Cafe Hale Hakala

Ville-Marie, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

This pre-tiki cafe was open from 1950 to 1963.

In the cabaret field, Montreal, during the 1950s, continued to be considered one of the most important cities in America. New York and Las Vegas came first and second; Montreal ranked third.

Many film and television stars were applauded in Montreal in the early 50s. Chez Parée was the leader. The management of this cabaret presented Dorothy Lamour, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Billy Daniels, Peggy Lee, Sophie Tucker, Nelson Eddy, all stars who earned more than $5,000 a week in fees. Others that were very popular with Montreal night owls included the Montmartre, where the "color" shows were in the spotlight, the Mocambo, the CAFE HALE HAKALA, the Domino, the Astor, the Copacabana, the Esquire, the Beaver, the Café du Palais, the Plaza, the Savoy, the Lido Inn, the Casino Français, and the Café de l'Est.

In the mid-1950s, Jean Drapeau ran for mayor and got a mandate. Drapeau claimed he wanted to “clean up” Montreal, and his administration began a fierce battle against “immorality.” Most of the establishments that made Montreal famous did not survive.

The arrival of television in the homes of Montrealers also struck cabarets. All of a sudden, people needn’t go out for entertainment; it was right there in their living room. The public’s interest for live performances decreased considerably.

Even if some cabarets were still active and fairly popular in the 1960s, the industry slowed down drastically, and disappeared completely by the 1970s. Many of the buildings that formed the “Red Light” were destroyed to build the Ville-Marie highway and the Habitations Jeanne-Mance, a complex of low-rent apartments, among other things.