the speakeasy became notorious for its riotous performances of hot jazz music which often degenerated into mayhem.[7]

Located above an old livestock stable,[8] The Krazy Kat derived its name from the androgynous title character of a popular comic strip, and this namesake communicated that the venue catered to clientele of all sexual persuasions, including homosexual and polysexual patrons.[9] Due to this inclusivity, the venue served as a clandestine rendezvous spot for the Capitol's gay community to meet without fear of exposure.[10][11] The Kat's clientele advocated the embrace of free love ("unperverted impulse") in newspaper articles,[12] and D.C. municipal authorities publicly identified the infamous venue as a "disorderly house," a euphemism for a brothel.[13]

Initially a gathering spot for bohemian artists associated with the Provincetown Players, The Krazy Kat over time became one of the most vogue locations for D.C.'s cultural avant-garde to mingle, including atheists, aesthetes, professors, and flappers.[14][15] A Washington Times writer described the venue as "a hidden haunt where one might find in comradeship those divine, congenial devils, art inspired and mad, no doubt".[12] Other habitués included federal government employees during the second term of President Woodrow Wilson's administration.[13][16]

Existing for over half a decade and surviving a number of police raids,[17] the speakeasy closed in 1925 when the old livestock stable was demolished and replaced by an industrial building.[2] By that time, co-proprietor Cleon Throckmorton and his wife Kathryn Mullin had relocated to New York City and taken with them many sketches and paintings from the shuttered club.[18][4] Today, the speakeasy's neighborhood is the site of The Green Lantern, a D.C. gay bar.[19]

Location

[edit]
Exterior of the speakeasy, located in the far right building on the second floor, above an old horse stable. The dome of Portland Flats is visible above it. No photograph of the club's indoor area—the speakeasy itself—is known to exist.
Exterior of the speakeasy, located in the far right building on the second floor, above an old horse stable. The dome of Portland Flats is visible above it. No photograph of the club's indoor area—the speakeasy itself—is known to exist.

Situated at 3 Green Court alley (38°54′14″N 77°01′52″W / 38.904°N 77.031°W / 38.904; -77.031) between Northwest 14th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, near Washington, D.C.'s Thomas Circle, The Krazy Kat existed in an economically-depressed district colloquially known as the Latin Quarter.[20] The club offered multiple entrances for patrons who did not wish to be seen entering its premises,[14] and at least one inconspicuous entrance opened into the narrow red-bricked alleyway.[4]

The back-alley entrance door bore a rectangular hand-painted sign reading "Syne of Ye Krazy Kat" [sic] and depicted the cartoon character Krazy Kat being hit by a brick.[4][21] A chalk-inscribed message adorned the top of the iron-barred door with a warning: "All soap abandon ye who enter here!"[4][22] The club advertised its irregular hours as between "9 p.m. to 12:30".[14] Despite a misleading sign at one entrance proclaiming "The Use of Intoxicating Beverages Is Absolutely Forbidden,"[14] the club offered liquor to its patrons throughout Prohibition.[4]

Upon entering the building via the narrow Green Court alleyway, patrons crossed a lumber-littered room and then ascended a narrow, rickety staircase to reach "a smoke-filled, dimly lighted room that was fairly well filled with laughing, noisy people, who seemed to be having just the best time in the world, with no one to see and no one to care who saw".[8][1]

The club's interior dining area occupied the second floor of an old livestock stable and ex-garage,[23] where incense burned "trying valiantly to annihilate the odors of gasoline which once reeked from every corner."[1] Rife with cobwebs, the indoor dining area featured "futurist pictures on the walls, small wooden tables, rickety chairs, and candles for light".[24]

No photograph of the interior is known to exist. The club's premises included an indoor dance floor and an outdoor courtyard for al fresco dining and art exhibitions. The courtyard featured a rustic tree house cafe constructed from wooden planks and accessible via a twelve-step ladder.[25]

History

[edit]
Further information: Prohibition in the United States and Cleon Throckmorton

Founding

[edit]
The club derived its name from the androgynous cartoon character Krazy Kat.[26] This namesake signaled to gay persons in Washington, D.C, that the venue was sexually inclusive.[26]

On March 3, 1917, the controversial passage of the Sheppard Bone-Dry Act, sponsored by Senator Morris Sheppard (D) of Texas, led to the closure of 267 barrooms and nearly 90 wholesale establishments in the District of Columbia.[27][4] The law threw over 2,000 employees in D.C. barrooms and wholesale establishments out of work, and the "dry" district lost nearly half-a-million dollars per year in tax revenue.[27] In the wake of this draconian bill, underground speakeasies flourished in the United States Capitol.[28]

In January 1919, two months after the end of World War I and the same month that Prohibition formally began nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment, army veterans John Ledru Stiffler (1894–1982) and John Donn Allen met in Washington, both broke and without support.[1] Stiffler had served in the Engineering Corps at Camp Humphreys and Donn Allen with the Lafayette Artillery Company at Camp Meade.[1] A Times-Herald article noted that, though they had just met, both were artists before joining the war.[1]

Recently discharged and homeless, Stiffler and Donn Allen together founded The Krazy Kat as a coffeehouse and art colony in Green Court to pursue their artistic ambitions.[1] Stiffler, a classically trained Russian ballet dancer and Carnegie Institute of Technology alumnus, aspired to become a mural designer.[1] His partner, John Donn Allen, from nearby Norfolk, Virginia, studied at the National Fine Arts School. Famous for his impersonations of a Hula dancer, Donn Allen hoped to become an interior decorator.[1]

By February 1919, 21-year-old artist Cleon Throckmorton (1897–1965) joined Stiffler and Donn Allen as co-proprietor after completing his engineering studies at George Washington University.[13][29][4] By day, Throckmorton worked as an associate of the drama department at Howard University, a historically black college.[30] By night, he ran the speakeasy in the Latin Quarter.[31] A pre-Raphaelite impressionist, Throckmorton believed that artists should pursue their vocation day and night by surrounding themselves with environs that inspired creativity, and the venue fulfilled that purpose.[14]

Bohemian haunt

[edit]

I sat on the bench I call "Nighthawk." Two youths passed in front of me... As they passed me the blond one sang the simple title line, "All By Myself," of the popular song, and I looked at him and smiled. He walked over and sat down, breezily asking, "Know of any place where we can find some excitement—or anyway, something doing?"... They had heard of the Krazy Kat and I gave them instructions how to find it... Later he said, "Some old grandmother in an automobile tried to pick me up, but I said—nothing doing." He added facetiously, "I'm just a pure, innocent young girl." The dark lad dryly said, "A bit wise, that's all." They set off to find the Krazy Kat. I felt cheered up after they had gone.

—Jeb Alexander, Diary, 19 August 1921[32]

With its courtyard and tree house, the Krazy Kat became an idyllic haunt for artists, bohemians, flappers, and other free-wheeling "young moderns" of the Jazz Age.[12][4] Throckmorton's muse and fellow artist, 18-year-old Kathryn Marie Mullin[a] (1902–1994), became a frequent habitué of the club, and they married in January 1922.[35] A model, sketch artist, and costume designer, Mullin gained fame for her radio and stage performances as a ukulele player and singer with the Crandall Saturday Nighters.[36] For her stage performances, promoters billed Mullin as "The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs."[37] When not performing on stage or radio, she excelled in women's saber fencing and gave public exhibitions.[38]

The transgressive venue took its name from the androgynous title character of George Herriman's popular Krazy Kat comic strip.[39] According to Herriman, the character wasn't "a he or a she. The Kat's a spirit—a pixie—free to butt into anything."[40] Reflecting its namesake, the character appeared on both the club's alleyway door and the shirts worn by its waiters.[4] This namesake signaled the venue’s openness to patrons of all sexual orientations, including homosexual and polysexual individuals.[9]

The venue soon became an underground nexus for Washington, D.C.'s gay community, offering a safe space where they could meet without fear of exposure.[10][11] Jeb Alexander, a gay Washington, D.C. resident, described the venue in his personal diary as a "bohemian joint in an old stable up near Thomas Circle... [a gathering place for] artists, musicians, atheists [and] professors".[15] The clientele advocated free love, which contemporary sources described as "unperverted impulse... whatever that is".[12]

Cultural peak

[edit]
A 23-year-old Cleon "Throck" Throckmorton, 18-year-old Kathryn Mullin,[a] and a friend wearing a tricorne hat relax in the club's tree house cafe.
A 23-year-old Cleon "Throck" Throckmorton, 18-year-old Kathryn Mullin,[a] and a friend wearing a tricorne hat relax in the club's tree house cafe.

By Winter 1920, the speakeasy became notorious for its riotous performances of hot jazz music which occasionally degenerated into violence and mayhem.[41] A crime reporter for The Washington Post described The Krazy Kat as "something like a Greenwich Village coffee house", featuring gaudy pictures painted by futurists and impressionists.[13] Writer Victor Flambeau described the club in a February 1922 article for The Washington Times:

"A hidden haunt where one might find in comradeship those divine, congenial devils, art inspired and mad, no doubt, who have renounced the commercial world with its seductive wealth, to gain in solitude or blithe companionship another kind of wealth and fame in self-expression.... When the hours wane, and the candles burn low, and the big fire glows, and over the cigarettes and the cider, the coffee and sandwiches, what do they chat of, these men and women, boys and girls, the would-be writers, painters, poets of tomorrow?"[12]

Cleon Throckmorton (middle), Kathryn Mullin (far right), Inez Hogan (top left) and others in the tree house cafe. The flappers wear the rolled stockings and low heels typical of the era's fashion.[42]
Cleon Throckmorton (middle), Kathryn Mullin (far right), Inez Hogan (top left) and others in the tree house cafe. The flappers wear the rolled stockings and low heels typical of the era's fashion.[42]

Although initially a gathering place for artists loosely associated with the Southern branch of the Provincetown Players, The Krazy Kat club over time became one of the most vogue locations for Washington's intelligentsia and aesthetes to congregate.[14] According to Throckmorton, the avant-garde venue "proved not only a club for artists, but a source of supply for musicians and playwrights", and he claimed that several plays were written on its premises.[43] Flambeau noted that, by 1922, "in imitation of the Krazy Kat, other bohemian restaurants sprang up in Washington to supply the demand" such as the Silver Sea Horse and Carcassonne in Georgetown.[44]

During its tumultuous half-decade existence, municipal authorities declared The Kat to be a "disorderly house" (a euphemism for a brothel), and the metropolitan police raided the establishment on several occasions during the Prohibition period.[17] One raid in February 1919 interrupted a violent brawl inside the club, during which a patron fired a gunshot.[17] The raid led to the arrests of 25 krazy kats—22 men and only 3 women—described in a Washington Post report of February 22, 1919, as "self-styled artists, poets, and actors, and some who worked for the [federal] government by day and masqueraded as Bohemians by night."[13]

Closure

[edit]
Throckmorton paints Mullin, a stage performer known as "The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs."[37] In the photo, a saber in its scabbard hangs from Mullin's waist. Mullin was a renowned expert in women's saber fencing and gave public exhibitions.[38]
Throckmorton paints Mullin, a stage performer known as "The Girl With the Million Dollar Legs."[37] In the photo, a saber in its scabbard hangs from Mullin's waist. Mullin was a renowned expert in women's saber fencing and gave public exhibitions.[38]

The Krazy Kat presumably closed in 1925 when the old livestock stable was demolished and replaced with an industrial building.[2] Today, the neighborhood is home to The Green Lantern, a D.C. gay bar.[19] By the time of its closure, Throckmorton and his wife, Mullin, had permanently relocated to Greenwich Village in New York City.[18] They brought several artifacts from the speakeasy with them, including Throckmorton's sketches of dancing girls, which remained on display for decades at the Greenwich Village restaurant Volare until its closure in 2021.[4]

After permanently moving to New York City, Mullin sued Throckmorton for divorce on December 17, 1926, after catching him in an extramarital affair with an unidentified woman—possibly film actress Juliet Brenon—in their Greenwich Village apartment in Manhattan.[45] Mullin's friend, African-American stage actress Blanche Dunn, served as a supporting witness on her behalf in the divorce suit.[45] Throckmorton did not contest the divorce, and Mullin did not seek alimony.[46] In her later years, Mullin remarried several times, returned to the Midwest, and became a speech specialist for children.[47] She died in March 1994 at age 91 in South Pasadena, California.[48]

Immediately after divorcing Mullin, Throckmorton married actress Juliet Brenon (1895–1979) on March 13, 1927.[49] She was the niece of Irish-American motion picture auteur Herbert Brenon who directed the first cinematic adaptation of The Great Gatsby in 1926.[50] Throckmorton became one of the most prolific scenic designers for Broadway plays in New York City, and his Greenwich Village apartment that he shared with Brenon became an after-hours salon for thespians, artists, and intellectuals such as Noël Coward, Norman Bel Geddes, Eugene O'Neill and E.E. Cummings.[51] Their politically leftward salon later raised funds for the Republican faction during the Spanish Civil War.[52]

[edit]
  • Exterior of The Kat, located on the second floor of the far right building, with the dome of Portland Flats visible
    Exterior of The Kat, located on the second floor of the far right building, with the dome of Portland Flats visible
  • Cleon Throckmorton, Kathryn Mullin, Inez Hogan, and others arrive at The Kat's backalley entrance
    Cleon Throckmorton, Kathryn Mullin, Inez Hogan, and others arrive at The Kat's backalley entrance
  • Another angle of Throckmorton, Mullin, Hogan and others arriving at the back-alley entrance of The Kat
    Another angle of Throckmorton, Mullin, Hogan and others arriving at the back-alley entrance of The Kat
  • A photo of the alleyway behind The Kat. Behind the fence to the left is the backyard with the tree house
    A photo of the alleyway behind The Kat. Behind the fence to the left is the backyard with the tree house
  • Cleon Throckmorton paints Kathryn Mullin, his future wife, as Inez Hogan cleans a paint brush
    Cleon Throckmorton paints Kathryn Mullin, his future wife, as Inez Hogan cleans a paint brush
  • Cleon, Kathryn, Inez, and others chat over coffee and cigarettes
    Cleon, Kathryn, Inez, and others chat over coffee and cigarettes
  • A waiter ascends a ladder to serve patrons in the club's treehouse while Kathryn Mullin waits above.
    A waiter ascends a ladder to serve patrons in the club's treehouse while Kathryn Mullin waits above.
  • Cleon Throckmorton and Kathryn Mullin relax with a friend
    Cleon Throckmorton and Kathryn Mullin relax with a friend
  • Cleon's 1918 employee photograph for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    Cleon's 1918 employee photograph for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  • Close-up of Kathryn Mullin (1902–1994), an expert in women's saber fencing who gave public exhibitions.
    Close-up of Kathryn Mullin (1902–1994), an expert in women's saber fencing who gave public exhibitions.
  • Close-up of Inez Hogan (1895–1973), later a writer and illustrator of children's books.
    Close-up of Inez Hogan (1895–1973), later a writer and illustrator of children's books.
  • The site of the Krazy Kat in 2023. The entrance seen in other photos is on the opposite side of the current building.
    The site of the Krazy Kat in 2023. The entrance seen in other photos is on the opposite side of the current building.
  • The Green Lantern gay bar. The building can be seen on the right in the first photo.
    The Green Lantern gay bar. The building can be seen on the right in the first photo.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Although newspapers often spelled her name as "Katherine Mullen",[33] she was born "Kathryn Mullin".[34]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stiffler and Donn Allen 1919, p. 8.
  2. ^ a b c Williams 2012, p. 52: "The Krazy Kat was dismantled about 1925."
  3. ^ Stiffler and Donn Allen 1919, p. 8; The Washington Post 1919, p. 5.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Williams 2012, p. 52.
  5. ^ Stiffler and Donn Allen 1919, p. 8; The Washington Herald 1921, p. 23; Flambeau 1922, p. 7; Farmer 2012.
  6. ^ The Washington Times 1917, p. 11; The Sunday Star 1927, p. 5.
  7. ^ The Washington Times 1920, p. 13.
  8. ^ a b Kebler 1919, p. 15.
  9. ^ a b Williams 2012, p. 52; Bellot 2017; Baek 2014; Flambeau 1922, p. 7.
  10. ^ a b Williams 2012, p. 52; Bellot 2017; Baek 2014.
  11. ^ a b Alexander 1993, pp. 29, 42.
  12. ^ a b c d e Flambeau 1922, p. 7.
  13. ^ a b c d e The Washington Post 1919, p. 5.
  14. ^ a b c d e f The Washington Herald 1921, p. 23.
  15. ^ a b Alexander 1993, p. 29.
  16. ^ Kebler 1919, p. 15; Alexander 1993, p. 29.
  17. ^ a b c The Washington Post 1919, p. 5; Williams 2012, p. 52.
  18. ^ a b The New York Times 1965, p. 37; The Washington Herald 1926, p. 1; New York Daily News 1926, p. 17.
  19. ^ a b Williams 2012, p. 52; Baek 2014.
  20. ^ The Washington Herald 1921, p. 23; Farmer 2012.
  21. ^ Bellot 2017; Library of Congress LC-F8-15145.
  22. ^ Library of Congress LC-F8-15145.
  23. ^ Kebler 1919, p. 15; Stiffler and Donn Allen 1919, p. 8.
  24. ^ The Washington Post 1919, p. 5; Kebler 1919, p. 15.
  25. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; Library of Congress LC-F81-15101.
  26. ^ a b Williams 2012, p. 52; Bellot 2017.
  27. ^ a b The Washington Times 1917, p. 11.
  28. ^ The Sunday Star 1927, p. 5.
  29. ^ The Washington Times 1921, p. D9; The New York Times 1965, p. 37; Congressional Record 1966, p. A531.
  30. ^ Congressional Record 1966, p. A532.
  31. ^ Williams 2012, p. 52; The Washington Post 1919, p. 5; The Washington Herald 1921, p. 23.
  32. ^ Alexander 1993, p. 42.
  33. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Washington Herald 1926, p. 1.
  34. ^ The Register-Champion 1925.
  35. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Evening Star 1925, p. 38.
  36. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Evening Star 1925, p. 38; Buffalo Courier Express 1926, p. 11.
  37. ^ a b Buffalo Courier Express 1926, p. 11.
  38. ^ a b The Herald Statesman 1923, p. 20.
  39. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; Bellot 2017.
  40. ^ Schwartz 2003, p. 9.
  41. ^ The Washington Times 1920, p. 13; The Washington Post 1919, p. 5.
  42. ^ The Flapper 1922; The New York Times 1922, p. E10.
  43. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; The Washington Herald 1921.
  44. ^ Flambeau 1922, p. 7; Kebler 1919, p. 15.
  45. ^ a b The Washington Herald 1926, p. 1.
  46. ^ The Washington Herald 1926, p. 1; New York Daily News 1926, p. 17.
  47. ^ Moore 1974, p. 1.
  48. ^ Local Deaths 1994, p. 10.
  49. ^ The New York Times 1927, p. E7; The New York Times 1965, p. 37; The New York Times 1979, p. D13.
  50. ^ The New York Times 1965, p. 37; The New York Times 1979, p. D13; Ditta 2018; Green 1926, p. 14.
  51. ^ The New York Times 1965, p. 37; The New York Times 1979, p. D13; Congressional Record 1966, p. A531.
  52. ^ The New York Times 1965, p. 37.

Works cited

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Krazy Kat Klub.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Krazy_Kat_Klub&oldid=1279742520"