Below are a few items I pick up a while back that I’ve been meaning to post. The Elmwood Casino (no gambling) was once the Cat’s Ass. It was a classic nightclub and a major stop on the traveling circuit. All the biggest stars in show biz at the time played at the Elmwood. Like all good things, the Elmwood too came to an end. After going bankrupt and sitting vacant for a while, it was purchased and reopened as Brentwood Recovery Home.
The items below date to the 1950’s.
Look at that menu! That’s less than $3.00 a person.
The cover of the drink list…
Draconian Liquor Board rules existed then too. Nothing like creating a cheap “plate of food” to meet the regulations. I bet the Elmwood made a few bucks off that 35 cent plate. 🙂
Check those prices! Times sure have changed.
Built in 1929, the house at 2177 Victoria Avenue was originally numbered 1545 Victoria, pre…
Crescent Lanes first opened on Ottawa Street in 1944 at 1055 Ottawa Street, opposite Lanspeary…
Above is a photo of the home of Mr & Mrs Oswald Janisse, located at…
in 1917 two Greek brothers Gus & Harry Lukos purchased a one story building on…
Photo from Google Streetview A long time reader sent me an email the other week…
An unremarkable end to a part of Windsor's history. The large vacant house at 841…
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HOW COOL AND WOW HOW CHEAP THE PRICES WERE BACK THEN, BUT BACK THEN IT WAS NOT SO CHEAP FOR THEM, WE THINK IT IS TODAY LOL! WOW! ANDREW YOU SURE CAN FIND SOME NEAT STUFF! THANKS! I HANG OUT WITH THIS LADY LOUISE SHE IS CLOSE TO 70 YRS OLD AND SHE REMEMBERS ALOT FROM THAT PLACE.. SHE SAID FRANK SANATRA AND DEAN MARTIN AND SAMMY WERE ALL THERE ONCE... EVERY TIME I DRIVE BY THAT OLD PLACE I LOOK AND JUST THINK WOW THAT PLACE WAS ROCLIN ONCE IN WINDSOR! HOW COOL!
HA! I love it, that is awesom...I love the drawing of a naked women in the martini glass...oh the alure.... hehehehe
I always thought Brentwood/Elmwood looked kind of gay -- now we know it was the gayest.
A quick question......
.....There was the Elmwood Casino, The Top Hat Supper Club and The Metropole, all with big (or at least medium) name entertainment. Why in Windsor? I realise there's the big market just across the river, but in my rapidly declining memory, I don't really remember clubs or resturants in Detroit with a major act policy.
douglas, I'm not sure why they were here vs. in Detroit. Especially since back then the Candian dollar was higher than the US Dollar. Maybe that's why? Maybe acts were paid in Canadian dollars, and hence recieved a bigger paycheck?
I should go and shoot all the old night clubs, that would make a good series.
The Elmwood, is now a addiction recovery center, the Top Hat is vacant and scheduled for demolition and repalcement with a Burger King, and the Metropole spent most of the 80's and 90's a rock club, before going vacant for a while. It has been converted into Apartments, with a small bar/restaurant on the ground floor.
Where was the Metropole?
Shawn, the Metrolpole was better known to our generation as California's, on Walker Road.
Oh how well I remember the Elmwood in it's hayday, and mine! Still have several pictures that were taken by the photographer there that you could purchase. I saw Sammy Davis Jr. when he was touring with his father and uncle and they were known as "The Will Mastin Trio" and they were so good!! Always went with my parents as a young lady and then thru my teens and twenties. Ah, the memories!
GREAT JOB ON THE ELMWOOD CASINO..COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THERE IS CURRENTLY ANY BOOK ON THE EARLY DAYS OF WINDSOR...WOULD APPRECIATE ANY INFORMATION..THANKYOU
You could try to find a copy of Birth Of A City, by Carl Morgan.This was written to commemorate Windsors centenial in 1992. It was printed by Border Press Inc. in 1991. also another bookby Marty Gervais about the history of the Windsor Police