The Anxious Asp

The Anxious Asp was a lesbian and bohemian bar in operation from 1958 to 1967 at 528 Green Street in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, U.S..[1]

The Anxious Asp
Entrance to the Anxious Asp (ca. 1965)
Restaurant information
Previous owner(s)Arlene Arbuckle
Street address528 Green Street, San Francisco, California
CountryUnited States
Coordinates37.799812°N 122.407947°W / 37.799812; -122.407947

History

It began in 1955 as a cabaret with the same name, and was purchased in 1958 by Arlene Arbuckle.[2] Arbuckle also owned the Paper Doll Club, and The Capri.[3] Arbuckle had pivoted The Anxious Asp to a more mixed queer and bohemian crowd (many of which were related to the Beat movement), and they shared staff and clientele with "The Place" and Vesuvio Cafe.[2][4] The restrooms were wallpapered with pages from the Kinsey Reports, two controversial human sexual behavior books.[2][4] Notable clients to the former bar included Janis Joplin,[5] and Lew Ellingham.[4]

In total, a collection of San Francisco LGBT venues opened and flourished in the late-1950s, including Tommy's Place/12 Adler Place, Ann's 440, Miss Smith's Tea Room, the Tin Angel, the Copper Lantern, the Front, and Our Club.[6]

Joseph "Bunny" Simon, a Louisiana Creole, was not welcome at the original bar in the 1960s due to race; however in 1976 Simons opened a new club, the Anxious Asp on Haight Street.[7][8]

See also

References
  1. "Before the Castro: North Beach, a Gay Mecca - FoundSF". foundsf.org. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  2. Duncan, Stephen R. (2018-11-01). The Rebel Café: Sex, Race, and Politics in Cold War America's Nightclub Underground. JHU Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-4214-2634-1.
  3. Ellingham, Lewis; Killian, Kevin (1998-07-29). Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance. Wesleyan University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-8195-5308-9.
  4. Flanagan, Michael (July 25, 2018). "Beats, Bohemians and Bars: Jack Spicer, Allen Ginsberg and their circle's San Francisco haunts". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  5. "O Janis". Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications. October 1992. p. 183.
  6. Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2003). Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965. Univ of California Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-520-24474-0.
  7. Gold, Herbert (1984-07-08). "Can Our Politicos Handle Trendytown? Sister Boom Boom's village of San Francisco will give this convention an est-coast setting". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  8. Chakraborty, Sudeepto (July 1, 2020). "Changemakers: Joseph 'Bunny' Simon". USF. University of San Francisco. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
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