Editing Texas Guinan (section)

==Queen of the night clubs==
The 1920 [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] put [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] into effect, making sales or transport of alcoholic beverages illegal. While it ruined legitimate businesses, people continued drinking alcohol. Those who transported and sold it were known as "[[Rum-running|bootleggers]]". Thus began the establishment of the [[speakeasy]] private clubs, a cultural phenomenon in which Guinan excelled. Her introduction into the business was when speakeasy partners Emil Gervasini and John Levi of the Beaux Arts club hired Guinan in 1923 as a singer, for which she was paid $50,000.<ref name=Dorman>{{cite news|last=Dorman|first=Marjorie|title=Texas Guinan Tells How She Makes $100,000 A Year, Never Takes A Drink, And Says Folks Don't Go To Night Clubs To Imbibe Booze|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59870697/?terms=texas+guinan+never+drinks|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date=December 18, 1927|page=27}}</ref>{{sfn|Hoefling|2010|pp=70–71}}

{{quote box|
|quote = I never take a drink and I never sell a drink. I am paid to put on an act and I put on an act. I once gave [U.S. Attorney General] [[Emory Buckner|Buckner]] a certified check for $100,000 to give anyone who has ever seen me take a drink or sell a drink. That check is still good, so's my offer.
|source = Texas Guinan, December 1927<ref name=Dorman/>
|width = 25%
|align = right
}}

Guinan's give-and-take dialogue with the customers inspired producer [[Nils Granlund]] to put together a full floor show with Guinan presiding as emcee for [[Ziegfeld Follies]] chorus girls. Bootleg huckster [[Larry Fay]] struck a deal with them to feature the show at his El Fey Club on West 47th Street in Manhattan. There, she became known for her catchphrase, "Hello, Sucker! Come on in and leave your wallet on the bar." In return for being the draw to attract wealthy and powerful clientele, Guinan received 50% of the profits. While working as dancers at the club,[[Ruby Keeler]], [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[George Raft]] were discovered by talent scouts.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Corcoran|first1=Michael|title=Texas Guinan|date=May 1988|page=112|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7SkEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Texas+Guinan%22&pg=PA112|publisher=Emmis Communications|journal=Texas Monthly}}</ref>{{sfn|Sizer|2008|p=95}}{{sfn|Hoefling|2010|pp=72–74}} 

Guinan and Fay were frequently shut down by the police, yet reopened soon after in new locations with new fixtures, and new names. Later, she opened the Texas Guinan Club at 117 West 48th Street, also closed by the police. She and Fay later opened the Del-Fey Club in Miami the same year. By her own account, they once took in $700,000 in less than a year.<ref name=Dorman/><ref>{{cite news|title=Texas Guinan Again Clashes With Law Over Rum Selling|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/150102297/?terms=Texas+Guinan+Club|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=The Pittsburgh Press |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date=June 10, 1925|page=12}};{{cite news|title=Texas Guinan, Laughing At Padlocks, "Arrives"|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/302549557/?terms=Texas+Guinan|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=The Miami News |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date=November 25, 1925|page=21, col. 5}}</ref> 
 
When Guinan returned to New York in January 1926, as hostess of the 300 Club at 151 W. [[54th Street (Manhattan)|54th Street]], the opening night's event was the marriage ceremony for actress [[Wilda Bennett]] and Argentine dancer Abraham "Peppy" de Albrew. Other celebrities who visited her club were [[Al Jolson]], Scottish operatic soprano [[Mary Garden]], [[Jack Dempsey]], American operatic soprano [[Geraldine Farrar]], and [[Edward VIII|the Prince of Wales]].<ref name=Dorman/><ref>{{cite news|title=Wilda Bennett Weds Her Dancing Partner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/144142061/?terms=Texas+Guinan%27s+300+club|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=Asbury Park Press |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date= January 20, 1926|page=1}}</ref>

In July 1926, the 300 Club was raided by the police, who seized bottles of liquor and arrested two people for "violation of the section of the penal code forbidding suggestive dances".<ref>{{cite news|title=Police, Dry Agent Raid Night Club Of Texas Guinan|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/247717335/?terms=Texas+Guinan|access-date=April 3, 2018|date=July 3, 1926|work=Palladium-Item |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|page=11}}</ref> The last week of June 1928, Assistant U.S. Attorney General [[Mabel Walker Willebrandt]] ordered a raid of speakeasy clubs in New York. Guinan, [[Helen Morgan (singer)|Helen Morgan]] (hostess of Chez Helen Morgan), Nils Granlund, and 104 others were arrested, and indicted by a federal grand jury. Guinan, Morgan and Granlund faced two years in prison, with a $10,000 maximum fine, if convicted. The others indicted were employees and patrons, who faced lesser penalties. At her April 1929 trial, Guinan was acquitted.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Love|first1=Sam|title=Broadways Favorites - Texas Guinan Must Face Charge - 107 Of Them Indicted|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/397960513|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=The Atlanta Constitution |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date=July 31, 1928|page=1, col. 2}}; {{cite news|last1=Saunders|first1=Hortense|title=Crape For Broadway Nightclubs?|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/375645859/?terms=Mabel+Walker+Willebrandt+Guinan|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=Messenger-Inquirer |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date=August 12, 1928|page=18}}; {{cite news|title=Prohibition Rounders And Texas Guinan|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354928512/?terms=Texas+Guinan|access-date=April 3, 2018|work=Chicago Tribune |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|date=April 13, 1929|page=12}}</ref>