Saturday, March 8, 2014

Enjoy a free drink at Doris Wong's Hong Kong night club


This item fits in nicely with this week's theme of night-life ephemera.1 It's an undated card, 4¼ inches wide, for the Golden Lion night club and bar on Gloucester Road in Hong Kong. The front of the card features a martini glass, a pair of elegant dancers and a blue stamp for a "SECOND FREE DRINK."

Based on the address, the Golden Lion was located in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. I believe that the club has long vanished from existence.2

Here's a look at the inside of the card.



And so we learn that Doris Wong's establishment featured first-class service, music, mixed drinks and attractive girls. It doesn't, however, mention dancing. Was the illustration on the front misleading?


Finally, there is a nifty map3 on the back of the card, showing sailors how easy it was to get from Fenwick Pier and the station ship to Golden Lion.

Fenwick Pier features a "Fleet Arcade" that was set up in the 1950s by the U.S. Navy. According to Time Out Hong Kong, "the Fleet Arcade was built to serve as an R&R point for sailors on their way to and from the pleasures of Wan Chai’s more salubrious parts. While nowadays it’s much quieter than in the past, it’s still home to numerous quality goods and services."

For more on what this area of Hong Kong was like from the perspective of a U.S. sailor during the time of the Golden Lion, I highly recommend "Station Ship Hong Kong" on Seven Years a Sailor (navystories.net).

Footnotes
1. See posts on Frank's Pig-Pen in West Berlin, items from the October 1971 issue of Berlin Today (including Rolf Eden's international dance bars), and Mader's German restaurant in Milwaukee.
2. There is, however, an establishment called The Golden Lion on Gloucester Road ... in Bristol, England. Tonight, The Golden Lion is featuring "Acid Funk & Boogaloo W/ Guy Calhoun & Friends." In case you were wondering.
3. Want to check out more vintage maps? See these previous posts:

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