{"id":17607,"date":"2014-11-05T02:59:06","date_gmt":"2014-11-05T07:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=17607"},"modified":"2019-11-26T07:00:33","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T12:00:33","slug":"the-photo-elective-the-mardi-gras-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/11\/05\/the-photo-elective-the-mardi-gras-club\/","title":{"rendered":"The Photo Elective – The Mardi Gras Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post falls into a category that I call The Photo Elective<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Back when I attended the Philadelphia College of Art<\/strong>, I majored in illustration and all illustration majors were required to take a pricey, one-semester photography elective where each student was required to purchase a 35mm SLR camera, black-and-white film and a laundry list of darkroom accouterments necessary to process one’s own film and create prints from those negatives. The school (meaning those who paid tuition<\/em>) sprung for the chemicals. We reluctant photographers went dutifully about our assignments which usually consisted of faux art, ironic juxtapositions and stuff we hoped would get us a passing grade and get us the hell out of the elective.<\/p>\n

I recently uncovered my cache of negatives from art school safely tucked away in sleeves in a three-ring binder. I don’t really recall what the projects were about, but what I found interesting was the stuff I took to kill off a 36-exposure roll of film so that I could process it. Some of these shots are of things and places that aren’t there any more.
\n\"Happy<\/a>I started this category with an analog, black-and-white, 35mm film shot of a portion of Gloucester City, New Jersey<\/a>, and when I posted it to a Gloucster City<\/a> and Westville Facebook page<\/a>, I got a lot of positive feedback. There were a lot of conversations back and forth, and, more than once, the subject of other locales, hang-outs and watering holes came up which brings us to today’s post.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This, of course, was the Club Mardi Gras<\/strong> and Westville Liquor Mart<\/strong> which sold booze and offered Go-Go dancers as entertainment. When this picture was taken in 1982, the whole Go-Go phenomena had come and gone, and this seemed like such a sad throwback – like the last of a near extinct species stuck in a tar pit not realizing it’s time was up.<\/p>\n

\"Club<\/a>A year after this photo was taken, Flashdance<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>came out smashing box office records and bringing roaring life back to Go-Go or exotic dancing or whatever they were calling it to appease the local zoning officials. I’m not sure if this breathed new life into the Club Mardi Gras.<\/em> It’s been years since I’ve been in this particular neck of the woods.<\/p>\n

I had always heard the rumor that the former Mrs. Tiny Tim<\/a><\/strong><\/em> had danced there. I searched the internet, but could not find any sort of confirmation. I did find a blog<\/a> that Miss Vicki<\/strong> <\/em>writes, and in scrolling through it, I found that she did indeed dance at clubs<\/a>, but I didn’t see anything about the Mardi Gras<\/em><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em> I decided to take a chance and write an email to the address attached to the blog. I figured that the worst that could happen is that I would be ignored so I wrote and asked, and I was very pleasantly surprised to find a response from the<\/span> Miss Vicki<\/strong><\/em> the next day! She wrote:
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Yes..I did work as a dancer at the Mardi Gras in Westville.. I think 1979 and 1980. It was a decent Tavern..the owners were very nice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the folks who came in were always kind and respectful…<\/span><\/p>\n

I think it was on Gateway…<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks…nice to hear from you<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0 <\/span>Am searching for photos taken of me while I was a dancer…I also worked at the Oasis in Camden on Admiral Wilson Blvd..Many were taken..but I don’t have any…am working on a Memoir.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you should come across anyone who may have any..would greatly appreciate it…
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks Very Much
\n<\/span>Vicki<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

AND<\/strong> she attached a picture<\/strong> which she gave me the kind permission to use here.<\/p>\n

\"wonder-woman-MsVicki\"<\/a>I was bowled over! Thanks so much, Miss Vicki! I can’t wait to read your memoir.<\/p>\n

So if you have any photos of Miss Vicki dancing, she’d love to hear from you. Head over to her site<\/a> to find her contact information.<\/p>\n

If you have any anecdotes about Miss Vicki<\/em> or the Mardi Gras Club<\/em>, feel free to comment below.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post falls into a category that I call The Photo Elective. Back when I attended the Philadelphia College of Art, I majored in illustration and all illustration majors were required to take a pricey, one-semester photography elective where each … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[31,120,3340],"tags":[148,355,158,284,3362,152,1442,156,3361,3360,122,3359,121,3239],"class_list":["post-17607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blast-from-the-past","category-curious-clutter","category-the-photo-elective","tag-148","tag-35mm","tag-analog","tag-booze","tag-exotic-dancer","tag-film","tag-go-go-dancer","tag-liquor","tag-miss-vicki","tag-ms-vicki","tag-new-jersey","tag-tiny-tim","tag-westville","tag-wonder-woman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-4zZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38486,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/08\/13\/caturday-29\/","url_meta":{"origin":17607,"position":0},"title":"Caturday","author":"Joe","date":"August 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a combination Caturday \/ Photo Elective post. Illustration majors at the school formerly known as The Philadelphia Collage of Art were required to take a photography elective where students would shoot 35mm film; process the film and make prints from the negatives. One of the assignments was a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Caturday"","block_context":{"text":"Caturday","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/feline-fridays\/caturday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Tina-and-a-kitten-detail.jpg?fit=640%2C484&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Tina-and-a-kitten-detail.jpg?fit=640%2C484&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Tina-and-a-kitten-detail.jpg?fit=640%2C484&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20959,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2016\/08\/10\/sam-eric-theater\/","url_meta":{"origin":17607,"position":1},"title":"Sam Eric Theater","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"August 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This isn't really part of The Photo Elective series in that it wasn't part of that elective course that all illustration majors at The Philadelphia College of Art were required to take, but I did use the same SLR camera and it was part of a school assignment. Rather than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philadelphia"","block_context":{"text":"Philadelphia","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/philadelphia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sam Eric Theater","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/c5.staticflickr.com\/9\/8730\/28596140220_945926c875_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/c5.staticflickr.com\/9\/8730\/28596140220_945926c875_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/c5.staticflickr.com\/9\/8730\/28596140220_945926c875_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17860,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/12\/08\/the-photo-elective-the-broadway-deli\/","url_meta":{"origin":17607,"position":2},"title":"The Photo Elective – The Broadway Deli","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"December 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the 1980s, I went to art school, and I along with all of the other illustration majors were required to take a course in photography. In order to finish off a roll of film so I could process it in school, I would snap off a frame here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adventures in Commuting"","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Commuting","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/adventures-in-commuting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Broadway Deli","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8670\/15342582473_d2d00204cc_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8670\/15342582473_d2d00204cc_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8670\/15342582473_d2d00204cc_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38520,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/08\/21\/17th-and-walnut\/","url_meta":{"origin":17607,"position":3},"title":"17th and Walnut","author":"Tina Garceau","date":"August 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's another Photo Elective shot taken of a reflection in a florist's window in the vicinity of 17th and Walnut in downtown Philadelphia, PA. I took this photograph as a sophomore at The Philadelphia College of Art. The Photo Elective All students majoring in illustration at The Philadelphia College of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philadelphia"","block_context":{"text":"Philadelphia","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/philadelphia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"17th and Walnut 1981","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52277690351_80869e93b5_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17899,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/12\/16\/the-photo-elective-king-richards-tavern\/","url_meta":{"origin":17607,"position":4},"title":"The Photo Elective – King Richard’s Tavern","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"December 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in the 1980s, I went to art school, and I along with all of the other illustration majors were required to take a course in photography. We had to shoot the photos as well as process the negatives and make the prints. I don't recall what the particulars of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blast from the Past"","block_context":{"text":"Blast from the Past","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/blast-from-the-past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"King Richard's Tavern","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8666\/15801589579_7a90ec3c42_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8666\/15801589579_7a90ec3c42_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8666\/15801589579_7a90ec3c42_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38553,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/08\/18\/the-old-homestead\/","url_meta":{"origin":17607,"position":5},"title":"The Old Homestead","author":"Joe","date":"August 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a shot of my parents' house in Westville, NJ that I took sometime during the Fall of 1982. The Sears branded SLR camera I shot this with was borrowed from my Father and was loaded with either a roll of Pan-X or Tri-X black-and-white 35mm film. This was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blast from the Past"","block_context":{"text":"Blast from the Past","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/blast-from-the-past\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Old Homestead","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52276885578_0ed1100516_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52276885578_0ed1100516_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52276885578_0ed1100516_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}