What's a supper club? Well, according to various online sources, a supper club originally was a fairly high-class nightclub or restaurant that functioned as sort of a social club where you could spend the whole evening, from cocktails before dinner to nightcap. Supper clubs usually opened at supper time (appropriately enough) and were generally located on the edge of town in a rural area.
Supper clubs were big in the Midwest. Wisconsin is the state with the most supper clubs (my co-worker is from Wisconsin and he confirms it as a Wisconsin thing) but they were also big in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa and – you guessed it – Ohio.
That's why the above ad caught my attention. It's a full-page grand opening ad for the All-New Supper Club that ran in the Lorain Journal on December 8, 1954 – 60 years ago last month. The ad – which describes the Supper Club as the newest and most modern night club in Northern Ohio – says that it was located at the corner of old Route 57 (Lake Avenue) and Elyria Avenue.
Although it might have been the newest supper club in the area in 1954, its history goes back much further than that. Stop back here tomorrow (after supper if you prefer) to learn more about the Supper Club.
hello Dan : i used to go there when it was there. brings back a lot of great memories :)now i believe there is , or was, a hair salon there for several years. there was a rock band that played there at the time called "Lee Able and the "Red Ryders".the time period was around the end of the 50's or so.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan,
ReplyDeleteI manage a website in Wisconsin for Wisconsin Supper Clubs. It is a big thing here! thanks for the article.
http://www.wisconsinsupperclubs.net/
There was a supper club on the far east end of Cleveland St. in Elyria right before RR tacks before you crossed into North Ridgeville. I wish I remembered the name. Anyone remember?
ReplyDelete