In the 1930s and 1940s, Ontario lakeshore vacation spots such as Port Stanley, Bayfield, Grand Bend, all had dance pavilions. I was charmed by the thought of a place created exclusively for music and dance. My mother would list who her partners were and how they managed to sneak in without paying. Compared to a nightclub, or a modern bar, the pavilions seemed kind of innocent. The emphasis was not on drinking, profits depended on consistently large audiences.

When my mother noted her envy toward a friend who was going to “the Slipper,” in Toronto, while she sat at home, I researched the Silver Slipper and other Toronto dance clubs, such as The Imperial and Palais Royale.

Turns out these were very popular clubs at the height of Toronto’s jazz scene. Count Basie and Duke Ellington played at them. These were well-established jazz musicians–who were allowed on stage–but had to be billeted with local Black families because they weren’t welcome in Toronto’s hotels. And Canadian Black musicians just weren’t booked at all. They weren’t thought to have enough cachet to draw an audience like the Duke and the Count could.

The lakeshore dance pavilions provided an ordinary pastime for my mother in Bayfield. To go to the dance, or not? With whom? It most certainly never occurred to her in either Toronto or Bayfield that others would not have been allowed. 

The colour barrier was finally broken in 1947 at the Colonial Tavern. (That’s irony for you.) A white agent defended his Black client, Cy McLean: “If he can’t play at your club, no one can.” The agent had the power, the sway, and the roster of musicians to make the demand stick.

This is why recognizing Black History in general and Black History month is important. Nostalgia tends to romanticize earlier times; the exclusion of Black people in the audience, while enjoying Black music played by Black musicians is a glaringly obvious example of white privilege assuming all is grand. Those families billeting musicians could not enter the club to see their guests play.

These exclusions in all probability never occurred to my mother. It wasn’t in her radar to consider who was missing from the dance floor. In all honesty, it never occurred to me either which is why I’m pointing out how viewing the past through a romantic lens does not consider all points of view.

These two articles discuss the policies of segregation in clubs; Racial Discrimination at Toronto’s Nightclubs, and Black History at the Pilot Tavern.

Keep your joy.

Posted every Sunday, unless it’s a holiday or summertime.

Contentment is for Cows: Short and sweet reflections on life’s complications.