Pittsburgh and Cleveland may have gotten bigger, better and shinier - but Erie was the originator. I believe the last picnic was produced by Nick Panos of Lizzy Bordon's and was held at Camp Eriez, a summer camp past Avonia. As time went on, Pittsburgh and Cleveland started producing their own picnics, which over time eclipsed the Erie picnic. There would be tons of beer and dancing that attracted hundreds of people from the tri state area, with buses coming from major cities. Locations for the picnic would vary, often at campgrounds and a few times at the Monastery in Girard. Another annual event which drew crowds from these areas was the Summer Picnic. At this time, Erie was actually more socially progressive than Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Three or four hundred people would attend the Harvest Ball, coming from all parts of the state as well as Cleveland and Buffalo. You could usually find Jayne Mansfield, Bette Davis, Diana Ross as well as several Judy Garlands. Impersonating famous celebrities was more prevalent then than creating your own characters. The 'Pointer Sisters' and a complete bridal wedding party made appearances as well as a group of 'nuns" known as " The Sisters of the Moist Womb". The drag was pure camp, often with group drag. This was the first official drag title in the Erie area. A show was organized and 'The Equinox Empress' would be crowned. It was billed as a Halloween party but in actuality was an excuse for everyone to dress in drag and camp it up. In the 1950's and 60's, the highlight of the year was the Harvest Ball, which was held near Halloween at the Log Cabin, which was a rental vacation area located at the bend where Buffalo Road turns in to Harborcreek Borough. Padewsky Park was also another common cruising ground, as well as the trails near the Erie Zoo. Despite the activities being completely illegal, the police generally looked the other way and left the gays alone. ( ACL lot ) this continued into the 70's and 80's. When a hook up was made, they usually drove to the parking lot on the other side of the tracks to have sex. Usually one would drive slowly in circles, checking out the guys who were standing around getting high or drinking. After the bars closed, many men would go 'cruising the carousel '…Ĭruising the carousel was the term for hanging out at the circular parking lot that was in front of the Train Station / Post Office in an attempt pick up someone for casual sex. The only ones hurt were the girls who were lead on by gay men and the guys horrible sleep patterns. It was not an ideal life for anyone, but it was an acceptable alternative. It gave gay males time to take a girl to dinner or a movie, drop her off at a respectable hour and then have time to head out and party with all their gay friends. Mary Alice Brown was a young jazz entertainer at a bar called Slivers who encouraged her gay customer base.ĭuring this time frame and before, the penchant for partying late at night was also born for very practical reasons. The Fiesta Room at the Lawrence Hotel also catered to it's gay clientele. It was particularly popular with the women's softball teams. The "A Bar" was a popular gay hang out which was located on Perry Square where City Hall now stands.
Numerous bars were known to be gay friendly. Additionally, there was a law on the books that anyone dressed in clothing of the opposite sex must have at least three items of their gender's clothing on to be "legal"- otherwise they could be arrested. This is why most drag shows and contests were held at that time of year. They usually were called Halloween parties since dressing up at Halloween became much more acceptable. Events were not allowed to called Drag Shows. Bars were not allowed to permit same sex dancing, under any circumstance under penalty of fines or closure. Word of mouth was the only way of communicating this within the community itself. Bars could not be billed as gay or gay friendly. There were many city ordinances and laws that had to be obeyed, with threat of arrest, fines or closure. Heterosexual owners of many bars did what they could to accommodate gays with certain areas, certain days and times - but when push came to shove, they usually backed down for their own economic reasons. The threat of being exposed or arrested was very real to many people and gay bashing were as common place as they often are today. It was a very different social time and political climate for gays in Erie in the 1950's and 1960's. History of Socialization, Drag and Bars in Erie