*** Welcome to piglix ***

Babette's

Babette's
Babette's Atlantic City.jpg
Bar at Babette's
Babette's is located in Atlantic City NJ
Babette's
Babette's
Location in Atlantic City
Former names The Golden Inn
Address 2211 Pacific Avenue
Atlantic City, New Jersey
United States
Coordinates 39°21′22″N 74°26′15″W / 39.35611°N 74.43750°W / 39.35611; -74.43750Coordinates: 39°21′22″N 74°26′15″W / 39.35611°N 74.43750°W / 39.35611; -74.43750
Owner Dan Stebbins
Type Supper club and bar
Capacity 400
Opened Early 1920s
Closed After 1950

Babette's or Babette's Supper Club was a supper club and bar at 2211 Pacific Avenue on the Boardwalk of Atlantic City, New Jersey. It operated from the early 1920s onwards and was sold in 1950. The bar was designed like a ship's hull. In the backroom was a gambling den, which was investigated by the federal authorities and raided in 1943.

The club, situated on Pacific Avenue, opposite the Atlantic City Convention Hall, operated from the early 1920s through to the 1940s. Originally called the Golden Inn, it was renamed by owner Dan Stebbins to Babette's after he married showgirl Blanche Babbitt, who used the stage name Babette. She used her talents for costume creation, music arranging and choreography to improve the club's stage presentations.

The club was a venue for Earl Lindsay's "All American Revue", and was described by Billboard as "one of the resort's leading cabarets". The floor show included a chorus line and singers. There was a small dance floor.Milton Berle, Eleanor Powell, and comedian Joe Penner were among those appearing on stage; Al Capone and New York mayor Jimmy Walker were known to have visited the club. The supper club was also a favorite of New Jersey boss Nucky Johnson, who often arrived at the club with a showgirl on each arm. There was a minimum cover charge for entering the main showroom beyond the bar. The supper club menu featured seafood dinners and charcoal-broiled steaks.

Entertainer Buddy Ebsen got his show business start at Babette's. His sister, Vilma, had been hired to dance at Babette's. Ebsen joined her in Atlantic City; he tried getting work at the various clubs and at the minstrel show at Steel Pier but was unsuccessful at getting hired for any entertainment work. Ebsen was allowed to dance at Babette's with his sister one evening because it was thought the patrons would be amused by it. Vaudevillian Benny Davis was in the audience that night. Davis was compiling a cast to work at various movie theaters throughout the US. He signed both Ebsens, and they worked for some time dancing at theaters in the eastern US. The Ebsens then went on to work in the Ziegfeld Follies.


...
Wikipedia

...