By Sukie de la Croix

On This Day in …

1976
The Miss Windy City Snow Ball Contest takes place at the Germania Club, 108 W. Germania Place. Entertainment is provided by Bobby & Company, Tillie the Dirty Old Lady and Mother Carol.

Believe it or not, the movie being shown at the Gold Coast leather bar, 501 N. Clark St., is “Jesus Christ Superstar” and at Man’s Country they’re showing “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.”

1979
An ad in Gay Life cashes in on a new trend. It reads: “The New Man sets the style with one pierced ear! In the days of pirates, men wore a pierced earring as a badge of courage. Today the courageous new man sets the style for men with…one pierced ear. Have yours done now. Quickly and safely by trained professionals using the Ear Piercing Gun at Pazzam gold boutique, the Century, 2828 N. Clark St.”

A benefit movie night for the Frank M. Rodde III Building Fund is held at the Village Theater, 1548 N. Clark St. For $3 you can enjoy Mae West and six gorgeous men in “Sextette,” and laugh/cry with/at the ’60s sissies in “The Boys in the Band.”

At Petunia’s annual Christmas party you have a chance to win a 13-inch color TV set. The bar, which opened in May 1976, is located at 2559 N. Southport.

1980
The Christmas ad for the lesbian bar Minkees, 3019 N. Clark St., reads: “Dear Santa, I’ve waited all year …please bring me the best sound, the friendliest women and a place that will warm me inside and out—please give me Minkees. XXX OOO Danielle.” The bar’s opening night is Dec. 27, 1980 with proprietress Danielle Lewis. Previous gay bars at this location include the western-themed Locker and Jocks.

Chanteuse Karen Mason, now making a name for herself in New York, returns to Chicago for her third annual Christmas extravaganza, “O Come All Ye Faithful” at Park West, 322 W. Armitage.

1987
Girth and Mirth, the Chicago area club for “Big Men and Their Friends” presents “La Cage au Mirth,” an annual entertainment comprising local and out of town talent, at its annual holiday dinner at Ann Sather’s restaurant.

1997
Deborah Cox is heating things up for the winter with “Things Just Aint the Same” and “Who Do U Love?” at Fusion, Chicago’s premier gay nightclub, at 3631 N. Halsted.

The annual Midwest Womyn’s Autumnfest holds a Land Fund benefit dance at Ann Sather’s, 929 W. Belmont; the event is hosted by Trish Koch.

The Illinois Gay Rodeo Association Christmas Show is hosted by Miss Minerva Rex and stars the Friend’s Femme Fatales Taffy Pull, Virginia Slim and Summer Clearance to benefit The Children’s Place. The event takes place at Friend’s Pub, 3432 W. Irving Park.

Thanks to the Gerber/Hart Library at 1127 W. Granville for the use of their collection and archives.