I just started going to strip clubs less than a year ago, so what I see in the club now is all I've ever known. Those of you that have been into this stuff for a while; was there ever a "golden age" of strip clubs in the past? If yes, what has changed since then? Or has it been all the same the last decade up until now?
In a nutshell, I'd say that the glory days of the North American strip club were the middle to late 1990s. That's when my experiences were best. Before that, and you didn't know what you could or couldn't find, club by club, and strip-club behavior of the sort that we're interested in had not entirely successfully replaced older-style "burlesque review" style performances. So you could get good or bad service and it was hit-or-miss. Then the mid-90s came along, things were great. But after that date, the internet cut into the demographics of who performs at what types of places and again things got bad.
Here's a sample. In 1994 or so, at House of Lancaster I on Toronto's main urban (residential! and small businesses) Bloor Street , a lap-dance cost Canadian $10, and there were regular 3-for-2 pricing deals. At an exchange rate of roughly US$1.00 to Cd$1.40, you were getting three songs for roughly US$14.30. Oral and full service were regularities, not exactly frowned upon but certainly not prevented, and could also be quite cheap. Girls were stunningly hot Eastern Europeans and Latinas receiving amounts that in their eyes were very high payouts.
In the 1980s, and the 1970s, so the reports have it, there were a lot of "performances" and on-stage sets took priority over back-room lappers. In the 1960s and 1950s things were quite different. I think of the late 1990s as the beginning of a downward trend, with roughly 2008 as the bottom of it all. After that the industry rebounded a bit.
I think everyone experiences their own personal golden age at the strip club. It will occur after you've been doing it long enough that you know how to get your money's worth without being taken advantage of, but before you've been doing it long enough that you start asking yourself why you keep giving money to girls that don't give a shit about you.
You can still have a lot of fun after your golden age is over, but you'll be more selective when it comes to selecting a girl worth giving your money to.
I’ve been going to strip clubs and engaging in various and sundry perverted sexual acts therein since 1978. In my opinion, what’s available now isn’t really that different than what was available then, it’s just that *finding* the information wasn’t as easy then.
I think that differences are more region and city based than time based, and though there is some variation over time, I haven’t observed that it’s so drastic as to call the past a “golden age.”
Well there's a "golden age" from a stripper's perspective, but from the PL's perspective, it's much better now despite the attrition of strip clubs and supposedly slipping quality. There was a time when a hot stripper could make $1,000 just from the stage. That same stripper could then make a similar amount effectively doing air dances (for around $20 each). And that was around 15-25 years ago when money was worth almost twice as much as it is now.
You can see why PLs wouldn't consider those great times. Back then many porn stars (and soft porn magazine stars) also stripped and featured. Some of them could make over $20k a week doing that. Needless to say, those days are gone.
Anyway, in those days, there were no "known" extras clubs in my area. The two that are remaining today didn't even exist back then. You didn't go to a club realistically expecting much mileage and girls almost never gave out their number. I also think more girls are willing to do them now, especially post recession, and more clubs are willing to look the other way for a small fee anyway.
One time I was getting a dance and when this song came on the dancer started singing along to the lyrics while she grinded on me. She knew all the lyrics.
I don't have much to add either other than in my area, the former "good" strip clubs have been emasculated and it appears even the venerable Follies is in a decline.
I'm a Carolinas guy and the old days at Plat Plus (Greenville and Columbia) and the dive club Teddy Bears outside Charlotte were guaranteed good times.
So for a guy who doesn't really travel, yeah it's way worse now than 10-15 years ago.
Kinda a hard question to answer b/c there can be several variables - for one, as others have mentioned, much more info available today due to the internet - many TUSCLers probably weren't aware of how much one could get at certain strip-clubs, till they joined TUSCL - so w/o the internet/TUSCL years ago, a lot of PLs were probably in the dark.
As others have mentioned, location also plays a part - some folks state it was hit or miss to just be able to get a decent mileage dance 20-years ago - other TUSCLers have posted about the wild-times they had in the 80s and 90s in certain cities/clubs.
IME - overall mileage seems to have improved today over 20-years ago - for me getting just basic dance mileage (grind and grope) seemed more hit or miss 20-years ago vs today.
Seems extras are more prolific these days also but I'm not sure how much of that is me being clueless about it years ago - I wonder if the recession actually accelerated the availability of extras via dancers having to do more due to the limited $$$?
It does appear that these days more and more cities are either killing off, or severely limiting, the strip club scene - i.e. seems there are more cities that used to have a good scene but now suck or mediocre, vs cities that sucked and are now good w.r.t. SCs - but again it could be one is better informed about these things today?
"It does appear that these days more and more cities are either killing off, or severely limiting, the strip club scene. . . but again it could be one is better informed about these things today?"
Yes, I think some lawyer figured out the trick (1975?), got it to stick, and "offered his consulting fee" to communities who started to share information and copy it. Someone asked how to legally restrict strip clubs using the legal system while tip-toeing around First Amendment protections. Or at least have it stand up to most First Amendment challenges in court by club owners.
Agree with Papi in part. IME it's regional. Those who might not get around much, your experience will be your home region only.
Can't say much has changed in Fl over the past 20 years. Wider variety of girls maybe, as it has become less taboo. In the NE the overall quality and experience has drastically fallen off. You'll see girls working and wonder who's paying them. Also less money in the clubs there now. NY, NJ, PA. Girls I know mention that all the time. They have to hustle a lot more for less. 15-20 years ago far less girls had to resort to extras ITC to make it.
Golden age to me is where and when you can enjoy it consistently. So you might just have to be mobile to go where the action is better.
18 comments
Latest
In a nutshell, I'd say that the glory days of the North American strip club were the middle to late 1990s. That's when my experiences were best. Before that, and you didn't know what you could or couldn't find, club by club, and strip-club behavior of the sort that we're interested in had not entirely successfully replaced older-style "burlesque review" style performances. So you could get good or bad service and it was hit-or-miss. Then the mid-90s came along, things were great. But after that date, the internet cut into the demographics of who performs at what types of places and again things got bad.
Here's a sample. In 1994 or so, at House of Lancaster I on Toronto's main urban (residential! and small businesses) Bloor Street , a lap-dance cost Canadian $10, and there were regular 3-for-2 pricing deals. At an exchange rate of roughly US$1.00 to Cd$1.40, you were getting three songs for roughly US$14.30. Oral and full service were regularities, not exactly frowned upon but certainly not prevented, and could also be quite cheap. Girls were stunningly hot Eastern Europeans and Latinas receiving amounts that in their eyes were very high payouts.
In the 1980s, and the 1970s, so the reports have it, there were a lot of "performances" and on-stage sets took priority over back-room lappers. In the 1960s and 1950s things were quite different. I think of the late 1990s as the beginning of a downward trend, with roughly 2008 as the bottom of it all. After that the industry rebounded a bit.
Was it really that bad in 2008? The financial crisis that year was the primary reason right?
@EchoPizza
Hey I love Mötley Crüe! My favorite song from them is Kickstart my Heart
You can still have a lot of fun after your golden age is over, but you'll be more selective when it comes to selecting a girl worth giving your money to.
I think that differences are more region and city based than time based, and though there is some variation over time, I haven’t observed that it’s so drastic as to call the past a “golden age.”
You can see why PLs wouldn't consider those great times. Back then many porn stars (and soft porn magazine stars) also stripped and featured. Some of them could make over $20k a week doing that. Needless to say, those days are gone.
Anyway, in those days, there were no "known" extras clubs in my area. The two that are remaining today didn't even exist back then. You didn't go to a club realistically expecting much mileage and girls almost never gave out their number. I also think more girls are willing to do them now, especially post recession, and more clubs are willing to look the other way for a small fee anyway.
One time I was getting a dance and when this song came on the dancer started singing along to the lyrics while she grinded on me. She knew all the lyrics.
@ Countryman5434
For us it would be “chicas, chicas, chicas.”
I'm a Carolinas guy and the old days at Plat Plus (Greenville and Columbia) and the dive club Teddy Bears outside Charlotte were guaranteed good times.
So for a guy who doesn't really travel, yeah it's way worse now than 10-15 years ago.
As others have mentioned, location also plays a part - some folks state it was hit or miss to just be able to get a decent mileage dance 20-years ago - other TUSCLers have posted about the wild-times they had in the 80s and 90s in certain cities/clubs.
IME - overall mileage seems to have improved today over 20-years ago - for me getting just basic dance mileage (grind and grope) seemed more hit or miss 20-years ago vs today.
Seems extras are more prolific these days also but I'm not sure how much of that is me being clueless about it years ago - I wonder if the recession actually accelerated the availability of extras via dancers having to do more due to the limited $$$?
Yes, I think some lawyer figured out the trick (1975?), got it to stick, and "offered his consulting fee" to communities who started to share information and copy it. Someone asked how to legally restrict strip clubs using the legal system while tip-toeing around First Amendment protections. Or at least have it stand up to most First Amendment challenges in court by club owners.
Can't say much has changed in Fl over the past 20 years. Wider variety of girls maybe, as it has become less taboo. In the NE the overall quality and experience has drastically fallen off. You'll see girls working and wonder who's paying them. Also less money in the clubs there now. NY, NJ, PA. Girls I know mention that all the time. They have to hustle a lot more for less. 15-20 years ago far less girls had to resort to extras ITC to make it.
Golden age to me is where and when you can enjoy it consistently. So you might just have to be mobile to go where the action is better.
but yeah seems like most say it's getting harder for the dancers, but it's doing alright for us PLs