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Which Big Three Club Do You Party At?!

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The Cotton Club was owned by bootlegger and known gangster Owney "The Killer" Madden. Madden sold his own beer and served nine years in Sing Sing prison because he murdered Little Patsy Doyle. Artists such Duke Ellington who sang songs such as "Jeeps Blues" and "Little Brown Book" as well as musicians Ethel Waters and Cab Calloway performed at the club regularly. The club was supposed to be a stylish plantation environment for the white upper class. However, the entertainers were African American. All the black dancers at the club had to be 5ft 6in or taller, light skinned and had to be 21 years or younger. The music and entertainment was supposed to bring a jungle atmosphere to the city. Overall, the Cotton Club was the most famous of the Big Three.

Cotton Club

Connie Immerman, a white woman bootlegger, opened Connie's Inn in 1923. The club was open exclusively for the white upper class of Harlem. With a $15 cover charge, Connie's Inn was one of the most expensive and extravagant club for this time period and competed with the Cotton Club for customers. The club attracted bootleggers, molls, and gangsters and included performers such as Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Fletcher Henderson. Unfortunately, the club lost its profitability after prohibition was repealed. And after her brother got kidnapped by bootleggers, Connie finally decided to shut the club down in 1933.

Connie's Inn

Small's Paradise was one of the most prestigious club owned by African American, Edwin Smalls. Some of the clientele was local from Harlem, but it also attracted rich whites from downtown. The club featured music of Charlie Johnsons Paradise Orchesta, the house band for first 10 years, Gus Aiken, Jabbo Smith, Willie 'the Lion' Smith, and Duke Ellington. Small's was well known for its first-class musical acts, elaborate floor shows and dancing waiters. It stayed open later than most clubs, known for 6am “breakfast dances.” The club eventually closed in 1986, making it the longest operating nightclub in Harlem.

Small's Paradise

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Which Big Three Club Do You Party At?!

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