Bird Cage Theatre
| Bird Cage Theatre | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Victorian |
| Location | Tombstone, Arizona, United States |
| Opened | December 26, 1881 |
| Closed | 1892; reopened 1934 |
The Bird Cage Theatre was a combination theater, saloon, gambling parlor and brothel that operated from 1881 to 1889 in Tombstone, Arizona, during the height of the silver boom.
The Bird Cage Theatre opened on December 26, 1881, It was owned by Lottie and William "Billy" Hutchinson. Hutchison, a variety performer, originally intended to present respectable family shows like that he'd seen in San Francisco that were thronged by large crowds. After the Theatre opened, they hosted a Ladies Night for the respectable women of Tombstone, who could attend for free. But the economics of Tombstone didn't support their aspirations. They soon canceled the Ladies Night and began offering baser entertainment that appealed to the rough mining crowd.
Once inside, customers could buy a drink at the long bar. The bar was made in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, shipped on the Star of India around the tip of South America to the west coast of Mexico, then wagon trained the rest of the way. There's a 45 caliber bullet hole with the slug still intact in one of the posts in the bar. Across from the bar hung a painting of buxom belly-dancer Fatima in an exotic Oriental outfit. The painting was given as a thank-you gift from Fatima to the Bird Cage Theatre for helping her to start her career. It is still hanging on the wall across from the bar. The canvas has six bullet holes and a knife slash in it. The main hall contained a 15 by 15 feet (4.6 by 4.6 m) stage about 5 feet (1.5 m) above the main floor, and an orchestra pit. The stage was lit by a row of gas jets along the front side. There were fourteen cages or boxes on two balconies on either side of the main hall. These boxes, also known as cribs, featured drapes that patrons could draw while entertained by prostitutes. A dumbwaiter at the end of the bar was used to hoist up the whiskey, beer and cigars to the patrons in the cribs.
Between acts, the dancing girls in short dresses and low-cut necklines served drinks and offered sex. Beer was 50 cents on the main floor and $1.00 in the boxes on the balconies. The ladies received a percentage of all the drinks they sold.
In the basement, a poker room was the site of the longest-running poker game in history. Played continuously twenty-four hours a day for eight years, five months, and three days, legend has it that as much as $10,000,000 changed hands during the marathon game, with the house retaining 10 percent. Some of the participants were Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Diamond Jim Brady, George Hearst, and Adolphus Busch of the Busch Brewery. The basement also had two more ornate and expensive bordello rooms with more expensive escorts. Josephine Sarah Marcus worked as a performer as well as an escort in the bordello room, and that is where she met Wyatt Earp and they began their relationship. She She eventually became his third wife, and the couple remained together for over 47 years.
...
Wikipedia