So, the decision was made to open the Chicago Eagle in one area of the complex as Bistro Too was closed, he said. So, it’s hard to keep the numbers up,” Ehemann said. If we didn’t get 300 people, it looked empty. But after six years, the business started to slip. “All the disco divas,” including Thelma Houston and Pamala Stanley, performed as well, Ehemann added. This dance club, named for the famed Dugan’s Bistro of the 1970s, drew upward of a thousand people on weekend nights to watch such stars as Boy George, the Village People and Divine, in what would be his last performance. Renslow and Ehemann responded to the changing business climate by converting some of the space into Bistro Too in 1987. Business overall was down 50 percent from the pre-AIDS era, according to the report. A 1986 Chicago Tribune story, “AIDS turns gays from bathhouses,” noted attendance at Man’s Country averaged 600 people whereas two years before more than 2,000 men would arrive on a Saturday night. Man’s Country, like bathhouses across the country, was hit hard. Then came the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s. “From being classified as being mentally ill to being on the leading edge of the sexual liberation movement - that moment in history that was captured by Man’s Country was pivotal in our self-esteem, our belief that we deserved equality, and our quest to get them - our rights,” Keehnen wrote. When Man’s Country opened in 1973, the times were rapidly changing for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning community in Chicago and nationwide. She basically just sat down and talked to them because you can only do so much fan dancing.” I have to say they loved her, they really loved her. ‘Boys, I’m going to tell you the story.’ And tell them the story of her career, and fan dancing, and why that was considered really, really risque and the trouble she got into. “She didn’t have that much, but what she did was sit down on the floor with all the guys gathered around. “Actually, Chuck always said (it) was the best show,” Ehemann said. Sally Rand, the famed fan dancer, performed in her own fashion. You also never knew who you might run into.Ĭelebrities such as ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev, actor Paul Lynde and puppeteer Wayland Flowers, who draped his puppet, Madame, in her own little bathhouse towel, were among the visitors, according to a 2016 Windy City Times report by Owen Keehnen.
Four hundred men in a tub,” Vilanch quipped, describing the bathhouse as “the most exotic nightspot for blocks and blocks - if not years and years - Man’s Country boasts hot and cold running showers and patrons, bedrooms, lockers, a sauna, a glass-walled steam room, a mirrored shower that looks like something that got loose from a Stanley Kubrick set, a Jacuzzi, a multicolored parrot that views the proceedings with serene disinterest, and a gigantic disco-music hall with much of the ambiance of the Oriental Theater lobby, which it distinctly resembles on a muggy night.”Īn undated Man’s Country poster by Etienne of a leopard seated next to a handsome hunk in a jock strap described the place as “a total entertainment complex featuring three floors of activities.” Man’s Country offered a disco music hall, live DJ, dance videos, weight room, boutique, snack bar, live entertainment, the Midwest’s large steam room, doubles and fantasy rooms - and free parking. I couldn’t help comparing all this to the scene described in a 1975 Chicago Tribune article about the “hottest spa in town,” written by Bruce Vilanch, who went on to fame as a comedy writer and actor. Ehemann was founder Chuck Renslow's business and life partner. Ron Ehemann, owner of Man's Country, talks about the club's history on Dec.