Comments by HoneyDewMelons (page 5)

I'm sure I did if you didn't bother me I didn't bother you... I mean I could tell from reading stuff in the papers about some of the clubs being under surveillance... And years later after I got done working some of the clubs cuz some of them I didn't stay at the whole time finding out that owners and managers were all indicted and did or doing time... The money laundering I don't really know but if it had any connections with Mafia underworld stuff I'm sure there was where it went I don't know and of course it's better I didn't know LOL And I was in the know a little bit because my best male friend was a police officer on the force for 25 years so when I would tell him where I was working he wouldn't comment directly on what's going on but would just say be careful don't get involved... I never did get involved with any owners or managers kind of like you don't s*** where you eat...

From my experience it is true a lot of dancers do look down especially on other dancers who work at other clubs but like anything it is survival of the fittest and just with anything within each club there is a click of girls who don't like another click of girls but that's the way it is and it's hard for a newbie to come in because now she's caught between two or three sets of girls who are eyeing her up and trying to figure out you know whether or not she looks like she belongs to one of their groups kind of like a sorority...lol... I have never been an extras girl and I think most of the clubs I worked at weren't extra clubs but there may be some shenanigans going on I mean I can't be everywhere and know what everyone is doing in a bar in a dance room in the manager's office... And honestly working at Philly I worked at the craziest go-go bar in the city no matter what club I went to soon as I would say where I worked they were like oh that's a dive that sucks the girls are horrible just some of the comments people would make I would just so in essence they kind of look down on me but of course then when I got to their bar audition and got hired at their bar they kind of changed their tune either a little bit about liking me more or they were just totally distressed that they couldn't believe that somebody worked at the crazy bar could actually work at an "upstanding" bar like theirs... Unfortunately for some of these girls who didn't like me any I was a crowd favorite and the bartenders usually loved me because all my nights off or if I worked at other bars and finished early those patrons would follow me to whatever other go-go bar I wanted to frequent usually because I was friends with other dancers and other bars so if I had time I would go see my girlfriend's dance and so I would just bring along the crowd if I could sometimes it was only one or two people sometimes I could bring five or six people so bartenders got to love that along with the girls of course especially if it was a slow night But in my last 8 years of working I worked three bars that were only a few blocks from each other and a lot of the girls also worked all three bars you know some may have only worked two bars but a lot of us interchanged bars so we were pretty tight knit group... We all hung out drink had picnics together kind of knew each other's family or had at least met some people within their families slept over each other's houses so I would say that's a pretty tight group and instead of us looking down on each other we would play off each other Like at my one club if I'd be up on stage and you know just dancing and you know looking out at the crowd and saying hello to Joe schmo and trying to have a conversation across the bar you know maybe I'd see you know my girlfriend dancer you know coming up to the bar to get a drink or whatever and I'd be like why don't you come on up here girlfriend and of course you know depending on what she was doing you know she may come up come on the stage with me and you know we may do a little cute two girl dance then of course you know the guys were crazy about that and then we were all done we go down and get tips you probably got more tips cuz that's what guys want to see And not only that a lot of girls really got to appreciate me since I was ready older than most of them in fact I probably was older than any girl working at the club when I started later cuz already I was then 35 so there may have been some who may have been in there early 30s but you figure I work till I was 50 sometimes they would look up to me as I would say they're older aunt and they would ask me questions and you know what should they do you know like with their scenario that they needed help with and I would just try to give him my best guess you know or give them some different possibilities of what they could do and I wasted stress to the younger girls that this is not a career you know it's good for the money good temporarily but why you're doing this you got to look to go to get back to school so you can have a little bit normal life cuz there's nothing normal about being a stripper unless you have a really good head on your shoulders And the only reason I had a really good head on my shoulder is cuz I danced for a few years when I was younger so of course I was like a wild child doing whatever I did going wherever I went spending all kinds of money not paying attention to what I'm spending it on I probably lost a lot of money cuz I wasn't paying attention to what my bookkeeper was doing with it but when I started back being 35 I was already pretty well versed in the world... I tried to get a lot of the girls to start a savings account because honestly fast money spends fast and if you don't have it on the books of like how much you make and how much you're spending you don't have a recollection of anything cuz at least if you had the books you could say oh man I really need to save more spend less but of course that's an any business But not always easy to do because there's always stuff you need and of course with dancers you sort of have to keep up with the times you need your hair and nails done you have to keep having new clothing new shoes cuz you don't want to keep wearing the same stuff especially if you work at the same club for long periods of time So anyway that's my rant for now

I used to know a girl named Sugar who worked there also I remember a girl named Mary Ann the good old days... I never worked there personally but I know the other two girls from another club that we all worked at... I think Mary Ann worked there for a good long time and she must have had her breasts done three or four times so they were pretty huge... So if you were at the club while she was working there you would certainly remember her...

Yes I am thinking of writing a book that's why I've been doing a lot of research and talking to people and and honestly trying to find some of these places that have been buried in old men's minds well you figure I'm 63 so most of the people that knew about these places are older than me and even the people who own some of the clubs or if they're bars or other restaurants now they're really surprised when I tell them that this used to be a go-go bar it's funny when I give him the news should see the look on their faces and if there are women present you always get some snarky remark like that's disgusting or I would have never done that or something to that effect and honestly like I said I'm 63 years old I'm holding my own I'm not a beauty but yet soon as I say I was a dancer usually the men's reactions are that's cool and and some of them still ask me if I dance but the girls are like what the freak and you can tell they don't want their boyfriends or husbands even looking or talking to me... I guess they think I'm going to just run on over there and steal their man from them,.. which I never did in my whole life... Way too many other fish in the sea LOL.. I always thought about opening a go-go club but I think that ship has sailed but I might have done it if I would have found a good partner who had the finances and I certainly would have been the manager And I wanted a different type of go go club like one back in the day Girls in the middle of the stage they could go around the inside of the bar for tips but you weren't allowed to touch them you know except to put money in between their boobies there is no couch dancing no extras all the girls had to be over 30 and all had to have a special talent and I'm not talking about stripper pole work I wouldn't be looking to hire acrobats even though some clubs like that... But like I said I think that ship has passed I don't really know anybody who owns any bars now certainly back in the day when I was younger and had a lot more energy I knew many owners bartenders bouncers bar backs...

The two places that I worked on top of the bar one was called Straccios... I just found it recently under some old property post from the city it was actually called strasseo's catering delicatessen and restaurant but I always win at night time so I don't remember like seeing any of that stuff I just seen the bar door and I went in and when my night was over I came out and that was the end of that.. so anyway that bar is now called mcstew's Irish pub still standing there on New Falls road The other place was called The Plaza... I thought it was on bustleton ave my guess it was either in bustleton Welsh... Bel Air... Grant plaza.. but I'm thinking it was up further than Grant... So I always thought I had it in my mind that it was up at the feasterville trevose shopping center but for some reason I counted it out I don't know why because I lived in Croydon... So if anybody's following this thread are there any bars in Bel Air or feasterville trevose or Grant shopping centers... Knowing that's a long shot from that many years ago sometimes they stay as bars sometimes they go into the pizza parlor restaurant delicatessen business and sometimes the whole inside of a property gets demolished and turns into something new

I guess first we'll start off with question one There were two different kinds of strip clubs one you worked on the bar and you want around the bar now I'm pretty sure some girls were hardier than others so send may have only did a half a bar got off you know took the rest and some could do a full bar And as best as I recall now if you can imagine night time in a bar that's dark smokey and these particular bars that had dancers on top there wasn't a seat to be filled not only that there are people up against the wall waiting for the people in front to spend all their money so they can move into one of the seats On top of that I never seen it or heard about it any girls falling off which is pretty amazing considering dark bar wet having glasses on it people's drinks their money and who knows what they may have had their cigarettes but we didn't wear high shoes either most girls just wore ballet slippers some had bare feet can you imagine that bare feet on top of a bar I'm sure the bartenders did their best to keep everything dry Not only that really hard on the knees because like you're standing up and you're moving say to the next customer and the customer who's sitting in the chair doesn't want to look all the way up at you he wants you to come down and like talk to him or you know they want to look at your boobies or and of course some of them want to try to put their fingers in your g string so you're trying to out wit them from doing that while trying to take their money lol So your hunched down with your butt almost touching the bar while you're face to face chatting with the customer and trying to get him money as they're sort of trying to grope you but of course most girls you know let their boobies be touched but of course some girls were allowing men to get a little feel of their private areas cuz they were making money so it just depended what kind of girl you were and I didn't fall anybody for doing anything whatever if you wanted to do that that was fine with me but I wasn't letting any man touch my private parts so what happens then is when like if you're 22 seconds into it and they're not giving you any more money you stand up and you move to the next person now imagine doing pretty much at least I would say 2 hours a night in a 5-hour shift no considering if you got off the bar halfway or if you did around a whole bar Pretty exhausting at the end of the night and in fact I made so much money I feel the duffel bag and that when my manager roommate came and pick me up every night I went right home and went to bed I didn't care how much money was in the bag he either stayed up and counted it or counted it in the morning you know kind of depending on what time we actually got home So actually this is the first part of your first question And to boot you got paid to work there initially just for showing up I forget how much it really was but I think it came to like $12 an hour And you only expected to pay the bartender a couple dollars I guess they would have really liked having like a percentage of whatever you made but I never knew how much I made so I guess I should just hand them a handful of ones and put it in their tip jar don't quite remember any of that

Pretty sure I never worked there but did work at diamond Dolls up the street

If anyone is complaining that these ladies are want machines...that's their job... So if you don't want to experience that stay out of the clubs or steer away from that type of lifestyle Or find yourself a woman with a legitimate job... A lot of women these days don't need a man to sponge off of they're smart have good jobs... And they don't need to be in a relationship where they have to settle... That's why a lot of men complain that they can't find a girlfriend or they can't stay in a relationship because women don't settle... Of course there are those who do...men and women through whatever circumstances in life keeps them together or forces them to stay together...

I have been out of the loop for a little while what does PL mean? Double aa dancers? Elevated stage booth?

Well the main label is strip club but with a lot of subcategories Strip club... Gentlemen's club... Gogo bar... And sex clubs that label themselves as strip clubs... And the same for girls who may work at any one of these type of clubs... Strippers... Exotic dancers... Go go girls... Sex workers... And I've been out of the loop for a long time so I'm sure there's many other names given to all different types of girls doing a myriad of occupations But I think we were leaning on the conversation being more of true Go-Go bars...

Here here...

I should write a book actually I've been thinking of writing a book for the past couple of years I don't know something about the adventures of my time as a dancer which I certainly have put in enough time all the ins and outs trials and tribulations... My kids tell me to go for it but I have to find a ghostwriter to help me...

Geez we really should read before we press send...

I know what you meant LOL

So then I started doing stage work and honestly you got to remember when I got started dancing I had no idea what was actual Go-Go dancing in bars I mean pretty much I grew up with go go girls that I seen on TV with short mini skirts and white boots dancing on the stage or inside little cages of course that certainly wasn't the case Yes so my two earliest stage clubs was the carousel lounge on torresdale avenue and the Esquire bar at five points Castor avenue my God I loved those bars...

It's supposed to say chintzy..lol...... Well during my first year in my early early career when I worked the plaza strasio's that was work on top of the bar and honestly I look back at that and wonder if any girls ever fell off I mean it was dark the bar is narrow some girls were barefoot some were like just ballet shoes I mean you couldn't wear a tall high heels or anything and then you're scooching between literally the bar was full of men there was not a seat in the house not only that up against the wall at least I know what the plaza cuz it was a lot smaller than strasseus the men were lined up against the wall waiting for the person in the seat in front of them to run out of money so they could go sit in the seat And I never heard of any dancers falling off the bar so that's quite an accomplishment to go around a huge bar and nobody falling off with glasses the bar is wet people have their cigarettes and their lighters and money just thrown all around the bar My roommate who is also my manager took me to and from all of my gigs to tell you how much money I made I couldn't quite tell you I used to fill up a duffel bag of money at the end of the night and I had a locker under lock and key because I couldn't hold all the money that I was making doing the round and honestly the time I got done one night at either Strauss you as a plaza and got home at 3:00 in the morning or 2:30 I couldn't have cared less how much money I made I was so exhausted so you have to remember when you're working on top of the bar you're standing up you're moving to the next person and then your hunched down in front of them and you're like kind of face to face with them and you chat for 30-40 seconds and they give you money and of course 10 or 20 seconds after that if they're not keeping giving you money you stand up and you move to the next person and you do the same thing going around the bar so I was doing stressios and plaza at least one night a week if not 3 nights between the two of them And yes after about 6 months of pretty much just doing the bar work I could tell my knees were given out I remember the last time I actually worked the bar or may not have been the very last time I actually think I just took some time off from actually doing top of the bar work I was fine until I got down off the bar I got dressed and I sat there for like a few minutes waiting for my ride to come but after sitting there for a few minutes I couldn't get up like my knees just wouldn't move he had to come in and Carry me in the dresser room to the car and then he carried me from the car into the house so pretty much that's how I knew that those days were kind of over I guess maybe looking back on it if I would have just did each one of those bars just one day a week I probably would have been able to prolong it a little bit Anyway that's the first part of the story Oh I've got to tell you how much was in the bag at night I don't know it must have been a lot I mean talking about me filling up it was an old authentic Air Force bag like made of material and that thing used to just be crammed with money and like I said I went home and I went to sleep and my roommate manager I guess he counted it out at night time or in the morning I just remember seeing you know stacks of money on a table and honestly I don't even really know how much I made but I guess he took a better part of it one to pay for rent too my other roommate girlfriend she didn't work well technically she was sort of like my maid actually she was kind of like the maid in the apartment she kept the apartment nice kept everything clean washed all my clothes but she kind of only lived there part time cuz she went home a lot to her actual family's house I guess to help them do whatever needed to be done there And of course he probably paid himself for his time on taking me back and forth and with my money he probably paid for all the gas the insurance on his car But he took me like everywhere I wanted to go even outside of work I mean we ate it the best restaurants I mean nice restaurants where the owners came over and talked to us we went to New York a lot he made me read a lot on the nights that I wasn't working he always had like a book for me to read and most of them were science fiction cuz I was in a science fiction and I was into like the whole big Star wars thing when a very first came out and I went up to New York and I was always getting like the most latest copies of any type of magazines comic books posters too bad all that went by the wayside when I moved out

I believe in Philadelphia too whenever that stop sign is out you are not allowed to pass wherever you are...and if you happen to be an unlucky person who passes it and there's police around you can forget about all your rights...

Found out it's prior name Diamond Dolls.. I work there a couple of shifts over a month or so when it first opened... The owner Joe was a sweetheart...

Know what I hate know what I hate most of all is that sex clubs try to Brand themselves as strip clubs...

@muddy you weren't at a strip club you were at a sex club let's not mince words so to speak...

I love the throwback time... It is a good sentiment though...

I started back dancing when I was 35 and I continued till I was 50... I have a friend who's still in the business and she's 54... I thought about going back at my age at 63 cuz I am still physically fit but to actually put on a pair of high heels and work in them maybe somewhat of a challenge especially since I have vertigo and I don't see too good out of my one eye There are ladies working in Vegas that are in their 60s and 70s but of course they have been doing it and that is their way of life keeping physically fit in order to be able to do it till that age plus they've also had a lot of plastic surgery on their face boobs stomach and ass they look good from afar but once you see them up close you can tell how much work they've had done.... More power to them for being able to withstand all the craziness that comes with that job...

Yes Philadelphia had a wide variance of different types of clubs Go-Go bars strip joints strip clubs gentlemen's clubs when I look back there used to be a ton of clubs and now they're kind of just strewn here and there and most of them are all the same big stages pay to get in make the girls pay to stay and a lot of times most of the girls look the same at any particular bar...

I work there a couple of times but I don't think it was called bear Elegance at the time and someone did mention it was called tattletales did it also have another name by any chance if anyone is still reading this thread

I work there a long time ago when it first opened under the name of Diamond Dolls... The owner Joe was a real sweetheart..