Chaboillez Square was a spot near where the Planetarium long sat just south of downtown.
And it appears that one black banjo player had a nice little liaison with a fan from Maine in the back of a horse-pulled taxi there, much to the displeasure of our local constabulary as reported in the June 23, 1886 Montreal Daily Witness.
Not sure if he paid the five bucks or did the 15 days in jail he got when busted.
Probably worth it though, as he is now immortal for his deed, along with his canoodling partner Laura Reindhart, a "young girl" from Portland Maine.
Speaking of black banjo players in Montreal in the 1880s, during the same period a black banjo player named Johnson was a regular feature at the at Mount Royal and the Main, south side (described somewhere in this post). Possibly the same guy? Or were there a ton of black banjo players in Montreal at that time?
Update to the 1950s when Montreal's undercover vice squad police would spotcheck on male nightclub patrons, arresting anyone heard using foul language and/or engaging in "lewd" conduct amongst themselves.
ReplyDeleteGuess you hadda be there.