The latest acquisitions offerings from Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Melbourne , includes a collection of business cards for bars and nightclubs frequented by U.S. Servicemen in the Wanchai red -light district of Hong Kong during the Vietnam War .
Our eagle-eyed Shipping Reporter -obsessed with mermaids- pointed out that one dive was the naughty Mermaid Bar . The Rainbow Bar even invoked God to get you grogging on. It said that while alcohol was a great enemy of man, God had said to love your enemy.
The bookshop says that during the Vietnam War, Hong Kong – along with Sydney, Taipei, Bangkok and Manila – was one of the main destinations for American servicemen on R&R. Between 1965 and 1970 it hosted on average 200,000 U.S. military and naval personnel annually, a huge source of revenue for the British colony that also generated employment in the local service and entertainment industries for thousands of Hong Kong residents.
However, the obvious economic benefits that flowed from the R&R program were counterbalanced by the concomitant social problems of prostitution, violence and organised crime.
This collection of business cards, most printed on both sides , priced at $1000, provides a snapshot of the nightlife in the red-light district of Wanchai that was available to GI’s on leave. The main entertainment zone was centred around Lockhart Road, and all of these cards are for bars and nightclubs that were located in this notorious precinct.
Most of the cards include a promotional free-drink offer for U.S. servicemen, and they frequently advertise music and dancing (and to a lesser extent, dining). Some, however – such as “Hong Kong Play Girl Bar”, “Bunny Club”, “Hong Kong Play Boy Club”, “Crazy Horse”, or the “Mermaid Bar” – are blatant in their use of sex as the major drawcard for potential customers.
