Dance Halls and the Guédrys - An Update

by Marty Guidry

In the Fall of 2012 Issue of Generations (Volume 10 No. 3) we wrote about "Dance Halls, Hostelries and the Guédrys". Since that article, we have learned about several other dancehalls owned and/or operated by the Guédry family. Because dancehalls and dancing play such a prominent role in the Acadian culture and because of the significance of dancing in keeping the Acadian culture alive, this article will update the earlier article. Speaking the Acadian language, playing Acadian music, cooking the unique Acadian dishes and mastering the Acadian crafts usually require years to achieve; however, any Acadian can learn to dance the two-step or waltz with a few quick lessons and thus help preserve a vital aspect of our culture.

The Acadians have long been known as thrifty, hard-working people - whether in their agricultural, forestry, fishing, business, educational or other pursuits. They also have a reputation for playing with equal enthusiasm - fully enjoying their leisure time. In South Louisiana during the late 1800s and early 1900s Acadians typically worked from sunup to dusk Monday through Friday in farming, fishing, trapping or moss-gathering - often rising long before the sun to warm the house and prepare breakfast and going to sleep shortly after sundown. Saturdays began similar to other days, but work ended a bit earlier so folks could meet friends and enjoy life a bit - the joie de vivre of Acadian culture.

Almost invariably for the young Acadian men this meant saddling the horse or hitching it to the buggy to pick up your girlfriend and then traveling an hour or longer to the nearest home dance or dancehall. The older folks piled all the young ‘uns in a buggy or wagon and headed for the same destination. Here young Acadian ladies filled their dance cards while their beaus enjoyed a not-so-soft drink outside. While waiting for the dance to begin, mothers rocked the babies and encouraged the toddlers to lie down and fall asleep (to “faire dormir” or “go to sleep”, later shortened to “fais-do-do”) on blankets in the back corner of the dancehall while young boys and girls played on the fringes of the dance floor and outside. When the music started, couples young and old danced the night away to Cajun two-steps and waltzes - often into the early morning hours while children slept to the music.

Knowing a profitable business, Guédry's owned many of the dancehalls visited on Saturday evenings. Described below are several of the dancehalls owned by our family - principally in South Louisiana.

* Oneziphore Guidry's Blue Goose Club (Rayne, LA)
In the early 1900s Oneziphore Guidry opened the Blue Goose as a fais-do-do dancehall in Rayne, Louisiana. Often folks simply referred to it as the Fais-do-do. Located near the Opelousas, Gulf and Northwest Railroad, it stood at the corner of East Harrop and North Arenas Streets. Interestingly, the Blue Goose dancefloor was circular rather than the traditional rectangular common in Cajun dancehalls.

Joseph Falcon, a noted Cajun accordionist and the first person to record a Cajun song (“Allons à Lafayette”), began his career as a professional musician at the Blue Goose. One evening he decided to take his accordion with him to the fais-do-do at the Blue Goose. When the scheduled band didn't show, Oneziphore Guidry asked Joe to play. At first he resisted, because he only played for fun and was unsure of himself. With much coaxing from Mr. Guidry, Joe did play and the crowd loved him. At midnight he received four dollars for his night's work. In April 1928 a local jeweler George Burr in Rayne persuaded Columbia Records to record Joe Falcon and Joe's wife Cléoma Breaux. On April 27, 1928 in New Orleans they recorded “Allons à Lafayette” which caused a sensation when it was released. Thousands of copies were sold and Joe and his wife Cléoma became the first Cajun recording stars.

* La Salle de Tee-Gar Guidry (Tee-Gar Guidry's Club) (Mermentau Cove, LA)
Tee-Gar Guidry opened his dancehall in Mermentau Cove, Louisiana before 1920. The legendary Cajun accordionist Nathan Abshire played his first performance there in 1921 at the age of eight. After launching his professional career at Tee-Gar Guidry's dancehall, Nathan became the most recorded Cajun accordion player.

*Guidry's Friendly Lounge (Guidry's Club) (Lewisburg, LA)
Guidry's Friendly Lounge on Tony Street in Lewisburg entertained a varied crowd with authentic Cajun music. As the fiddle and Abbeville squeeze box (a.k.a. accordion) hummed from the bandstand, oldtimers and young folks alike crowded the old wooden dance floor to two-step the night away. The pool tables, foosball game and, of course, bar in the front were always occupied. Located nine miles south of Opelousas in the tiny hamlet of Lewisburg, Guidry's was worth the short drive from Lafayette to enjoy an old-time Cajun dancehall. The simple plank wood construction and the low ceilings at Guidry's typified Cajun dancehalls.

* Guidry's Place (Henderson, LA)
With the building of the levees around the Atchafalaya Swamp shortly after the massive 1927 flood in south Louisiana, Henry Guidry, a bridge tender at the small community Atchafalaya, moved his family in 1930 the short distance to Lenora. One of the earliest settlers of Lenora, Henry immediately built a grocery store, restaurant and dancehall. After Henry opened these businesses in Lenora, other folks moved to the area and the town began to grow. In 1934 using mules Henry Guidry hauled his businesses about a mile southwest and reopened. Folks began to settle around Guidry's businesses and the small community of Henderson came into existence. Today Henry Guidry is known as the founder of Henderson, Louisiana.

Left: Guidry's Friendly Lounge (Guidry's Club) Center & Right: Guidry's Place, Guidry's Place-Flooded

Henry was quite a cook and is best known for making crawfish the premier seafood it is today. Diners drove on dirt roads for miles to eat crawfish at Guidry's Place in Henderson. Within the same building was Henry Guidry's dancehall of the same name. Diners could enjoy the Cajun music while dancers from throughout the area glided across the cornmeal-strewn floor to the two-steps and waltzes of the Cajun bands that played long into the night. As a young woman, Helen Boudreaux, award-winning Cajun singer and songwriter, remembers sitting on the balcony at Guidry's Place and watching her two brothers woo the girls with their outstanding dancing. At Henry Guidry's death in 1954, the family sold the restaurant and dancehall to Pat Huval and it became the world famous Pat's of Henderson Seafood Restaurant.

* Henri Guidry's (Henderson, LA)
Located in Henderson, Louisiana, Henri Guidry's featured Cajun music. Henri Guidry's may be another name for Guidry's Place as the owner of Guidry's Place was Henry Guidry.

* Rendezvous Club (Henderson, LA)
Henry Guidry's brother Edwin “Mulate” Guidry owned the Rendezvous Club from its opening in 1937 until 1953 when he moved it to Breaux Bridge and renamed it Mulate's. The Rendezvous Club, a saloontype dancehall, was on the Henderson Highway and drew large crowds in the 1940s and early 1950s. Here one could hear Cajun music played by some of the finest bands in the area and watch dancers waltz across the wooden dance floor.

* Mulate's (Breaux Bridge, LA)
In 1953 Mulate Guidry moved his Rendezvous Club from Henderson to nearby Breaux Bridge and renamed it Mulate's. Mulate's was both a restaurant and dancehall located at 325 West Mills Avenue (LA Highway 94) in Breaux Bridge. In 1980 Kerry Boutte purchased Mulate's and expanded it. In 2011 it was purchased by the long-time manager Jimmy LaGrange and renamed Pont Breaux's, but it's still the same fine Cajun restaurant and dancehall with some of the best Cajun bands playing there. I remember hearing Oran “Doc” Guidry, the premier Cajun fiddler, playing there in the 1980s.

* C. A. Guidry's Bar, Café and Dancehall (Arnaudville, LA)
In the early 1900s Charley Guidry opened his bar, café and dancehall in a large building on the edge of Bayou Teche in Arnaudville, Louisiana - on the northwest side of the old bridge across the bayou. Local folks often called this business Charley's Bar and Dancehall. The large dancehall was attached to the back of the bar so patrons could hear Cajun music whether they were eating, drinking or dancing. On Charley's retirement in the mid-1900s, his son William “Bill” Guidry continued operating the bar, café and dancehall until 1960 when ill health forced him to close. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in 1964. To- day Guidry's Fresh Cuts - a wholesale produce business owned by Charley's grandson Kevin - occupies the site.

Visitors to Arnaudville during the 1940s and 1950s fondly recall Charley Guidry and Jake. Charley Guidry loved people and always had a story to tell - holding the ear of folks at his bar and dancehall as he related this happening and that. During the early depression whiskey was outlawed. To support his family, Charley would motor to Mississippi where he would purchase cheap moonshine and then head to Port Arthur, Texas where he would sell it at a premium. Of course, the “revenue agents” were out to catch anyone illegally transporting whiskey, so Charley would dress as a priest during his frequent “runs”. Fortunately, he was never stopped during these journeys. On one of his many trips to Texas, the buyer of Charley's moonshine did not have any money. Charley demanded payment or “else”. The man said the depression had hit hard and all he had left was his pet monkey so Charley took the monkey “Jake” for payment. And that is how Jake wound up in Arnaudville. Charley and Jake went everywhere together. Jake could play a small hand-crank organ and loved to drink beer and get drunk.

People would visit Charley's bar and dancehall to see Jake and would throw coins and peanuts at him. On one occasion a visitor wanted to tease Jake so he rolled up a dollar bill and threw it to Jake - thinking Jake would throw back the piece of paper. But instead Jake swallowed the dollar much to the chagrin of the visitor. He was so upset that he exclaimed “What a stupid monkey”. I am sure Jake thought someone else was really stupid for throwing him a dollar. Jake would put the coins tossed to him into a bucket and these paid a lot of Charley Guidry's bills. Of course, Charley always kept small bags of peanuts for sale so folks could feed Jake.

Another visitor started teasing Jake with a peanut. Jake finally had had enough and reached through the bars grabbing the young man's corduroy cap. Jake then proceeded to do his “business” in the cap and then sat on the cap. Of course, everyone, but the young man, laughed till the tears flowed.

Thanks to Rose Guidry Knott, granddaughter of Charley, and her husband Floyd for sharing the history and stories of C. A. Guidry's Bar, Café and Dancehall.

* Guidry's Club (Arnaudville, LA)
Little is known about Guidry's Club in Arnaudville. This may have been C. A. Guidry's Bar, Café and Dancehall.

* Cyrille Trasimond Guidry's Dancehall (Abbeville, LA)
In September 1894 Cyrille Trasimond Guidry opened a grocery, bar and dancehall at the northwest corner of W. Lafayette Street and S. State Street in Abbeville, LA. It closed with his death in December 1902. The building is still standing at the original location, but is no longer a dancehall.

* Felix Guidry's Dancehall (Leroy, LA)
Felix Guidry was a farmer, a musician playing clarinet and a dancehall owner. He owned Felix Guidry's Dancehall in Leroy, LA - just southwest of Maurice, LA.

* Kaiser's Place (Breaux Bridge, LA)
Owned by Leland Guidry, Kaiser's always has Cajun bands including Johnnie Sonnier and Cajun Heritage, Danny Brasseaux & Cajun Express, Howard Noel and Cajun Boogie, Jimmy Thibodeaux with the Gumbo Cajun Band, Walter Mouton and the Scott Playboys, Sheryl Cormier and Cajun Sounds and the legend- ary Rufus Thibodeau. Kaiser's is located on Louisiana Highway 94 approximately ½ mile west of Mulate's in Breaux Bridge. Folks still enjoy two-stepping at Kaiser's to the sounds of some of the best Cajun bands of South Louisiana.

* Tokio Fun Pavilion (Raceland, LA)
Opened in 1919 by Mr. Guidry, a retired chemist, the Tokio Fun Pavilion included a dancehall, an inn and a theater. There was a fence around the dance floor. Next door was the Tokio Restaurant. Frequented mostly by young folks, the dance floor became a skating rink during Lent. In the old days they had gentny dances in which the men paid. Tokio's was at its height during the 1930s. Fats Domino played there. The Tokio Fun Pavilion was located on Louisiana Highway 1 across from the Raceland Bridge. Mr. Guidry eventually sold the dancehall to a Mr. Hillman Andrew Labat, who renamed it the OST. The OST was torn down in 2003.

* Webster's Bar (Cecilia, LA)
Webster and Mildred Guidry Calais opened Webster's Bar in 1947 at 2685 Grand Pointe Highway in Cecilia, LA. Webster's was a Cajun dancehall although at times hillbilly and Swamp Pop music flowed through the hall. Known for having the longest bar in Louisiana, Webster's was of frame con- struction with a side-gabled, metal roof and a wooden dance floor. Some of the more popular bands playing at Webster's were Jimmie C. Newman, Vin Bruce, Al Terry, Fats Domino, Rod Bernard, Johnny Allan, T. K. Hulin, Cookie and the Cupcakes and Bobby Charles (Robert Charles Guidry). Webster's had a jukebox for folks to enjoy before the dance began and sold hamburgers and beer with Blatz and Goebel being the favorites. You could also buy setups which included ice, liquor and mixes. Other entertainment included the nickel and quarter slot machines, a card game or two including bouree and, of course, the occasional fight. Webster's closed in 1969 and converted to Webster's Meat Market.

To view an interesting, entertaining video of south Louisiana dancehalls of a bygone era:

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Also, the Welcome to Louisiana Dancehalls Facebook Page has superb photos, several videos and brief articles about many south Louisiana dancehalls.

http://louisianadancehalls.com

If you know of other dancehalls owned by the Guédry and Petitpas families, please send the names and locations to Marty Guidry at guidryrmartin@gmail.com .

Webster's Grill and a current view inside, now Webster's Meat Market.