When did LD's start?

No contact air dances started on the US West Coast in the early 1980's. San Francisco started the one way contact dances in the mid 80's. It went from there.

If so, what prompted the girls to start joining the customers (other than money)and when?

Back then (early 80's) clubs paid girls to dance, but in the late 1980's/early 90's, girls became private contractors and started making their money from contact with the customers.

No doubt the religous sector were outraged?

Atually, in the 1980's, when all of this started, the religious right was a big part of Reagan's administration. The religious right was committed to wiping out the pornography industry and clubs were, for the most part, ignored by Police. In the 1990's, the religious right allied with certain cities. For instance, a coalition of church leaders in Houston saw to it that a liberal democrat asian woman got elected to Houston City Council. She went after strip clubs and passed a draconian anti strip clubs law. After a dozen years, most parts of the law held up under appeal. By then, the city's convention business was on life support. The cops backed off of the clubs and convention business is booming.

I know I got what would be recognized as lap dances now, though perhaps not very good ones, in the early 80s at clubs in Western NY and Ft Erie, Ontario.

In the mid '70s there were a few Memphis, Tn clubs where dancers would dance next to your table for tips. At first these "table dances" were bikini clad, but they quickly became topless and even nude dances (when the law was not around). As I remember it, from repeated trips to Memphis, these table dances rapidly progressed to table top dancing, to very, very close dances (hands off) at the table, to the dancers joining the customer after her dance by sitting in his lap ( and often wiggling - a lot - just to get settled in).

Unfortunately, the Memphis PD interrupted the progression at that point by raiding those clubs. I think they all were closed down. "New" clubs did open up around there and I heard the new clubs also (eventually) began the same dance styles. I didn't make any more trips to Memphis for years so I don't know the rest of the story (maybe Shadowcat can tell that part).

At the same time - elsewhere in the country - other SCs were beginning to allow customers to approach the stage and tip the dancers. Clubs varied widely in the amount of stageside contact was allowed when tipping. And clubs I visited all around the country were encouraging/allowing the dancers to mingle with the customers by 1890. I think Dudester may have his dates wrong (I saw the changes in the '70s, not '80s).

OK - I'm not that old - really. I meant to type 1980 (not 1890)

"And clubs I visited all around the country were encouraging/allowing the dancers to mingle with the customers by 1890"

Dallas - you've aged well!

This topic was covered just last month.

tuscl.net

as long as sex has

I remember non-contact table dances in the late 70's. The dancer would carry a little step-box and place it in front of the patron and dance on it (mainly wiggle her booty in the guy's face). At one club in Raleigh NC you could approach the stage and offer up a dollar - the dancer would the lean down and french kiss you. Thank god i never got herpes from that!

There have been lap dances as long as I've been going to strip clubs. Some of the people on here have a lot more experience than me. I think 1890 is the longest I heard about anyone visiting strip clubs. :)

Cicero, IL clubs used to be run by the mob. Strungout fuglies danced on a stage behind the bartender and then came around to talk you into going to the back for a $40 BJ. No one had ever heard of a lap dance.