Sophie's Mentertainment® is the best source for information on Strip Clubs in the NorthEast.
Hello Sophie Dear,
Although I never met you, I feel I know you. I've been reading Mentertainment since you started, I think.
I used to work at the Tattle-Tale Lounge in Irvington, NJ. Through the years I was there, I was manager, bouncer, bartender, lot attendant, plumbing & heating fixer, air conditioning fixer and a lot more. I recently read the article about the Tale. It says the 'original owner' ran it into the ground. I know that's not right!
I started there in 1975. I was 17 at the time. A man named Hubie and his wife Janis were the owners. They were, I think the first ones to call it Tattle-Tale. Before they owned it, a woman owned it, and it was called the Union Hill Tavern. No go-go then. Hubie started the go-go. It really wasn't that busy. The crowd was kind of rough. The girls were okay.
Then about 1981, Hubie got bored with the place. He sold it to John, Mae and Mary-Lou D'Elia. Hubie bought some construction equipment and started a business. He also became the owner of Apples (non-go-go) in Hillside.
When John started running the bar, things went wild! He was a generous man, always bought the bar a round whenever he was there, no matter how many people were there. He allowed his barmaids to give drinks to anyone they thought deserved it. (Try that today!!) The dancers got better because of the competition. We used to use only Sally & Jerry (Action Talent Agency, Hillside, gone now), but John and I would go from go-go bar to go-go bar and hire the girls we liked, and another agency had recently started in the area. Another thing was John's prices on alcohol were cheaper than any go-go bar I was ever in. The prices were about the same as a non-go-go bar. Shots were an average 75 cents cheaper than any other go-go bar. Mae, (who was John's mom) was the cook, man was her food great! The customers used to call her burgers, manhole covers, because they were so big! The bar was packed all the time! We opened at 11:30 am and closed at 1:30 am Monday thru Friday. He was never open on Saturday or Sunday. When asked by customers why he doesn't open on Saturday he would reply "We do enough during the week so I can take the day off".
There were lines of guys waiting to get in at 11:15 am when I'd get there to start! The crowd there was like family. All the dancers knew they were safe when they came there. We were nuts! Anyone caught bothering a dancer was beat up! Not only by us, but by the customers!! Our crowd loved it there!
Then came trouble in paradise. We were closed for 'lewdness' & 'serving a minor'. The bar was fined and closed for almost a year. The bartenders had to work, so they went somewhere else. The customers, naturally, went to other bars. And while the Tale was closed, John sold it. It was 1988 and Mel Shaffer & Sal Terranova were now the owners. They tried to get back all the old bartenders and customers. I was working at the Cheeque's on Wednesday nights during the time John owned the Tale and when it closed I started working there Fridays and Saturdays, too. I also managed a bar called Short Shorts on 1 & 9 (was My Wife's Place 2, then Short Shorts, then Toy Boxx) at the time. Now it's a stone yard for grave markers! I went back when they re-opened. Things weren't good. None of the 'Good' girls wanted to work there. John always booked in advance and he called them and told them the bookings they had would be honored by Mel & Sal. I saw a lot of them in other bars and they told me "it's not like it was", customers were all different and it didn't seem friendly any more. Then the drink prices went up. That stopped the regulars from going there. They felt if they had to pay that much for a drink they could go to Shooters, which had just opened on 22, and be in a nicer bar with a lot more happening. Can you blame them? Mel & Sal split up and Mel became sole owner. Things started going downhill from there. Nobody liked Mel. The customers complained about never getting a buyback. They said they had dropped at least fifty bucks and never got a drink back! None of the girls were really that good. I've been using good, that means - pretty, shapely and has some idea how to dance! Not some toll collector or girl that moves to whatever she hears in her head. Girls that tease customers into staying for more, you know the type. So when you say 'original owner', you should say 'last owner'. I still have pictures of the old inside, with girls and customers, when the stage was on the chains. I could scan them and send them if you like.
Frank
Dear Frank,
Wow, what a moving testimonial. Thank you. I am so glad you wrote! Yes, I meant Mel, I didn't even know there was anyone before him, I am sorry I assumed that he was the original owner.
May I publish your letter? I think a lot of people have a lot to learn from it. Please!?
Thank you. Stay in touch. I'll post on the website too, probably together with the review. The review is at http://www.mentertainment.com/mag/804.htm.
God bless.
Sophie
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Sure you can post my letter, but please fix any mis-spellings. I scanned some of the pictures I have from the Tale.
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Hi Sophie,
My name is DJ OSCAR
I was in your magazine 2 or 3 times a long time ago. I was the DJ at Lookers when you did your ad on the grand opening, I also had a picture in one of your magazines with me DJ'ing, I can't remember what bar it was. I started DJ'ing at Cheeque's in 1981 and from there went to Spanky's. I've DJ'd at Breathless, Uncle Charlie's, Scarlet's, Studio 27, Vixens, the bar across from Pumps, I can't remember the name for anything and once or twice I did a special appearance at French Maid. The thing is, Sophie, I played altogether for 15 years in this business retiring at Club Abyss where I also DJ'd at my farewell party. Where did I go? I joined the US NAVY. I don't regret it!!! It was a lot of fun. But I miss some good friends that I made during that time. If you could just pass on my e-mail address to my friends I would appreciate it. Write to Oscar at cuba9@juno.com
Your friend,
DJ OSCAR
Sophie,
it's me DJ OSCAR again I remembered the club across from Pumps, it was Bar-H, I also DJ'd at Fantasie's and My Fair Lady, it all comes back to me reading your website. it was Breathless I believe, Spanish guy, brown hair, combed back. But with the first original owners from Breathless, so it is a old issue.
Thanks,
D. J. Oscar
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There was recently a story run on television about clubs in the Northeast area that featured hermaphrodites, although they didn't say which ones. I was just wondering if you know of any in that area.
thanks
Dan
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Dear Sophie,
I know you have probably heard and seen a lot of dancers in you decade of informing and entertaining the adult industry.
I was just a house dancer in New Jersey wanting to be a feature. You selected my picture for your cover titled "Alex at the Doll House 111. " It gave my career and dreams exactly what I needed.
The time was upon us where clubs were allowing girls to work for tips. I seen the future and didn't like it so I took my "Cover of Mentertainment Magazine" title and ran with it.
I've been featuring for six years taking a little time off here and there but I've never forgot when you put my picture on the cover.
I'll be at Frank's Chicken House the week Of Jan 26. If you're in the neighborhood stop in. . . I would like to thank you in person. My latest thing is that I have been selected as "High Society's Homecumming Queen of the Year 1999. " It's gonna be a great year but I'll never forget my first one because of you, Sophie!
Love ya,
Alexxx Love
p. s. I would have advertised in your paper but the booking came too fast!
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Dear Alex,
I had been wondering, looking at all your pictures, why on earth this girl would say she was on the cover of Mentertainment. I didn't recognize you. Now that you are saying which club I knew you from, I looked up your old pictures, none of them taken by me, and I said, oh, here she is. If I remember right, you also came to our contest in Connecticut, at Stage Door Johnny's. Right? And now I remember you wanted to be a feature. I am so glad you wrote. And I am so thankful that you appreciate me as someone who contributed to your dream. Thank you. You've made a difference.
With regards to coming to see you: I can't. I don't have a car, I have fallen on some hard times, my health was ailing for over a year. And even though I am recovering, financially it is taking longer than physically. But let's hope this is not your last appearance in New Jersey, and I'll see you next time, I promise.
Send me some newer pictures, if you would. I don't think even Eleanor has any, and she is not advertising with me, for whatever reason. I'd like to include a good picture of yours with this letter in the Readers Write section: I am very proud of that letter of yours. Thank you.
I wish you well. I hope you are saving some money for rainy days.
Love,
Sophie
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Hi, just saw your page today and it was unreal. I am from Jersey, and my friends and I always go to S&B (Stars and Bars) and the double D (Delilah's Den, I think you call it Delilah's Gold) anyway. . . I am now in North Carolina and I would love to know about some massage parlors, like the ones in Jersey, that are down here. I just don't know who to talk to I guess. Thanks.
Patrick
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Hiya Sophie,
I've been reading your mag for quite a while. . . . I've got a lot of friends who work at Smiles II in Ledgewood. . . both girls, and guys in the management. . . . I don't suppose you could let me know next time you're having one of your get togethers at any of the bars somewhat local to Smiles could I? Reason being. . . I'd like to shake the hand of the woman who's got enough gumption to do what you're doing, and still make a success of it. . . Even after taking a small break from it. . . . Who knows. . . . I hope I hear from you.
Wade Aka Deucz. . .
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Hi, Sophie,
I'm a bi-sexual female from New Jersey. Please, I hope you don't think I'm freaky or anything, but I'm just beginning to explore my sexuality and I love to watch beautiful naked women. I believe the female body is beautiful and I admire it, just like men. I was wondering if there were any clubs in the area where women can participate and enjoy. Are there any that cater to women? I hope you don't think I'm crazy. I'd appreciate your help. Please get back to me. Happy New Year!
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Sophie,
I am a computer network consultant from northern NJ and just wanted tell you that I am (& have been) very impressed with your website. Many sites are very sloppily made today with a lack of understanding that the things that keep people coming back are convenience, speed & ease of use. Everything from your design layout to optimization of file and picture resolutions to your bandwidth matching creates a very rewarding Internet experience. Very nice job to you and your team!
I'd also like to tell you that on a non-technical note, I've been a reader of yours for quite a while now and just read your column in the Jan. issue. I'm sorry to hear about what happened at the end of last year but VERY happy that you're OK and doing better. Amongst the adult industry your words and efforts are a shining example of hard work and dedication that many seem to have forgotten how to write or never took the effort to achieve.
I will continue reading, listening and wishing you the best in 1999!
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Wow, Jim, thank you. Rewards have been missing for me, (though they say work well done is its own reward, ) and your words are really filling the gap. It is a wake-up call to see that I am not going through what I think I have to endure alone; because of my communication people are going through it with me. . . I will never have another excuse to complain that I am alone again. Thank you. I think all I need to do is pay attention that there are eyes on me, and there are people who care whether I live or I die, succeed or fail. Very rewarding and inspiring really.
With regards to the website: this (yours) is the best review I have received to date, and (I say) it is very perceptive indeed. The only point we differ: there is no team. I did it all myself (at least the last 28 months) all of it, even scanning the pictures. I am proud of it, and. . . an I wish I had a team.
Thanks for reading, listening, and the same to you for 1999. Have the best year, you can.
Take care,
Sophie
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Sophie,
You're one person with the resolve & talent of a team!
Regards.
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Dear Readers,
For those of you that wonder: Mentertainment's website is 3,500 pages large, and has the last 2 year's worth of magazines posted, plus thousands of pictures from clubs, studios, adult stars. 10,000 people a day think it is worth visiting. I get an average 200 pieces of email a day, mostly praising me and/or the site. I publish the letters that I think you would like to read. I hope that I have been judging what YOU would find interesting or helpful. For your information: I personally answer every piece of email I receive. (Mostly my answer is: I don't know... if that is the case.) It's a lot of work, but that's my hallmark: Personal attention to "detail."
If you'd like to write to me, email me at sophie@mentertainment.com or send me "snail-mail" (meaning traditional mail) to Mentertainment, 1465 Rt 23 PMB 109, Wayne, NJ 07470
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