Revisiting the Electric Circus, thanks to 'Mad Men'

I don't watch the TV program "Mad Men." However, I read that the show's characters have been visiting the 1967-68 East Village in various plotlines. (The Times wrote about this a few weeks ago.)

The latest episode apparently included a trip to the Electric Circus on St. Mark's Place... @ShaneEvanDavis reminded me of this EVG post on the Electric Circus from April 15, 2011 titled If the Electric Circus were to open today ... cut-and-paste here again below... Repost! Repost!

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At first, this was meant as nothing more than an appreciation of some photos (via Getty Images) of the Electric Circus from 1968 ... with the original photo captions on the first three...

"Patrons at Electric Circus, 23 St. Marks Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City. stops for check. Girls not wearing bras are admitted free on Sundays."

"UNITED STATES - JUNE 27: Transparent plastic bra strap, virtually invisible around back, gives a topless look to formal mini at the Electric Circus at 23 St. Marks Place, New York City. (Photo by William Quinn/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)"

"Fashionable crowd mill about outside the Electric Circus 23 St. Marks Place, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York City."

Then I started thinking about the reaction if this very same venue would open here today... A hot club promoter (in this case, Jerry Brandt) ... celebrities... crowds from everywhere showing up on St. Mark's Place... how would the community respond? No bra night?! Sounds like some stunt Superdive would have pulled. And look at that mob on the sidewalk! Call 311! (And what would those local bloggers write!) Has the influx of bars and jackasses and woo-wooing in recent years made us intolerant of any nightlife? Or maybe just some nightlife? Or a certain type of nightlife? (I can keep going with the vague rhetorical questions!) Regardless, I would have liked to seen this concept go before today's CB3/SLA committee...

Anyway, here are several more photos from the Getty archives... the Electric Circus closed in 1971... the address now houses a Supercuts and Chipotle ... as well as $17,000 apartments...

By the way, this wasn't meant as a history of the space... plenty has been written about it, including, but not limited to:

Jack Newfield Catches the Electric Circus Opening on St. Marks (The Village Voice)

FRIDAY NIGHT FEVER: The Electric Circus (The Bowery Boys)

Streetscapes / 19-25 St. Marks Place; The Eclectic Life of a Row of East Village Houses (The Times)

Live on St. Mark's Place for only $17,000 per month! (EV Grieve)

Starting rumors: Is "Mad Men" actor John Slattery opening a restaurant on Third Avenue?

This vacant restaurant on Third Avenue near 10th Street is up for a liquor license tonight at the CB3/SLA extravaganza...



...and one John Slattery's name is on the notice.



Could it be "Mad Men"'s Roger Sterling? The actor/community activist known as John Slattery?



Or maybe the John Slattery at CBS 2...

Or not. Anyway, a better bet is the John Slattery who co-owns Slattery's Midtown Pub on 36th Street. Which means NYU Avenue is getting an Irish-style pub?

Is it July 27 yet?

Oh, good. That means it's time for the start of the second season of Mad Men, the AMC show about advertising in 1960s Manhattan...that is seemingly advertising everywhere around the city. Gawker had a post July 14 on the Mad Men subway-ad campaign.



(Coincidentally, at the time I saw the post, Mad Men was up on the site's ad rotation.)


Meanwhile, if you like the show, Gridskipper posted a handy-dandy guide to Mad Men locales in the city last year. (And can a Mad Men tour for tourists be too far behind...?)

[Images on Gawker -- Flickr via Thighs Wide Shut]