A set of photos featuring a cheeful woman posing with friends in the sprawling east end Mocambo bar at Notre Dame and Davidson shines a rare light on the high-spiritedness of the east end club that was around from 1948 to 1965.The identity of the dark-haired woman posing in all of the photos remains unknown.
Was she a singer? A waitress? A customer?
So far nobody can say.
First some background on the Mocambo.
I've never seen a photo of the long-demolished building but it stood on the north side of Notre Dame E. just west of Davidson, an area now just lawns and bike paths.
The building was occupied by Danby appliances for about one year before being transformed into the Mocambo in 1948.
The bar had no cover charge but its overhead must have been very steep, so one might conclude that it served many a drink.
Here's a description of the shows from one night in 1960:
The cast stars Disc Star Ruth Brown who comes from American TV and Broadway to sing for Montreal cabaret goers. Claude Girardin is the master of ceremonies and he introduces on his bill Exotic Dancer Faith Gardner, the acrobatic team of The Mephistos and the trained dog team of Sonny Moore. Bob Lavoie and his Orchestra plays for the shows and the Big Benny Band plays for the intermission dance setsSo management had to pay an American act, an emcee, an exotic dancer, an acrobatic team, a dog show and two bands, on top of the usual bouncers, doormen, bartenders and waitresses.
All without charging cover.Management was able to afford the high overhead partly by closing after hours and got into constant trouble for breaking the rules, narrowly avoiding having their entire booze stock confiscated in 1959. Manager Hyppolite Ross managed to prove that the club had a legit license and averted the raid.
That same year the club was described as a frequent offender when it came to violating the liquor laws but it had friends in power.
Celebrity wrestler Johnny Rougeau owned the joint, at least in name, and put a variety of other wrestlers on the payroll, including Gerard Duchesne, who wrestled under the name Gerry Bright.
Bright was busted for helping the Liberals rig an election and instead of being brought to the cop shop, police brought him to the Mocambo where Rougeau - who worked a chauffeur and fundraiser for a young Rene Levesque - dealt with the situation in 1960.
Rougeau and Duchesne were both charged with election offenses but that was considered a minor deal as he kept running the place, which frequently had to hustle to gets it booze license returned, including in 1960.
The club was known for featuring many French acts, including Alys Robi, but also faced competition from countless clubs offering similar fare including the Cafe de l'Est further east on Notre Dame.
The club disappeared sometime in late 1964 or early 1965.
Rougeau was still in his mid-30s by then. He would only live to age 54, felled by cancer in 1983.
In its twilight years, Rougeau's booze hall presented an impressive bill of Chubby Chcker with Frankie Lymon and the Ink Spos as well as Jennie Rock, an artist of the twist in May 1963..
The next year it hosted a relative unknown in the form of the 14-year-old Stevie Wonder.
More photos of the mystery woman below.
