By transforming the club into this plantation atmosphere and bringing in celebrities, Owney Madden created a demand for the Cotton Club and its exclusionary policies and also helped perpetuate widely held stereotypes about African Americans. The music was often orchestrated to bring to mind a jungle atmosphere. The oppressive segregation of the Cotton Club was reinforced by its depiction of the African American employees as exotic savages or plantation residents. Dancers at the Cotton Club were held to strict standards they had to be at least 5’6” tall, light skinned with only a slight tan, and under twenty-one years of age. Exceptions to this restriction were made in the case of prominent white entertainment guest stars and the dancers. The Cotton Club at first excluded all but white patrons although the entertainers and most of staff were African American. As with many New York City clubs of the time period, that meant the upper class of the city. The Club was decorated with the idea of creating a “stylish plantation environment” for its entirely white clientele. Although the club was briefly closed several times in the 1920s for selling alcohol, the owners’ political connections allowed them to always reopen quickly. Madden used the Cotton Club as an outlet to sell his “#1 Beer” to the prohibition crowd. Opened in 1923, the Cotton Club on 142nd St & Lenox Ave in the heart of Harlem, New York was operated by white New York gangster Owney Madden.
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