In late 1968, Leroy bought the Jet Bar from his old friend “Red” Burnett. The Jet Bar was named Henry’s in the 1940’s and 50’s. Unlike Henry’s, the classy nightclub, The Jet Bar had become a beer joint. It was located at the corner of First Street and White Sands Boulevard. .png)
Leroy bricked up the front door on the west side of the building next to White Sands Boulevard; all the windows in the building were also bricked in. Redwood lattice trellises were set over the former windows and front door to mask the plastered over openings; desert plants were used to xeriscape the grounds on the west and north side of the building. The Jet Bar was renamed The Backdoor Saloon and Supper Club.
The new entrance was in the center of the east facing side of the building and was covered by an awning. A matching awning was added over the package liquor store drive-through on the south end of the building - customers could wait in the shade while the attendant fetched their beer and bottles to go. A cedar shake façade covered the east side of the building. The dirt parking lot was blacktopped and striped.
The drive- through package store occupied the 12' x 20’ corner of the building. The liquor store also had a walk in entrance on the east side. The inside was carpeted and had dark, wood paneling with floor to ceiling shelves on all the walls.
There were two 4’ x 5’ plate glass windows on either side of the drive through window. The customer window was a French door that opened in. The drive-up window sported a high shelf to set cases of beer or bottles on as they were rung up and paid for. The area under the awning was brightly lit so customers could count out their money, IDs could be checked if the patron appeared to be under age, and to thwart robberies.
The cash register sat next to the drive-through window. A good deal of thought and research went into the $2500 purchase from National Cash Register Company for the chrome plated, single drawer, four category register.
The cash register buttons were marked Liquor, Beer, Wine, and Other. There was no time stamp on purchases nor specifics on what was purchased, and only three rows of keys numbered 0 to 9: one for cents, one for ten cents and one for dollars.
The maximum that could be rung up for a single item was $9.99. A $15.95 item would have to be rung up $9.99 and $5.96. The cash register was electric but came with a crank handle that could be attached to open the drawer in the event of a power failure.
Leroy was determined to turn his “sow’s ear” property into a silk purse and began decorating the inside of the saloon. One of the big-ticket items was the chairs. They needed to be comfortable so the customers would be enticed to stay (and drink) longer. He found his chairs in Los Angeles and bought two hundred of them through a local interior decorator for $200 each. Good carpet casters were necessary to add to the feet of the chairs so they could roll over plush carpet.
The carpet he chose was 52 threads an ounce per yard, dark red wool with an extra thick pad. It was wonderful to walk on and never looked worn, even in high traffic areas. It was cleaned with an industrial vacuum cleaner each night to remove the dirt or sand that if not removed, eventually cuts fibers when walked on. The night watchman doubled as a janitor and the Backdoor Saloon was never left unattended while Leroy owned it.
About the time the carpet was installed, Leroy and the local decorator had a falling out. Leroy found a Nogales, Arizona decorator named Joaquin. Joaquin made a very impressive proposal and Leroy awarded him the job. He collected the agreed upon deposit and made a respectable start.
Joaquin installed some Mexican hand carved mahogany arches inside over the bricked up door and window openings. The carvings on either side of the bandstand made a nice framing effect for the stage. Joaquin added an elaborate bar and carved wood back bar and hung some very nice velvet embossed wallpaper.
The decorator collected his second advance and went back to Nogales to pick up the rest of the decor, tables, booths and dining room furniture. Joaquin did not show back up on the appointed day or the day after. Leroy called him and Joaquin promised he would be there in a day or two. He was a no-show.
After several weeks, it became apparent something was wrong. Joaquin claimed he was having trouble getting a truck that could be driven into Mexico to pick up the rest of the furnishings.
Junior frequently drove to nearby Juarez, Mexico to the bullfights, for elegant dinners, and to shop, so he was not shy about driving across a border crossing. He rented a 22-foot U-Haul truck, and along with his younger brother, Jim, drove to Nogales, Mexico to pick up the booths and tables that were already paid for. They set off early the next morning on the six hour drive through New Mexico and Arizona.
Jim and Junior found the address he had given them for his home in Nogales, Arizona; Joaquin’s girlfriend and sister were there. The women invited the unexpected visitors to come in and wait.
It didn’t feel right; after a couple of hours, Junior insisted the sister should try to get Joaquin on the phone. Before cell phones, making phone calls was a gamble of catching a person at the right time and place near a land line. Allegedly, the interior decorator was across the border working on their furniture order.
The women assured them he would be there presently, but the sister was getting intoxicated and began making strange remarks about Joaquin that made the brothers wonder if the missing man was in fact reliable.
Jim was taking Diamox, a medication for his glaucoma. They had expected they would drive the six hours, load up the truck, and return to Alamogordo, so he had not brought any additional doses of the eye medicine with him. Jim’s eyes would begin to burn and the pressure would become painful if he didn’t take his dosage on time.
Junior called Leroy and told him he thought they were on a wild goose chase and that Jim was hurting and needed to get back home. He agreed and the brothers left and went back to Alamogordo empty handed.
They never heard from Joaquin again and they were out the second installment. Meanwhile, Leroy had been dealing with M. D. Lohman's company, Commercial Products, in Albuquerque, for the kitchen equipment and told M. D. about Joaquin’s disappearance. Lohman showed up the next day with a truckload of furniture and equipment and started installing it.
Several days later, M. D. came in with dishes, flat ware, cooking pots, pans and utensils. He brought all manner of glasses, equipment, and an almost new nickel-plated National Cash Register Company cash register for the bar. He brought a brown register for the other end of the bar.
M. D. also brought a chef from Albuquerque; he told Leroy the man was an alcoholic but that he was a great cook and could get the kitchen of the supper club started. Leroy hired him and checked him into the Alamo Courts motel he owned so he could keep tabs on him.
Joyner’s Upholstery did a beautiful job re-covering the twelve person, half-round booth at the south end of the saloon. The black Naugahyde, diamond tuck and roll upholstery matched the new, plush black chairs on coasters designed for plush carpet.
The channels in the tuck and roll booth were filled with cotton batting for comfort and the classic style looked and felt like the spacious inside of a Cadillac DeVille from the 1950s.
The booth was originally built on a stage that had been used for a small music combo in the 1940's when it was in Henry’s bar. It was a private booth, four steps up, so VIPs could people-watch over the entire room and see the floor show without any obstructions.
Leroy had traveled the southwest from Texas to the coast of California and he had a vision of what he wanted the Backdoor Saloon to be. Junior and Jim knew most of the wait staff in the local area and made a list of the best cocktail waitresses and food servers in Otero County. Youth and looks counted for being on the list.
Minimum wage was $1.30 an hour in 1969. Tipped employees were paid 40% of that or 52 cents per hour but The Backdoor Saloon offered full minimum wage so staff didn’t have to declare their tips as taxable income. This made it easier for staff because tip records weren’t required if employees made minimum wage. That changed eventually and everyone needed to report their tips at 8% of their sales.
After the remodel, purchasing all the furniture, equipment, inventory, hiring, The Backdoor Saloon and Supper Club opened in November 1969 to a packed house.
The saloon was instantly a huge success and had a line at the door most nights. The waitresses were making $200 some nights and most always made at least $400 a week in tips- $600 a week was not uncommon. The waitresses tipped the bartenders 10% (or more) of their tips at the end of the night.
The original mythology of tipping was that it was an European acronym for “To Insure Promptness.” Originally, the tip was given at the beginning of the evening to ensure the service would be good but evolved into tipping at the end of the meal or event.
In the United States, tipping only took hold after the Civil War when George Pullman established his Pullman Railroad Cars and hired former slaves for low wages. They were expected to provide excellent service and did so in anticipation of tips at the end of travellers' trips. Other low paid or unpaid service jobs began to depend on tips following George Pullman’s suit.
Leroy hired Hotch Manning from the Holiday Inn as head bartender. Hotch set up and stocked the bar and the wine cellar. Manning was the Sergeant Major of the Holloman Base Hospital but that never seemed to interfere with him being on time or being able to work at the Backdoor.
The bartending staff was paid minimum wage too, even though they were tipped employees. They split the tips they made at the bar and had a dozen waitresses contributing 10% of their take each week to the pot for the half dozen of them to split. The bartenders were earning around $250 a week in their own tips excluding their wages. A forty hour a week minimum wage job paid $52.00 a week at that time.
In another of Leroy’s almost psychically intuitive predictions, he told Junior the chef was going to leave them high and dry some night and not show up. He told Junior to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and watch how he did everything so when the cook didn’t show, Junior could step in and take over.
Sure enough, the next Friday night the prediction came true, and Junior began his first job as Executive Chef. He was scared to death.
Chef and Leroy had produced a limited but classy menu. Junior watched how the lobster tails were split and deveined, then sprinkled with paprika and completely covered and sealed with melted clarified butter. The butter would harden and protect the tails from drying out as they waited in the refrigerator.
There was a Blodgett four deck pizza oven in the kitchen with one deck set at 500 degrees. A lobster tail that had been butterflied would be placed on the 500 degree deck and baked until it was golden brown from the heat and butter. The crustacean’s shell would turn into a bright red container for the tender, juicy, slightly sweet and slightly briny delicacy.
The sumptuous cloudy white bites of lobster could then be dipped into tiny ramekins of more melted, lemony butter and chased with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or the buttery notes of a Chardonnay.
Junior learned he needed to prep a full night’s supply of jumbo shrimp to fry. At the Plaza, the commis cooks prepared the shrimp as it was ordered, but as the only cook at the Backdoor, Junior did everything by himself.
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The shrimp were dipped in condensed milk and dredged in seafood breading; the tail section was kept clean of breading so it would fan out and stay open; this was for presentation and utility.
The shrimp looked larger and more visually appealing with the tail left on them, plus the tails added extra flavor and kept moisture in the peeled shellfish. Some people eat the tails - they are a source of protein, fiber, iron, calcium, vitamin B, fiber to aid digestion, and astaxanthin, an antioxidant that supports the immune system and heart health. And the crumb-free tail was a handling device so a non-fork-using piscivore can pick up the golden fried morsel and pop it in their mouth.
One of the best tricks Junior learned from the former inebriated chef was to take the leftover bread from the previous night, cube it, put the cubes in a fryer basket, dip the basket in the sizzling deep fryer until they were golden brown, shake the basket well, spill the croutons on blotting paper and sprinkle them with parmesan cheese and a little garlic salt while they’re still hot.
This process served a dual purpose. It made great croutons for the salads and also cleaned the oil in the fryer. The bread absorbed the carnivorous oil tastes left from cooking meat, fish and fowl. The oil would also be strained through a cone paper filter every night and changed every week.
It became a challenge and a game for Junior to see just how classy he could make the food service. The salad plates were kept in the refrigerator and the salad forks in the freezer wrapped in a cloth napkin so they would be cold when they were presented at the table.
He’d butterfly a jumbo cocktail shrimp, spread it on a small plate and add a dollop of cocktail sauce and garnish. The waitress would go to the bar, place a lime wedge in the center of the shrimp and have the bartender pour a little Everclear grain alcohol on it, light it and it was carried out “flambé.” The effect of the blue flame shrimp going out into the dimly lit saloon was dramatic.
A wine glass full of ice cream was served at the end of every meal. Typically, 31 Flavors Cherries Jubilee was presented, but this was changed to pumpkin flavored ice cream at Thanksgiving and Christmas, or strawberry with a fresh strawberry on top for Valentines Day.
In the beginning, after dinner the waitress would offer a complementary cigar out of a cigar box to all the men at the table - until a woman questioned the practice. The woman was placated by taking a cigar for herself, but Junior didn’t know what to offer the “gentler” sex after the meal that was comparable to a cigar, so he stopped the practice altogether.
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Beer at other establishments in Alamogordo were around $1 a bottle, draft was 60 cents a glass. High balls were $1.50, calls were about $2.00. The Back Door was also providing entertainment and trying to keep the standards up (and the riff raff out).
Back Door prices after happy hour were $2 beers, highballs were $2.25, calls were $3, and draft-beer was not served. Leroy thought the stale beer odor typical in bars came from kegged beer and that draft beer was not “classy.” There was a $2 minimum after happy hour so a customer either needed to order another drink or “they didn’t need to go home, but they couldn’t stay there!”
A big Hi-D-Ho hamburger at the time cost 85 cents. Junior used his training from Chef Foster and made ground beef from the trimmings of 10 oz top sirloin steaks. The Back Door sold the first $2 hamburger in Alamogordo. It was a half-pounder on a fresh seeded 5 inch bun, thick slices of huge beef steak tomatoes, leaf lettuce and a large, bun-sized slice of jumbo white onion. A large dill pickle wedge and fresh cut French fries circled the burger on the plate.
There were some complaints about paying $2 for a burger; but so many were sold that Junior couldn’t keep up with grinding hamburger and he had to buy extra ground sirloin from Walter Dill’s butcher shop to keep up. The menu offered the 10-12 oz Lobster tail, jumbo fried or broiled shrimp, New York steaks, and 6 oz and 10 oz filet mignons wrapped in bacon.
“Surf and Turf” included a 6 oz filet and a lobster tail. Filets were cut from the upper end of the tenders and the bottom tenders were cut for “chateaubriand for two”, chef sliced at the table. The biggest seller was the10 oz Top Sirloin. On Friday and Saturday night, Prime Rib and au jus was offered.
When Junior took a date out for dinner, he sometimes thought some of the women had chosen something cheaper rather than an expensive item they really wanted from the menu. He thought it would be special for females not to have prices on their menus, so he had extra menus without prices printed.
The menus were red leather covered and held a gold cord running between the covers to keep the printed parchment insert in place. To tell the menus apart, the priced menus’ gold tassels emerged from the top of the menu and the ones without prices were on the bottom. The gentlemen were handed a menu with prices and the ladies one without prices. If Leroy or someone else specifically requested paying for the meal, the table got menus without prices. Junior was proud of being so clever and Leroy and Cecilia thought it was “cute.”
But again, due to the times, a woman questioned the motive of not being given prices on her menu. She felt the supper club was discriminating against her. Junior was left speechless and the priceless menus weren’t used again except for catered or comped parties.
The entertainment was the biggest expense at the supper club. As he had at the air base, Leroy once again hired bands that played in Las Vegas and needed a stopping point when they traveled to perform in New Orleans. The bands cost between $3,500 to $6,500 a week, plus rooms, and discounted food and bar tabs.
Perhaps one of the most beloved bands that played at the Back Door in Alamogordo was, surprisingly, a group of Maori natives from New Zealand. They began their careers as the best musicians and most famous band from Down Under at the time. They had their own TV program in Aotearoa, toured the islands, and recorded albums. They also played Australia, Hawaii, and then seven times for the troops in Vietnam.
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The Quin Tikis knew how to play everything - oldies, show tunes, jazz, blues, rock, country and western, and Top 40. They also had a floor show in Polynesium dress using traditional Māori sticks, Tī Rākau, in a performance that employs rhythm, coordination, and teamwork while singing chants and songs.
Their name, “Quin” means five, and “tiki” is the Maori word for the little, carved jade dolls that people wear for good luck charms. Weazel Taiaroa brought the band together: he, Keri, Kevin, Phil and the drummer, Gary. They were hired in Las Vegas.
The band members were hard working, total professionals with a wardrobe of seven different matching costumes - one for each day of the week. They did their own arrangements and set lists.
The Quin Tikis would always deliver whatever the room wanted. The Back Door crowd adopted them. Make Friends With the Quin Tikis was the name of one of their albums; it was apt.
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Meanwhile, among the three liquor stores Leroy owned, the Alamo Courts, The Back Door Saloon, money was flowing like water - downhill. The high dollar Las Vegas acts, the bartenders, waitresses, bouncers, night watchmen, cleaners, clerks, bookkeepers, accountants, equipment and building maintenance, food and beverage inventory, advertising, salaries, taxes, utilities, improvements, and sundry other costs caused Peter to pay Paul by transferring funds from the profitable package stores to the struggling motel and the under-water finances of the saloon and supper club.
Bankers began eyeing Leroy’s collateral, discussing equity, calculating outstanding loan balances on their internal adding machines. Their shadows darkened the agreements both parties had signed under more optimistic circumstances. Friendships between the borrowers and the bankers became formal and stoic. Leroy and Junior and Jim were moving the deck chairs on their Titanic around as quickly as possible.
Hemingway related the dispossessed feeling of financial loss in his book “The Sun Also Rises.” Bill, a writer, asks Mike, a Scottsman and WWI veteran down on his luck, how he lost all his money and ended up broke. "Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually, then suddenly."
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