Porky's, the man, the bar and ... that movie

Props used in film, Porky's, Miami 1982
State Archives of Florida

By Jane Feehan

Stories abound about the man, Donald K. Baines and his South Florida bar, Porky’s Hide Away. They can’t all be told here.

The man and his bar probably helped stoke the party image of Fort Lauderdale. The first mention found about Ohio native Baines, known as Porky to his friends, patrons, and law enforcement, was a legal notice posted in the Fort Lauderdale News, March 4,1955 to “engage in business under the name Jean and Porky’s Hide Away Restaurant.” It was no family restaurant, though Jean, or Wilma Jean, was his wife. The business was located at the 3900 block of North Federal Highway in Oakland Park, adjacent to Fort Lauderdale (now site of LA Fitness).

Three weeks later, Porky’s Hide Away (with or without the hyphen) was advertising Sunday jam sessions starting at 4 pm. A month later the ads included liquor offerings: beer at 45 cents, whiskey for 60 and cocktails at 75 cents. The 300-seat venue featured an open-air, screened-in dance floor. Endearing himself to the party crowd, Porky offered to buy the first barrel of beer for patrons arriving early. He was guided either by hope or really knew his patrons.   

By 1956 and 1957, Porky’s was frequently mentioned in Fort Lauderdale News entertainment columns. Baines lined up famous acts one after the other. The Hurricanes, an all-Black dance band from Las Vegas headlined for a few nights. Famous dance orchestra leader Johnny Long made it there as did Flip Wilson, Jackie Wilson, Freddy Bell and the Bell Boys, Don Ho and world-famous jazz drummer Gene Krupa.

It was the age of classic rock ‘n roll. From 4 pm to 4 am, Baines featured Twist contests (a popular dance then), limbo competitions and probably the area’s first bikini contests—prefiguring those at Fort Lauderdale’s beach bars like the Candy Store and others a decade or two later. In 1961 Porky opened Calypso Village behind or replaced Porky’s Hideaway.

Just as ubiquitous as advertisements for Porky’s enterprises were stories about his scrapes with the law. The first incident, though not a run in with the law, was about an after-hours robbery at the bar in 1957. Porky, with the assistance or guard of the Oakland Park Police, had moved a drawer with $1,500 cash and traveler’s checks to an upstairs apartment. He then went for coffee with friends and returned 15 minutes later to discover a break in and the $1,500 missing.  

The files on Donald Porky Baines offer much more, including:

1960 – Baines was accused in 1960 and acquitted in 1961 of forging a traveler’s check.

1965 – A patron sued Baines for having been beaten up by two others at Porky’s. The matter was settled out of court.

1965 – Baines was accused of alleged tax evasion

1966 – Porky allegedly involved in several incidents of assault

1967 – He was accused and acquitted of receiving stolen property, an adding machine and electric typewriter stolen from Fort Lauderdale City Hall.

1968 – Baines was sentenced to five years in prison for six charges of excise tax evasion. He was released on appeal and was told to sell his business by October 1 that year or lose his liquor license and to never again use the name, “Porky’s.”  He opened another club, the Palace.

1968 - While out on appeal for tax evasion charges, Baines, 42, was found behind Porky’s with an apparent self-inflicted gun shot to the head in June. He recovered.

1968 – Baines was also accused of allegedly showing pornographic movies and allegedly employing a convicted felon (liquor license provision).

Donald Baines, who kept a “pet” lion in a cage behind Porky’s and drove a pink car, closed Porky’s in 1967. He opened again under the name “The Palace” to the chagrin of Kings Park Condominium, next door, who registered multiple complaints about noise from Porky’s.  

Porky Baines had beaten all raps through legal technicalities and loopholes. But his luck ran out in 1972 when he was convicted of robbery conspiracy on a home in Coconut Isle on the Las Olas Isles.  

His appeal was denied and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Porky’s home at the 5700 block of 19^th Avenue (Fort Lauderdale?) was seized by the government for a tax bill. 

While working as handyman for his attorney, Arthur B. Parkhurst, Baines committed suicide in a truck after leaving a note reading: “I can’t make it anymore.”  He was about 47. Quite a fall from the big-name acts, pet lion and pink car. Some said it was a stormy life. It was one with a big impact on Fort Lauderdale’s party reputation.

About the movie, Porky’s

The 1982 film, Porky's, was written and directed by Bob Clark and loosely based on Porky or his bar. Clark’s inspiration was reportedly his high school antics at Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport, Florida and at Fort Lauderdale High School. It was filmed in Miami at Miami Senior High and at Greynolds Park.

Porky’s, marketed as a “lowbrow coming of age story,” was the fifth highest grossing film that year. Perhaps the huge success of Animal House, similar in genre and released in 1978, set high expectations. Reviews were more positive after its release than they are today.  However, film critics Siskel and Ebert ranked it as one of the worst movies that year. Sequels Porky’s II and Revenge of Porky were not as successful.      

 Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, March 4, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, March 19, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, April 22, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 24, 1956

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 6, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1959

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 5, 1960

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 14, 1961

Fort Lauderdale News, March 2, 1961

Fort Lauderdale News, June 23, 1962

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 25, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, April 6, 1967

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 29, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 10, 1966

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 18, 1967

Fort Lauderdale News, March 8, 1968

Fort Lauderdale News, March 29, 1968

Fort Lauderdale News, June 2, 1968

Fort Lauderdale News, September 20, 1972

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 30, 2013

Wikipedia

IMDB.org

 

Tags: Porky's Hide Away, Porky's Hide-Away, Fort Lauderdale clubs in the 1960s, Oakland Park history, Oakland Park clubs, Donald K. Baines, Porky Baines, Porky's movie, Fort Lauderdale history

Yesterday’s Restaurant looms large in memories of Fort Lauderdale dining and nightlife

Florida State Archives

 

Yesterday’s Restaurant and One Up Lounge
Oakland Park and the Intracoastal
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

By Jane Feehan

On Oct. 25, 1975, the sign for Yesterday’s Restaurant was installed to replace the one for the Moonraker, its predecessor. It was the last of preparations before opening Oct. 29.  The stately exterior of the large building, where some had hoped gambling to flourish once it was legalized by the state, remained the same. The interior, however, was redone featuring a first-level restaurant and bar and an upper- level nightclub, the One Up Lounge, overlooking the Intracoastal and east Fort Lauderdale. 

Plush, ornate and classy, it seemed no expense was spared in the makeover. Enclosed terrace dining, added soon after, would be the coveted place for holiday dining in the years to follow. For intimate gourmet dining, the Plum Room opened, welcoming a stream of the Hollywood famous and Washington politicos.

The entertainment media, invited for opening night, were greeted with an impressive-and thematic- collection of Model-T Fords and other vintage cars lining its sloping driveway to the entrance. 

The band Everyone (see below).
Photo courtesy of
Spencer Mallinson

Fort Lauderdale News Entertainment Editor Jack Zink was there that night and reported that the four-piece band, Everyone, and singer Trish Long, kept the room at the One Up and its dance floor "full to capacity."  They continued to fill it for a year. For me, the opening set the stage for a terrific night of food, entertainment and repeat visits over the years for fine dining, holiday celebrations and dancing.

Who could forget the oversized white, nearly sparkling wigs bartenders wore along with those disco-era body suits (pale blue as I recall) at the One Up? If out-of-town (or country) visitors forgot the name of the place, all they had to do was mention those wigs ... and Yesterday’s was their answer. 

Early evening live music during “Jam Session Mondays,” included Fort Lauderdale legend Andy Bartha and the Dixieland Jazz Band. But later, pulsating disco music prevailed along with era-requisite strobe lighting. The entire restaurant was a hit, the food ... first class. Yesterday’s was so busy at night it often took more than 30 minutes for a valet to retrieve a car. The popular spot attracted people of all ages for special occasions, including wedding receptions and Sunday brunches. Many reserved months ahead for a waterside view of the December Winterfest Boat Parade. A long list of civic groups chose Yesterday's for meetings and events that were covered by local newspapers. It was the place to be seen.

Things slowed down in the 1990s. Culture and lifestyles changed. No more disco music. Residents and travelers sought simpler, and perhaps less expensive dining and entertainment. To add to slow down woes, the landmark restaurant attracted a large, less lucrative early bird dinner crowd. 

In August 1999, the owners, who included celebrated Judge Arnie Grevior* (with wife Barbara) and at one time, Peter Goldhahn (Aruba Beach Cafe), announced Yesterday’s would close Aug. 31 that year. The once- popular nightspot would revert to a more casual atmosphere in October under the revived name, Moonraker, but closed not long after. It was sad to see lights out and a fence go up around this once-popular queen of Fort Lauderdale nightlife. The building was demolished in the early 2000s to make way for an expensive retirement home…with a great view.    

The building may have been demolished but not all the memories of an era and all its fun.  

NOTES

PHOTO: The band, Everyone - featured left to right as Spencer Mallinson recalled: "Richie the drummer (last name forgotten); Bill Davis, keyboard; Bob Bobbin, bass and Spencer, guitarist." Not featured here was Trish Long, vocalist. This group also played at Big Daddy's on Conmmercial, Art Stock's Playpen, the Flying Machine and the 4 O'Clock Club. "Those were great years for music," reminisced Mallinson. Indeed they were.

 Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

*Arnold Grevior died at age 92 March 3, 2020. He was a “lawyer, judge, a philanthropist, patron of the arts and a respected member of the community for over 50 years.” See more at: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunsentinel/obituary.aspx?n=arnold-grevior&pid=195608585&fhid=8774

Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 25, 1975
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 10, 1999
Fort Lauderdale News, March 4, 2020

Tags: Fort Lauderdale restaurants, Fort Lauderdale in the 1970s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1980s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s, One Up Lounge, Fort Lauderdale history, History Fort Lauderdale 

Fort Lauderdale 1970s: Celebrities flock to Le Club International

Lloyd Bridges at Le Club 1973
 State of Florida Archives

Le Club International Yacht and Tennis Club

Once located at 2900 NE 9 St., Fort Lauderdale

By Jane Feehan

Le Club, as we called it then, opened early in 1969 and took off like its sponsored Formula 1 car that was to race in a Monaco Grand Prix.  

Once site of the Everglades Yacht and Tennis Club, just south of the Sunrise bridge, the property underwent a $175,000 renovation in 1968 as a venture of Atlanta hotelier and Miami resident, Carling Dinkler. The renovation was considered the first phase of a project that was to eventually include a 17-story condominium.

The condo, planned intermittently over the next decade as a 14- or 32-story project, didn’t materialize, but the club thrived. It was known as a celebrity and swinging nouveau riche magnet, thanks to the efforts of country club impresario and consultant Paul Holm. 

Holm and brother Lambert had been involved in country club launches in Georgia and elsewhere before the Fort Lauderdale endeavor.

Paul Holm, then 36-year-old general manager and secretary-treasurer of Le Club, planned to hold a charity event about once a month. He and Lambert (referred to in some accounts as publicist), knew how to line up celebrities. Dinah Shore appeared at their Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic in 1970. That was the year Elke Sommer, Barbara Marx (widow of Harpo), and a host of other Hollywood notables joined in the fun and also discovered Fort Lauderdale. 

The list of celebrities visiting Le Club over the years was a very long one and included Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, Bobby Riggs, Burt Bacharach, George Peppard, Liza Minelli, Red Buttons, James Franciscus, Charlton Heston, Lloyd Bridges, Bill Cosby, Pat Boone, Kentucky governor and one-time Kentucky Fried Chicken magnate John Y. Brown, jockey Eddie Arcaro and Revlon heir Peter Revson.

Other than high-profile yearly tennis tourneys, high-stakes card games and sponsorship of Formula 1 racing, Le Club was involved in off-shore boat racing and hot air balloon events. Always thinking big, Paul Holm produced the movie, the Great Balloon Race in 1977. He bought the entire first-class section of a 747 jet for club members to attend the movie’s premier at the Canne Film Festival that year.

No doubt Le Club was the place to be for “nouveaus” during the 1970s. The food was excellent, service top-notch and the setting glamorous—if not a bit naughty. A few classified ads pointed to the mindset of the place—and times. Some ads indicated Le Club was looking for an “alert young lady 27-35” to assist an interior design firm at the club. Others stated management was looking for a single, 30-34 social director; others ads were for an “attractive young lady” for another job, etc. One can laugh looking at the ads through today’s lens but knowing the club at that time, many would say the ads seemed perfectly normal.

Tides turned by the end of the 1970s. The club was first sold to John Y. Brown and then in 1981 to Texas oil man James Keenan, also a member, who had plans for renovating the club and building a 14-story condo. Times weren’t right for the project or the club. Tax laws changed during the Reagan administration restricting business write-offs, and it curtailed club business. 

In 1985 the Romani Corporation was listed as owner. They also had big plans for Le Club, but it finally closed February 1986. The building was torn down in 1990. Today, a 16-story condominium, Le Club International, sits there. (No connection to the yacht and tennis club.) 

L to R: Lambert Holm, Carling Dinkler, Paul Holm
State of Floridaa Archives/Florida Memory

Paul Holm moved to Las Vegas, married and had children. He died there in 2007 at age 74 (obituary below) after years contributing his expertise to local charity events. Carling Dinkler, who built Miami’s Palm Bay Club and Tower, died in 2005 in Morgantown, West Virginia, home town of his second wife; he was 85.

The long gone Le Club International will not be forgotten by those who participated in its legacy of well-known, untold, outrageous or sometimes notorious stories.  

More on Paul Holm:

 

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/lvrj/name/paul-holm-obituary?pid=142140829

Sources:

Atlanta Constitution Journal, July 26, 1965

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 8, 1968

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 23,1968

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept 22, 1968

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 16, 1968

Fort Lauderdale News, May 19, 1969

Fort Lauderdale News, June 10, 1969

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug.31, 1969

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 11, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, July 12, 1970

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 13, 1982

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 4, 1985

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, June 3, 1990

Las Vegas Review, May 30, 2007

Atlanta Constitution Journal, May 25, 2005

Tags: Fort Lauderdale clubs of the 1970s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1970s, Paul Holm, Carling Dinkler, Le Club International tennis tournaments in Fort Lauderdale, Great Balloon Race, Fort Lauderdale history

The Candy Store, sleazy ghost of Fort Lauderdale's Spring Break past

By Jane Feehan

A few years ago, someone suggested I write histories of restaurants and clubs in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I pointed out that unless establishments made the news, there wouldn’t be much to write about; owners are/were too busy trying to keep the doors open to think about legacy. Most go out of business.

But a few spots did make the news. One was the infamous Candy Store at 1 North Atlantic Boulevard on Fort Lauderdale beach, adjacent to then-named Caribbean West Trade Winds Hotel.* Popular for its wet T-shirt, Teenie Weenie Bikini, belly flop, beer guzzling contests and a lineup of other slothful student activities of past spring break years, the Candy Store reportedly drew 2,000 patrons during the day and 3,000 at night at the height of its popularity, which one manager deemed was 1986. That year, more than 325,000 young people swarmed the beach for the six-week bacchanal. (Some news stories indicate 380,000 Spring Breakers visited the city in 1985.)

Owner Bobby “Van” Vannuchi (d. July '20) opened the Candy Store in 1977 (its beloved beach predecessor, the Button Lounge opened in 1970).  A friend of football great and party hearty guy Joe Namath, Van had, according to news accounts, an interest along with Namath in Bachelor’s III (AL, FL, MA, NY); news accounts indicated he also owned Mr. Laffs and Mr. Pips in Fort Lauderdale.

Van reportedly claimed he employed as many as 350 at the Candy Store during Fort Lauderdale spring break. That’s what he told Daytona Beach officials in 1989 where he was opening another Candy Store on Grandview Avenue (he reportedly also owned one in New York City).  He was looking beyond Fort Lauderdale to expand business.

There was cause to be nervous about things in Fort Lauderdale; the welcome mat was about to be pulled for students. The spring break business climate was changing in Fort Lauderdale. Commissioners had had enough of the city’s demeaning party image. It wasn’t attracting the development needed to expand its tax base. And, in 1987 as many as 12 students were killed in Florida during Spring Break in alcohol- and drug-related incidents. 

The Candy Store was emblematic of all the city was trying to get rid of. It became a major target of dismantling the spring festivities that began in 1935 and increased in popularity with the 1960 release of the film Where the Boys Are.

According to news sources, the city of Fort Lauderdale cited the Candy Store for 52 code violations in April 1989 targeting plumbing, electrical and fire and safety infractions. Also reported, the club could lose its liquor license because it was predicated upon the club operating adjacent to a hotel with at least 50 rooms. That hotel, the Caribbean Trade Winds, entered bankruptcy in 1988 or 1989 and was to close.

Van also had problems in Daytona. Published accounts reveal he paid $375,000 for his new 15,000 square foot club and about $500,000 for renovations. City officials raised zoning concerns and tried to block the opening for six months. 

A pending moratorium on issuing building permits was overturned by the 5th Court of Appeals in March 1989. Van moved forward to open before the end of that year’s spring break; the Candy Store in Daytona remained open until March, 1991. News accounts indicate he retained part ownership rights on the building and leased it to another nightclub impresario. (The fate of the NYC club is unknown to this writer.)

Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale could claim success in its re-imaging efforts: only 20,000 students flocked to its beaches in 1989. By 1990, business at the Candy Store was reportedly off 50 percent (at least). The club limped along until 1993 when it shut its doors. Bobby Van remained in the restaurant biz as late as 2005; records indicate he owned Jilly’s Café at 2761 E. Oakland Park Boulevard but it has since closed.

The Candy Store still evokes fond memories. On one message board, a man asked recently if anyone knew the tall blonde bartender he went out with in 1986. He wanted to reconnect but lost her name and phone number (hilarious - she could be a grandmother now). 

Others remember Paul W. Lorenzo, managing partner in 1983 who dressed in shorts, tuxedo jacket, tie and one of his 700 zany hats. Anyone who gave him a hat earned a free lifetime membership to the Candy Store.

 

Today, that membership is to a hall of memories of spring break madness. The only place still operating along the strip is the Elbo Room first opened in 1936 or 1938. No doubt people gather there on occasion to share stories about Bobby Van's place. 

Copyright © 2015, 2022 All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

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Note: The Ritz Carlton Hotel currently sits at the old site of the Candy Store.

*The original Trade Winds Oceanfront Hotel was built in 1940, one of the city's largest at the time.

Tags: Fort Lauderdale clubs, Fort Lauderdale in the 1980s, Fort Lauderdale Spring Break, Fort Lauderdale history


Sources:
Lakeland Star Ledger, April 3, 1983
Star News, Feb. 19, 1987
News-Journal, Feb. 4, 1989
News-Journal, Feb. 17, 1989
Ocala Star Banner, Nov. 25, 1990
News-Journal, Feb. 19, 1992
Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 15, 1996
NBC News, March 17, 2008