The Podcast: BellingQueerstory

Podcast
Written By Kolby LaBree

Episode 8: Bellingqueerstory

aka Queer history of Bellingham

aka Cheers to Queers 

Front and back views of matchbook from The Hut Tavern on State Street. Green background with white lettering and graphics. The Hut Tavern 1317 1/2 State Street Bellingham WA Premium Wines Dancing. Reverse side says Gayest Spot In Town can can girl

Matchbook from The Hut Tavern

Summary

Since June is Pride month and it has an extra week, we made an extra extra episode. Well it’s extra long that’s for sure!  We tried to cram in as much BellingQueerstory as we could into one hour plus a few. This is a big gay overview of queer Bellingham history as we know it. A companion to our new Queer History Tours, some overlapping content.  Cheers and Happy Pride! 

P.S. This one got rambly and thus heavily edited, and in a heartbreak hurry.  Hopefully nothing crucial got cut but do reach out with questions! 

Listen

You can listen to the episode at …

Ephemera

Some memorabilia from the 70s-80s-90s

References and Resources

 
 
 
 
 

Other references

include numerous books, newspapers and other publications with further details available on request… 

Happy Exploring!

 

We want to thank Devin Champlin and the late, great, Lucas Hicks for the use of the ol’ Gallus Brothers tune “Too Bad West Coast Blues.” You can find that tune and more on bandcamp at https://thegallusbrothers.bandcamp.com/ and https://devinchamplin.bandcamp.com/ and you can find Devin at Champlin Guitars in Bellingham! <3 <3 <3

Related
Percy Irvine Yarick
Percy Irvine Yarick

Percy teamed up with another female impersonator who went by Lou Lalonda. Percy and Lou were billed at Bellingham’s Grand Theater on Holly Street in September of 1905. At the time of their performance in Bellingham, papers described them as “two pretty young ladies who easily win applause.”

Read More →
Julian Eltinge: The Original Drag Superstar
Julian Eltinge: The Original Drag Superstar

In 1913 the Bellingham Herald announced: “Theater-goers have a treat in store next week when Julian Eltinge is scheduled to play at the Metropolitan Theater in his musical success, ‘The Fascinating Widow.’” Often compared today to RuPaul of “Drag Race” fame, Julian Eltinge was the most famous female impersonator to grace Bellingham’s stages in the early 1900s. 

Read More →
Huntress
Huntress

At the turn of the 20th century, a boy from small town Iowa chose the stage name “Huntress” and followed his dreams, using his many artistic skills to find success. Imagine Huntress rolling on a sparkling snowball across the vaudeville stage of the Grand Theatre in Bellingham in 1905.

Read More →
History Repeats: The Criminalization of Gender Nonconformity
History Repeats: The Criminalization of Gender Nonconformity

Last fall when I started thinking of ideas for columns for the Betty Pages, I was excited to write interesting stories about early drag performers here in our corner of the world. However writing about these stories has taken on a weightier context as a wave of anti-drag hysteria has escalated across the country, and bills designed to restrict and prohibit drag performances work their way through state legislatures.

Read More →
The Great Richards: Bringing the Bling 1905
The Great Richards: Bringing the Bling 1905

In June of 1905 Beck’s Theatre in Bellingham advertised a magnificent vaudeville bill for the summer that included “The Great Richards and his $5000 diamond dress.”

Read More →
Vardaman: The Gay Deceiver
Vardaman: The Gay Deceiver

I had previously run across Vardaman in the Bellingham Herald on a vaudeville bill from the summer of 1904, advertising “the Auburn-Haired Beauty.” Further described in the paper as “the celebrated Vardman (sic) the female impersonator… can hardly be told from a female, so clever is he.”

Read More →
Mr. Noel Wore a Dress and Welcomed the Guests
Mr. Noel Wore a Dress and Welcomed the Guests

The marker was a small reminder that issues of gender identity are not new and that drag shows existed here in Bellingham at the turn of the previous century. The marker has been lost, and the historical record of Joseph Noel’s life is sparse. We can keep telling what we know of his story: Mr. Noel wore a dress and welcomed the guests.

Read More →
More Episodes
The Podcast: Hotel High Life
The Podcast: Hotel High Life
Read More →
The Podcast: Leopold’s Ghost
The Podcast: Leopold’s Ghost

In this episode we discuss the early history of Bellingham’s historic Hotel Leo, aka the Leopold Hotel.  From its earliest days as the Byron House through its take-over and expansion under PNW beer baron Leopold Schmidt.  And since it’s spooky season, we include stories about some “potential ghosts” that might be wandering the halls…

Read More →
The Podcast: Bellinghairstory
The Podcast: Bellinghairstory

In this episode we get into the history of the professional beauty industry in Bellingham, Washington, focusing on hair, mostly… and also mostly women’s hair.  We take a look at who was doing hair for a living, and how they were doing it, why they were doing it, and how the profession evolved from the wild west days through the progressive era. We have combed the archives for hair-raising stories to share with you from the bygone days of beauty culture here on Bellingham Bay.    

Read More →
The Podcast: History of the Terminal Building
The Podcast: History of the Terminal Building

In this episode we explore the history of Bellingham’s beloved Terminal Building, also known as Tony’s Coffee Shop for many years. The oldest building in the Fairhaven Historic District suffered a tragic fire in December of 2023 that included a loss of life. We take a look at the 130+ years of the history of the building including the saloon years, the Busy Corner store, and beloved coffee shop.

Read More →
The Podcast: Ursula Unfug
The Podcast: Ursula Unfug

In this episode we discuss the story of Ursula Unfug, a sex worker who spent time in brothels around the PNW during the 1890s. Ursula gained notoriety in the 1892 shooting of Thomas Henderson Boyd, editor of the Morning Olympian newspaper and her “secret husband.”

Read More →
The Podcast: Bellinghistory Inked
The Podcast: Bellinghistory Inked

In this episode we discuss the history of tattoos and tattooing in Bellingham and beyond. Find out what the newspapers were reporting about tattoos, who was getting them, who was giving them and who was getting arrested for showing them off!

Read More →
The Podcast: Stuffed Bellinghaminals
The Podcast: Stuffed Bellinghaminals

In this episode we explore the history of taxidermy in Bellingham, tracing the legacy of various practitioners thereof from "curio collectors" to the founders of our modern museum. Content warning for dead critters y'all.

Read More →
The Podcast: Bellinghamsters and other Tails
The Podcast: Bellinghamsters and other Tails

It’s the first real episode of season 2! Bellinghamsters and other Tails - Animal Stories with the Good Time Girls! Oooorrrr… “firefighters are a brave, unruly and maybe a little bit bored, bunch.” We pulled out some of our favorite furry history for this one with wild tales of beloved Bellinghaminals, from hamsters to ant bears.

Read More →
The Podcast: It’s Time For Season 2!
The Podcast: It’s Time For Season 2!

It’s time for Season 2 of Bellinghistory with the Good Time Girls, The Podcast!

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Reputation Town
The Podcast: Bad Reputation Town

In this week’s FINAL re-release episode we get into the “vintage” era of the 1970s and 1980s and Bellingham’s dive-y waterfront scene with a discussion of our legendary “Serial Killer Bar” as well as a crazy unsolved mystery of a body found in the former Georgia Pacific mill complex.

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Murder Farm Town (Re-release)
The Podcast: Bad Murder Farm Town (Re-release)

In this episode, we introduce the story of the Maple Falls Murder Farm! We discuss the creepy murderer who local papers blamed for the death of Frederick Dames (see previous episode: Bad Butchered Town) … and while this creepy murderer was perhaps Whatcom County’s first serial killer… did he really butcher the butcher? You be the judge!

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Butchered Town (Re-Release)
The Podcast: Bad Butchered Town (Re-Release)

In this week’s episode, we revisit one of our favorite Bellingham true-crime stories, the murder of a local butcher, Frederick Dames, in 1905. Though declared “solved” a few years later, doubts remain as to whether the supposed perpetrator was actually responsible for this particular crime.

Read More →
The Podcast: The Worst Bad Town
The Podcast: The Worst Bad Town

In this episode we discuss the history of the Ku Klux Klan, aka the KKK, here in Bellingham, Whatcom County and the PNW. This episode is a re-release from the 2020 season of “Bad Town” on the City of Subdued Podcast, hosted by Annika Fleming, Maria Dalla Gasperina and yours truly along with Good Time Girls founder Marissa McGrath. Listen with care.

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Booze Town (Re-release)
The Podcast: Bad Booze Town (Re-release)

In this episode we get into prohibition era Bad-Town, complete with rum running, bootlegging and speak-easies (aka Blind Pigs). AND a story straight from the LaBree family vaults.

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad (Lady) Barber Town (Re-release)
The Podcast: Bad (Lady) Barber Town (Re-release)

In this week’s episode we discuss the case of Lorena Upper, a so-called "lady barber" accused of violating the “red light statute” here in Bellingham, Washington in 1922 and what it meant to work as a woman in a traditionally male occupation at the time.

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Lady Town (Re-release)
The Podcast: Bad Lady Town (Re-release)

This week’s episode we feature stories of women who ran afoul of the law,  as well as the women charged with policing them!  Murder plots, madams, police matrons and the “high priestess of anarchy.”

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Trial Town (Re-Release)
The Podcast: Bad Trial Town (Re-Release)

Bad Trial Town, aka “For the Love of Moses” is about a sensational murder that occurred on Forest Street, near the Majestic Hall in Bellingham, Washington. It’s about a man who shot his wife and his son-in-law, who was also his wife’s lover. It’s about fancy-talking lawyers with pink toupees. It’s about an acquittal based on patriarchal biblical law. And lastly, it’s about the flaws in our justice system then and NOW.

Read More →
The Podcast: (Return to) Bad Arson Town
The Podcast: (Return to) Bad Arson Town

“Spider Biles, The Fire Bug” is memorialized on a cement marker in the cobblestone alley next to Skylark’s Café in Fairhaven, now a quaint historic shopping district in Bellingham, Washington. In this episode Kolby and Marissa take a deeper dive into the life of Frank “Spider” Biles, arrested for a string of arsons in Fairhaven in the summer of 1892.

Read More →
The Podcast: Bad Bud Town revisited
The Podcast: Bad Bud Town revisited

This week’s story is about Bad Bud Cox, original Bad Town Bad Boy. We take a deeper look into the life of “Bud Cox” known locally for robbing a saloon in Fairhaven in the early 1900s, and who spent his life addicted and incarcerated.

Read More →
The Podcast: (Return to) Bad Cursed Town
The Podcast: (Return to) Bad Cursed Town

In this episode Marissa and Kolby discuss the so-called “Chinese Curse” on the town of Bellingham, and the story behind the urban legend. We’ve included some additional discussion on this one.

Read More →
The Podcast: Halloween Special (2020 Re-release)
The Podcast: Halloween Special (2020 Re-release)

This one features some spooky seasonal favorites from our Fairhaven Gore and Lore Tours! We discuss why Fairhaven is called Bellingham’s “Haunted Hot-Spot”

Read More →
The Podcast: Welcome (Back) to Bad Town!
The Podcast: Welcome (Back) to Bad Town!

And now, for your listening enjoyment, re-released episodes from the City of Subdued Podcast Season 2 - BAD TOWN Recorded back in 2020 during peak pandemic when we were the guest hosts of Annika and Maria, along with Marissa McGrath, founder of the Good Time Girls. We discussed a lot of Bad Bellinghistory - some of our darkest tales, lots of true crime. Enjoy these throwbacks while we take a break!

Read More →
The Podcast Gettin' Wrecked (Part 2)
The Podcast Gettin' Wrecked (Part 2)

In this episode we regale you with the saga of the wreck of the Steamer Buckeye, a little steamship of the Mosquito Fleet, that capsized in Bellingham Bay in 1895 between Eliza Island and today’s Larrabee State park with a small crew and several passengers including Will D. Jenkins, local editor and mayor of the town of Whatcom.  This episode features one human casualty, and a number of unfortunate livestock.  It’s a buck-wild story!

Read More →
The Podcast: Gettin' Wrecked (Part 1)
The Podcast: Gettin' Wrecked (Part 1)

In this episode we visit the story of the wreck of the barque (or bark or barc) Union of 1875 near Lummi Island. This is also a deep dive (pun intended) into deep dives, that is the history of diving and salvage operations both in general and specific to this wreck…

Read More →
The Podcast: Sea Monsters (Part 2)
The Podcast: Sea Monsters (Part 2)

In this episode we continue our exploration of monsters of the deep.  We’ll dish on the sea-monster stars of the 20th century, creepy carcasses and cryptids sighted in and around Bellingham Bay and the waters of the Salish Sea. 

Read More →
The Podcast: Sea Monsters (Part 1)
The Podcast: Sea Monsters (Part 1)

In this episode we dive in (pun intended) to the seemingly bottomless pool of sea monster stories.  Whether they be myth, lore or just a really big fish, “monsters of the deep” have inspired many a whopper of a tale here in Bellingham and the PNW over the years.  Release the Kraken!

Read More →
The Podcast: Bathing Beaches of B'ham (Part 2)
The Podcast: Bathing Beaches of B'ham (Part 2)

In this episode we explore bathing beaches at Squalicum Beach and Fort Bellingham, as part two of a two-part series on historical beach resorts of Bellingham, Washington. 

Read More →
The Podcast: Bathing Beaches of B'ham (Part 1)
The Podcast: Bathing Beaches of B'ham (Part 1)

In this episode we visit the White City resort built at Silver Beach on Lake Whatcom in Bellingham in the early 1900s, as part one of a two-part series exploring historical “bathing beaches” of Bellingham, Washington. Join us in exploring the history of beach destinations with amenities - Coney Island Style, and some of the places that Bellinghamsters of yesteryear went to cool their heels.

Read More →
The Podcast: BellingQueerstory
The Podcast: BellingQueerstory

Since June is Pride month and it has an extra week, we made an extra extra episode. Well it’s extra long that’s for sure!  We tried to cram in as much BellingQueerstory as we could into one hour plus a few. This is a big gay overview of queer Bellingham history as we know it.

Read More →
The Podcast: Sanitarium Insanity (Part 2)
The Podcast: Sanitarium Insanity (Part 2)

In Part 2 of “Sanitarium Insanity” our two-part series on sanitariums in Bellingham, Washington, we discuss the “Yoghurt Sanitarium” in Fairhaven, Bellingham's historic south side neighborhood.  More wacky electrical devices, dubious doctors and YOGURT, or as they spelled it, “yoghurt.”  Buckle up your bacilli, it’s a wild ride!

Read More →
Kolby LaBree https://bellinghistory.com
Previous

The Podcast: Bathing Beaches of B'ham (Part 1)
Next

The Podcast: Sanitarium Insanity (Part 2)