The Anxious Asp

The Anxious Asp
Entrance to the Anxious Asp (ca. 1965)
Restaurant information
Previous owner(s)	Arlene Arbuckle
Street address	528 Green Street, San Francisco, California
Country	United States
Coordinates	37.799812°N 122.407947°W / 37.799812; -122.407947

The Anxious Asp was a lesbian and bohemian bar in operation from 1958 to 1967 at 528 Green Street in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California, U.S..[1]

History

It began in 1955 as a cabaret with the same name, and was purchased in 1958 by Arlene Arbuckle.[2] Arbuckle also owned the Paper Doll Club, and The Capri.[3] Arbuckle had pivoted The Anxious Asp to a more mixed queer and bohemian crowd (many of which were related to the Beat movement), and they shared staff and clientele with "The Place" and Vesuvio Cafe.[2][4] The restrooms were wallpapered with pages from the Kinsey Reports, two controversial human sexual behavior books.[2][4] Notable clients to the former bar included Janis Joplin,[5] and Lew Ellingham.[4]

In total, a collection of San Francisco LGBT venues opened and flourished in the late-1950s, including Tommy's Place/12 Adler Place, Ann's 440, Miss Smith's Tea Room, the Tin Angel, the Copper Lantern, the Front, and Our Club.[6]

Joseph "Bunny" Simon, a Louisiana Creole, was not welcome at the original bar in the 1960s due to race; however, in 1976 Simon opened a new club with the same name, the Anxious Asp on Haight Street.[7][8]

See also

• List of lesbian bars

References

1. "Before the Castro: North Beach, a Gay Mecca - FoundSF". foundsf.org. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
2. Duncan, Stephen R. (2018-11-01). The Rebel Café: Sex, Race, and Politics in Cold War America's Nightclub Underground. JHU Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-4214-2634-1.
3. Ellingham, Lewis; Killian, Kevin (1998-07-29). Poet Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance. Wesleyan University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-8195-5308-9.
4. Flanagan, Michael (July 25, 2018). "Beats, Bohemians and Bars: Jack Spicer, Allen Ginsberg and their circle's San Francisco haunts". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
5. "O Janis". Texas Monthly. Emmis Communications. October 1992. p. 183.
6. Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2003). Wide-Open Town: A History of Queer San Francisco to 1965. Univ of California Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-520-24474-0.
7. Gold, Herbert (1984-07-08). "Can Our Politicos Handle Trendytown? Sister Boom Boom's village of San Francisco will give this convention an est-coast setting". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
8. Chakraborty, Sudeepto (July 1, 2020). "Changemakers: Joseph 'Bunny' Simon". USF. University of San Francisco. Retrieved 2023-06-07.