From the Vaults of Faces of Fourth Street:Faces on Fourth Street celebrates our 29 Anniversary in October 2006. in a previous posting, we mentioned that before Faces, there was The Red Bull. One of the founders/creators of the Red Bull and Faces sent us some great memories...we hope to share more about our 29 years serving St. Louis.
Jim wrote:
Just want to thank you for your article.
There was more than one Red Bull on Missouri Avenue. The first one was at 506 Missouri Avenue. Gerry (Jerry) Edwards an I opened it in 1968. We worked on this old condemned building for six months to get it back in working order.
Jerry went to work around the corner at Helen Schroeders another gay bar to learn how to tend bar. We didn't know the first thing about the business. When he went to work at night I would go work on the bar across the street. On his nights off we would slip in the back door of the Bull and we would work putting this old building together.
We had tried 4 times to open a gay bar 4 times we were stopped. We knew what we wanted in a bar that we enjoyed. The Bull opened in August 1968. All we had was nine hundred dollars to buy stock and buy our liquor license.
At that time males were not allowed to dance together. We talked to a gay attorney
who informed us "If no one is touching, it's exercising".
On our dance floor we had many strands of lights hooked up to two modulators which were hooked up to our juke box. They would go on and off with the music. A year later We started what is now called Disco.
Our Drag show on the second floor first started with our home stereo and spotlights made from #10 soup cans with colored lights hooked to a 2x4 on the ceiling controlled by dimmer switches.
1969 we started Go Go Boys on the bar (naked of course)
1969 we also started the first legal Drag show in St. Louis at The French Market
in South Saint Louis.
Because of that Little Red Bull all this entertainment is now possible all over this country. And whats so great about it. It was done by Gay People for Gay People & supported by the greatest group of Gay People in the St Louis area.
