page_title: Nightclub
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Nightclub / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: Postcard of New Orleans. "View of Grottos and Caverns. The Cave - Grunewald Hotel". "The Cave" was a room in the basement of the Grunewald (later Roosevelt) Hotel, sometimes considered one of the first nightclubs in the United States, open c. 1912- 1927. Jazz bands by such notables as Tony Parenti, Johnny Bayersdorffer, and Johnny DeDroit played here. (per book "New Orleans Jazz, A Family Album" by Al Rose &amp; Edmond Souchon)
context_page_description: A nightclub, music club, or club, is an entertainment venue and bar that usually operates late into the night. A nightclub is generally distinguished from regular bars, pubs, or taverns by the inclusion of a stage for live music, one or more dance floor areas and a DJ booth, where a DJ plays recorded music. The upmarket nature of nightclubs can be seen in the inclusion of VIP areas in some nightclubs, for celebrities and their guests. Nightclubs are much more likely than pubs or sports bars to use bouncers to screen prospective clubgoers for entry. Some nightclub bouncers do not admit people with informal clothing or gang apparel as part of a dress code. The busiest nights for a nightclub are Friday and Saturday night. Most clubs or club nights cater to certain music genres, such as house music or hip hop. Many clubs have recurring club nights on different days of the week. Most club nights focus on a particular genre or sound for branding effects.
context_section_description: In the United States, New York increasingly became the national capital for tourism and entertainment. Grand hotels were built for the upscale visitors.  New York's theater district gradually moved northward during this half century, from The Bowery up Broadway through Union Square and Madison Square, settling around Times Square at the end of the 19th century. Edwin Booth and Lillian Russell were among the Broadway stars. Prostitutes served a wide variety of clientele, from sailors on leave to playboys.
  The first nightclubs appeared in New York City in the 1840s and 1850s, including  McGlory's and the Haymarket. They enjoyed a national reputation for live music, dance, and vaudeville acts. They tolerated unlicensed liquor, commercial sex, and gambling cards, chiefly Faro. Practically all gambling was illegal in the city (except upscale horseracing tracks), and regular payoffs to political and police leadership was necessary. Prices were high and they were patronized by an upscale audience. Timothy Gilfoyle called them "the first nightclubs." By contrast, Owney Geoghegan ran the toughest nightclub in New York, 1880–83. It catered to a downscale clientele and besides the usual illegal liquor, gambling, and prostitution, it featured nightly fistfights, and occasional shootings, stabbings, and police raids. Webster Hall is credited as the first modern nightclub, being built in 1886 and starting off as a "social hall", originally functioning as a home for dance and political activism events.
caption: "The Cave" in the basement of the Gruenwald (later Roosevelt) Hotel, New Orleans opened in 1912; said by some to be one of the first nightclubs in the United States
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.2", "Image DateTime": "2007:11:06 14:52:18", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.3.9", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "294", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6878", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}