Wellington cafe culture 1920-2000 - NZHistory.net.nz

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Carmen Carmen, the founder of Carmen's International Coffee Lounge, was another flamboyant personality. A transsexual with a colourful past, her reasons for establishing her coffee lounge differed from the more benevolent social aims of either Harry Seresin or Mary Seddon. Returning to Wellington from Sydney in 1967, and approaching middle age, Carmen decided she needed her 'own stage' on which to star. She took the right of first refusal on a clothing factory with a four-bedroom flat on the upper floor. It was, ironically, located at 86 Vivian Street, next door to the Salvation Army. In many ways Carmen's was like other coffee bars of the era. The opening hours were long, initially from 8 am to 3 am, and later from 6 pm to 3 am. The menu was straightforward but adequate—coffee, tea, soft drinks and a great variety of toasted sandwiches, cakes, pastries and scones. The difference was in the décor, the staff and the availability of sex. Carmen refers to her waitresses as hostesses: 'that is what they were, and with the exception of the lesbians, all my girls were boys or had been boys at some time. They had to be beautiful. That was the mark of my establishment.' While she gathered around her people of all sexual persuasions, it was never a rule that her entertainers and coffee shop workers had to be prostitutes. Staff were encouraged to sit and talk with the customers to make them feel relaxed and comfortable. A ritual known as 'the cups' was devised whereby a customer could signal his sexual preference without needing to engage in a potentially embarrassing conversation. Regular customers were also able to liven up their coffee by purchasing a nip of brandy. The café phenomenon in New Zealand in the 1950s helped open up more choices for New Zealanders and led to the relaxation of licensing laws and an increase in numbers and types of restaurants. Wellington forged a distinctive café culture in the 1950s and 1960s partly because of the prominent personalities behind the cafés. Harry Seresin, Mary Seddon and Carmen were all individuals of passion and vision who created alternative forms of entertainment and diversion in an otherwise conformist society. Further information - Wellington cafe culture Links • 'Café magazine', http://www.blackapollo.demon.co.uk/ • Dalley, Bronwyn, 'No Pavlova Please: Images of Food and Drink in Twentieth-Century New Zealand', • Fumagalli, Ambrogio, Coffeemakers, (précis), http://www.cs.su.oz.au/%7Ebob/Coffee/timeline.html • Hamilton Beach products, http://www.hambeach.com/ [milkshake makers] • Rubin Chris, 'Vienna's Cafés' • Wellington (Te Ara) Publications Newspaper and magazine articles Aldridge, Val, 'Harry Loved Theatre and Cafés', Dominion, 13 October 1994, p. 9. [Harry Seresin] Coughlan, Kate, 'Café Queen', Evening Post, 3 January 1998, p. 9. [Suzy van der Kwast] Du Fresne, Karl, 'Glory Days at the Monde Marie', Evening Post, 13 July 2000, p. 5. Du Fresne, Karl, 'Walking Back to Happiness', Evening Post, 2 October 1993, pp. 13,16. [former Wellington coffee bars] Jones, Frances, 'Coffee Time', Evening Post, 24 December 1993, p. 10. [history of coffee, and of Wellington cafés]
Kitchin, Peter, 'Emigré Helped Transform Capital', Evening Post, 13 October 1994, p. 7. [Harry Seresin] Longmore, Mary, 'Café Pioneers', Evening Post, 1 July 1997, p. 25. [espresso] Lowe, Sarah, 'Log on with a Latte', Southern Skies, June 1996, pp. 29-30, 33. O'Shea, John, 'Restaurant Pioneer Dies', City Voice, 13 October 1994, p. 4. [Harry Seresin] Saker, John, 'The Flight of the Parrot: The Story of a Wellington Landmark', Wellington City Magazine, August 1985, pp.19-22. [The Green Parrot] Sanders, Linda, 'Business Built on a Good Cup of Coffee', Evening Post, 6 June 1992, p. 15. [Otto Tiefenbacher, Casa Fontana] Stuart, Michael, 'Making of the Monde Marie', Evening Post, 28 August 1996, p. 23. 'Found: A New Pleasure', New Zealand Listener, 12 July 1957, p. 8. 'Jazz at the Coffee Club', New Zealand Listener, 28 March 1958, pp. 6-7. 'Kiwi Coffee Culture Better Latte Than Never', Hospitality, Vol. 33, no.7, July 1997, pp. 12-16. 'Milk Shake Not Milk', The Evening Post, 10 July 1937. Film Carmen, produced and directed by Geoff Stevens for VIDCOM, 1989. Oral histories Cappuccino Oral History Project, Oral History Centre, Alexander Turnbull Library of New Zealand: Boswijk, Eelco, interviewed by Dinah Priestley, Nelson, 12 and 13 December 1993, OHC 7316. Jones, Sir Robert, 'The Rise and Fall of New Zealand's Coffee Bars in the 1950s and 60s', interviewed by Dinah Priestley, 18 November, 1993, OHC 4729. Seddon, Mary, interviewed by Dinah Priestley, 24 September 1991, OHC 7320. Seresin, Harry, interviewed by Dinah Priestley, Wellington, 27 November 1992, OHC 4878-4881. Van der Kwast, Suzy, interviewed by Dinah Priestley, Wellington, 20 July 1993, OHC 7319. Unpublished papers Gore, Ross, Kirkcaldie & Stains Ltd - A History, Wellington 1964. (unpublished typescript) Arthur Singleton papers, Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref. no. MS-Papers-1977. Harry Seresin Papers, Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref. no. 91-304. Wellington City Council, Index books to WCC Building Permit Registers, OC, A, B1, B2, B3, B4. Wellington City Council, Town Clerk's file 43/368 Pt 1&2. Milk Bars: Price Of Milk Advertising Scheme. Wellington City Council, City Engineer's File 8/1385. Coffee Houses. Wellington City Council, Minutes of the Advertising Sub Committee of the WCC Milk Committee, 1937.
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Wellington cafe culture 1920-2000 - NZHistory.net.nz

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