citations & references:
, it was still in operation in 1973 as the large ad is from the Golden Awards Ball January 21, 1973, booklet. Below are three ads Van Richards promoted his business. Far bottom ad is from page 4 “Official Passport The Portland Forum November 4, 1973.
In 1973 when Darcelle became Empress XV, Van, out of drag danced with Walter/Darcelle at an event. SEE ABOVE RIGHT. This was highly unusual as both seemed to not like each other. Photo by Kay Hill, published in The Fountain newspaper. BELOW In the November 1974 issue of Northwest Gay Review was an indepth article about Van “Northwest Personality”.
Drawing by Doug Figley in 1972 for a coloring book. The book was finally published in 2019. LINK HERE
Per Tim Bealer-Casias via an email on Saturday, December 28, 2019. Don Horn asked about Van Richards (Vanessa) and Glorea [LaVonne]. His response, “Yes, most of my career the first time I lived here was with Van, when I first graduated beauty college, he hired me when he was the manager at Glorea LaVonne’s. It lead to us dating which did not work out and I left the salon, but Van remained my friend and mentor for the years in between my coming back to work for him at his salon Van Richard’s and continued on though the time Sammy and Gene bought the salon from him and they became part of our family, I left from there to go back to Idaho and try to be straight. After that I moved to Spokane Washington and after living there a few years, Van moved there and was my friend though the end of his life...now this is not to say we were “close” as in constant companions, but rather, I believe though mutual respect, he taught me much over the years, and I shall never forget that I did not respect or was involved with much of his personal life and drag… I never did his hair for instance at all, even as someone that worked with him, Dennis Burkhart did that a co-worker and closer friend of mine. Van often treated me like a parent of father, looking out for me and teaching me soooooo much about the hair business…I will miss him always and never got involved in the drama between he and Darcelle, she seems to think he dictated my behavior in my relationship with her, that is NOT in my experience or memory at all…”
PHOTO below, Van in 1983.
VAN “VANESSA” RICHARDS
Back in 1975, The Gay Male Quarterly did an article on Van. It states that Van was born in Oregon [approximately around 1937] and as with many served in the military, Van served four years in the Naval Forces. In 1959, he moved to San Francisco. Then he moved to Arizona, back to California and then eventually to Portland where he attended a beauty school. He worked at Lipman’s as a hairstylist then moving to Glorea LaVonne’s Modeling School as a hairdresser, moving up to manager. Getting hired with Glorea LaVonne Modeling School he was known as Mr. Van as every male ‘attendant’ had Mr. in front of their first name. He also taught various classes to men seeking to be crossdressers in the evening at Glorea’s, as well as at her beach house. [see Gloria LaVonne]
In 1964, he opened his beauty salon in Portland it is believed, however, an ad in The Portland Forum proudly presents Keep It in – England Swings program 1972 – page 16 shows that his name is associated with others SEE BELOW.
The question to when Van or Vanessa started doing drag is one that many haven’t asked. However, per a supplement in the Northwest Gay Review, Number 5, June 1977 by W. Holman this may have been answered. On page 7, it states, “Vanessa of Regency for the retroactive Empress XIII…in September 1966, Vanessa dared to drag for the first time.”
Where Van/Vanessa and his friend David Hamilton/Mame did drag was another question. There weren’t many bars in Portland as far as anyone can tell that had drag performers. It is stated that in his off-hours, he performed in drag at various bars around Portland such as The Side Door and Dahl & Penne along with Van Richards, ‘Vanessa’, later “The Vanessa”. However, the Side Door didn’t exist until April 1972 with the ‘announcement’ of the opening placed in the April 1972 in The Fountain newspaper, April 1972 edition, page 3 and page 5. Dahl & Penne was an established bar, but didn’t become a gay hangout until 1972, when a straight married couple from California, Sammy and Gene Landauer purchased it. With knowing that, where did David and Van perform? The time frame from 1960 – 1964 is a bit hazy. Here are some possible bars that operated at that time that might have had drag performances – only two are stated per Damron Address Book/Address Guides to have ‘drags’ – Buddies Post Tavern and The Model Inn.
Also during hearing for the closure of homosexual and lesbian clientele bars, there was a debate on just how many bars there were. “The Oregon Journal claimed that Portland's gay bars were "encouraging their [queers'] …Councilor Grayson argued that there were nine gay bars in Portland, Lieutenant Crawford claimed eight, while Derek Akerson, owner of Derek's Tavern, countered that there were only two "strict" gay bars and two "strictly girl taverns." The actual number of gay bars was debatable, depending on whether mixed-customer bars were counted.
However, the contention that the number and presence of gay bars and queers in Portland had grown dramatically was shared by police, city councilors, newspapers, and citizens. "Either they're growing in number of I'm just seeing a lot more of them," reported a Portland police officer. It is possible that, prompted by Portland's recession and diminished revenue after the city's crackdown on gambling, bar operators increasingly welcomed queer customers as they struggled to find new sources of revenue.” Per Gay Bars, Vice, and Reform in Portland, 1948-1965 Beka Smith Portland State University February 2002.
Buddies Post Tavern 926 SW 4th Years: (gay from at least 1962 to 1968) Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1965 under Bars/Clubs with notations of M – mixed and RT – Raunchy Types [Hustlers, Drags, and other ‘Downtown Types’ [this is the way it was listed from 1965-1969]
Club Northwest, 217 N.W. Fourth 227-8860 Years: 1968-1972 as Club Northwest,
The Fiddler’s 3 “old” Somebody’s Place, 728 S.W. Ninth. Years: 1966 – 1969 [the 1969 date is when it is stated Roman purchased the bar and renamed it Roman’s]
Grand Oasis Tavern (also The Last Resort), 243 S.W. Alder. Years: 1940 – September 1982
[The] Model Inn, 1536 S.W. First. Years: 1964-1967 Listed in Damron Address Book/Address Guide 1965 under Bars/Clubs with a notation: RT – Raunchy Types – Hustlers, Drags, and other ‘Downtown’ Types this is the way it was listed from 1964-1967]
Park Haviland SW Broadway and SW Salmon Years: gay friendly from 1965 – 1975? possibly earlier in 1962- 1980
BELOW LEFT: Vanessa with Steve Suss in The Rafters [part of Embers] BELOW MIDDLE: Ad for FEBE Sidedoor in San Francisco with Vanessa. BELOW RIGHT: Vanessa 1973.
After the opening of the Dahl and Penne bar, they remodeled the old card room calling it the ‘Royal Flush Corral’ where David hosted a ‘Sunday Night At The Movies’ party. [Royal Flush opened in 1973, November 16-18th, Walter W Cole/Darcelle Empress XV was hosting her step down and the crowning of Empress XVI who would be Doni Lame’. A sheet was developed entitled WELCOME TO “CITY OF ROSES” with various details. Three mentions for Dahl & Penne “Friday, November 16th “The Royal Flush Room”, the notorious Back Room, at D & P has reopened as a beautiful show bar, Hosted by the equally notorious Vanessa and Cast. Tonight’s spectacular starts at 10:30 pm.” Then “Saturday, November 17th, “ Portland’s landmark bar with the new “Royal Flush Room” presents its show tonight at 11:30 pm hosted and emceed by Vanessa. As stated where Vanessa began performing Saturday night drag shows under “Vanessa & Co.”.
Several stories have been written saying the date was 1969 when David Hamilton and Van Richards who worked as female impersonators at the bar Dahl-Penne organized the Portland Forum, which provides social and cultural activities for the gay community. However, Dahl & Penne was not considered a ‘gay’ bar until Sam & Gene purchased it in 1972. And, the first of many balls started in 1965 with Road to Ruin.
It has also been stated that Van didn’t become serious about doing drag until the opening of the Embers which opened in 1969 at Southwest Park Avenue SW Park and Morrison next to the Virginia Café and across from what's now Nordstrom. Originally Van didn’t have a stage name, it wasn’t long after working on the stage at Embers that he became Vanessa. However, setting the record straight, Embers wasn’t purchased by Roman & Steve until 1971 before that it wasn’t considered a gay bar. In the Northwest Gay Review November 1974 “ “Ever since Embers opened (1971) Van (Vanessa) has been doing shows. September 1973 was the start of his regular show at D & P”. Van had to have had his stage name around 1965 when David/Mame and he formed the Portland Forum.
Per an interview with Sam and Gene in Landauer, “After we took inventory, we couldn’t believe the horrible shape it was in. We began to fix it up immediately.” And the new look brought the gay crowd in at all hours and so D & P changed with the times. With the opening of the bar by Sam and Gene, Van Richards (Vanessa) became involved. Van had never stepped foot into D &P’s as, according to Van it had a terrible reputation as far as I was concerned.” Mama Bernice called Van and told him that some new people had bought D & Penne’s and that they wanted someone to do a drag show for their opening. was a little hesitant, but how could he resist when Mama Bernice said “Do it for me, honey. Van consented and later Sammy called Van at his beauty salon and asked him if he was willing to do the show that very night. Van answered yes and said d. be down that afternoon to check out the facilities, sound equipment, etc. Van walked in, asked for Sam, and found out she wasn’t in, but was told that Gene was. So he went over to the office to talk to Gene. “My name is Van and I’m doing your drag show. Tonight,” said unreal. He didn’t know Van and couldn’t possibly comprehend how Van could do a drag show for him with a look of utter disappointment, Gene showed Van around and made the arrangements for those night shows were originally held in the front room as the room now used for the shows used to be a card room and storage area in the back. According to Sam, the card players were always here playing seven days a week until January of this year. The card player who ‘ran this room for 20 years passed away in January, so the old timers who played here just kind of drifted off.” So closed a chapter of Portland history.
However, a new chapter has opened up with the new show bar and gambling palace, one might say. A new law passed recently by the Oregon legislature, allows for gambling by non-profit organizations and D & P’s is one of only three bars licensed in the city to conduct gambling. They now hold gambling parties once a month for any organization that would like to raise some money. The house cannot take any of the profits -all proceeds go directly to the non-profit organization sponsoring the gambling party. This is just one way in which D &P’s is helping Portland’s gay community. with the help of Van Richards (Vanessa), a local hair stylist cum drag entertainer, the bar really took off, staging popular drag shows and becoming the host tavern for the Imperial Rose Court. The room in the back where the drag shows took place was affectionately referred to as the “Royal Flush Corral.” [Royal Flush opened in 1973, November 16-18th, Walter W Cole/Darcelle Empress XV was hosting her step down and the crowning of Empress XVI who would be Doni Lame’. A sheet was developed entitled WELCOME TO “CITY OF ROSES” with various details. Three mentions for Dahl & Penne “Friday, November 16th “The Royal Flush Room”, the notorious Back Room, at D & P has reopened as a beautiful show bar, Hosted by the equally notorious Vanessa and Cast. Tonight’s spectacular starts at 10:30 pm.” Then “Saturday, November 17th, “ Portland’s landmark bar with the new “Royal Flush Room” presents its show tonight at 11:30 pm hosted and emceed by Vanessa.” In the 1970s, the Oregon legislature passed a law that allowed gambling by non-profit organizations and Dahl & Penne’s became one of three bars licensed in the city to conduct gambling. The house could not take any profit; all proceeds had to go directly to the non-profit organization. Thus began D & P’s tradition of fundraising for local charities.
Sam recalls the time that/Three Dog A Night came in.
It seems that the manager of the famous rock group walked into D & P’s, went up to the bartender, who happened to be Van, and asked *What’s the hot gay spot in town tonight.” Well, it was a Monday night, and the only hot spot in Portland on
A Monday night is a stove’s top burner on a Monday night is a stove’s top burner. That the man was Ron Berry, manager of Three Dog Night, Van, after a quick moment of reflection, said “Well, I think I could pack the bar if you were going to bring them down.” The manager agreed and as he left Van noticed that he got into a big, black he left Van noticed that he got into a big, black chauffeured limousine and so he probably wasn’t pulling Van’s leg.
Van got on the phone at about 5:30, rounded up some entertainers for a special show, got tele-a-queen phone information service in operation and by 11 o’clock the place was packed save for one table up front reserved for Three Dog Night. The show started at 11:00 but there was no Three Dog Night. 11:15 – still no show, 11:30 – Three Dog Night had still not arrived. At 11:45, Van had just started a number when everybody in the place rose up to get a look at Three Dog Night as they walked in and took their places. Van finished his numbered in and took their places. Van finished his numbered He then said, “In honor of you, hit it Rick” and. Van did Three Dog Night’s big hit “Joy to the World.” Van looked at the group, who had really gotten off on it, and then said, “Now that you’ve heard Lynn Anderson’s version of ‘Joy to the World,’ everybody can sit back and relax and hear Three Dog Night’s version. The record was put on and to everyone’s surprise, Chuck Negron, their lead singer, jumped on stage and did it live along with the record. The audience went wild. It was truly a night to remember.”
It is unclear when they also started doing “Sunday Night At The Movies” at Dahl & Penne.
BELOW LEFT: Partial ad for Dahl & Penne with Shows by Vanessa & CO. BELOW RIGHT: Vanessa on stage at Dahl & Penne.
During this time, Vanessa ran for Empress of the Imperial Rose Court of Portland. See flyer BELOW LEFT. However, when Empress Telane’ stepped down in 1970, Van/Vanessa was awarded the title of Regent Dowager, Imperial Grand Czarina]. In 1971 Tracey St. James was crowned Rose Empress # 14 and upon stepping down changed Van/Vanessa’s title to Rose Empress #13. See PHOTO BELOW RIGHT.
