The shortest issue, at only eight pages
I
find the above "chain letter" Very interesting, and
not only for the mix of names it includes.
Diana Fredericks was an author, whose book "Diana" was reviewed
in Issue #6
Stephen Gordon was the main character in Radclyffe Hall's "Well
of Loneliness," Issue #2
Beverly Shaw was a well-known Los Angeles entertainer and club owner
Click
for
my extensive website page on her
what
I find interesting is that all my research on her indicates she was
a "1950's"
entertainer, and her matter-of-fact mention as an Out lesbian, in
a December 1947
publication would revise that
Tommy
Williams was a popular "male impersonator," click Here
for the late 1940's
Club Jewel Box program that contains the photo below
"Tess"
Wheeler is a mystery to me. There was an L.A. lesbian club called
"Tess's" or
"Tess's Cantina," but I've not found the last name of the
owner to verify this theory.
If you know who "Tess" Wheeler is, please
let me know
Update
(August 2013): I was contacted by Jon Ponder, who is writing a book
on the history of the Sunset Strip
c. 1910 to 1959, titled "Playground to the Stars." He writes
"In my research, I have come upon a good deal of information
about Tess, who, with her husband Elmer, operated an upscale lesbian-friendly
nightclub on the Strip called Cafe Internationale from 1938 to 1942,
when it was placed off limits by the military and subsequently lost
its liquor license. Elmer died that winter but Tess went on to open
several other clubs. She also bought a house on Gardner Street in
Hollywood where she lived with her partner, Sylvia Reiff, who used
the pseudonym Radclyffe Hall."
Some interesting links to his website: Cafe
Internationale and Jane
Jones' Little Club
Whatchama-Column
Click
for Vice Versa, Issue #8
